DIARY DATES

Friday 20th May Interschool Winter Sport (away

Maramba PS)

Monday 23rd May District Cross Country

Friday 27th May Interschool Winter Sport (away

Berwick PS)

Preps - Basil Safety House

Monday 6th-Wednesday 8th June 5/6 Camp1 (5T, 5C, 6K,

6N)

Wednesday 8th-Friday 10th June 5/6 Camp 2 (5H, 5W, 6P, 6N)

NEWSLETTER N0.14 19TH MAY 2011

NOTICES DUE BACK BY Friday 20th May 5/6 Camp Coolamatong Forms

District Cross Country

Tuesday 24th May Preps - Basil Safety House

Tuesday 24th May Interschool Winter Sport (away

Berwick PS)

Friday 27th May 5/6 Camp Coolamatong Final

Payment

Friday 3rd June Prep, Grade 1&2 Swimming

Program

BERWICK LODGE PRIMARY SCHOOL Phone: 9707 1766 Fax: 9796 2198

E-mail: berwick.lodge.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

Visit our Websites : http:// www.berwicklodgeps.vic.edu.au,

Camp Australia/Out of School Hours Care: 9769 8251

CANTEEN IS NOT OPEN ON TUESDAYS

EDUCATION WEEK OPEN NIGHT

What a wonderful night it was! Open Night is one of many special occasions

at our school that I really enjoy. It was great to see so many parents and

families visit Berwick Lodge and enjoy the hospitality of

their children and staff. One of the

more gratifying aspects of the night

for me is to see the delight and pride in

our children as they show their parents their work. I know our staff are also thrilled to have you

visit and chat with them as they all take great pride in their work and in the

achievements of their students. It would be remiss of me not to

acknowledge the wonderful work of our student leaders who acted as tour

guides for visitors. A number of parents have contacted us this morning

to express their gratitude and admiration for our student tour guides

last evening. Thank you to all for attending.

BER UPDATE

Our meeting yesterday with representatives of the DEECD BER Team and the project managers ended

on an impasse. Those in attendance were Julie Alliston, DEECD BER

Manager, Tony Scurrah Whitton, ARUP Representative, Andrew Wood,

Project Manager, APP, Sean Hamilton, Director, Hamilton Design (our

industry consultant), Jodie Norton, School Council President, Lynne

Brenner, Assistant Principal and me. Julie Alliston presented us with a cost

analysis summary for our project and invited questions from us. Over two

hours many questions were raised, some were answered to our

satisfaction, many were not. The clear impression we gained from Julie Alliston was

that the meeting was a

forum for the DEECD to

present a cost summary

budget for our project

and for her, Tony Scurrah Whitton and Andrew Wood to answer our

questions followed by discussion on our companion project. The fact that

we were not satisfied with the funds available for our companion project, in

our view, was ultimately irrelevant to their agenda. This we found to be most unsatisfactory in light of the

discussions that took place. The meeting ended with no agreement

between the parties on the funds available for our companion project.

Later today I am meeting with David Chandler, Deputy Chairman of the

Orgill BER Taskforce as he is seeking regular updates on the progress of our

project. Tony Scurrah Whitton (ARUP) will be in attendance at this

meeting.

Summary points from yesterday‟s meeting:

(1) The DEECD have offered us a total of $604,063 for our companion project on the basis

that our notional $2 million template building has actually cost

$2,451,119. This represents $451,119 over spending on the

budget – almost 25%! The sum of $604, 063 available for our

companion project is arrived at by deducting the total cost of our

template building from our notional allocation of $3 million,

remembering that we voluntarily downsized our template building

to a $2 million building

Continued….

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

SCHOOL AWARDS Congratulations to the following students who received awards over the last

week:

Kemea PW

Zubair PW

Molly PM

Aris PL

Zeke PM

Cooper PC

Judy PC Stevan PL

Jamison PW

because the larger building would

have meant that we would have lost our $70,000 junior playground

equipment with no recompense and the cost of fitting out the

larger building to a satisfactory standard would have been at a

prohibitive cost for our school (almost $200,000 of our money).

(2) We asked for a detailed breakdown of the summary costs, but were

denied this on the grounds of “commercial –in-confidence”

grounds, despite the fact that the former Minister for Education,

Bronwyn Pike, gave an undertaking in 2010 that all project details would be made public following

completion of the tendering process.

