Templestowe Park Newsletter 6 August 2021

RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY INTEGRITY PRIDE OPTIMISM

399-409 Church Road, Templestowe 3106 Telephone: (03) 9846 2700

Web: www.templestoweparkps.vic.edu.au Email: templestowe.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au

TERM 3 – WEEK #5 of 10

Preps celebrating being at school for 100 Days

Monday

9 August

Tuesday

10 August

Wednesday 11 August

Thursday

12 August

Friday 13 August

TERM 3 – WEEK #6 of 10

Monday

16 August

Tuesday 17 August

Wednesday

18 August

Thursday 19 August

Grade 3 Camp – Camp Oasis

Friday

20 August Grade 3 Camp – Camp Oasis

Hello Parents and Friends,

Experience has taught us to wait until the last minute before writing up our opening comments in the

newsletter, and this prophecy has once again rung true. We have plunged into another 7-day lockdown;

however, we are not going to dwell on that. We want to highlight how optimistic, resourceful and

passionate our entire school community is. There has not been any greater example of this than the last

week at Templestowe Park PS after returning from lockdown 5. We will provide an outline of the last 7

days at the school.

Our classroom and specialist learning programs, learning, support and extension initiatives and

wellbeing programs all returned in full swing from 9:00am on the very first day back at school.

Our Grade 1 Camp took place on the second night back at school.

We welcomed new chickens to our school and our sustainability leaders have been looking after

them while our classes learn more about chicken welfare and care.

PRINCIPALS’ REPORT

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We celebrated National Tree Planting Day last Friday with our Grade 6 students leading the way

planting new, native flora within the school.

Our new sustainability leaders commenced their workshops with our sustainability teacher, Ms

Tarlinton.

Another successful TPPS Writers’ Festival and Awards ceremony was held this week.

Our resilient Grade Prep students celebrated 100 days of school with a dress up and a wide range

of fun activities on Tuesday.

Our outstanding PFA volunteers ran a delicious Term Lunch on Wednesday that was enjoyed by

all.

We managed to organise and run a fantastic Mini-Olympics Day on Thursday for all students from

Grades 1-6. It was so much fun!

We hosted an assembly that will be published online very shortly.

Our teachers undertook outstanding professional learning on how to improve our writing by using

‘Bump it Up’ walls.

All these wonderful events have happened in just the last 7 days at the school. This is why Templestowe

Park PS is such a thriving, innovative and successful school. We are all continually striving to provide the

very best opportunities for our students. We could not be any prouder or more thankful for our

outstanding students, staff, and community.

Please take care and stay safe over this lockdown. As always, if you need assistance at all please do not

hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher or one of the Principal class.

TPPS Writers’ Festival

The 2021 TPPS Writers’ Festival, held this week, was an ideal opportunity to recognise the talented writers

we have at Templestowe Park. Every student from Grades Prep to 6 selected a piece of their writing to

display in the school library for the whole school to read and enjoy. A shortlist of writing pieces were

selected and then judged by a panel who chose the works that will ultimately be published in the 2021

collection of stories and essays. This was not an easy task as we had so many worthy pieces to select

from.

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We are extremely pleased to announce that the following students from Grades Prep to 6 will have their

written pieces published.

Prep Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3

Cooper B Ricky L Fletcher C Leena B

Daniel L Logan W Miranda W Delta C

Clara B Nela Y-H Ellie K George N

Cormac Y-H Nishi P Angus B Mariana A

Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6

Katara H Harry N Jamie G

Eleanor T Ario G Mikayla N

Melody V Anna D Lucas H

Lucas M Priscilla L Michael C

Zoe G Giselle G

Sienna W

Gretchen M

On Thursday we held an awards ceremony to acknowledge these talented

writers and congratulate them for their fine efforts. Unfortunately, due

to COVID restrictions we were not able have parents and family at the

presentation. We did record the event and you can click on the link below

to watch it: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/583238969

We are so proud of the efforts of these young writers and all students from across the entire school. The

quality of writing was exceptional and it was an extremely difficult process to select the stories to publish.

The collection of stories and essays will be published later in the year and will be made available to the

school community.

Grade 1 Movie Night!

