Hello and welcome to the final edition of the newsletter for term 2. Thank-you to all the parents and friends of WHPS who have supported the students and our school over the course of the term. We really appreciate all the time and effort that you have provided to your children and the school. Amazingly, we come to the half way point of the year. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the recent student reports, it was great to share in the wonderful efforts and achievements of your children. I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our dedicated staff team for all their wonderful work over the semester. The team of staff work extremely hard to develop and enhance your child’s learning experience. One of the most significant impacts on student learning is the support and encouragement that comes from home. Your input and support is most important to the ongoing development of your child. After a lengthy term I wish you all a safe and happy holiday period. I trust you will take the opportunity to enjoy some family time together. Whilst taking the holidays to refresh, I encourage you to look around for the many and varied teaching opportunities that present themselves. In recent linkletters I have sent out many examples of how you can support and consolidate your child’s learning through practical literacy and numeracy opportunities. In addition, one of the most important and significant roles you can play is to ongoing conversations with your child and to read with them every day!! Reports I trust that you found these to be a comprehensive and personalised account of your child’s progress over the first half year. The written reports will be complimented early in term 3 via the student led conferences that will reference and reflect the individual learning goals of your child. Basketball clinics Thanks to Diamond Valley Basketball Club for providing such a dynamic and supportive program for our year 3-6 students. It was great to be a part of these sessions and observe students enjoying the sport of basketball! Bunnings! Thanks to all the parents and staff who supported and contributed to our recent Bunnings BBQ fundraiser. We managed to raise in excess of $1300 which will ensure a second Gaga Pit for our students to enjoy in the playground! In addition, Bunnings have recently supported in our school in our sustainability initiatives for the Year Prep-2 students. This involved students learning and practicing sustainable practices including planting shrubs, tress, fruits and vegetables in and around our school. Term 3 planning Staff recently spent time planning in teams to develop the term 3 curriculum. This includes English, Mathematics and Inquiry based units of work. This opportunity allows student learning programs to be sequentially and systematically developed. These plans are then used to generate more specific learning foci that will unfold throughout the term ahead. Our school wide inquiry focus concept for next term centres around Social Justice!

Watsonia Heights Primary School 61 Henry Street, Greensborough 3088 (03) 94354617 www.watsoniaheightsps.vic.gov.au Email- watsonia.heights.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

LINKLETTER PRINCIPAL – MICHAEL KENT

ISSUE 10 DATED – 26

th June 2015 - Week 11

Farewell Ms Waterfall As you are aware Ms. Waterfall is departing Watsonia Heights PS on maternity leave as of the first day of term 3. This is an exciting time for Trudi and her husband Saimon as they expect their first child. On behalf of the whole school community we wish them luck in building their life as a family. I would also like to thank Trudi for all her fantastic work over the course of this year and indeed, previous years. Trudi has worked tirelessly for the school and for the benefit of the students in 1/2W. In replacing Trudi, we are excited to congratulate Mrs. Chelsea Ford on her appointment to the position. Chelsea brings a breadth of experience and expertise in teaching and learning. We welcome Chelsea to the WHPS team. Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF) Eligible families are able to apply to receive a one off payment of $125 to help cover the costs of school camps, sports and excursions. The office has application forms and once submitted the money will be directed to your family accounts. See the information sheet attached to the newsletter for further details. If you haven’t already taken up this opportunity please ensure you submit your application asap. Book Fair Thanks to the parents and students who enjoyed the recent School Book Fair. This provided a great opportunity to build the home library and foster a love for literacy! Your support of this program has also enabled the school to re-invest and replenish our library resources. Trivia Night Looking for a fun night out with parents and friends of WHPS? Well here’s your chance! Lock in Saturday 15th August as this major social event is a load of fun for everyone involved. More details to come! Shop for WHPS! Greensborough plaza is running a promotion whereby all purchases can earn points that accumulate for our school. There are incentive prizes along the way and some wonderful prizes for the winning school. So if you shop at the plaza please register and submit your receipts for WHPS!!! Premiers Reading Challenge A reminder of the 2015 Premiers Reading Challenge. The Challenge is open to all Victorian children. It is not a competition but places emphasis on individual challenge, participation and achievement. The focus of this activity is to promote literacy and reading for all students. As we know reading is the most empowering skill for all students. Educational research shows that increased exposure to books is directly proportional to improved learning outcomes. I encourage all students to continue their reading in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. More information about the challenge can be found on the official website: www.education.vic.gov.au/prc Region Cross Country Damon and Lexie represented Banyule Division at Region Cross Country last week. This was a wonderful achievement and we congratulate them both. Amazingly, Lexie has qualified for the next stage of competition which is the State Finals to be held next term. PATHS – ‘Greenday’ Thanks to all the students for their donations to yesterday’s casual clothes day. We managed to raise $245. These funds will go towards supporting the school in purchasing additional resources for our PATHS program. This program develops the social and emotional skills of all students. Playtime This week our year 5/6 students thoroughly enjoyed attending the production of Beauty and the Beast performed by the students of Greensborough Secondary College. A stimulating and thought provoking experience as we commence the build up to our Annual School concert. Victoria the Education State The most important thing that we can do as a school community is to make sure we give each and every student a great education and a great start to life. I know from speaking to many of you that you have great ideas for how we can improve the education we provide our students at school, and more broadly how we can improve our school system as a whole. I also regularly hear ideas from our staff, our school council, our local businesses and others in the community on how we can make our education system even better.

