Congratulations to Thank you to Special Thanks to Bus Travel Walking School Bus—Friday 20th May Book Club orders are due back at school on Monday 24th October. Grade 4, 5 & 6 students have received their permission note for the upcoming Questacon excursion. Please return these permis- sion slips with payment by 26th October. Grade 3 & 4 students have received their Sovereign Hill camp per- mission forms today. Please ensure all forms are returned to school no later than the 11th of November. There are many beautiful locations and gardens throughout our school and local community, and we have a few passionate par- ents who would like to invite you to come and check out their little patch of paradise. Our Open Garden event will take place from 10am-4pm on Satur- day 5th November & Sunday 6th November. You will be able to collect a map and take a self-guided drive around the district. There will be tea and coffee available at each stop and the possibility of a lunch special at the Willow Grove General Store. The finishing touches are still to be finalised, but keep the date free and take a tour of our beautiful community. Willow Grove School and Community Newsletter 20TH OCTOBER 2016 VOL 16 : ISSUE 32 DATES FOR 2016 21st October—1st 2017 Prep Transition—9:30am-12:00pm 25th October—Building & Grounds Meeting—7pm 25th October—School Council Meeting—7:30pm 28th October—Questacon Sci- ence Excursion—Senior Students at Yallourn Nth PS 1st November—Melbourne Cup Day Public Holiday 3rd November—Brendan & Simone attending PD 4th November—Brendan attend- ing Inner Gipps Principals Forum 4th November - 2nd 2017 Prep Transition—9:30am-12:00pm 9th November—Parent Associa- tion Meeting—9:15am 14th November—Regional T20 Blast Cup Final 15th November—Building & Grounds Meeting—7pm 15th November—School Council Meeting 7:30pm 16th November—Ghana Beat My Drum Musical Incursion 18th November—3rd 2017 Prep Transition—9:30am-12:00pm 22nd November—Curriculum Day for Students—Staff PD 28-30th Nov—Grade 3/4 Sover- eign Hill Camp 28th November—Traf High School—Gr 6 Half Day Transition 1st December—Brendan attend- ing West Gipps Prins Meeting MON TUE WED THU FRI 24 Brekky Club 25 Buildings & Grounds Mtg—7pm School Council Mtg—7:30pm 26 Brekky Club 27 Brekky club 28 Questacon Science Excursion—Gr 4, 5 & 6 Students 31 Brekky Club 01 Melbourne Cup Public Holiday 02 Brekky Club 03 Brekky Club Brendan & Simone attending PD 04 Prep Transition— 9:30am—12:00pm Inner Gippsland Principals Forum Oct/Nov 2016 Find us at— www.willowgroveps.vic.edu.au TERM DATES 2016 Term 1 27th Jan (teachers start) to 24th March Term 2 11th April to 24th June Term 3 11th July to 16th Sept Term 4 3rd Oct to 20th Dec Like us on Reminders SUPERVISED HOURS: 8.45AM—3.30PM Notices Sent Home WGPS Open Gardens—5th & 6th November
Transcript
Congratulations to
Thank you to Special Thanks to
Bus Travel Walking School Bus—Friday 20th May
Book Club orders are due back at school on Monday 24th October.
Grade 4, 5 & 6 students have received their permission note for the upcoming Questacon excursion. Please return these permis-sion slips with payment by 26th October.
Grade 3 & 4 students have received their Sovereign Hill camp per-mission forms today. Please ensure all forms are returned to school no later than the 11th of November.
There are many beautiful locations and gardens throughout our school and local community, and we have a few passionate par-ents who would like to invite you to come and check out their little patch of paradise.
Our Open Garden event will take place from 10am-4pm on Satur-day 5th November & Sunday 6th November. You will be able to collect a map and take a self-guided drive around the district. There will be tea and coffee available at each stop and the possibility of a lunch special at the Willow Grove General Store. The finishing touches are still to be finalised, but keep the date free and take a tour of our beautiful community.
