50 Main Rd GEMBROOK 3783 Ph: 03 5968 1313 Fax: 03 5968 1548 email: gembrook.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au www.gembrookps.vic.edu.au

Gembrook Primary School

Mission Statement

A view to the future

Diary Dates

Gembrook Primary School is a welcoming and

respectful community that provides modern,

flexible

learning spaces that support a personalised,

engaging and challenging learning program

so that students will achieve the social,

emotional, academic and physical growth to

succeed in a global society.

3 August 2016

Vision: To provide every student with every opportunity to be the best they can be. Value: Respect.

10 August Step into School Night 5:15pm (for 2017 prep enrolments)

11 August Starting School Chat

11 August Kinder Students Visit

13 August PFA Trivia Night $10 PER HEAD

18 August Coach Approach (cost: $8)

22-26 Aug GemBOOK Week

25 August Grade 5 visit to Kinder

25 Aug-1 Sept BOOK FAIR

26 August Special Friends Day

29 August Produce Market

30 Aug-1 Sept Fathers Day Stall

3 Sept Working Bee 9-11am

6 Sept Dance Concert @ EPAC

7 Sept EDEC Girls Footy 5-6

10 Sept PFA Shopping Tour

15 Sept Footy Day & PFA Hot Dog fundraiser

15 Sept Kinder Students Visit

16 Sept END OF TERM EARLY FINISH 2:30PM

Notes that have gone home

School swimming (JLC & MLC)

Coach Approach (whole school) All notices can be accessed from the school website: www.gembrookps.vic.edu.au

Don’t forget to book your table

for the PFA Trivia Night—tables

are going fast. Contact the

school office

MLC teams face off in the Robotics coding session last Friday

Café 91 is under new ownership with new name

#Bettys

Check out the delicious $1 specials for Friday Canteen on page 3

A VIEW TO THE FUTURE

Bren’s Banter

Dear families & friends Sustainable Day 12H What a morning it turned out to be! Tuesday was the day of 1/2H’s Sustainable Day and after some morning drizzle the sun came out and put smiles on everybody’s face. Mr Watson, his invisible friend ‘Nine’, and some fantastic student leaders helped 1/2H achieve their 3 main goals for the morning session: #1 – Have fun! #2 – Make OUR school a better place #3 – Work together to achieve number 2! Students cleaned the chook house, spread mulch, planted seedlings (that we will be able to eat soon!), fertilised garden beds, sorted compost and picked up sticks and acorns to make our school a safer and happier place for all. Valuable learning experiences based around sustainability and the environment took place in a friendly and fun manner with smiles all round! Thank you to Mr Watson, Nine and the student leaders who helped us reach our goals. Gembrook is certainly a better place for us all to learn in and enjoy.

Bully Proof incursion: Last Thursday, Tim and Andrew from Values for Life came and delivered a brilliant ‘BullyProof’ incursion for all our students. They spoke to us about bullying, what it is, and how we can stop it. Several things stood out to me: Tim and Andrew asked the question ‘Do we want to have a great school here at Gembrook?’ From what I can see we h a v e f a n t a s t i c g r o u n d s a n d buildings but it’s the great people INSIDE a school that really makes it great. In other words, IT’S YOU!

They talked about how it’s REALLY important that we think about how we are treating each other. I loved Tim’s suggestion about asking other people in your class questions (and not just your close friends). Asking questions makes people feel really valued.

Robotics: Last Friday our future scientists, mathematicians, computer programmers and mechanical engineers (students from 34A and 34B!) gathered in the multi under the superb guidance of Mr. Bailey and Ms Irvin to participate in a robotics display and competition. It was fantastic to see so many parents there to cheer on teams as they attempted to rescue a ‘victim’ from a mock chemical spill using their programmed robots. Robotics is a great learning experience for students in terms of ICT, communication, problem solving and team work. Congratulations to all participants and to the two finalist teams RKO and The Fairies.

Trivia Night Aug 13th at 6:30pm Well our ‘night of nights’ is getting closer! Our much anticipated Trivia Night promises to be a fun filled night so please secure your tickets at the front office. The night kicks off in the Performing Arts Room at 6:30pm and includes trivia, silent auction and games. Tickets are only $10.00 with BYO drinks and nibbles.

Working Bee Saturday 3rd September 9am–11am We are holding a ‘Spring Cleaning’ working bee at school on Saturday 3rd September from 9:00am to 11:00am. There are several jobs that we would like to complete including commencing the construction of a chook run, pruning, weeding, sweeping, pressure cleaning and a general tidy up of school grounds. A light morning tea will be provided at 11:00am. As the old saying goes: ‘Many hands make light work’, so please sign up for a job at the front office and come along and join in the fun!

Transition Program (Kinder 2016 to Foundation 2017) Next Wednesday 10th August we are holding the first of our Preps for 2017 transition sessions. ‘Step into School’ begins at 5:15pm in the Prep classrooms and is open to ALL 2017 Prep students and families. This is a great opportunity to see the prep classrooms, meet teachers and other parents and to ask questions in an informal setting. Looking forward to seeing you at ‘Step into School Night’!

