Early Years Learning Centre

The Early Years team is well into term 1 and the students have settled into their classrooms and routines with enthusiasm. It has been great to see the excellent teaching and learning happening in all the classrooms. Recently we had ‘Meet the Teacher Night’, it was wonderful talking to all the parents about the year ahead and how well their children are doing. The classrooms have also begun working on their PBIS and reward systems for students, they are really beginning to understand the classroom expectations and the school rules by watching explicit videos modelled by the older students. The favourite video so far is where the older students have modelled how to walk around the school as a group. PLT 1 In English the students have been reading the story ‘Yes we can’ and ‘From Head to Toe’. They have been using pictures and words to understand the stories. Students have been learning the schedule cards and what they mean during day, and have also been matching pictures and letters in the stories. In Maths the students have been learning about numbers and counting using games and the iPad application Starfall. PLT 2 In English the students have been reading the text of ‘I am’ in the Sunshine Classics application and they have been learning the Elmo slide song. For writing they have been making “I can…” sentences with some assistance and the focus word have been ‘I’ and ‘do’. In Maths, the students are also working on counting and colour using a wonderful balloon kit. PLT 3 The students have been exploring the story of ‘ “Mike I don’t like”. They have been engaging in different language experience activities to discover things that they like and don’t like. The students have been using apps such as shadow puppets and book creator to recreate the text. In Maths, the students have been focusing on Time. They have been making clocks, looking at the story of “Nighty Night”, exploring the schedule cards and the days of the week.

PLT 4 The students have been reading the story of ‘Noah Dreary’ with a focus on identifying the events and topics in the story to make personal connections. They have also been learning how to retell the story using their own words and recording their retells using the iPad. In Maths, they have been skip counting using pop sticks, number boards, and counters. The focus was on counting by 2’s and 10’s. The students have also been learning about how to subitise dot numbers to numerals.

Elaine Quinn, Early Years Team Leader

Learning Centre Leaders’ Newsletter 24th February 2017

Mon 13th March NO students at school

Groups 19, 39, 40, 41 & 42 Wow! What an amazing few weeks it has been in MYPLT1. We’ve been so busy getting to know each other and learning we can hardly believe that we’re half way through the term. Our classes this week have been training our brains studying the text ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’. Gerald the Giraffe perseveres and keeps working towards his goals just like all of the staff and students in MYPLT1. We all have things that we are not good at… yet, but when we persevere and try it a new way we know that we CAN do it! Swimming week is coming up in Week 6! Remember to let your child’s teacher know if you would like to come along and help. We will have a lot of fun learning to swim together.

Hope everyone

has a great weekend and remember to

persevere and try things, especially when they are hard because that means we’re learning

and developing our Character!

Chloe, Buena, Sonja, Erin, Jo, Dean, Emily, Amy, Taylah, Rose, Willy, Crystal, Chas and Kay

Middle Years Team Leader Thank you to all of the Middle Years parents who attended the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening last Thursday night. It was a pleasure to meet parents and have a quick chat as I wandered throughout classrooms. Please feel free to contact me at anytime if the need arises throughout the year. The Middle Years students will be participating in swimming lessons at AquaPulse in Week 6 of this term. Please ensure that your child’s permission note has been returned and if you have any questions or information regarding your child’s swimming needs please let your child’s teacher know as soon as possible. Just a reminder that students must be wearing hats outside during terms 1 and 4. Please clearly label your child’s hat with their name and group number. We also highly encourage students to bring a water bottle to school and to have it available to sip on throughout the day. Quite a large number of Middle Years and Multimedia Centre students have been coming to school without correct uniform. If your child is wearing a casual jumper or hoodie they will be asked to take it off whilst at school. Items of uniform can now be purchased at Rushford’s Uniform shop in Werribee. This is a great time to stock up on winter supplies before the cold weather is upon us. Alison Balchan, Middle Years Team Leader

Groups 22, 23, 24 & 25 The Middle Years PLT-2 (Groups 22, 23, 24 and 25) has been very busy over the last two weeks. Following on from the last weeks, our students are developing and consolidating their literacy and numeracy skills.