(3) The cost summary that we were given, in the view of Sean Hamilton,

is in the order of $300,000 above what he would expect. No

satisfactory explanation was given at the meeting to address this

concern. (4) We noted that the redirection

costs for the stormwater and sewage pipes, was quoted as being

$155,000. This represents $95,000 above the estimate of $60,000

provided to us by KLM Spatial in November 2009, when we challenged APP‟s contractor

estimate of the cost being in the order of $203,000. APP did not

draw on the advice of KLM Spatial in their tendering process, a point

of issue at yesterday‟s meeting considering that the consequence

has been that our project costs are

now $95,000 dearer just on that single item.

(5) Our template building, on the figures provided by the DEECD

yesterday makes it one of the most expensive of such template buildings

managed by APP. The DEECD provided the Australian

Government with a cost analysis per square metre for all standard

template buildings. Their figures state that the upper limit average

cost per square metre for the building we are receiving is $3,306,

making for an average total cost of $2,168,954. Our building however,

the DEECD argues,

is costing $3,888 per square metre at

a total cost of $2, 451,119. We

are certainly bemused by the fact

that our template building has proven to be one of the

most expensive to build. (6) Our unique project costs - one of

the main areas in which costs can vary for standard template buildings,

is a bone of contention for us. According to the documentation

we received yesterday, our costs (for such things as contamination, demolition, power and utility

upgrade, redirection of services) is $247,642. In comparing this with

the amount the DEECD have allocated in their submission to the

Parliamentary Inquiry, that being $175,300, there is a difference of

$72,342, which is a far cry from the $282,165 that our project is

claimed to cost more than the average cost for such a template as

quoted by the DEECD. This of

course does not take into account

our view that the DEECD refused to split the tender for our service

redirection or subsequently

did not have APP at least

make contact with KLM

Spatial to get the best deal

on this aspect – the cost being $95,000 or thereabouts to our final

balance.

We will bring our continuing concerns to the attention of David Chandler later today and I will keep you

informed.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

QUESTIONS (FAQ’s) Q. What happens if a child leaves the school grounds during school hours

without permission? A. We regard this as very serious and

fortunately it does not happen often. Firstly we speak with any witnesses to

gain as much information as possible as to why the child left the school

grounds and where they may be heading. We send staff out to see if

they can spot the child and/or hopefully convince them to return.

This is all done very quickly as matter of urgent priority. We also call the

child‟s parents and the local police as well as the DEECD Emergency

Management Team.

QUOTABLE QUOTE ‘Bureaucracies and precedent-setting are

like oil and water .’

HENRY GROSSEK

ASS I STANT PR INCIPALS ’ REPORT

OPEN NIGHT

Thank you to all families who

attended our Open Night last

night. The positive feedback

received from families indicated

that everyone enjoyed the

opportunity to visit classrooms

and specialist areas and view the

results of our

students‟ efforts.

Thanks must

also go to our

hard working

staff for the

preparation of

displays and activities and their

attendance throughout the

evening. Our student leaders did

a magnificent job in showing

prospective families around the

school and supporting specialist

teachers in their programs.

Congratulations to all involved!

CARERS MAKE A

DIFFERENCE

„Life Without Barriers‟ is seeking

compassionate people willing to

share their home with children

and adults, who may have a

disability, that require their

support and care. Carers can be

single, living with a partner or have

their own children. They offer

excellent training, support and

financial reimbursement to assist

carers in enhancing a child or

adults quality of life. For more

information contact

hostfamilyvic@lwb.org.au or

telephone 5990 3200. You can

also visit their website at

www.lwb.org.au

‘STEP INTO PREP’

This week families will be receiving

a flyer about our Step Into Prep

evening that we

are running on

Wednesday 1st

June for families of

students

commencing

school in 2012.

This evening will incorporate a

guest speaker, Dot Deviny, who

will address the issue of how

parents can best support their

child‟s transition into primary

school. The prep classrooms will

be open so that families can see

the classroom environment and

our Prep Staff will also be present

to talk about the early days of

school and answer parent queries.

The evening will commence at

6:00pm and is an excellent

opportunity for families who have

not yet made their final decision

regarding school enrolment.

Existing families with preschool

children enrolling for 2012 are

also welcome to attend. So that

we can accommodate all

interested families we request that

bookings are made by calling the

school on 9707 1766.

