Hello and welcome to my last newsletter as your Principal

PROVISIONAL APPOINTMENT

Dear Parents and Carers, It’s my pleasure to announce the provisional appointment of our new Principal Angela Buxton. Angela will commence as Principal at Verney Road School on Tuesday the 23rd of April, the first day of Term 2. Please join with me congratulating Angela on her new role. Angela will be an absolute asset to the VRS community.

WHOLE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY Our End of Term assembly will be held on Wednesday, April 3rd at 10:45 am. Our Outstanding Achievers and great Attenders for Term 1 will be announced at this time. I look forward to you joining me at my last assembly, as your Principal. Please come to assembly and then join me for a cuppa in the Homecrafts Room

SCHOOL COUNCIL AGM– At Tuesday nights AGM the following people were elected as Office Bearers:

President– Di Steven

Vice President– Ian Moorhouse

Secretary– Donna Allen

Treasurer– Angela Buxton

Congratulations to all and I wish you well in your governance of VRS.

ANNUAL REPORT– The 2018 Annual Report to the School Community was presented at the School Council AGM meeting and is now available on the VRS Website for your perusal. A summary for easy reading is in this newsletter.

EASTER RAFFLE– donations for the Easter raffle would be greatly appreciated; please leave at the front office. Raffle tickets are available at the end of this newsletter. SENIOR YEARS CAR WASH RAISING FUNDS FOR ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL GOOD FRIDAY APPEAL– a very industrious crew have been busy the last two Thursday, washing many staff cars and doing a tremendous job! Well done!!

WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY-to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day, Verney Road School will be hosting a “Hoodie Up for Autism” Disco on Friday 5th April.

This will be an ‘Out of Uniform’ day, with students encouraged to wear a hoodie and something BLUE to support Autism Awareness. A gold coin donation would be appreciated, with all funds raised going towards the purchase of Sensory Equipment for our school. Discos will be held in the hall throughout the school day. LAST DAY OF TERM FOR STUDENTS– will be Friday April 5th, with classes finishing at 2:00 pm on this day, one hour earlier than normal.

Our new Principal will take over at the start of Term 2

Enjoy your holiday!

JANET GILL KIRKMAN

PRINCIPAL

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wednesday, April 3rd……………………………………………………….Whole School Assembly, 10:45 am

Friday, April 5th……………………………………………………………..Last Day of Term 2:00pm finish

Tuesday, April 23rd………………………………………………………….First Day of Term 2

Thursday, April 25th………………………………………………………...Anzac Day Public Holiday

VERNEY ROAD SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER ISSUE #5 March 29th , 2019 Principal: Janet Gill Kirkman Assistant Principal: Angela Buxton Website: http://verneyrd.vic.edu.au Email: verney.road.sch@edumail.vic.gov.au

PO Box 1551 Shepparton 3632 Phone 5821 8185

Fax 5822 2915

DISCUSS THIS...

As we head towards school holidays, I thought that a reminder about keeping our kids safe might be bene-ficial. It is something that we often take for granted. TEACH THEM EARLY ABOUT PERSONAL SAFETY It’s never too early to sow the seeds of personal safety. As parents, we need to teach our children 5 basic principles

To trust their feelings and to distinguish between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ feelings To say ‘no’ to adults if they feel unsafe and unsure That they own their own bodies That nothing is so yucky that they can’t tell someone about it That if they feel unsafe or unsure to run and tell someone they trust.

TALK TO YOUR KIDS Encourage your children to feel comfortable telling you anything, especially if it involves another adult. Encourage your children to identify other trusted adults they can talk to in confidence. BE AWARE Learn about the people with whom your child is spending time. Take notice if someone shows one or all of your children a great deal of attention or begins giving them gifts. Take time to talk to your children, find out why the person is acting in this way. EMPOWER YOUR KIDS Knowledge is power. Teach your children about their bodies. Teach them the correct language to use when describing their private parts. Emphasise that those parts are private. This will make them more at ease if they need to tell you about a touch that made them feel uncomfortable. GET INVOLVED Be an active participant with your children’s activities, you will have a better opportunity to observe how the adults in charge interact with your children. If you are concerned about anyone’s behaviour, take it up with the sponsoring organisation. TEACH THEM THEIR RIGHTS Teach your kids that they have the right to say NO to any unwelcome, uncomfortable, or confusing touch or actions by others. Teach them to tell you immediately if this happens. Reassure them that you are there to help and it is okay to tell you anything. NOTICE CHANGES IN BEHAVIOUR Be sensitive to any changes in your children’s behaviour or attitude. Encourage open communication and learn how to be an active listener. Look and listen to small indications that something may be troubling your children, because children are not always comfortable disclosing disturbing events or feelings. This may be because they are concerned about your reaction to their problems. If your children do confide prob-lems to you, strive to remain calm, non-critical, and non-judgemental. Listen compassionately to their con-cern and work with them to get the help they need to resolve the problem. PRACTICE SAFETY SKILLS Practice basic safety skills with your children. Make an outing to a mall or a park a ‘teachable’ experience in which your children can practice checking with you, using pay phones, going to the public toilets with a friend, and locating the adults who can help if they need assistance. CYBER-SAFETY IS IMPORTANT TOO Teach your child never to give out their last name, address, or phone number to a person on the Internet and never to meet Internet friends in person without a parent’s supervision and consent. Parents should help children choose a screen name that does not disclose information about their location. Teach children not to post pictures with identifying information such as a school uniform. Always keep your computer in a public area of your house – not in a child’s bedroom. If multiple computers for multiple children are necessary, consider laptops with wireless Internet. When it comes to your childrens safety, you can never be too concerned.

