PRINCIPAL’S REPORT THE BOY WHO RUNS At our recent school film festival one of the short films presented was that titled, „The Boy Who Runs‟ produced by the children in 6K (Kelly). This seven minute film has attracted the attention of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation who is profiling this film on their website. We have also uploaded the film on our website. The Boy Who Runs is a powerful story of bullying between children at school and how they can deal with it effectively. I strongly recommend that you take the time to view it on our website and perhaps discuss the film and its implications with your children. GROUND WATER SYSTEM You may recall that last year we installed a ground water system at our school, having gained the relevant permits, and will have the system operational this summer. With the newly grassed area surrounding our new building requiring substantial watering this will be invaluable (that is of course, if we get some dry and hot weather). CARE OF OUR TREES While on the topic of our grounds, you may be interested to know that we have employed the services of a local Arborist, Tim Glebatsas, to assist with the care and maintenance of our trees. Tim inspected a number of our eucalypt trees which are in poor condition, last week and will be spraying them with a variety of mixtures on Saturday to address the problems of bug infestation. That is not the only problem some of our trees are facing – poor soil conditions and maltreatment are others. Tim will be conducting an annual audit of all trees annually for us and as of next year will be undertaking a preventative spraying program in early spring. I recall the early days at our school when our trees were newly planted and twenty plus years on it is important that we look after them well. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ’s) Q. Are children expected to be attending school on Cup Eve Monday? A.Yes – this is not a Curriculum day this year. QUOTABLE QUOTE ‘If compassion were a colour, then it would have to be grey.’ HENRY GROSSEK NEWSLETTER N0.32 27TH OCTOBER 2011
Transcript
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT THE BOY WHO RUNS
At our recent school film festival one
of the short films presented was that
titled, „The Boy Who Runs‟ produced
by the children in 6K (Kelly). This
seven minute film has attracted the
attention of the Alannah & Madeline
Foundation who is profiling this film
on their website. We have also
uploaded the film on our website.
The Boy Who Runs is a powerful
story of bullying between children at
school and how they
can deal with it
effectively. I strongly
recommend that you
take the time to view it
on our website and
perhaps discuss the film and its
implications with your children.
GROUND WATER SYSTEM
You may recall that last year we
installed a ground water system at
our school, having gained the
relevant permits, and will have the
system operational this summer.
With the newly grassed area
surrounding our new building
requiring substantial watering this
will be invaluable (that is of course, if
we get some dry and hot weather).
CARE OF OUR TREES
While on the topic of our grounds,
you may be interested to know that
we have employed the services of a
local Arborist, Tim Glebatsas, to
assist with the care and maintenance
of our trees. Tim inspected a number
of our eucalypt trees which are in
poor condition, last week and will be
spraying them with a variety of
mixtures on Saturday to address the
problems of bug
infestation. That is not
the only problem
some of our trees are
facing – poor soil
conditions and
maltreatment are others. Tim will be
conducting an annual audit of all
trees annually for us and as of next
year will be undertaking a
preventative spraying program in
early spring. I recall the early days at
our school when our trees were
newly planted and twenty plus years
on it is important that we look after
them well.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS (FAQ’s)
Q. Are children expected to be
attending school on Cup Eve
Monday?
A.Yes – this is not a Curriculum day
this year.
QUOTABLE QUOTE
‘If compassion were a colour, then it
would have to be grey.’
HENRY GROSSEK
NEWSLETTER N0.32 27TH OCTOBER 2011
DIARY DATES Friday 28th October Halloween Disco
5/6 Interschool Summer Sport
Friday 4th November Summer Lightning Prem
Tuesday 8th November Berwick Lodge Walkathon
Tuesday 22nd November 3/4 Joffas Toonschool
Wednesday 23rd November Prep Myuna Farm Excursion
Monday 28th November Prep Polly/Pete‟s Day Show
NOTICES DUE BACK BY
Thursday 27th October Halloween Disco
Wednesday 2nd November Summer Lightning Prem
Thursday 10th November Grade 6 Graduation Bear/Soccer Monday 14th November Social Club Books
Wednesday 16th November 3/4 Joffas Toonschool
Friday 18th November Prep Myuna Farm Excursion
Tuesday 22nd November Berwick Lodge Walkathon
Wednesday 30th November Prep Polly/Pete‟s Day Show
SCHOOL AWARDS
Congratulations to the following students who received awards over the last week:
Isabelle PM
Emma PL
Joshua PM
Holly PM
Caleb PW
Hayden PC
Stefan PL
Charli PW
Sanketh PC
CANTEEN IS CLOSED MONDAY 31ST OCTOBER
Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) 2012
and School Start Bonus (SSB)
Applications for the 2012 Education Maintenance Allowance and School Start Bonus are now available
from the school office.
If you have a child under 16, and hold a valid Health Care Card, Pension Card or be a foster parent you
may be eligible to receive the EMA. Your Health Care / Pension Card must be valid on the 1st February
2012. The 2012 allowance of $235 is split evenly between the parent and the school and is paid in two
instalments, one in March and one in August.
