06-Apr-2022
Dear Families
The end of the longest Term 1 in memory is upon us and it is worth taking a moment to reflect on the incredible efforts of our students, families and staff that made the term a successful one.
Students have continued to display our school values by being Respectful, Kind and Determined – and they have been magnificent in settling back into the rhythm and structure of school.
The support from all parents and carers to keep building community spirit has been invaluable in creating an environment where students can thrive. It is wonderful to see so many people connecting and chatting after school, often with toddlers enjoying the playgrounds and it has started to feel that school is ‘normal’ again. THANKYOU.
Our Staff have continued to go above and beyond to provide outstanding learning opportunities and a strong focus on wellbeing. The genuine care our staff take with our students, their passion and skill, and their hard work helps to helps to create a calm and supportive learning school.
There have been many highlights over the last term. A wonderful Twilight Market last week shone a light on our community and the work of our School Council, most noticeably the Fundraising team was instrumental in making this such a successful event. We have also run:
- Cross Country Trials
- Excursions and Incursions
- Assemblies
- Breakfast Club
- Student leaders’ day
- AFL Clinics
- Martial Arts Therapy
- District swimming
Finally, (but very importantly) please look after yourself. We know the value of healthy food, good hydration, regular exercise and a good night’s sleep. We know it is important to have good social and family connections and a balanced lifestyle. Don’t ignore these things – rather try to find opportunities to prioritise these over the coming weeks.
Breakfast Club
Throughout Term 2 as the cooler Winter months approach, we are hoping to provide hot meals – along with cereals, fruit and toast each morning. We have an increasing number of volunteers to assist with the running of this program and if you’re keen to help out for 30-40 minutes on any given morning from 8:00 am, we’d love to hear from you. We regularly have 25-30 students in the STEM center every morning enjoying a great start to the day that this program offers and as we try to expand the options of different foods for students (and toddlers), we’re hoping for a couple of extra sets of hands. It’s a terrific experience and very rewarding. Please contact us at school if you’d like to help – any and all help is welcomed.
Resilience Project parent webinar
We are really looking forward to our Parent / Carer Webinar with Martin Heppell from the Resilience Project on Monday 9th May, 6.30pm – 8.00pm.
During this presentation, Martin will share his experiences and combine them with practical strategies that can be implemented everyday to improve our overall wellbeing.
Parents/ Carers will need to register using the following registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YmLGrZ40SIaYLMV1-gylBQ
**Upon registration, registrants will receive a link to attend the webinar, along with a reminder the day prior. Please note that the webinar will include parents from our Partnership Schools.
Attached is a flyer with some information about the online webinar.
2022 Parent & Community Presentation Flyer General Information
Progress reports are now live and can be accessed through the Compass App.
1. Open Compass
2. Click on your child’s photo
3. Scroll across right on the top menus (under your child’s name)
4. Click on Reports (the very last menu option)
5. Select ‘NAME OF REPORT’ (2022 semester 1 Progress Report 1)
6. Your child’s report will download and open in PDF
Instructions for accessing the Progress reports via a desktop are attached.
Compass Access Academic Reports
Thank you
Throughout term 1 Brad has been a tireless worker as our Physical education teacher and has been the organiser of a number of sports events for our students. Brad has made the decision to further his teaching career closer to home and Friday marks his last day with us. We wish him well in the next phase of his teaching and thank him for his efforts throughout the Term.
Teaching and Learning
From Foundation onwards we start to educate students morphology.
Morphology is the study of words and their parts.
Morphemes, like prefixes, suffixes and base words, are defined as the smallest meaningful units of meaning.
Morphemes are important for phonics in both reading and spelling, as well as in vocabulary and comprehension.
Teaching morphemes unlocks the structures and meanings within words. It is very useful to have a strong awareness of prefixes, suffixes and base words. These are often spelt the same across different words, even when the sound changes, and often have a consistent purpose and/or meaning.
Prefixes, suffixes, and roots/bases
Many morphemes are very helpful for analysing unfamiliar words. Morphemes can be divided into prefixes, suffixes, and roots/bases.
- Prefixes are morphemes that attach to the front of a root/base word.
- Suffixes are morphemes that attach to the end of a root/base word, or to other suffixes (see example below)
- Roots/Base words are morphemes that form the base of a word, and usually carry its meaning.
- Generally, base words are free morphemes, that can stand by themselves (e.g. cycle as in bicycle/cyclist, and form as in transform/formation).
- Whereas root words are bound morphemes that cannot stand by themselves (e.g. -ject as in subject/reject, and -volve as in evolve/revolve).
Most morphemes can be divided into:
- Anglo-Saxon Morphemes (like re-, un-, and -ness);
- Latin Morphemes (like non-, ex-, -ion, and -ify); and
- Greek Morphemes (like micro, photo, graph).
It is useful to highlight how words can be broken down into morphemes (and which each of these mean) and how they can be built up again).
For example, the word <unreliability> may be unfamiliar to students when they first encounter it.
If <unreliability> is broken into its morphemes, students can deduce or infer the meaning.
So it is helpful for both reading and spelling to provide opportunities to analyse words, and become familiar with common morphemes, including their meaning and function.
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/readingviewing/Pa
ges/litfocuswordmorph.aspx
Important Information re Staff Professional Development Days (PPDs) for Term 2, 2022
The Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA) 2022 has not yet been endorsed. Irrespective of this, the DET has advised that schools start planning for a common Term 2 professional practice day.
The recommendation from DET, (as we understand it) is that schools hold their first professional practice day on the same day for all staff. Once the date has been selected (via our staff consultative arrangements) and been endorsed by School Council consultation we will confirm the date as a Professional Planning Day.
Students will not required to attend school on the day and we will ensure that TeamKids are available to assist families to make alternative arrangements for the care and supervision of their child/children if needed.
Last day of Term
Friday April 8 is the final day of Term 1. We will have a brief assembly at 2:05 pm followed by an earlier than usual dismissal at 2:30 pm.
At our assembly we will also draw the winner of the Easter raffle.
TeamKids will be running their After school care program from 2:30 pm. For all families who need to access this service please reach out to the team Contact TeamKids – Leaders in OHSC and School Holiday Programs
Key dates for Term 2
- April 25 – Public Holiday, ANZAC Day
- April 26 – Students return to school
- April 27 – Breakfast Club starts
- May 9 Resilience Project webinar 6:30 pm
- May 10 -20 Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN
- May 25-27 -Year 5 and Year 6 camp
- June 8-10 – Year 4 Camp
- June 22 and 23 Parent partnership Meetings
- June 24 – Final day of Term 2- early dismissal at 2:30 pm
Kind regards
James Whitla