Term 4 Week 3 Update

21-Oct-2022

Dear Families

The weeks are certainly ticking by and at the end of next week we will be more than one third of the way through the Term. This will bring us to a long weekend and a chance for students to recharge in the lead up to the end of the year. A gentle reminder that Monday October 31 is a Student Free Day and that staff will be working in teams off-site to complete  professional learning on ‘Effective Writing Instruction’.

A message on behalf of our Student Leaders (Maddie, Saba, Kai, Connor, Emma)

Edithvale Primary School currently does not have a defibrillator. A defibrillator is a vital piece of equipment that can save a life. To get this piece of equipment for our school, our student leadership team has organised a number of fundraising activities to contribute towards the purchase of this device.

Defibrillators are extremely important to have in a setting such as a school. Each year more than 20,000 Australians suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, and defibrillation within the first few minutes of having a Sudden Cardiac Arrest, increases the chance  of survival by over 70%.

Our first fundraiser this term will be a pizza day with the support of Bakers Delight. This special lunch order day will be held on Wednesday November 9th. Orders can be placed via the QKR app.

School Improvement Visit

It was great to have our Network’s School Education Improvement Leader (SEIL) spend some time with us at school last week. A significant part of the visit was spent in classrooms observing practices and making sense of some really strong data sets. Below is an excerpt from our SEIL’s observational notes and they are included here because we can all be very proud of our school and celebrate what our students and staff are delivering.

NAPLAN Reading Y3 attainment is the highest on record since 2017 and has steadily improved over the last few years with 78% of students in the top two bands. Y3 writing attainment was also high in 2022 at 77%, Spelling 64% and Grammar and Punctuation 80% – all is consistently significantly above state and network averages. Y5 reading performance is less strong with attainment just below network and similar school averages. Y5 Writing improved sharply in 2022 and the school achieved its highest mean scale score since 2017. Spelling has improved significantly over the last few years with 46% of students in the top two bands in 2022. Grammar and Punctuation has remained broadly unchanged.

Lesson visits confirmed that practices in early reading seemed consistent and well implemented across different classes, where teachers:

  • Constantly checked for understanding frequently;
  • Use whole class strategies with the document camera to model and support students to understand tasks;
  • Kept an excellent pace and ensure all students were strongly engaged and making progress within lessons;

Demonstrated good pedagogic content knowledge about early reading and writing.
Other evidence from the learning walk highlighted:

  • There was a calm, purposeful and collaborative atmosphere across the school. Students were engaged in learning activities and positive about their work.

World Teachers’ Day Friday 28 October 2022.

Australia will celebrate the teaching profession on World Teachers’ Day on Friday 28 October 2022 and this year’s theme is “Hats off to teachers.” Teachers throughout the country have shown great resilience during challenging times and, like our students, risen to the occasion to give our children the best future possible.

On Friday 28 October, we are encouraging our students and families to show your appreciation of our amazing teachers at EPS. We are privileged to have such wonderful staff at Edithvale Primary who take great pride in their work and care deeply for each and every child in our great school.

To celebrate here at school, all students are encouraged to wear a fun hat in the classroom on this day (please note that our school wide-brimmed or bucket hats are still required during recess and lunchtime).

School Values

We are Edithvale Primary and we are Respectful, Kind and Determined.

This week at school we focussed on RESPECT during wellbeing lessons and our Student of The Week awards reflected the power of this focus. We are fortunate to work with such fantastic students and it’s not jus me saying this. During the week we had visitors from Monash University to do some filming of some Science lessons. They commented on more than one occasion about how thoughtful, kind and respectful our students are At Edithvale Primary School the community is committed to working together to ensure a learning environment where respectful relationships and interactions are valued and developed:

Respect includes –

  • displaying good manners to all members of our community
  • caring for ourselves and others
  • caring for our shared environment
  • displaying understanding for the diversity in our community/world.

Community Event

Please add ‘School Christmas Picnic Concert’ on Friday December 9 to your calendars.

Plans are in place to hold an afternoon Christmas Concert for our families from 4:00 – 6:0 pm with each Year level performing a few Christmas themed songs while families gather on our school oval and have a picnic.

Our School Council are hoping that this event is a celebration of the year and a chance to keep connecting with each other in a warm and friendly environment

Attendance Processes

If your child is sick or absent, please notify us as soon as possible on the day of absence, via COMPASS or by a call through to our wonderful office staff

Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfill your legal responsibility.

All Victorian government schools are required to contact parents/carers as soon as practicable on the same day of an unexplained student absence. If your child is absent on a particular day and you have not contacted the school to explain why, the absence will be marked as unexplained.

This system also promotes daily school attendance. Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education, they learn new things every day – missing school puts them behind.

Our Attendance Policy which outlines the school’s processes and procedures for monitoring, recording and following-up of student absences is available here Attendance-1.pdf (edithvaleps.vic.edu.au)

Contact details

There are times when we will need to contact you, including on the day if your child is absent and you haven’t informed the school as to why. Do we have your most up to date contact details? If not, please contact the school so we can update our records. Please include parent/carers’ name, address, phone numbers, email address and emergency contact details. Please remember to contact the school if any of these details or your circumstances change.

Our school will send a COMPASS notification at 10:30 am on the day if a student is not at school and you haven’t notified the school as to why. If you are notified by the school that your child is away without a reason, please contact us as soon as possible by calling or emailing us on 9772 1393 or edithvale.ps@education.vic.gov.au to let us know where your child is. If we cannot reach you because we don’t have your correct contact details (i.e.: message notification fail, disconnected number), then we will make contact with any emergency contact/s nominated on your child’s file held by the school, where possible, on the same day of the unexplained absence.

Please remember it is your responsibility to contact us to provide an explanation for your child’s absence from school, and where possible, please inform us in advance of upcoming absences.

Gratitude

There is so much that I am grateful for at Edithvale Primary. I often see our students volunteering to collect rubbish and place in bins, or ask ‘How are you?’ It is not evident in all schools, and we can be grateful that our students are so thoughtful and caring.

Practicing gratitude can be a game-changer: it has far reaching effects, from improving our mental health to boosting our relationships with others. Living your life with gratitude helps you notice the little wins—like the bus showing up right on time, a stranger holding the door for you, or the sun shining through your window when you wake up in the morning. Each of these small moments strings together to create a web of well-being that, over time, strengthens your ability to notice the good.

Building your capacity for gratitude isn’t difficult. It just takes practice. The more you can bring your attention to that which you feel grateful for, the more you’ll notice to feel grateful for!

  1. Start by observing. Notice the thank yous you say. Just how much of a habitual response is it? Is it a hasty aside, an afterthought? How are you feeling when you express thanks in small transactions? Stressed, uptight, a little absent-minded? Do a quick scan of your body—are you already physically moving on to your next interaction?
  2. Pick one interaction a day. When your instinct to say “thanks” arises, stop for a moment and take note. Can you name what you feel grateful for, even beyond the gesture that’s been extended? Then say thank you.

https://www.mindful.org/an-introduction-to-mindful-gratitude/

Kind regards,

James Whitla

Key dates:

  • October 31 – Student Free day, TeamKids in operation
  • November 1 – Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
  • November 4 – School Working Bee (postponed from October 21)
  • 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 9 – Community Christmas Picnic 4 – 6 pm
  • 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

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.