In English students are learning to predict and picture walk narratives. They are working on explaining and analysing the ways in which stories, characters, settings and experiences are reflected in particular literary genres, and how to discuss the appeal of these genres. In Maths, students are working on learning to count and will learn to count Australian coins and notes.

Our Summer Swimming Program is starting from Week 6. Students are very excited about swimming. Please make sure to label your child's clothing so they can be easily identified and found if misplaced. Benita, Amy,

Olivia, Sharon, PK,

Mel, Kerryn and Ritu

We have had a very busy last few weeks in the Multimedia Centre. Last week we hosted a workshop sample day for students to attend

various workstations related to the Genius Session topics on offer for students to vote into. This included the subjects of Construction, ICT, Environmental Science, Sports Coaching and Student Leadership. Each student was given a chance to visit the workshop and hear and experience what that particular subject would be about. Afterwards, students were asked to vote on the subject they wanted to go into. These were told to students during assembly this week and the Genius Sessions will commence this week. We are excited to provide the students with lots of opportunities to extend and build their learning and social skills in these sessions which will be on every Wednesday throughout the year.

We were lucky to have an incursion last week that educated the students about Graffiti. They were informed about the illegalities of Graffiti and how artists can express themselves with Graffiti in legal and responsible ways. All of the students present enjoyed this presentation and learnt something from it. This week we have started to experiment and use ICT in more interesting and engaging ways. Many students have been busy using the Green Screen app to show their creativity and ICT skills. This will be an app we will use regularly throughout the year and it is great to see the joy students get from using it. Thanks to all of the parents who attended the Meet the Teacher evening last week. We appreciate your time and efforts to help us build a strong network between school, home and most importantly the students lives. Please remember that swimming is coming up shortly and to ensure your child has returned their permission forms. We also thank all of the parents and guardians for supporting the Term 1 Sun Smart rule of wearing a wide brimmed hat and for sending your student in school uniform. Anthony Heffernan, Multimedia Team Leader

Multimedia Learning Centre

Bethany Road

Campus The Athlete Development program is up and running… literally (!) and the students who are taking part are really enjoying the theory and practical components of this Passion Project. Students are learning how the body pumps blood, functions of the heart and the effects exercise has on the body. Our students have demonstrated excellent teamwork, collaboration, endurance and flexibility when representing BRC in the community. Well done team. Outdoor Ed has also taken off in leaps and bounds with two students learning to ride bikes since returning from their summer break. Well done to these students who showed excellent resilience and a growth mindset to keep trying and giving it a go! I am very proud of you all. Students are beginning to settle into their new classrooms and routines with the change of learning style at BRC being a change for some at the beginning. It has been wonderful this week to walk around and see all students engaged in numeracy and literacy activities and coming to share their work with me. Students have been working in their class groups to make short films on the expectations of BRC. I think some are more humorous than serious. It has been lovely to see students working so well together. Students in BRC 3 are making Anchor charts to help them summarise their learning. If you pop into BRC 3 please ask them to share these with you. Our Meet the Teacher night was a success and a great opportunity for parents to meet our wonderful teachers. If you were unable to make the session please let your child’s teacher know as our teachers are more than happy to arrange another suitable time. Important BRC dates: March 10th - CAPs to parents March 13th Labour day (no school) March 23rd Harmony Day March 31st Last day of Term 1 2:15 dismissal Danielle Barclay, Assistant Principal Bethany Road Campus

Bethany Road News from Katarnya... Weeks 3 and 4 at Bethany Road Campus have been busy and productive. It has been nice to see most students have continued to wear their school uniforms. Passion Projects and Electives are in full swing with lots of fun being had by students and teachers alike. Students continue to build their knowledge around identifying what a growth mindset is and its importance. The current focus in English is to build on what the students have learnt about character, and expand their vocabulary when identifying and describing character traits. In Maths students have had and increased focus on money – identifying, ordering, adding and estimating. In both English and Maths teachers are conducting assessments in order to gain increased insight into individuals’ skills and abilities in order to best plan and differentiate lessons. We would like to thank all parents/caregivers who were able to attend ‘Meet the Teacher’ night, it was nice to see so many engaging and enlightening conversations going on.

