Welcome to the latest edition of the linkletter. I hope you have enjoyed being part of the school and/or hearing about the great opportunities shared by all at WHPS over recent times. Last week you will have received your child’s team newsletter which outlined the term ahead. This included our school wide focus on sustainability for our inquiry based units. Last Friday we held a very special ANZAC Day assembly. Thanks to Alexis, Josh and Emma from Gr 6 who spoke so wonderfully about the ANZAC spirit. It was terrific to have Jenny Macklin in attendance whom presented our school with some new flags. We received the Aboriginal flag, Torres Straight Island flag and a new Australian flag. These flags are representative of people who gave their lives and fought for a peaceful and democratic Australia. Every student in our school participated respectfully and admirably in our assembly. Observing a minute silence whilst The Last Post rang out and developing a memorial wreath made of handmade poppies (that each student had made in the Art program with Ms. Beran) were great ways to show our respect and appreciation of our diggers. We also managed to raise near on $250 for the RSL via the sales of badges and all things ANZAC! Personally, I enjoyed attending the Dawn Service at the Simpson Barracks with my daughter. This provided a rich learning opportunity for her and a lasting memory for us! Lest We Forget!

Mothers day stall I wish all of our Mothers and Grandmothers a happy Mothers day coming up on May 10

th. The school will be conducting a Mothers Day

stall on Thursday 7th

May. Students will be given the opportunity of purchasing a small gift for Mum. Our Mothers do an amazing job in nurturing and supporting our students in life and learning. Thanks Mums – we wouldn’t be here without you!! Community Links On Wednesday 6

th May we will be having a morning tea for any parents who are interested in joining our community links group of happy

helpers. This will be a chance to share ideas and opinions regarding our fundraising efforts and our school activities that require parental support. We will also look at the calendar ahead in the hope that some parents can put their hands up to help us out. Playground Development This week our student leaders (Junior School Council, House Captains, School Captains) met with the Banyule Council to discuss and plan for the re-development of our local parklands at Louis Street. The students were given the opportunity to discuss, plan and decide on the options in re- developing the park. As the next weeks unfold our students will continue to be consulted on the park development. This has placed great importance on our student’s voice in re-developing this local play space. NAPLAN On May 12, 13 and 14 students in years 3 & 5 will participate in the annual NAPLAN test. These tests are nationwide and provide an insight into student performance under strict testing conditions on one particular day. At WHPS we maintain a focus on holistic learning that represents the progress of the whole child over time. However, we use the NAPLAN results to help build a picture of students in differing testing scenarios.

Watsonia Heights Primary School 61 Henry Street, Greensborough 3088 (03) 94354617 www.watsoniaheightsps.vic.gov.au Email- watsonia.heights.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

LINKLETTER PRINCIPAL – MICHAEL KENT

ISSUE 6 DATED – 1

st May 2015 - Week 3

CERES excursion On Friday 8

th May our Year 1/2 student will be heading to CERES environmental park to continue their learning around sustainability. This

interactive learning experience will consolidate, enhance and extend the classroom program where sustainable practices have been a focus. House cross country On Wednesday 13

th May the Year 3-6 students will participate in our school cross country event. This will be held at Central park. If any

parents are available to help please contact Mrs. Brooks or your child’s teacher. Prep 2016 Any parents with siblings starting Prep in 2016 are asked to enrol at the office. There are information packs available for you that outline the scheduled Play Dates and Orientation visits occurring between now and the end of the year. Start smart This week the students recently enjoyed a visit from the Commonwealth Bank staff who facilitated the StartSmart program. This incursion for years 1-6 was a great way to teach students about financial matters and saving! Twilight Working Bee We NEED your help… anyone who can spare an hour or so to help with the twilight working bee – we would love to see you. On Friday 8