We were so pleased that the Grade 1 Movie Night could take place only after returning to school from our

lockdown one day before. The teachers were extremely keen for our Grade 1 students to experience the

excitement of their first school camp. The students had a wonderful time as they watched a movie with

their friends and enjoyed a pizza dinner. We would like to thank the Grade 1 teachers for organising such

a great night and our enthusiastic Grade 1 students for making the most of such a fun time with their

classmates. Please see photos of the night later in the Newsletter.

PFA Term Lunch

We had our first PFA Term Lunch for almost two years on Wednesday and it was a great success. COVID

restrictions over the past 18 months have meant that the PFA were unable to undertake this special lunch,

however, through persistence and creativity they made it happen this time around. Our students enjoyed

a yummy Bakers Delight lunch. A huge thank you goes to Kate Claringbould, Emma White and the PFA

for organising the lunch. Little rays of sunshine like this mean a lot to our students and school community.

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100 Days of School for Our Preps!

In what is possibly one of the most special days of the school year, our Prep students celebrated 100 days

at school last Tuesday. All Prep students and teachers dressed up as a centenarians. Many had grey hair,

wrinkles, bushy eyebrows and distinguished moustaches. Sounds like we are describing Mr Cleary and Mr

Roberts here.

The Preps undertook a wide variety of fun and exciting lessons and activities all about the number 100

during the day. By the smiles on their faces, we know they had a wonderful day. Congratulations to all

of our Prep students on 100 days of school. The start of their formal schooling has included three different

lockdowns, lessons via Google Meet and learning in their lounge rooms. If we said this 2 years ago people

would have thought we were crazy! Well done, Preps!

Book Week and Dress Up Day! – Monday, 23 August

The Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Week is set to take

place from Monday, 23 to Friday, 27 August at Templestowe Park.

The theme for 2021 is ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’.

During Book Week we will be celebrating books and Australian

children's authors and illustrators.

On Monday, 23 August we will be having a special dress up day

where every student will have the opportunity to dress up as their

favourite book character; please lock this date in your calendar. We

can’t wait to see our students, teachers and staff dressed up and

celebrating their love of reading and literature.

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Positive Education – Gratitude

Recently, we have received a short article by Dr Lea Waters AM, PhD. Dr Waters is the world’s leading

expert in Positive Education and she has shared her thoughts on COVID Fatigue and how practising

gratitude can help our children through this stressful period. This can include doing the following simple

things with your child:

• Take turns at dinner sharing one awesome thing from your day.

• At bedtime, say three things you appreciate about each other.

• In the car play a game where you says all the things you love (colour,

food, movie, hobby, school class, sport, song, etc)

• Every Sunday share one nice thing you will do for someone this

week.

Please see Dr Waters article below, we encourage you to take on one or

more of the suggested practices with your children.

Fight COVID Fatigue

Are you also experiencing COVID fatigue?

I was on a recent walk with a close friend of mine and this topic came up.

It’s because we noticed that our kids seemed to be tired all the time.

I don’t know about you, but for me and my kids, tiredness means negativity has crept in.

And this negativity has a name…

It’s called COVID fatigue

That’s the name that psychologists have coined for what a lot of us are feeling.

And it’s that deep weariness arising from more than a year of life in a global pandemic.

Unfortunately, it’s hitting us in many ways.

It’s especially true for our children.

In our home, it’s been harder for us to stay positive compared to this time last year. This is

understandable because COVID-19 seems to drag on.

In my hometown of Melbourne, we’ve had 4 rounds of hard lockdown - curfews, remote

learning for my 2 kids, working from home for me and my hubby, only being allowed out of

the house for 1 hour per day etc…

It’s been a very long and painful journey for so many of us across the globe.

But if you think about it, it’s ironic to feel so negative at this point.

Why?

The world is showing signs of moving forward.

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Large-scale vaccination programs are happening all over the world. People are getting

inoculated and can now freely move outside.

Children are starting to go back to school.

In some countries, they already have zero cases (but my heart goes to those countries who

still have high rates).

So, why is there still a drop in positivity?

Maybe it's’ because we’re too tired to have the energy needed to get past the negativity. And

if we can’t recover from that, how can we move forward?

What can we do to help our children stay positive and energized?