Katarnya

Later Years Warringa Campus

What an exciting start to the year! The students have been very busy pamphleting, going to the Werribee Zoo, sailing around the Docklands, shopping for Cafe and shopping for our Kitchen Garden program. We have had a great start learning about what we can all do and what we are working towards during our inquiry question of 'Can I do it yet?'. The students we all very excited to steer the boat around the Docklands and Group 36 got up close and personal with a gorilla at Werribee Zoo. All the students have taken a lot from the weeks so far and

have been getting out into the community. We look forward to ore exciting times with a music trip to the Art Centre and more trips sailing and to the Werribee Zoo to feed the animals the veggies we have grown in the garden.

Katie, Daniel, Abby, Sean, Manny, Carolyn, Hien, Daniel, Bec, Beth, Jacinta, Mel.

News from Cayleys Road

Thank you to all the parents and guardians who are working in partnership with staff and students in developing new goals in their child's Careers and Pathways Action Plan. If you haven't been able to make a time yet please keep contacting your child's core teacher so arrangements can be made.

Monica Cooper, Cayleys Road Team Leader

Many of our students have started attending their work experience programs. Christian attended Mambourin Factory for the first time “I'm putting a bracket together”

At Red Cross our students wear their required Personal Protective Equipment and make sure they’re doing things right.

After “Signing in ready for a busy day of volunteering.” Jenna gets right to work “I

am putting the correct number of items into boxes.”

Jesse at Red Cross: “I am sorting accessories into summer and winter

stock.”

“I work at the Bunnings BBQ and l ask the customers what would they like to order and l give the order to the person who makes the sausages then work out how much it cost. Then you collect the money you will then use a soft voice and stand straight. You look straight at the person when talking to them. l also like collecting the money.” Stefan

“At Blackwood I rake the leaves we rake them into piles. Put branches in piles when I get tired I ask for help. When someone needs help I help them. I wear a hi viz vest and safety boots and long sleeve pants and hat.” Ethan

“On Wednesday l go to Blackwood to work on racking leaves and working with others, l will ask for some help if l get tired or if something is to heavy. I wear a hi viz shirt, work boots and work pants. We help each other.” Jack

In the music room we’ve been exploring our skills on the microphone and on the drum kit. We have also been studying the words to a song written by student last year called Seeds Of Change. We will soon make a proper new studio record of this song for all to share. Stay tuned!

Compass – Parent Portal Over the next couple of weeks, we will have a short how to guide on how to use the Compass Information Portal. If you do not yet have a username / password for Compass, please contact the school or via our internal helpdesk (http://heldpesk.warringapark.vic.edu.au)

Adding a Note or Approval

If your child is absent you can now notify the school via Compass along with the reason why they are absent. To do this, log into Compass (https://warringapark-vic.compass.education) Log in and click Profile, Attendance, Unexplained.

To add a note or approval, they can select one or more of the absences listed, then select the "Explain with Note/Approval" button.

Adding a Note/Approval for a future absence You can also add approval for absences in the future To do this from the Profile/Attendance page, they can click on the 'Add Attendance Note/Approval' link listed underneath the name of you student.

This will take you to the Attendance screen, with a pop-up window to enter details of the note or approval. You can then select the applicable date range - in the future if required. Please ensure that the dates are correct. If you make any mistakes, you will need to con-tact Reception to get this sorted out.