Darren

Tips for keeping your kids safe

DARREN MILES

SOCIAL WORKER

with D.J. Miles

Dear Parents and Carers,

This is my last newsletter as Principal at Verney Road

School. I became the Principal in 2013 and its certainly

been a privilege. To finish my career as Principal in a

Specialist School has not only been the best experience,

it’s also been a tremendous learning curve. It’s a great

thing at age 64 to never stop learning.

The things that will stay with me forever about VRS are:

The friendliness of the staff, families and the students. It

is a happy place to work. The way staff go above and be-

yond to problem solve and support their students is ex-

emplary. Also, our standing in the education communi-

ty, VRS is seen as a high performing school and we have

lots of visitors coming to see our practise. That makes me

proud.

So I must say, resigning isn’t easy, gee it’s been a hard

decision. However maybe I need to make the most of the

next ten years from 64 – 74, with some part time work,

some travel in the caravan, I’m still hoping to get to the

World Netball Cup in Liverpool (ticket dependent!) Plus

to have more fun with our five little ‘grandboys.’

So thanks again for having me as your Principal from

2013 to now. Be sure to stop me in the street and tell me

how your son or daughter is going.

Best Wishes,

Jan

PHYSICAL EDUCATION WITH MATT Jen & Greg’s class (B8) in action this week in

P.E participating in the sport of Cricket!

A26 WITH CARON & MICHELLE We have had a very busy Term One in A26, working on lots of different things. This week we have had great fun exploring dress ups related to our Book of the Week “I Got This Hat”. As you can see the stu-dents have tried on a number of hats and posed beautifully for photos to make a class book.

We all enjoy cooking in B5 trying different fruits and vegetables. Utiliz-ing different cooking equipment and skills.

WALa When the power of percussion meets dazzling

vocal harmony in the dance of life

Verney Road SchooL

Name ____________________________ Address __________________________ ___________________________ Phone ___________________________

Thank You

Verney Road School

EASTER RAFFLE 50 CENTS

1st prize Hamper of Easter Eggs 2nd prize Basket of Easter Eggs 3rd prize Children’s Hamper of Easter Eggs Prizes drawn Wednesday, April 3rd

Verney Road School

Name ___________________________ Address __________________________ ___________________________ Phone ___________________________

Thank You

Verney Road School

EASTER RAFFLE 50 CENTS

1st prize Huge Hamper of Easter Eggs 2nd prize Basket of Easter Eggs 3rd prize Children’s Hamper of Easter Eggs Prizes drawn Wednesday, April 3rd

Verney Road School

Name ____________________________ Address __________________________ ___________________________ Phone ___________________________

Thank You

Verney Road School

EASTER RAFFLE 50 CENTS

1st prize Huge Hamper of Easter Eggs 2nd prize Basket of Easter Eggs 3rd prize Children’s Hamper of Easter Eggs Prizes drawn Wednesday, April 3rd

Verney Road School

Name ____________________________ Address __________________________ ___________________________ Phone ___________________________

Thank You

Verney Road School

EASTER RAFFLE 50 CENTS

1st prize Huge Hamper of Easter Eggs 2nd prize Basket of Easter Eggs 3rd prize Children’s Hamper of Easter Eggs Prizes drawn Wednesday, April 3rd

Verney Road School

Name ____________________________ Address __________________________ ___________________________ Phone ___________________________

Thank You

Verney Road School

EASTER RAFFLE 50 CENTS

1st prize Huge Hamper of Easter Eggs 2nd prize Basket of Easter Eggs 3rd prize Children’s Hamper of Easter Eggs Prizes drawn Wednesday, April 3rd

Verney Road School

Name ____________________________ Address __________________________ ___________________________ Phone ___________________________

Thank You

Verney Road School

EASTER RAFFLE 50 CENTS

1st prize Huge Hamper of Easter Eggs 2nd prize Basket of Easter Eggs 3rd prize Children’s Hamper of Easter Eggs Prizes drawn Wednesday, April 3rd