Willow Grove School and
Community Newsletter 2 0 T H O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 V O L 1 6 : I S S U E 3 2
DATES FOR 2016
21st October—1st 2017 Prep
Transition—9:30am-12:00pm
25th October—Building &
Grounds Meeting—7pm
25th October—School Council
Meeting—7:30pm
28th October—Questacon Sci-ence Excursion—Senior Students
at Yallourn Nth PS
1st November—Melbourne Cup
Day Public Holiday
3rd November—Brendan &
Simone attending PD
4th November—Brendan attend-
ing Inner Gipps Principals Forum
4th November - 2nd 2017 Prep
Transition—9:30am-12:00pm
9th November—Parent Associa-
tion Meeting—9:15am
14th November—Regional T20
Blast Cup Final
15th November—Building &
Grounds Meeting—7pm
15th November—School Council
Meeting 7:30pm
16th November—Ghana Beat My
Drum Musical Incursion
18th November—3rd 2017 Prep
Transition—9:30am-12:00pm
22nd November—Curriculum
Day for Students—Staff PD
28-30th Nov—Grade 3/4 Sover-
eign Hill Camp
28th November—Traf High
School—Gr 6 Half Day Transition
1st December—Brendan attend-
ing West Gipps Prins Meeting
MON TUE WED THU FRI
24
Brekky Club
25
Buildings &
Grounds Mtg—7pm
School Council
Mtg—7:30pm
26
Brekky Club
27
Brekky club
28
Questacon Science
Excursion—Gr 4, 5
& 6 Students
31
Brekky Club
01
Melbourne Cup
Public Holiday
02
Brekky Club
03
Brekky Club
Brendan & Simone
attending PD
04
Prep Transition—
9:30am—12:00pm
Inner Gippsland
Principals Forum
Oct/Nov 2016
Find us at—
www.willowgroveps.vic.edu.au
TERM DATES 2016
Term 1 27th Jan (teachers start)
to 24th March
Term 2 11th April to 24th June
Term 3 11th July to 16th Sept
Term 4 3rd Oct to 20th Dec
Like us on
Reminders
SUPERVISED HOURS: 8.45AM—3.30PM
Notices Sent Home
WGPS Open Gardens—5th & 6th November
Congratulations
Happy
Birthday Rory Wilms
Ella Robinson
News from Ann
School Working Bee—Saturday
NAPLAN
Parents play a major role in assisting and supporting their child to ac-quire strong literacy skills. Literacy learning started when your child was born. Parents play a vital role as their children’s first literacy teachers. Consider all the things that children learn before school as they mix with others, observe what others do and try to do the same things. Much of this learning happens naturally and within a social context. Oral lan-guage is the foundation of learning to read to write. Encourage your chil-dren to talk about and express their feelings and ideas. Provide experi-ences that expand their concepts and vocabulary. Children do not al-ways needs loads of money spent on them. Varied family outings, games inside and out, just pottering around with you as do jobs will ex-pand their notion of the world. They will bring their knowledge and under-standing of the world to their reading and writing. Literacy learning is a social experience because it depends on demon-strations from, collaboration with, and continuous feedback and re-sponse from, other people, it happens, at home and at school, when chil-dren are surrounded by people who listen, talk, think, read and write. Children need to see the purposes for reading and writing.
Here are some ideas for you to support your child develop literacy skills over the year levels. Share experiences (a picnic, camping, gardening, cooking, farming) which are then talked about at home Share books (especially stories) and talk about them with more experi-enced readers Have plenty of books to handle and read See print all around them Have models of how people read and write Have opportunities to read and write Know that people expect them to read and write Are given choices about what they read and write Feel free to ‘have a go ‘ at reading and writing (including spelling) Are able to talk about their reading and writing Experience feelings of success Feel responsible for their own reading and writing Have confidence in their own ability Understand what reading, writing and learning can do for them We need to work together, parents and teachers, to develop a part-nership which will support our literacy learners and to ensure a life- long learning. As adults we know that literacy provides the keys to life.
Can you help?
News from Ann
Student Achievements
P A G E 2
W I L L O W G R O V E S C H O O L A N D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S L E T T E R
It was a great morning last Sunday for our Sweat for the Kids fundraiser and by the end of the two hours (although they were kind and allowed us to finish a bit early), everyone who participated certainly gained an appreciated for why it was called Sweat 4 the Kids. The main message that came across was you can have fun with your children by being healthy and active in any location and no matter what your perceived ability is, everyone can get out there and benefit from physical activity. This was a great message to be pro-moting in our school community and already there are plans to make this an annual event. A huge congratulations to the students, who proved they were simply too strong during the Tug of War contest against the parents. There was one down side though, all of the participants won’t be able to listen to Thunderstruck by ACDC again, after we were made to squat and do squat jumps throughout the whole song. I know I was very sore the next day.
