Volume 22 Issue 13 Thursday 12 May 2016

E ducation Week 2016 Education Week will be celebrated from 15-21 May 2016 when kindergartens and government

schools throughout Victoria will open their doors to parents and their broader communities through information nights, open days and evenings, student displays, performances and other special events that showcase their programs and achievements. For Victoria, the key to a prosperous future lies in a highly-skilled workforce, including strong capability in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This is why the Department is dedicated to providing all students high-quality curriculum, as part of its commitment to make Victoria the Education State. A highlight of Education Week is the much anticipated Calendar of Free Events presented by the Department of Education and Training in partnership with galleries, museums, libraries, farms and zoos, performance groups, tourism attractions and other community organisations with educational programs. This year, schools are encouraged to explore technology with this year’s theme titled - Technology. Create Your Future. Our Open Evening will be held on Wednesday 18 May from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. We look forward to a GREAT attendance on the evening!

S chool Assembly As you are aware, school assemblies are held in our gymnasium each Friday. They provide us with

the opportunity to address the children collectively and to give recognition to student achievement through the presentation of Stars of the Week.

They also provide the opportunity for students to perform and showcase some of the activities undertaken in our performing arts program. On Friday, 6th May, our newly formed Year Six Rock Band performed for the first time at assembly. Their performance of the song “Thank You, Mum” by Good Charlotte was dedicated to all the mums as an early celebration of Mothers’ Day. Congratulations to William (drums), Taj (bass guitar), Senuth (electric guitar), Luke (keyboard), Shreya, Yuvarnika, Riley, Caitlyn and Jake (vocals). Their performance has inspired other Year 5 and 6 students to form bands for their future Performing Arts projects.

www.brentwoodparkps.vic.edu.au

TERM DATES 2016 TERM 1 28 JAN. - 24 MARCH TERM 2 11 APRIL - 24 JUNE TERM 3 11 JULY - 16 SEPT. TERM 4 03 OCT. - 20 DEC.

06 MAY-03 JUNE INTER-SCHOOL SPORTS YEAR 6 AND SELECTED 5S 16 MAY-19 MAY MONSTER BOOK FAIR (MONSTER DRESS UP DAY MAY 17) 17 MAY 18 MAY EDUCATION WEEK OPEN NIGHT 6:00-7:00 P.M. 18 MAY YEAR 5 SOVEREIGN HILL EXCURSION (PAYMENT $50.00 DUE 11/05/16 OR CSEF) 01 JUNE CANTEEN SPECIAL LUNCH DAY (PAID TO THE CANTEEN ON FRIDAYS OR BY 18/5/16) 10 JUNE LIGHTNING PREMIERSHIP AT SWEENEY RESERVE 14 JULY CULTURAL INFUSION INCURSION YEAR 3/4’S ($14.50 PAYMENT DUE BY 6/06/16)

JIM BELL, PRINCIPAL JENNY REID, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

DATES TO REMEMBER

2017 FOUNDATION ENROLMENT PACKS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT THE OFFICE.

C urriculum Highlights This week, we feature published articles in

relation to Year Prep’s Growing Peas and Beans for Science, Year 1’s Zoo to You incursion and their Mothers’ Day Tribute, Year 2’s Back to the Past experience day, Getting Along in the performing arts program and Kambrya Extension Maths!

K ambrya Extension Maths Over the past few weeks, the students have continued to consolidate their understanding of

Algebra! TOPIC: Solving equations through balancing. LEARNING GOAL: To continue work on solving equations by applying the knowledge of inverse operations. SUCCESS CRITERIA: To be able to systematically rearrange an equation to solve an unknown variable through the application of inverse operations. Method: x-5 = 8 Step 1. Move the pronumerals to the left hand side of the equal sign. x = 8+5 Step 2. Move the numbers to the right hand side of the equation. x = 13 The students then went on to solve more difficult equations, such as 8-x=2 8 - x = 2 -x = 2- 8 -x = -6 x = 6

Francine, Elise, Zubair and Anant were very focused on their learning and enjoyed the session and Srihari assisted Mr Stark with the solving of an equation!

Next week, the students will continue to further develop their algebraic knowledge through the solving of more difficult equations!

B RIDGES LITERACY PROGRAM: You can make a difference by becoming a BRIDGES literacy assistant at Brentwood Park!!