Help If you need any assistance, please either advise the reception office via phone, IT via our internal helpdesk (http://helpdesk.warringapark.vic.edu.au) or feel free to come in and we will attempt to help you further. Due to privacy information, we will only give out passwords if we can verify your details.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Sensory Friendly Respite Activity Days

Smart Communities in conjunction with Autism Spectrum Victoria (ASPECT) and DHHS are pleased to be able to offer families with young people aged 13-23 with an ASD a free respite activities day event. Is your child: Aged 13 – 23 years? Have a diagnosis of ASD? Live in the City of Melton, Brimbank or Wyndham?

If so, you can attend our sensory friendly Activity Days in Feb/March 2017 free of charge. Your siblings can also attend at no additional cost if they’d like to come too. We are offering full day respite activities on: Saturday the 25th of Feb Sunday the 26th of Feb Saturday the 4th of March

The activities will be hosted in the area of the Mornington Peninsula. Transport to and from the activity is provided free of charge. You will be notified of the pick-up point in your area/school at completion of registration and our number of participants has been confirmed. The event including transport is supervised by our fully qualified and friendly staff. We recommend you bringing snacks and drinks for the bus trip there and back. As the activities are in a lovely garden setting, bring a packed lunch to be enjoyed as a picnic.

Each activity day will include a sensory friendly performance/Live Show of ‘Into the Woods Jr’, jumping castles and games, art & crafts, per-forming activities such as drama workshops and karaoke, quiet areas for storytelling and a sensory space, along with roving entertainers, face painting and Devonshire Tea. For more information regarding these activity days and how to register please email or call the coordinator con-tacts below.

Marita Fayle Sandra Martin 0400 517 915 0418 537 626 mfayle@smartcom.org.au smartin@smartcom.org.au

At Warringa Park School we are enthusiastic

LEARNERS and Every Day of learning counts

If, however, your child cannot attend school for a good reason you can use our COMPASS system to let us know and put that reason in.

WE strongly encourage all our parents to contact the school and get a USER NAME AND PASSWORD to the COMPASS system. PLEASE SEE THE INFORMATION BELOW:

Compass – Parent Portal Over the next couple of weeks, we will have a short how to guide on how to use the Compass Information Portal. If you do not yet have a username / password for Compass, please contact the school on 9749 5774 or via our internal helpdesk (http://heldpesk.warringapark.vic.edu.au)

Adding a Note or Approval for Absences If your child is absent you can now notify the school via Compass along with the reason why they are absent. To do this, log into Compass (https://warringapark-vic.compass.education) Log in and click Profile, Attendance, Unexplained.

Message from Nurse Nicole Immunisations: The Wyndham City Council will be visiting our school and immunising students with 2004 birthdates. Please note: some 2004 birthdates were completed last year. Round 1 (Thurs) 9th March 2017 Boostrix (Tetanus) & HPV 11.30am Round 2 (Weds) 31st May 2017 Chicken Pox & HPV 11.30am Round 3 (Fri) 20th Oct 2017 HPV 11.15am If your student (with 2004 birthdate) does not come home with a white A4 envelope with the immunisation cards, please contact me. If you are a new student and have missed out on the immunisation program at other schools, please contact me to check that I have them on the list and have obtained their cards from their previous council. ATTENTION: PLEASE RETURN CARDS TO SCHOOL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Epilepsy Plans: Please ensure epilepsy plans are taken to your next Neurologist appointment and signed by the neurologist and yourselves. I like to keep these plans as current and relevant as possible. If any student has a recent seizure please contact me, so I can update their plans. Asthma Plans: I handed out Asthma plans to all families who have students with Asthma at the end of last year. Please take to your GP and have them filled in and return to school as soon as possible. There are a number of plans that have not been returned. Toilet Training Workshop: The continence foundation will be conducting a parent workshop on Tuesday 21st March 2017 at 1pm-2:30pm. This workshop is an informal round table discussion about the steps required to toilet train children with special needs. It is a five step process which we as a school follow. Please register your attendance with reception, there is a maximum of 15 people per workshop. Medication: As per school policy we ask parents to commence all new medication over the weekend or holidays. So this can be closely monitored for any possible allergic reactions or side effects. We appreciate your cooperation regarding this. If you have any questions regarding medication or need your child to take medication at school please contact me. Please note:

All medication needs to be in the original packaging with child’s name, dose and time on the box.