th

May from 4pm onwards we will be working a few jobs around our school. A sausage sizzle will fill the belly whilst we work together to improve our grounds. Winter Sport Upper school students have commenced their winter inter school sport program. Participating in: football, soccer, netball and softball; our students have enjoyed the games thus far and today was no exception. If you are able to spare a few minutes to come along and support our sports stars during the term, that would be great. All sport games are played on Fridays 9.30-11am. See the dates for the upcoming fixtures games. New Uniform item As an addition to our current uniform list we are happy to announce that our new school winter jacket has arrived and is available for purchase from the school office. The jackets is made from water repellent soft finish microfibre and lined with soft polyester cotton. It has elastic cuffs, is lightweight and quick to dry. It is fade resistant, comfortable to wear and looks smart. It is available in sizes 4 -16 youth and the cost is $40. Please see the picture below: Year 6-7 transition Information has been sent home to all our year 6 students for them to commence considering their year 7 school of choice and complete and return the required paperwork to ensure successful placement. Please ensure that all paperwork is returned by 9am on Friday 22

nd May.

Have a great week,

Regards, Michael

Family Fees Reminder – Term 2

Please make sure you are keeping up to date with your fortnightly fee plans as we do not want the children to miss out on the exciting

Term 2 activities.

All monthly payments are due on the 1st of each month.

Many thanks to all families who have paid their fees on time.

PATHS - Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies

UNDERSTANDING PEER RELATIONSHIPS

Peer groups become increasingly important in middle childhood, being rivalled only by the family as the child’s major area of influence. The importance of the peer group derives from the sheer amount of time that children aged 5-12 year spend with their peers and the unique learning experience that peer groups provide. As children become more mature in their relations with their peers, they begin to expect a number of things from them. Children aged 5-12 years expect more from a friend including loyalty, reciprocal support, understanding and common interests. They start to form networks of friends (peer groups); in so doing coordinating their allegiance towards a friend with their functioning within a peer group. They learn to adhere to the norms of the peer group, including norms about interaction with members of the opposite sex. Trust and reciprocity are the lessons of close relationships, while cooperation, coordination of activities and adherence to rules and norms are the primary lessons of peer groups. Both close friendships and acceptance by peer groups are related to feelings of self worth and connectedness in children so it is important that students learn social skills, that they learn to coordinate friendships and to participate effectively in group involvement. The introduction of the PATHS program gives our classes the structure to discuss and understand the development of peer groups, allows the opportunity to students to practice the social skills needed to successfully participate in a group and provides the framework for setting rules so they can successfully operate within the boundaries of our behavioural expectations.

FRIENDSHIPS

To promote successful peer relationships, the PATHS program assists students to develop critical thinking to define “What is a friend?”, the qualities that a friend may demonstrate and the feeling that a student feels when they have or don’t have a friend and making up with a friend when a problem has arisen in the relationship. This discussion is important at this time in the social and emotional development of a student as the forming of friendships and the acceptance that is felt by students at that age has an effect on their own self image and performance. When discussions are held with students it is anticipated that students will define a friend as someone we like, someone we like to talk to, someone we like to share jokes with, but with further discussion and as the student develops, they may become more specific and define a friend as someone who tries to be fair and who takes turns with us or someone who doesn’t try to make us do wrong things that we don’t want to do. The PATHS program encourages positive social interaction and assists students in friendship making skills. The importance of positive body language, eye contact, tone of voice are discussed. Students role play situations that may involve making friends and critically analyse the manner in which they are presented. This may lead to discussions of how a student feels when they don’t have friends or are rejected by others. The complement sessions that are held in classes assist students to identify qualities in students that others may not have recognised and may lead to a friendship being formed. The P.A.TH.S. program gives students the skills to resolving a conflict in a relationship by practicing means-end thinking, generating a variety of solutions to a relationship that has broken down. With these discussions students are able to identify that skills are needed to develop and maintain friendships.

WHPS STUDENT OF THE WEEK

For Week beginning 20th of April 2015 Chayse Prep H Confident work in learning Mandarin.

Oliver Prep H Improving his concentration and trying to do his best work.