Bridges is a literacy program that pairs a student who needs help with reading and writing, with a literacy assistant who wants to make a difference in a student’s life. The ability to read is essential in affording an individual the opportunity for a lifetime of learning. Helping a child to become a successful reader is a most rewarding experience. Over the past few years, many children at Brentwood Park have benefited from the assistance of trained volunteers. These children not only improved their literacy skills but also grew in confidence and self-esteem. We would like to express our thanks and appreciation to the literacy assistants and congratulate the students who have participated in the BRIDGES Program. Some of our volunteers have obtained employment while others have moved out of the area. As a result, we require enthusiastic volunteers to work with individual students this year. All volunteers will attend a half day training session and will be guided and given help throughout the program to ensure a successful and pleasurable experience for themselves and their students. Volunteers are expected to attend for a minimum of 2 and if possible, 3 sessions per week. Each session lasts for approximately 45 minutes. All that we require is a current ‘Working with Children Card’. An application can be made at a post office. Everything that you need, except for your time and commitment to the BRIDGES Program, is provided by the school. Attendance times would be negotiated between the child’s classroom teacher and the volunteer. Regular attendance is important to ensure the success of the program and the establishment of a continuing relationship between the volunteer and student. Volunteers play a vital role in increasing student achievement and self- confidence. Volunteers can be parents, grandparents or anyone who wishes to be involved in their local community. If you are interested in becoming a BRIDGES literacy assistant, please contact Jenny Reid, at the school (9702 2022) or complete the form that has been sent home with your child. At Brentwood Park we have an Early Years BRIDGES Program for students in Years 1, 2 and 3, and a Middle Years Program for students in Years 4, 5 and 6. The next training session will be for those interested in the Middle Years Program and will be held on Tuesday 24th May from 9:15 to 12:00 in the staffroom.

If you see a snake in the wild...never touch it. Snakes do a great job at eating all of the mice and rats.

Crocodiles have sixty-six sharp teeth. When they fall out, they grow back again. Poor old tooth fairy!

Frogs can shed their skin like a snake. However, instead of throwing it in the bin… they sometimes eat it… YUK!

Year One students learnt many AMAZING facts. Some of these were:

Some lizards sense with their tongues. Don’t worry, they aren’t being rude.

Geckoes lack eye -lids. However, they don’t need a face washer to keep their eyes clean... They LICK their eyes clean with their tongues.

Koalas are not bears.

Frogs are amphibians.

On Friday 6th May, mothers, grandmothers, aunties, sisters and special ladies were invited to join the Grade Ones for a special Mother’s Day afternoon. Children took this opportunity to spoil their mums with massages, nail painting and of course unlimited hugs. Mums were treated with “champagne” (pink lemonade), scones and princess crowns while watching the students perform the song “I Love My Mummy”. There was a spectacular turnout with many students bringing along two or three special guests. The Grade One team would like to thank everyone who attended. It was a beautiful afternoon for all involved.

Science in FLP Growing Peas and Beans On Pirate Day in term 1, the children in FLP planted peas in the vegetable garden and have been excitedly watching these plants grow.

To help the children understand how plants grow from seeds, we planted bean seeds in clear plastic cd cases. The children were able to see the initial root break out from the seed and quickly establish a root system. The first shoot came out after that, followed by the leaves. Once our bean plants had grown too big for the cd cases, we transferred them to a cup. The children could take these home and plant them in their own gardens.

Science in FLP Growing Peas and Beans

Past School Day On 3rd May all the year 2 children experienced an

olden days school day. The children practised their

handwriting, reading and arithmetic. Some children

also got to make ‘Drop Scones’ and play a number of

games.

The grade 2 students were able to spend the afternoon outside participating in activities from the past. They had fun rotating though hoola hooping, hopscotch, egg and spoon racing, skipping and elastics.

Dear Parents, 

Reading takes children further by engaging their imagination.

Our Monster Book Fair will be a great way for you to:

View the best selection of affordable, age–appropriate books

Encourage your child to explore new books Help us acquire more learning resources with

the funds we earn from all purchases.

PLEASE JOIN US

May 16th-19th (am only)

8.30am-9am & 3.15-4pm In the Multi-Media Centre

Our Monster Dress up day will be on May 17th.

We will also have a special visitor at our Assembly on 13 May. Lots of dates to remember!!!!