Raffle Winners 1
st – Freeman family
2nd
– Leah Mether 3
rd – Chris Nave
4th – Schultz family
5th – Schultz family
6th – Fozard family
As mentioned last week during this year’s Parent Association meetings, we have been discussing the possible idea of having a ‘Buddy Bench’ installed at Willow Grove PS. The buddy bench is a common sight across many primary schools in Australia and overseas. It is designed to help create a more inclusive playground. The idea is simple. Students who are feeling left out, lonely or are having trouble finding someone to play with can sit on the bench, with other students then inviting them to come and play or simply sit down and have a chat. We are looking for creative names to call our buddy bench, so it has a Willow Grove fla-vour. The Willow Grove and District Lions club have offered to donate the materials and with the expert craftsmanship of John Farrell, we will be able to hopefully carve the win-ning title into the bench so it can be part of the beautiful school for many more years to come. To enter: all you need to do is fill out the form below, or drop your suggestion off into the office, with your name by Friday 28
th of October. We will announce the winner after the
next Parent Association meeting on Wednesday the 9th of November.
Name:
Year Level:
Acting Principal’s Report P A G E 3
COMPETITION – Name our Buddy Bench
Suggestion:
Parent Association News
Congratulations
Happy
Birthday Rory Wilms
Ella Robinson
News from Ann
School Working Bee—Saturday
NAPLAN
Parents play a major role in assisting and supporting their child to ac-quire strong literacy skills. Literacy learning started when your child was born. Parents play a vital role as their children’s first literacy teachers. Consider all the things that children learn before school as they mix with others, observe what others do and try to do the same things. Much of this learning happens naturally and within a social context. Oral lan-guage is the foundation of learning to read to write. Encourage your chil-dren to talk about and express their feelings and ideas. Provide experi-ences that expand their concepts and vocabulary. Children do not al-ways needs loads of money spent on them. Varied family outings, games inside and out, just pottering around with you as do jobs will ex-pand their notion of the world. They will bring their knowledge and under-standing of the world to their reading and writing. Literacy learning is a social experience because it depends on demon-strations from, collaboration with, and continuous feedback and re-sponse from, other people, it happens, at home and at school, when chil-dren are surrounded by people who listen, talk, think, read and write. Children need to see the purposes for reading and writing.
Here are some ideas for you to support your child develop literacy skills over the year levels. Share experiences (a picnic, camping, gardening, cooking, farming) which are then talked about at home Share books (especially stories) and talk about them with more experi-enced readers Have plenty of books to handle and read See print all around them Have models of how people read and write Have opportunities to read and write Know that people expect them to read and write Are given choices about what they read and write Feel free to ‘have a go ‘ at reading and writing (including spelling) Are able to talk about their reading and writing Experience feelings of success Feel responsible for their own reading and writing Have confidence in their own ability Understand what reading, writing and learning can do for them We need to work together, parents and teachers, to develop a part-nership which will support our literacy learners and to ensure a life- long learning. As adults we know that literacy provides the keys to life.
Can you help?
News from Ann
Student Achievements
P A G E 3
W I L L O W G R O V E S C H O O L A N D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S L E T T E R
Winter
I also wanted to touch on an article I included in last week’s newsletter. Our School Coun-cil are currently reviewing our new Child Safe Standards policy and part of this policy will require adults and volunteers working with children to have a Working with Children Check. You can apply for this check online by visiting http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/ or by googling ‘Working with Children Check.’ You will then need to bring your card into the office so we can place your details on our register. This is an important reminder to do this, especially with the many events happen-ing in Term 4 and the school disco, set for Friday 16
th of December, which is well attended
by our families. This year at the disco, only parents with a valid Working with Children Check who are on our school register will be able to enter the hall. We understand that without the support of our families, there are many events that simply could not run, so please continue to support us, but just make sure you obtain a Working With Children Check first. They are free for volunteers
During Term 4 and as summer approaches, all schools begin to revise and update their Emergency Management Plan. Last week, we also practiced an emergency evacuation to prepare in case we were required to enact on our emergency plan. This also comes as an important reminder to make sure that the school has your most re-cent and up-to date contact details, this includes emergency contact information. Please notify either myself or Cindy in the office if your personal details or the details of any emer-gency contacts have changed. The school has also recently upgraded our system to enable text messages to be sent straight from our computer database. In the coming weeks we will be testing this SMS ser-vice. Please ensure that we have your correct details so that we can make sure this ser-vice works. Included below, is a summary of the steps that the school will take in the event of a bush-
fire emergency. Please come and see me if you have any questions.