The School Start Bonus is provided to assist low-income families with the costs associated with their
child starting Prep or Year 7. If you hold a valid Health Care Card, Pension Card or be a foster parent,
and have a child starting Prep at Berwick Lodge in 2012 you may be eligible to receive this one-off $300
payment.
Closing Date: Parents/Guardians with Prep children commencing in 2012 need to lodge a School Start
Bonus form before Thursday 15th December 2011.
Education Maintenance Allowance applications must be lodged at Berwick Lodge before
29th February 2012.
Please see the school office for application forms or if you have any queries.
CANTEEN
The canteen management
have notified us that there will
not be any canteen services
operating on Monday 31st
October 2011. Normal services
will resume on Wednesday 2nd
November 2011.
SAFETY HOUSE
The Berwick Safety House
Committee has informed us that
their next meeting for 2011 will
take place on Monday 21st
November 2011at 7:30PM. This
meeting will be held at the home
of the Secretary,
Linda Graziano, at
10 Michael Court
Berwick. If you
are interested in
attending the
meeting please contact Linda on
0408 521 190. The committee
welcomes new membership.
STUDENTS IN THE
SCHOOL GROUNDS OUT
OF SCHOOL HOURS
In recent weeks we have become
aware of an increasing number of
students who are frequenting the
school grounds in the evening and
on weekends. We generally do
not have an issue regarding
students in the company of adults
accessing our facilities such as the
basketball courts, oval and play
equipment for leisure activities.
However, we have had reports
from the community that some of
our students
have been
sighted on the
roof of our
buildings and
climbing onto
shade sail
structures. In the holiday break
we had vandal damage to services
on the roof of our main building
and portable classrooms. Apart
from the cost of repairing the
damage, there is also the concern
of the safety and wellbeing of
people who access these areas.
We also have similar grave
concerns when young people
climb on and play on the shade
sails. It brings to mind a tragic
incident which occurred at a
school where a young lad was
killed following a fall which had
resulted from him and his mates
accessing a similar structure.
We have contacted the local
police regarding the vandal damage
that has occurred at school.
Families should remind their
children that if they are seen
loitering in the school grounds it
can raise suspicions regarding their
intentions.
ENROLMENTS FOR 2012
We have now commenced our
planning of grade structures for
2012. Our current numbers for
next year indicate our enrolment
will be around 650 students. To
enable us to adequately cater for
all students, keeping in mind ideal
class sizes, it is important for us to
be aware of new enrolments and
families whose students will be
exiting at the end of this year.
Thank you to
those families
who have
provided us
with this
information.
If you have
not yet done
so, please ensure these details are
forwarded to the office as soon as
possible.
LYNNE BRENNER
AND
DEBBIE CUSACK
ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS’ REPORT
J-Rock News For any families wanting to purchase the DVD of our J-Rock performance night, you can do this
by following the links (Buy DVD‟s) via the J-Rock website. http://www.rockchallenge.com.au/
(A reminder that our performance night was Monday 15th August 2011).
Also, the organisers of the Rock Eisteddfod have advised me that all performances, globally, will be
available to view online at www.globalrockchallenge.com. Through this website there is also a competition where judges will be deciding on a global winner from each division and choosing some
Awards Of Excellence. The exciting part for us is you can also vote for your favourite three
performances. Voting will be available from Sunday 13th November 2011 so get voting as the winner will
This year all Grades 3 to 6 children will be participating in the Fantastic Fridays Program in Term 4. This program
will run on Friday afternoons (2:30pm to 3:30pm) starting from Week 3 and will run for approximately 6 weeks. It
is an elective program where students will be mixed with their peers to learn a variety of different subjects outside
the normal curriculum areas of Literacy and Numeracy. The elective programs on offer are:
Gymnastics
Lego
Cooking
Art / Craft/Scrapbooking
Woodwork
Sport
Photography
Playing Musical Instruments
Science and Technology
We have a number of teachers allocated to the various programs but are asking our school community for some
support. If you have any expertise in any of the following areas and would like to participate in the
program we would greatly appreciate your time and experience. These activities require different
materials and resources and we would greatly appreciate any donations to support our Fantastic
Fridays Program. These could include-construction materials such as wood, screws, wheels, art
supplies, foam cups etc.
Please see Traceye Rapinett for information or details about the program.
School Name OSHC Coordinator: Dorien Erasmus
With Halloween fever in the air we at BLOSHC decided to create some scary masks and decorations. Look out for the
creepy popcorn hands, they might pop up anywhere!
Parents, please remember to CANCEL your child if you know he/she will not be attending ASC.
Save on Care
You can save 50% or more on Before and After School Care fees with the non-means tested Child Care Rebate. Almost all families are eligible. And remember – permanent bookings are cheaper
than casual bookings. To find out more call Customer Service Team on 1300 105 343 Monday to Friday.
Visit our website to register www.campaustralia.com.au. Once registered you can make bookings and cancellations, view your statements and manage your details anytime of the day online.
Before school care: 6:45am – 8:45am After school care: 3.30pm – 6.30pm
Star of the week:
Hayden : For using his manners and always consider staff and friends at OSHC.