Term 2 Week ending 6th May 2016

FBM Maahir For being a superstar hand writer. Keep practising to get faster! Well done! FBV Paige For her improved behaviour and implementing her reading strategies. FLP Dev N For confidently sounding out words when trying to write them. AWESOME effort, Dev! FSM Rex For working well in Art on his collage monster. FTL Matthew For fantastic reading of all his Oxford words. 1/2R Tiffany For her big write about ‘Rose’ the duck and including her VCOP elements. Well done! 1HG Kade R For demonstrating persistence and a basic understanding when working with ‘bundles’ for place value. 1MB Grace For the enthusiasm and courage shown during our Zoo to You incursion. 1MC Hayden For trying his best when writing a letter to an animal this week. Well done! 2AD William For his OUTSTANDING effort with his homework this week! Well done! 2CM Leigh For the great job you’ve been doing on your spelling and story writing. Well done! 2DK Dellameare For her greatly improved handwriting and persistence when working on her writing goal. 3CH Emmy For always showing respect and great teamwork in our class. 3LM Kaelon For being resilient in your learning. Keep up the great work. 3SH Nigitha For your persistence in Maths! Keep up the good work. 4CP Lea For her exciting maths this week. 4CV Ben W For staying concentrated on the task at hand. Excellent work. Keep it up! 4VK Ryan For a great job in your science book. 5/6T Grace For her focus, desire to achieve and being an independent learner. 5LF Jack D For writing an excellent persuasive piece on your hero & much improved recall of times tables. Well done! 5SM Chloe J For writing a thoughtful persuasive text. Well done, Chloe! 6JA Ezy C For using all the VCOP strategies in his narrative, ‘The Magic Shoes’. Great writing. 6JD Sofia S For continued effort to work to the best of her ability and her terrific work ethic. 6JP Brodie W For producing high quality text responses in CAFÉ when working on Comprehension. Superb work!

Term 2 Week ending 6th May 2016

‘SPECIALIST’ Stars of the Week

Health & P.E. 1MB For excellent throwing at the targets. Visual Arts 3SH For the amazing work on your silhouette tree collages. Performing Arts 2CM For excellent work on melody—showing the melody of “Tick Tock” using magnets, then playing ‘by ear’. LOTE 1MC For your great engagement and enthusiasm in learning Chinese this week. 1/2R For your engagement and enthusiasm in learning Chinese & finishing your Chinese homework early and quickly.

P LEASE DIRECT MONEY FOR EXCURSIONS, ETC TO YOUR CLASSROOM TEACHER - NOT TO THE OFFICE. Please hand money and permission slip in sealed envelopes to classroom teacher first thing in the morning. By following this process teachers are aware that your child will be attending the excursion and mark them

off their lists. Money is collected by office staff and processed each morning and a receipt given back to teachers along with permission slips. All money is tallied and banked daily – no money is left on the premises. If you wish to pay by credit card, a proforma is available from the office. This can be filled out with details and placed in a sealed envelope and handed to your classroom teacher

Please deliver cash in a sealed envelope with your child’s name and grade on the front by 9.30 a.m. If you have a number of children attending an excursion you can place all money and permission slips in the one envelope with children’s names and grades on the front and deliver to one of the children’s teachers. The office staff will be able to allocate money to the children’s particular items and distribute permission slips and receipts back to teachers. Enve-lopes are available at the office. If you have a large amount to be paid or need to process an EFTPOS transaction through a savings account you can make arrangements to pay at the office. We also have a new Qkr payment system on our Skoolbag app. If you download our Skoolbag app and Qkr payment app you can now pay for your child’s excursion on line.

All change will be delivered to the children in the afternoon. Re-imbursements will only be made under certain circumstances – they will be made by cheque (no cash transactions are made).

Notices are sent out with a final collection time – please adhere to this time. All money and permission slips are re-quired to be sent back by this date – otherwise your child will not be able to attend. This enables us to confirm book-ings and numbers with bus companies and organisations we are visiting. Also we need to send details to the Depart-ment of Education Emergency Management for all excursions, camps, etc. We also need to accommodate students who will not be attending.

We would appreciate it if parents could please follow these processes.

2017 Year 7 Future Students

REMINDER Applications to Alkira's Sports Program and Accelerated Learning Program close on Friday May 13th 2016. Applications after this date will not be considered. Accelerated Learning Program testing will take place on Saturday May 28th 2016. Skills testing for the Sports Academy will take place beginning Friday 27th May.

Additional enquiries for either programs can be made to Alkira Secondary College 03 5991 3518