Practice gratitude.

Part of positive psychology, which is the field I specialise in as a registered psychologist and a

university researcher, is focusing on gratitude.

It’s an essential cog of our ‘orienting system’ that can help us recover from loss and trauma -

just like what the pandemic caused us.

In fact, I recently published an article in the Journal of Positive Psychology with a team of

global psychologists where we discussed the power of gratitude as one of the key ways to deal

with COVID fatigue.

Gratitude plays an important role in helping children cope with the stress that they are going

through.

By teaching your children the value of gratitude, it can help them keep their focus on the

positives around them. It can also help them maintain hope and remain as happy as possible

despite what’s happening.

Gratitude gives us the energy we need to see past the negativity we’re feeling because of

COVID fatigue.

Stay safe and have a relaxing weekend,

Mark Roberts Brian Cleary Robyn Twyford

PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Online Orders During Current Restrictions

See your Compass newsfeed for guidance on how to place an order with

the Uniform Shop.

Lindsay Burrows

THE UNIFORM SHOP

UNIFORM SHOP

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2021– BOOK DONATIONS

I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to all the

parents and families who generously donated to the School

Library Fund last term.

Our School Library and Resource Centre is a vital part of

our school, providing our students with a range of rich

resources and books to foster a love of reading and to

stimulate enquiring minds.

These donations accelerate the renewal and upgrade of our library and offer students valuable new books

and resources. We sincerely appreciate your support. In total, we received the magnificent amount of

$4,049.00 in donations amounting to many wonderful new books for the School Library and Resource

Centre.

Students had the opportunity to choose a variety of books from our “shop” and then borrow their chosen

books to share with their families at home. We do hope that your child enjoys seeing their name on a

certificate inside the book.

Please ensure that your child returns the donated books to the school library as soon as they have finished

reading them so that the rest of the school also has the opportunity to borrow the new books.

Thank you once again,

Lindsay Burrows

LIBRARY

LIBRARY NEWS

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Congratulations to our newest members of the student community. You have been here at school for 100 days now. We are so sorry to see it has taken such a toll on your appearance.

THIS HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO: FRIDAY, 13th AUGUST

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a

temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for financial

assistance from the CSEF (Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund).

A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker

and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to

use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child. The

annual CSEF amount per student is: $125. Please contact the school office for an application form, or use

the link below to access a copy from the Department’s website:

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/documents/about/programs/health/csefapplicationform.pdf

Please complete the form and return it to the office, together with a copy of your card.

Thank you,

Barbara Oostveen

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/resources

PREPS HAVE BEEN HERE FOR 100 DAYS!!

CSEF: CAMPS, SPORTS & EXCURSIONS FUND

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The Grade One Camp Night was such a perfectly timed event and a lovely way to return to school after

lockdown. Here are photos of some of our grade one students enjoying the night. It was such a treat for

them to be able to spend the evening with their friends and favourite teddies, dressed in pyjamas ready

to enjoy pizza and a movie.

GRADE 1 STUDENTS ENJOYING CAMP NIGHT

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GRADES 1-6 MINI OLYMPICS DAY

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NATIONAL TREE PLANTING DAY

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Here are some diary dates for your information that go beyond the

two-week calendar that is on the front page of the Newsletter.

Please note that with the ongoing restrictions, these dates are

subject to change.

Term 3

WEEK #5

• POSTPONED: Prep 2022 – Young Einsteins #2: Wednesday, 11th August, 2.00-3.00pm

• CSEF Applications Close: Friday, 13th August

WEEK #6

• Science Week at Templestowe Park

• Grade 3 Camp: Thursday & Friday, 19th & 20th August

• Last Day to submit entries to The Wizard of Oz competition: Friday, 20th August

WEEK #7

• Book Week at Templestowe Park

• Book Week Dress Up Day: Monday, 23rd August

• Prep 2022 – Young Einsteins #3: Wednesday, 25th August, 2.00-3.00pm

• To Be Confirmed: PFA School Disco: Friday, 27th August, evening

WEEK #8

• To Be Confirmed: PFA Fathers’ Day Stall: Wednesday, 1st September

• Prep Excursion – Melbourne Aquarium: Wednesday, 1st September (leaving after recess)