Parents play a major role in assisting and supporting their child to ac-quire strong literacy skills. Literacy learning started when your child was born. Parents play a vital role as their children’s first literacy teachers. Consider all the things that children learn before school as they mix with others, observe what others do and try to do the same things. Much of this learning happens naturally and within a social context. Oral lan-guage is the foundation of learning to read to write. Encourage your chil-dren to talk about and express their feelings and ideas. Provide experi-ences that expand their concepts and vocabulary. Children do not al-ways needs loads of money spent on them. Varied family outings, games inside and out, just pottering around with you as do jobs will ex-pand their notion of the world. They will bring their knowledge and under-standing of the world to their reading and writing. Literacy learning is a social experience because it depends on demon-strations from, collaboration with, and continuous feedback and re-sponse from, other people, it happens, at home and at school, when chil-dren are surrounded by people who listen, talk, think, read and write. Children need to see the purposes for reading and writing.
Here are some ideas for you to support your child develop literacy skills over the year levels. Share experiences (a picnic, camping, gardening, cooking, farming) which are then talked about at home Share books (especially stories) and talk about them with more experi-enced readers Have plenty of books to handle and read See print all around them Have models of how people read and write Have opportunities to read and write Know that people expect them to read and write Are given choices about what they read and write Feel free to ‘have a go ‘ at reading and writing (including spelling) Are able to talk about their reading and writing Experience feelings of success Feel responsible for their own reading and writing Have confidence in their own ability Understand what reading, writing and learning can do for them We need to work together, parents and teachers, to develop a part-nership which will support our literacy learners and to ensure a life- long learning. As adults we know that literacy provides the keys to life.
Can you help?
News from Ann
Student Achievements
P A G E 4
W I L L O W G R O V E S C H O O L A N D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S L E T T E R
Winter
Thank-you to all of our families, friends and businesses who supported our Sweat 4 the Kids fundraiser in any way, shape or form. We are very thankful for the support we receive from our community.
A special mention to Brooke Donoghue who largely coordinated this event, ably as-sisted by our wonderful PA. Thanks also to Heather Ferguson, Kristy Mitchell, Tim Mackenlay and Lee Donoghue who helped in an official capacity on the day. Thanks also to Leah Mether for her effort in helping to promote our event. Apologies if I have left anyone out.
Thanks to the Willow Grove CFA for coming along at the end of our event. They al-so took the extra effort to fill in some holes left by their tyre marks, greatly appreciat-ed guys!
And finally, thanks to Bonnie, Josh and Izzy from Complete Health Personal Train-ing who put on a great morning of family fun for us all.
Whilst there is still plenty of weeks left in Term 4 and lots of exciting events, during this time of year, schools begin to make plans for the following school year. It is important that we have the correct information about student enrolments so that we make informed decisions about our class structures. If you are aware of new families who are intending to enrol at Willow Grove, please come and let us know. Likewise, if you intend on leaving please also let us know as this will enable us to accurately plan for the year ahead. 2017 Prep Transition Program A summary of the transition dates and what each student will need is included below. We look forward to welcoming all of our future students into our school for our transition ses-sions. These details have also been sent out in a letter to families who have completed an enrolment form. The following program outlines the Prep 2017 Transition Program, including what your child will need to bring:
Oct 21st
(9.30-12.00pm) – For pre-school children who are enrolling at Willow Grove Primary School. Parents will need to bring their child into school on this day. Please make your way to the Prep/1 Room and sign in your child. Children will be involved in school based activities for the morning. They will need their play lunch, drink, hat and a bag.
Nov 4th
(9.30-12.00pm) Parents will need to bring their child into school on this day. Please make your way to the Prep/1 Room. Children will be involved in school based activities for the morning. They will again need their play lunch, drink, hat and a bag.
Nov 18th
(9.30-12.00pm) Parents will need to bring their child into school on this day. Please make your way to the Prep/1 Room. Children will be involved in school based activities for the morning. They will need their play lunch, drink, hat and a bag.