WINTER CLOTHING

With the onset of the cooler

weather this

week we

thought it

timely to

remind all

families of the

need for

students to wear appropriate

clothing to school. Although the

children may be warm in the

comforts of their home, car and

classroom they need to be rugged

up when going outside to play. A

warm, cosy jumper or jacket and

named, weather proof coat are

strongly recommended at this

time of the year.

There is currently an

overabundance of lost property

and this raises two concerns.

Firstly, as most of the clothing

items are not clearly named, they

cannot be returned promptly to

their rightful owners. We

understand clothing is expensive

and it is difficult to distinguish

individual ownership of similar

items and so we are asking you to

please ensure all clothing is

clearly named. Secondly, we

are concerned with the large

number of lost items that are not

being collected and ask for your

assistance in checking

whether your

children are missing

items of clothing. Lost

property is located in

the corridor halfway

down the main

building and is accessible during

school hours.

LYNNE BRENNER &

DEBBIE CUSACK

HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER?

Please ensure you let the school office know if you have changed address or updated mobile phones with new numbers.

This information alleviates stressful situations on students when they are ill and we cannot contact parents

EMA 1st INSTALLMENT ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR COLLECTION FROM THE

SCHOOL OFFICE BETWEEN 8:30AM - 4:00PM

ASS I STANT PR INCIPALS ’ REPORT

WHAT IS GETTING ALONG?

Things to Say to Encourage Getting Along Behaviour

When you catch the young person getting along, say:

“You get along well.”

“When you help others with their work, you learn

more yourself.”

“You are sensitive to others.”

“Sharing a book is a sign of being a friend.”

“You really worked well to solve the problem.”

“You made the new student feel welcome.”

“You work well in a group. You listen to what others

say.”

“You encourage others. You want the best for them.”

“Arthur has benefited from your help. You are a

helpful person.”

“Cooperation allows people to contribute equally to tasks. You cooperate well with each other.”

“Thanks, Jake, for waiting until she finished talking.”

“You seem to want to make your class a better place to live.”

“Members of this group must really respect each other.”

Dear Parents/Guardians,

This year all Grades 3 to 6 children will be participating in the Fantastic Fridays Program in Term 2. This program

will run on Friday afternoons (2:30pm to 3:30pm) starting from Week 2 and will run for approximately 8 weeks. It

is an elective program where students will be mixed with their peers to learn a variety of different subjects outside

the normal curriculum areas of Literacy and Numeracy. The elective programs on offer are:

Gymnastics

J-Rock

Lego

Cooking

Art / Craft Construction

Billycarts

County Fair

Fashion / Jewellery Making

Science and Technology

We have a number of teachers allocated to the various programs but are asking our school community for some

support. If you have any expertise in any of the following areas and would like to participate in the

program we would greatly appreciate your time and experience. These activities

require different materials and resources and we would greatly appreciate any

donations to support our Fantastic Fridays Program. These could include-

construction materials such as wood, screws, wheels, art supplies, foam cups etc.

Please see Traceye Rapinett for information or details about the program.

Despite the cold weather and being restricted to the

OSHC room or Gym we are still having fun at Camp

Australia OSHC. This week we are all having a go at

making things that work with wind.

We look forward to having even more fun this week,

with working with food.

M: Fruit & Veggie Stamping

T: Cooking Decoration

W: Freddy Five Food Groups

T: Bread Art

F: Fruit Faces

Star of the Week: Seth 2Z: For always being polite, caring and

for using his creativity to complete projects.

A friendly reminder that Curriculum Day is Tuesday

14th June 2011 is coming up and we have an Expression

of Interest Form, so please fill one in if you think you‟ll

need care for this day. The session will run from

6:45am - 6:30pm. However, we need a minimum of 20

children to run a program on this day and Expression of

Interest Forms need to returned NO LATER than 3rd

June 2011.

New Enrolments/Bookings &

Cancellations: All new enrolments/Bookings & Cancellations are

completed online at www.campaustralia.com.au

OSHC Hours: Before School Care 6:45am - 8:45am

After School Care 3:30pm - 6:30pm

Our direct line is 9769 8251 or you can call the Camp

Australia Admin on

1300 105 343

Thank you

Dorien and the OSHC Team

BLOSHC NEWS

PYJAMA DAY!