WEEK #9

• Grades 5&6: School Production: Tuesday, 7th September (Forest Hill College) – evening

• Grades 5&6: School Production: Wednesday, 8th September (Forest Hill College) – evening

WEEK #10

• Last Day of Term 3: Friday, 17th September - Students Dismissed Early: 2.30pm

Term 4

WEEK #1

• First Day of Term 4: Monday, 4th October

2021 Term Dates

Term 3: Monday, 12th July – Friday, 17th September (10 weeks)

Term 4: Monday, 4th October – Friday, 17th December (11 weeks)

SIGNIFICANT FUTURE DIARY DATES

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Please refer to our Blogs to see what has been happening in our Specialists’ classrooms over recent weeks.

http://tppsspecialists.weebly.com

The Wizard of OZ - Get Your Artistic Hats On!

All students in Grades Prep to 4 are invited to get involved in

the school production of The Wizard of Oz – Young Performers

Edition. From now until Friday, 20th August (end of Week 6),

students can design and make their own accessories that can

be worn by some of our whimsical characters of

Munchkinland.

Once completed the students can then bring these in items

into school where they will be displayed outside the school

office on the tables in the school foyer. These should be

accessories that the students performing in

Munchkinland can wear; things like: colourful hats,

scarves, belts, necklaces or other accessories that suit

these fun-loving habitants of Munchkinland.

Four entries judged to be the best will be used in the Oz

‘Munchkinland’ scene and those students will be given

the opportunity to go onstage in our upcoming school

production in a cameo role. Other entries will also be

used during the performance.

Please ensure any accessories brought in are made to fit

Grade 5 and 6 students and are clearly labelled with your child’s name and class.

Good luck to all students and have fun!

Emma Hunt

PERFORMING ARTS TEACHER

SPECIALISTS’ BLOGS

JUNIOR SCHOOL PRODUCTION COMPETITION

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We are continuing to plan for Events during the term.

However, as with other events, they are subject to change due to the restrictions in place.

We thank you for your patience and understanding.

PFA Term Lunch

It was third time lucky on Wednesday when we could finally run

our PFA lunch for the students!! Over 350 children received an

order with the school raising approximately $560, thanks to the

generosity of Roland from Bakers Delight at Macedon Plaza.

A huge thank you needs to go to Kate Claringbould for making

this possible. Her impeccable organisation was greatly

appreciated to deliver a smooth event for the students who

deserved a special lunch after another challenging start to the

term.

We look forward to hopefully restrictions easing further in the near future and more PFA events on the

school calendar.

Parents & Staff Social Evening - postponed

The Social Evening has been postponed until restrictions have been eased. Thank you to those of you who

booked a ticket for the night – these tickets will be valid for the next date set.

School Disco: Friday, 27th August (to be confirmed)

Save the date.

Grab your gooiest hair gel, glittering glad rags and pointy dancing shoes

because the school disco is making a return in 2021. Please keep a

watch on your Compass Newsfeed for when the tickets go on sale.

Fathers’ Day Stall: Wednesday, 1st September (to be confirmed)

Get ready to spoil Dad or another special person when we hold the Fathers’

Day Stall on Wednesday, 1st September.

Keep a watch on your Compass Newsfeed for further details about the stall

being run by PFA Volunteers.

Upcoming Events

• Parents & Staff Social Evening – new date to be advised

• School Disco: Friday, 27th August

• Fathers’ Day Stall: Wednesday, 1st September

Thank you,

Emma White

PFA PRESIDENT

PARENTS AND FRIENDS ASSOCIATION - PFA

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Second-Hand and Lost & Found – School Uniforms - ONLY

Parents from the school have created a Templestowe Park “buy, swap and sell” group on Facebook in an

effort to help families locate lost and found jackets and other items of uniform; it will also be a place to

sell off old uniforms. We encourage you to look at the group to see if it helps you in any way.

The group can be found by clicking on the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/164130594118642/.

The school’s Uniform Shop will continue to sell any second-hand

items that have previously been given to them, but all future items

will be redirected to the above group.

The Department of Education and Templestowe Park Primary School School Council do not endorse the products or services of any private advertiser or community group. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of information contained in advertisements or claims made by them.