Term 1 Week 6 Update

10-Mar-2023

Dear Families

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” attributed to AESOP

This week we focussed on our school value of KINDNESS. Being KIND is something those of us lucky enough to work
at Edithvale Primary get to see, hear and feel every day we come to school.

Students are having thoughtful and positive interactions with their peers, staff and community members. They demonstrate empathy toward others and appreciate and understand diversity. Students open doors for each other, encourage each other and support each other. It’s a great place to work and learn – THANK YOU for trusting us and supporting us to work for, and with your child.

The long weekend comes at a great time too. Students have been working very hard on their learning and our early assessment of their progress in Reading and Maths is exceptionally encouraging.

Instructional Model # – Mathematics

We DON’T have a “numeracy brain” and a “literacy brain” – sure we might be more proficient at one over the other, but all learning requires us to make connections to existing knowledge from within our long-term memory. This is more likely to occur if concepts are sequenced in small steps so as to not overload our working memory, and to review and revise concepts at varying intervals. This should not change whether it is for the subject Mathematics or English.

At Edithvale we introduce new concepts to our students in mathematics, through modelling worked examples on the board. In small steps, we slowly build students’ skills and procedural understanding. Teachers use examples and non examples (demonstrate what NOT to do) and support learning with concrete materials, visual cues and abstract representations.

Students are then given the opportunity to practice the skills and understand the concepts independently and in pairs.

To help deepen the learning, we regularly REVIEW new and recent information with students to help build fluency/automaticity of facts and procedures. Lessons often include:

Spaced practice – pulling out content from last lesson, last week, last month, last term

Interleaved Practice: Not having a chunk of questions on the one concept (only our 6 ‘times tables’), but breaking it up with some questions from a similar topic e.g. 6 x 5, 4 x 8, 4 x 2, ¾ of 16, 54 divided by 9, 4 x 6 etc

As we fully adopt our instructional model (thanks to Brandon Lee) throughout the school we are increasingly focussed on the important concepts of:

Basic maths facts: Reviewing basic maths facts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts can help students develop fluency and speed in mental calculation.

Number sense: Including activities that promote number sense such as number patterns, place value and estimation, can help students develop a deeper understanding of numbers and their relationships.

Vocabulary and concepts: Reviewing key maths vocabulary and concepts can help students solidify their understanding and build a strong foundation for future learning.

Mental Maths: Refers to any mathematical activity completed without the use of any sort of aid – pen and paper, calculator, abacus. This can help students deepen their conceptual understanding of number and mathematical relationships.

Multiplication tables: Reviewing times tables on a regular basis can help students develop fluency and automaticity in multiplication, which is an essential component of maths proficiency.

Problem-solving: Including a daily word problem task can help students develop their maths problem-solving skills, as well as promote reasoning. These problems should only be based on concepts that have already been mastered.

EPS Twilight Market – Friday 31 March

Our Twilight Market is starting to take shape and we are anticipating another highly successful event for our school and community. There is no expectation or requirement for families to donate goods but any and all donations will be gleefully accepted.

We already have 60 bottles of wine and dozens of soft drink cans donated and greatly appreciate the generosity of our school community. The greater the volume of donations, the greater the experience for our community will be – and we are keen to receive more wine and soft drink in the lead up to the market, as well as our featured donations for next week – lucky jars.

A sign up sheet (link below) has been created for any family members able to spare an hour of their time on the day to help us set up and run a few school based stalls. If you are in a position to donate your time to helping out, please use this link to add your name to an increasingly long list of community helpers and volunteers

https://volunteersignup.org/88T98

All money raised by our school stalls will be used to create an inviting and nurturing space around the new shade sails.

Esafety

Online Safety continues to be a focus for schools. A gentle reminder that the mobile phone policy (attached) remains a key to supporting our students to be safe online at school. The mobile phone policy was introduced in 2020 to reduce distractions in the classroom, reduce cyberbullying in schools and improve face-to-face interactions in the school yard.

Students are asked to have these switched off on school premises and place them in the secure storage boxes we have available. If there is an emergency during school hours that we need to let a student know about, parents and carers can call through to the office and we will help organise arrangements and any required follow up.

Term 1 Canteen Price List  Mobile Phone – School Policy

To help our students stay safe at home, there are some tips from the safety commissioner here
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

This includes

  • helpful advice and resources for parents and carers.
  • age-appropriate expectations and boundaries
  • online risks and strategies to keep your children safe
  • where to find support for you and your child when things go wrong.

There are also some FREE webinars for parents and carers.

Term 1 Canteen Price List 2023 Parent and Carer Webinar Schedule

These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences.

The 2023 webinars include a broad range of topics that will be delivered by our expert education and training team.
Please check out the link below for more information.

Webinars for parents and carers | eSafety Commissioner

Student leaders

Our 2023 student leaders have been busy identifying a few fundraisers and awareness days to promote causes close to our community. In the interests of planning out the year and giving families plenty of time to consider these events our student leaders team have identified the following Free Dress/ Theme Days and Giving Events for 2023.

 

Date Event Name Supporting How we Support Giving Element
Tuesday, March 21 Lots of Socks Day Down Syndrome Victoria wearing crazy socks Gold Coin Donation
Friday, May 26 Wear It Yellow (Friday before Reconciliation Week) Children’s Ground Wearing a splash of Yellow Gold Coin Donation and
promoting the optional
giving page.
Friday, June 9 Edithvale Big Freeze Fight MND Hosting a Big Freeze Event – Gold Coin Donation Free Dress Day
-Fundraising Page
-Cash Donations
-Selling Beanies and Socks via QKR
Term 3 Whole
Launch Friday,
August 4
Homeless Awareness Term Chelsea Church of Christ Kitchen Pantry Program Food Drive
Smith Family Cup Cakes
RoughIt@Home
Donating Non Perishable
food and hygiene goods.
Purchasing Cupcakes
Getting sponsors to sleep
rough for the night at
home.
Wednesday August 23 DEAR- PJ Day Story Dogs Free Dress Day Wearing PJ’s to school for the Day and having a Drop Everything and Read Session Gold Coin Donation
Tuesday, November 14 World Diabetes Day TBC Free Dress Wearing Blue. Gold Coin Donation
November 25th- End of year Oz Child Giving Tree OZ Child Frankston Giving gift under the giving tree until Christmas Concert. Donation of toys and gifts.

 

Today we introduced Mark Butler from Bendigo Bank at our assembly to acknowledge their support in helping us to purchase a defibrillator for our school. In 2022 our student leaders raised awareness and money for this potential life saving device and it now proudly sits in our Office Administration Area. We are very grateful for the donation from Bendigo Bank ($1800) and for the funds raised by our students to make this vision become a reality.

Key dates in Term 1

  • March 15 -27 NAPLAN (Years 3 and 5)
  • Friday – 24th of March Inter School Sport Lightning Premiership Friday – Year 5 and 6
  • Friday 31 March Easter Market 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Student Free days

  • Monday April 24
  • Friday August 25
  • Monday November 6
  • Wednesday December 20

James Whitla

I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which this is being read – for most of us – the
Bunurong- members of the eastern Kulin Nations – and pay my respects to elders past present and emerging. I
wish to acknowledge our First Nations people and pay respects to them. I note further that these lands were
never ceded and are, and always will be, Aboriginal Lands.