Recently Berwick Lodge

Primary School had our

netball rings vandalised.

These rings are an important

part of our school‟s sporting

equipment. Some students

have grouped together to

plan a fundraiser to help

cover the cost of

replacement rings. This will

be in the form of a Pyjama Day. All students are

welcome to come dressed in pyjamas. You can

even bring a pillow or your favourite teddy!

Pyjama Day will be held on Tuesday

the 24th May 2011.

Please bring a gold coin donation

on the day.

If you wear a nightie please

wear leggings or pants

underneath it and remember

to wear appropriate footwear

(e.g. NO THONGS OR

SANDLES).

Art Donations!

The Art room is looking for some donations.

If anyone has small yoghurt containers that are cleaned

and washed we would be grateful for donations!

Also cardboard rolls (such as cling

wrap, foil rolls)

would be

appreciated.

Thank you

Jo Zammit and Julie Mcleod

Visual Arts Teacher

FANTASTIC FRIDAYS Billy cart Making

Thank you so much to the Wilkinson (4R) and

Robertson (6P) families for their kind donations

of materials to our Billy Cart making projects.

More donations of timber and wheels would by

gratefully received by Mr. Whitehead in

Room 24.

If you have an hour to spare on

Fridays from 2:15pm - 3:30pm,

you assistance in helping the

children to make their billy

carts would be most welcome.

Parents & Friends Association

NEXT MEETING: Thursday 2nd June 2011 at 1.30pm in Room 16.

Everyone is welcome, including toddlers. The PFA welcomes anyone wanting to join the fun and help make

a difference.

2ND HAND UNIFORM SHOP: Our next 2nd hand uniform shop will be open in the school canteen on

Tuesday 28th June 2011 from 2.30pm until 3.15pm. We would like to thank all those families who have

donated as they have assisted other families in our community. There will be a table with $1.00 items. Get

in quick!!

News

PFA CAFÉ: Starting today, every Thursday afternoon, the PFA will be offering tea, coffee and milo for a

gold coin donation. If you arrive at school early to get that car park close by, or you want

to come and keep warm on our cold wintery days, we invite you to come along to Room

16 from 2.45pm We will also have the days papers to read and there will be toys to keep

the little ones amused. Currently, we are opening on Thursday afternoons only, however

we welcome feedback as to whether other days would be appreciated as well. We look

forward to seeing you there !

We would like to thank Impra Tea who has donated some speciality tea. You can contact them on their

website: www.impratea.com.au

ICY-POLES: A big thank you to Jason Miller and Aldi Eden Rise (located at Eden Rise

Shopping Centre, 1 O‟Shea Road, Berwick) who have donated a huge amount of icy poles

to us. To support our senior students, who had the fantastic idea of fundraising to fix our

netball rings, we will be handing out the icy-poles to all students on Pyjama Day, on

Tuesday 24th May 2011. If your child has any allergies or you do not wish for them to

receive an icy-pole, please see your class teacher.

FUNDRAISING ASSISTANCE: For our Clover Cottage evening and our Walkathon, we are looking

for some assistance with donations and prizes. Do you own or work for a company

that would be willing to donate a product or gift voucher? If you do we would love to

hear from you. Any company who donates will receive promotion for their business in

our newsletter. Please contact Sarah via our email below or leave your details at the

office.

Your PFA are always looking for new ideas and assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact us by email on

blps.pfa@hotmail.com or via the school office.

The PFA would like to thank you for your continued

support.

BUSINESS ADVERTISING

Advertisements published by the school are accepted in good faith and should not be regarded as an endorsement of any product or service.

Parents and members of the school community are advised to investigate any service or product to determine its suitability to meet their family's needs prior to accessing it.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Lotus Wellbeing Ladies Massage and

Beauty Therapy Studio

10 Jomary Court, Berwick

Massage Therapy 1 hour an affordable $45

Hygenic affordable waxing and junior prices available

too.

By appointment only call Suzanna 0400990100

see website www.lotus.id.au for details

COMMUNITY NEWS

NARRE WARREN-BERWICK BLUE LIGHT DISCO

BERWICK LEISURE CENTRE,

MANUKA ROAD, BERWICK

SATURDAY 4th June 2011

For Students in years 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 only

Times 6:00pm to 10:00pm

COST: $10.00

Any enquires to Narre Warren

Police Station 9705 3111