The Victorian Government has committed to making Victoria the Education State and has recently begun a consultation process – asking for us to share our ideas and experiences, our challenges and solutions – to help us improve our education system across the state. This is an opportunity for all of us to have our say and play a role in shaping what our education system will look like in the years to come. I will be thinking about how I can contribute my ideas to this consultation and I will be asking our staff to participate as well. I invite you to join in the conversation, because your ideas and insights – as parents of children currently in our school system – are critical to making sure we get the vision right for our state to become the Education State. You could also use social media to encourage your family and friends to join the discussion – education impacts everybody, and everyone deserves the opportunity to have their say. The best way to get involved is to go to educationstate.education.vic.gov.au where you can join in the online conversations or register to attend one of the sessions running across the state throughout June and July. As always, I invite you to share your ideas with me on what is working well and what we can do better. Have a great holiday and we look forward to seeing all the students back, healthy and happy on Monday 13th July. Warm regards, Michael PATHS PROGRAM Value Development Going to Primary School represents the beginning of the child’s entry into the larger society, with all its attendant responsibilities to self and others. This includes the importance of following basic rules, the obligation to respect the rights of others, and a commitment to the general welfare of individuals and the community. In a caring school community, one that embodies core ethical values of kindness, respect, fairness and personal responsibility, children develop their characters by observing, experiencing, being taught and practising these values in their daily lives. Our PATHS program gives students the framework to discuss value development in the unit of work dealing with Feelings and Relationships. The different feelings of privacy, hiding and changing feelings, greedy, selfish, generous, malicious, kind, rejected, included, excluded, forgiving and resentful are discussed. These feelings are linked to the feelings that are comfortable and the feelings that are uncomfortable, but all are OK feelings to have. Whilst manners is not a feeling word, several lessons about the importance of appropriate manners are given and the difference between manners and feelings are discussed. The importance of good manners, being rude vs being polite, the difference between saying “I’m sorry” and feeling sorry, and so forth, play an important part in this unit of work. One of the purposes of this unit is to discover that how we behave has a big impact on how other people feel about us. Having good manners (being polite) is important to making and keeping friendships. Whilst the focus is not on teaching specific manners, instead the emphasis is to encourage children to think about why they behave in the ways that they do. For example, the students will discuss the idea that the way that people act or behave can affect how other people feel. We encourage all, staff, students, parents and visitors to the school, to demonstrate simple courtesies when dealing with all situations at the school and so providing the appropriate role model for students. I appreciate your support in working together to provide the best learning opportunities for all students.

WHPS Term 3 Calendar Dates June 2015

Fri 26th Last Day of Term 2 – 1.30pm finish

July 2015

Mon 13th First day of Term 3

Tues 21st Curriculum Day

August 2015

Sat 15th WHPS Trivia Night Fundraiser - $20 per ticket

Family Fees Reminder – Term 3

Please make sure you are keeping up to date with your fortnightly fee plans as we do not want the children to miss out on the exciting

Term 3 activities.

All monthly payments are due on the 1st of each month.

Many thanks to all families who have paid their fees on time.

WHPS STUDENT OF THE WEEK

For Week beginning 15th of June 2015

Bethany Prep H Writing an interesting report about our excursion.

Dylan Prep C Doing such a great job at matching letters & sounds during writing time.

Ashanti 1/2 E Experimenting eith new adjectives in her writing. Keep up the great work Ashanti!

Jasper 1/2 E His fabulous effort in all reading activities. Keep up the great work Jasper!

Ava 1/2 S Presenting an excellent report about the environment from her Ipad.

Bianca 1/2T Her diligent efforts and use if feedback to improve the quality of her work. Amazing effort.

David 1/2 W Trying so hard to concentrate. Keep up the great work!

Finn 1/2 W Working so hard during ‘Big Write’. Your story was great! Well done Finn.

Will 3/4B Demonstrating independence and initiative.

Lahana 3/4G Exhibiting excellent effort and enthusiasm in the classroom by taking an active role in our contests and games.

Marcus 5/6R For his great effort and enthusiasm in researching Geothermal energy in the Big Research.

For Week beginning 22nd of June 2015

James Prep H For working hard to improve his hand writing.

Courtney Prep C Being such a great helper to others on her table. Well done!

Isabella 1/2E Working hard to sit her letters on the line. Keep up the great work Isabella!

Zeki 1/2E For always presenting his work beautifully with neat writing and colorful pictures.

Eysha 1/2S For always striving to do her best.

Isabel 1/2S Her conscientious attitude in all aspects of her.

Indian 1/2T For her active participation in PATHS lessons and use of Turtle. Well done!

Ryder 1/2W For doing great research on your Australian Animal for your information report.

Mikayla 3/4B An outstanding effort in her group project on solar power.

Riley 3/4B Great Problem solving skills in determining the best solutions for a tricky scenario.

Takoda 5/6M Showing maturity by resolving personal conflict that led to a very positive outcome.

Claire 5/6M Being Supportive and compassionate towards her peers during the week.

Logan 5/6R For finding many ways to make 7,777. Great problem solving skills Logan!

Lucas McKenzie Prep C Completing a tricky sequencing activity on his own. Well done!

Amelia Cunningham 1/2 E Being a responsible and helpful classmate who always tries her

best.

Jasper Howell 1/2 E Working really hard on his reading. Keep up the great work

Jasper!

Joshua Dematos 1/2 S Being a responsible computer monitor and returning the laptops

to be recharged daily.

Charlie Illingworth 1/2 S Being a responsible computer monitor and making sure the

grades computers are stored safely.

Bianca Milallos 1/2 T Her diligent effort and use of feedback to improve the quality of

her work. Amazing effort.

Libby Allen 1/2 W Identifying facts and opinions in Non-fiction texts.

Caitlih Henry 1/2 W Trying so hard in everything you do.

Nekeisha Christie 3/4B Excellent animal classification in her information report.

Kai Dowlan 3/4 G Showing greater resiliency in the classroom and also being an

active contributor to all of our classroom discussions.

Dear Watsonia Heights Primary School,