Dec 2nd
(9.30 – 1.30pm) Parents will need to bring their child into school on this day. Please make your way to the Prep/1 Room. Children will be involved in school based activities for the day. They will need their play lunch, lunch, drink, hat and a bag on this day.
Dec 6th
-– (9.30-2.15pm)
Parents will need to bring their child into school on this day. Please make your way to the Prep/1 Room. Children will be involved in school based activities for the day with their grade for 2016. They will
need a play lunch and lunch on this day. Don’t forget a drink, hat and bag.
Planning for 2017
Parent Association News
Congratulations
Happy
Birthday Rory Wilms
Ella Robinson
News from Ann
School Working Bee—Saturday
NAPLAN
Parents play a major role in assisting and supporting their child to ac-quire strong literacy skills. Literacy learning started when your child was born. Parents play a vital role as their children’s first literacy teachers. Consider all the things that children learn before school as they mix with others, observe what others do and try to do the same things. Much of this learning happens naturally and within a social context. Oral lan-guage is the foundation of learning to read to write. Encourage your chil-dren to talk about and express their feelings and ideas. Provide experi-ences that expand their concepts and vocabulary. Children do not al-ways needs loads of money spent on them. Varied family outings, games inside and out, just pottering around with you as do jobs will ex-pand their notion of the world. They will bring their knowledge and under-standing of the world to their reading and writing. Literacy learning is a social experience because it depends on demon-strations from, collaboration with, and continuous feedback and re-sponse from, other people, it happens, at home and at school, when chil-dren are surrounded by people who listen, talk, think, read and write. Children need to see the purposes for reading and writing.
Here are some ideas for you to support your child develop literacy skills over the year levels. Share experiences (a picnic, camping, gardening, cooking, farming) which are then talked about at home Share books (especially stories) and talk about them with more experi-enced readers Have plenty of books to handle and read See print all around them Have models of how people read and write Have opportunities to read and write Know that people expect them to read and write Are given choices about what they read and write Feel free to ‘have a go ‘ at reading and writing (including spelling) Are able to talk about their reading and writing Experience feelings of success Feel responsible for their own reading and writing Have confidence in their own ability Understand what reading, writing and learning can do for them We need to work together, parents and teachers, to develop a part-nership which will support our literacy learners and to ensure a life- long learning. As adults we know that literacy provides the keys to life.
Can you help?
News from Ann
Student Achievements
P A G E 5
W I L L O W G R O V E S C H O O L A N D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S L E T T E R
Wi
On Friday the 28
th October, all of the students from Grades 4, 5 and 6 will be attending
an excursion to Yallourn North Primary School. A permission note was sent home last week and needs to be returned to school along with the $11 asap. Questacon will pro-vide a session in the area of STEM and there will be another session running also. “We create opportunities for young people and families to engage in the process of design, imagination, creativity - the skills that are really needed to help Australia go forward.” PROFESSOR GRAHAM DURANT AM – Director, Questacon
Maths lends itself particularly to being discovered and understood with the hands. Chil-dren can struggle with the abstract concepts that are taught in the classroom, about divi-sion, fractions and complicated sums. The numbers may not make any sense from a practical point of view without being able to feel them and see them to understand the concepts. Children learn to count objects reliably not through rote counting, but by the physical picking up and moving of objects, consolidating 1:1 correspondence and under-standing the concept of quantity as they do so. Of course, as with most things in life, we learn best by doing things in a real-life, practi-cal context. For example, simply baking some cupcakes lends itself to the most amazing maths learning experience. Reading the numbers in the recipe, weighing ingredients, comparing quantities and amounts, using 1:1 correspondence to fill the muffin tin holes with cases, counting out spoonfuls of cake mixture into each one, using timer to wait for them to cook and cool, adding candles or decorations to make patterns etc. Simone Gray
Last week students and staff enjoyed vegetable soup made from our school grown vegetables. My Chaplain’s Choice Student of the Week is Cooper W. for helping make the soup. That’s 20 points for Erica. Have a great week! Chaplain Deb.
Chaplain’s Spot
Chaplain’s Choice
Cooper W
From the STEM Desk
P.E. Award
P A G E 4
W I L L O W G R O V E S C H O O L A N D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S L E T T E R
