14-Oct-2022
Dear Families
The wet weather this week didn’t seem to dampen the spirit of our student body and they have coped with the changes admirably again this week. With Daylight Savings in full swing and the strange weather patterns, we are noticing many students being fatigued and we can see the 4 day weekend at the end of October coming at a great time so that students can rest for the final 7 weeks of the school term.
Next week sees our Year 3’s and 4’s head off to the zoo for an excursion and our 2023 Foundation students continuing their transition to school.
We have continued our search for new staff to join our talented team of Teachers and Education Support staff in 2023. There will be a few new faces around the school and we’ll have these all signed up and ready to go in time for our Whole School transition into 2023 (December 6-8). It is an exciting time for us and we’re rapt that so many educators are keen on being part of such a great school community.
Our School Council met this week and we were extremely fortunate to have 5 of our student leaders (Emma, Connor, Saba, Kai and Maddie) present to us on the process they have followed to help change of our House Names (see below) and their plans to raise money to purchase a Defibrillator for our school. Their passion, energy, knowledge and ideas was wonderful to be a part of and I firmly believe that our future generations are in great hands with leaders such as these in our midst. In the coming weeks our student leaders will be promoting a few fundraisers and it would be wonderful if our community can support their efforts to make change.
We have also locked in a few dates for key events in 2023. These include our Community Easter Market on Friday March 31 and a Trivia Night with a Silent Auction on September 1. We’d love to hear from anyone who would like to get involved with either of these events, or other fundraisers that are on the horizon and help build on our community spirit.
We also confirmed our Working Bee for next Friday October 21 – where we hope to create a new sandpit at the back of the oval, re-image the garden outside our Science room, oil our timber decks and spread some mulch around tidy garden beds and playgrounds. There will be some food and drink provided for anyone who can make it and we hope to finish around 5:30 pm.
Naming of our School Houses Update
This year, members of the Edithvale Community have been on a journey to make positive changes and steps towards supporting reconciliation between non-indigenous and indigenous communities in Australia. As part of our mission to be “brave and make change,” our students have led the change to make our House Names culturally appropriate and inclusive and make the learning community a safe and inclusive space for indigenous and non-indigenous students alike.
This week our student body voted on their preferred names and icons and the results are listed below
In consultation with the Bunurong Land Council, our Houses have been named after wildlife native to our area. The names of our Houses will be in the Bunurong Language for each of these animals:
| Yellow House | Echidna |
| Red House | Redbreast Wattle Bird |
| Blue House | Platypus |
| Green House | Lizard |
We will proudly launch these names at a morning assembly on Friday December 16 and this will include a smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country by a Bunurong elder.
Maths at Edithvale
We believe that these important aspects of Instruction help our students to learn (see below). It is why our maths lessons contain all of these components. In doing so, we are increasing the likelihood of students remembering concepts, knowledge and skills so that they can be applied to solve complex problems.
- Daily review
- Present new material using small steps
- Ask questions
- Provide models
- Guide student practice
- Check for understanding
- Obtain a high success rate
- Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks
- Independent practice
- Weekly and monthly review
Our aim is to get students to a point where they can solve problems such as this one, by using their knowledge of
numbers, their relationship to each other and proportional reasoning. Many of our senior school students can solve
similar problems to this one. I wonder how you might solve this problem ? What strategies and knowledge do you
need to solve this problem efficiently and accurately?
Holiday Camps – Great news from DET
Eligible Victorian students can attend a free holiday camp with the Positive Start program.
Holiday camps are a great way for your child to get outdoors, meet new friends and try new things. Holiday camps are generally organised by age range. Each day is full of active and fun things to do, such as archery, canoeing and ropes courses.
Whether a single overnight experience or spending several nights away, taking part in a school holiday camp program is a great way for your child to try new things, make new friends and enjoy active time in the great outdoors.
Camps offer clean and comfortable shared accommodation, a range of professionally led activities suitable for your child’s age and experience and, of course, plenty of tasty and nutritious food.
Please check out the link below, which includes information about how to register your expression of interest. Once you do this, the Positive Start team will send you an email with a unique booking code and information on how to book a holiday camp.
https://www.vic.gov.au/positive-start-camps-and-experiences
Kind regards,
James Whitla
I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet, the Bunurong- members of the eastern
Kulin Nations – and pay my respects to elders past present and emerging. I wish to acknowledge all First Nations
people in the room and pay respects to them. I note further that these lands were never ceded and are, and always
will be, Aboriginal Lands.
Key dates:
- October 17- Year 3 and 4 excursion to Melbourne Zoo
- October 31 – Student Free day, TeamKids in operation
- November 1 – Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
- November 7 – Foundation 2023 Information evening
- November 15 to 18 – Year 5 Bike Education
- November 24 – Melbourne United Basketball Clinic- whole school
- November 25 – Foundation to Year 2 Athletics Fun Day
- December 1 and 8 – Year 5 and 6 Life Saving
- December 2 and 9 – Year 3 and 4 Life saving
- December 15 – Year 6 Graduation
- December 16 – Welcome to Country and Smoking ceremony at 9:15 am Assembly
- December 16 – Class parties and School Colour Fun Run
- December 19 – Students’ final day of school and dismissal after a 1:30 pm Assembly
- December 20 – Student Free day, TeamKids in operation