If medication is being transported in students bags please contact the school as soon as possible, so we can remove the

medication. Chaperones can secure school bags whilst on the bus but must not be used as a courier.

If at all possible directly handing over the medication at reception or to myself would be appreciated.

Drink Bottles: In order to maximise students’ fluid intake especially during the hotter weather, I encourage all parents to ensure their child brings a drink bottle to school. This enables staff to identify how much each child is drinking. Dehydration can contribute to: tiredness, fatigue, loss of concentration, abdominal pain (constipation), nausea & vomiting & dizzi-ness. Many of our students visit sick bay for these complaints. Nicole

School Council Election Process and Timetable

Warringa Park School Council

Election Process and Timetable 2017

EVENT DATE

Notice of election and call for nominations Monday 6th February 2017

Closing date for nominations Monday 13th February 2017

Date by which the list of candidates and nominators will be

displayed

Tuesday 14th February 2017

Date by which ballot papers will be prepared and distributed Thursday 23rd February 2017

Close of ballot Friday 3rd March 2017

Vote count Monday 6th March 2017

Declaration of ballot Monday 6th March 2017

First council meeting to co-opt Community members

(the principal will preside)

Monday 20th March 2017

Second council meeting to elect office bearers

(the principal will preside)

Monday 20th March 2017

Dear Parents and Caregivers, Our Cayleys Road Campus is looking for any work experience opportunities for our Year 11 and 12 students. This can be on a voluntary basis or paid at the standard student rate of $5 per day. These could include things such as working with animals, hairdressing, aged care, working with children, farm work and retail. Anything will be considered! All insurance is covered by the school’s insurance policy. Work hours are between 9am and 3pm. We would really appreciate any offers and these can be forwarded to Jane Cross at cross.jane.m@edumail.vic.gov.au or contacted on 0498 985 235. Many thanks for your help with this very important process in transitioning our students. Kind regards, Jane Cross

Warringa updates! Dates for the diary: Term 1 2017: 31st January to 31st March 2017

13th March: Labour Day holiday 23rd March: Harmony Day 31st March: last day of term early dismissal at 2:30pm Term 2: 18th April to 30th June 2017 Term 3: 17th July to 22nd September 2017 Term 4: 9th October to 22nd December 2017

2017 Curriculum Days: 30th January 17th February 26th May 6th November

Newsletter and Basic Information on iPads

The “Warringa Park School” app can be down-loaded for free onto your devices by

going to the “App Store”. Once the app is downloaded you can

access the newsletters under the “newsletters” tab. A list of newsletters will appear; just se-lect the one you want to view. A Basic Infor-

mation Package is also available under “Documents and Forms”

Going on Camp?

If your student is going on a school camp (how exciting!) please ensure the following: 1. Let your bus chaperone know the dates

when your student will NOT be going on the bus so that the bus doesn’t wait for a student that is away on camp and

2. Check with the chaperone if your student’s camp baggage can go on the bus as many of our buses are NOT ABLE to accommodate the additional baggage that students need to take to camp. You will probably have to arrange to both drop off and pick up your student from school. This is an important safety issue for the buses.

PARENT GROUP Session: Toilet Training for children with special needs. Who: Victorian Continence Foundation Date: Tuesday 21st March 2017 Time: 1pm to 3pm Where: Warringa Park School, Café 11 You may have put off toilet training or believe that it is not possible to train your child with special needs. But given the right kind of help, children with special needs can learn to manage going to the toilet with assistance or independently. Come along and listen to the 5 step process in moving your child from using nappies to using the toilet. Please register you attendance with reception

Telephone: 9749 5774. Numbers are limited to 15.

Parent Tours 2017: These are the dates for school tours from 9:30-11am 9th March 20th April 25th May 22nd June 27th July 24th August 14th Sept 19th Oct 16th November