Aiden Prep C Fantastic behavior all week! I am so proud of you!

Archie Prep C Using digraphs in his writing. Well done!

Eden 1/2E Always listening attentively on the mat and being a responsible classmate

Ava 1/2E Being a kind and responsible classmate who always tries her best.

Molly 1/2S Trying hard to become an independent reader.

Erin 1/2T For her fantastic ‘have a go’ attitude during Term 1! Keep Up the great work!

Liam 1/2W For working on making your hand writing smaller. Keep up the great work!

Matilda 1/2W For trying hard when reading tricky words. Well done Matilda!

Teagan 3/4B An excellent BIG WRITE with terrific structure and use of paragraphs.

Regan 5/6R For an excellent start to Term 2. Well done Regan!

Lexie 5/6M Showing maturity and resilience in the classroom and out in the yard.

WHPS STUDENT OF THE WEEK

For Week beginning 27th of April 2015 Ethan Prep H Being kind and helpful to his classmates.

Owen Prep H Presenting a great Show & Tell about his trip to Disneyland and Vietnam.

Darcie t Prep C Always taking her time and doing beautiful, neat work. Well done!

Ellen Prep C Always being so kind to all of her classmates.

Cooper 1/2E Putting his best effort into adding adjectives to his writing.

Ryder 1/2E His fabulous work on his speedy Maths facts!

Leo 1/2S His enthusiasm for his role as Junior School Councilor.

Dylan 1/2S For being a responsible computer monitor.

Lachlan 1/2T For working hard on his personal reading goal. Keep up the good work!

Heidi 1/2W Always being a kind and thoughtful friend and classmate.

Ava 1/2W Trying your best in everything you do.

Will 3/4B For an excellent BIG WRITE. Well done explaining your ideas convincingly.

Oscar 3/4B For an excellent BIG WRITE. Well done elaborating on your ideas.

Connor 5/6R Showing persistence and enthusiasm in the BIG WRITE.

James 5/6M Showing an outstanding effort in class towards his peers and classwork.

WHPS Term 2 Calendar Dates

May 2015

Fri 1st Interschool Sport V Watsonia (Away)

Wed 6th Community Links Morning Tea – 9.15am (GP Room)

Thurs 7th Mother’s Day Stall

Fri 8th 1/2 CERES Excursion

Fri 8th Interschool Sport V Watsonia North (Home)

Fri 8th 4pm Twilight Working Bee

Tues 12th Thurs 14th NAPLAN Testing

Wed 13th House Cross Country Day – Gr 3 – 6 (1.45 - 3.30pm)

Wed 13th 2016 Prep Play Date – No. 2 (4-5pm)

Fri 15th Interschool Sport V Norris Bank (Home)

Mon 18th 22nd Education Week

Mon 18th Healesville Sanctuary Excursion – Gr 3/4

Wed 19th 'Getting Your Child Ready for School' lecture with Kathy Walker

(OAM) 7-8pm

Thurs 20th First Aid Incursion – Prep – 6

Mon 25th Whole School Science Incursion

Fri 22nd Interschool Sport V Greensborough (Away)

Wed 27th District Cross Country Day – Gr 3 – 6 (11.30 - 2.30pm)

Fri 29th Interschool Sport V Bundoora (Home)

Fri 29th 2016 Prep Play Date – No. 3 (4-5pm)

June 2015

Mon 1st Prep Excursion – Bundoora Farm

Mon 1st 5/6 CERES Excursion

Fri 5th Interschool Sport V Streeton (Away)

Mon 8th Queens Birthday Public Holiday – No school this day

Tues 9th Curriculum Day – No children at school that day

Wed 10th Division Country Day – Gr 3 – 6

Sun 14th Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser

Wed 17th Regional Cross Country Day – Gr 3 – 6

Fri 19th Interschool Sport – proposed Finals date (TBC)

Fri 26th Last Day of Term 2 – 1.30pm finish