2017 Prep student visit Thursday 11th August 10 am -11am 2017 Prep students are invited to share games, songs, stories and a snack with the 2016 Foundation students. Gembrook Kinder students will walk over from Kinder. Students who do not attend Gembrook Kinder please ring to book in 59681313.

Starting School Chat Thursday 11th August 2:00 – 2.30 p.m. Foundation Teachers/Principal will visit the Kinder and talk to parents about starting school. This will be a good opportunity to ask questions and find out some of the things you may be unsure of.

Please check out the ‘Diary Dates’ at the front of the newsletter for the many excellent events and activities that are coming up at Gembrook Primary School.

Have a great week and all the best!

Brendan (Principal)

Fun with Robotics

in the MLC

Last week was an exciting week for eLearning

leaders. On Thursday we had a whole school

incursion, Bully Proof . Andrew and Tim lead

us in lots of games and activities focusing on

cyber safety, getting along and problem

solving. We were treated to singing, guitar

playing, games and interactive videos by our

amazing presenters.

Students created posters using technology to

promote cyber safety and their learning. One

thing a lot of us took away from the

presentation was the importance of making

sure that our actions are consistent with our

values. Winning posters from each learning

centre will be announced at assembly this

week.

The robotics competition was exciting as we

all watched to see if any of the teams were

able to rescue the victim from the chemical

spill. Grade 3/4 students battled it out using

their knowledge of robotics and ICT skills.

Students had worked together in teams to

build and program their robot. Team RKO

(Mitchell Acott, Zachariah Shelton

and Brayden Hyatt) won as their robot was

the fastest to reach the chemical spill.

Unfortunately no teams were able to rescue

the victim! It was great to see the whole

school willing the robots on to navigate the

black line to the spill as fast as possible. A big

thankyou to all the parents and carers who

came and supported the event and a special

thankyou to Cooper and Jett who helped out

with scoring and the smooth running of the

event.

Name Reason Grade Teacher Abbie You are a star student Abbie. Your work while writing headings was wonderful! F/1L Mrs. Liston

Sierra You do an excellent job listening for sounds when writing. F/1B Mrs Bigwood

Corazon You are an amazing student - a great attitude to all school work, caring towards others and helpful to everyone. What a star. F/1B Mrs. Bigwood

Luke You have been focussed, persistent and enthusiastic all week. Keep up your awesome work! 1/2H Mr. Hevern

Oscar Your enthusiasm while writing no-fiction text is fantastic! Keep it up! 2C Miss Cornell

Nick D You have been very enthusiastic about your passion project! Well done! 3/4A Ms Irvin

Georgia For your fantastic work with fractions. 5F Mr Fraser

Jett You are a great leader Jett! You are a respectful and considerate student. Awesome Jett! 5/6H Miss Hutcheson

Abbie You have been practising so hard on your P.E. skills. Well done! P.E. Mr. Hawes

Belle 1/2H You worked so well in Environmental Science this week. Your work was excellent! Enviro. Mrs Everett

Nathan 3/4A I love your design for a new Olympic flag. I can't wait to see the finished one. ART Mrs Everett

Shelby 5F You were a fantastic Basketball Coach at the EDEC Competition last week. Thank you Shelby! P.E. Mr. Hawes

Star of the week

1/2H dig in for Sustainability Day

Thank you for all your help Mr Watson

August

4 Rhys N

10 Corazon A

School Chaplain The Chaplaincy Service at Gembrook Primary School aims to support the emotional wellbeing of students by

providing pastoral care services and strategies that support the emotional wellbeing of the broader school

community.

Pastoral care means looking after the personal needs of students, not just their

academic needs, by providing general spiritual and personal support.

If you would like me to support your child / children through any issues they may be

experiencing, please fill out a permission form at the school office.

Kind Regards,

John Chambers

Chaplain

Wanted

For the Art Room

Milk container lids of all sizes

(washed please)

Thanks

Chronicles of Johnicles

Hey Kids, Now 3 weeks into my weekly riddles it's great to have many kids finding me to tell me their answers.

Our latest winners are from 3/4A. Well done to Brayden & Ben who worked out the following riddle.

Q. What has a thumb and four fingers but is not alive?

A glove.

Now here is this weeks riddle.

Q. What gets wetter as it dries?

So be the 1st person to come to me with the right answer &

you get a half hour play time of your choice with me & a friend.

And remember whilst your answering my weekly riddles get your parents to sign up for this years Trivia night

hosted by me.

OSHC Activities for Term 3 Come and have fun with us and learn new skills in our Outside School Hours Care Program

(OSHC). All students are welcome—come along and enjoy the activities and spend time

making new friends. Before school care begins at 7.30 (earlier start available on

request). After school care ends at 6pm. Collect an OSHC enrolment pack from the

school office or download an enrolment form from the school website:

www.gembrookps.vic.gov.au

Register with Centrelink for a 50% child-care rebate. You can

do this by logging into your Centrelink online account through the myGov site. Select the Approved child care service to reduce your fees option and it will be set up for you. For more details on Child Care Benefit and

Child Care Rebate call the Department of Human Services on 13 61 50.

Newsletter Advertising

$10 per business card per term (businesses

belonging to school families only)

$25 quarter page for 2 weeks (for businesses

outside school community)

$25 quarter page per term (school families only)

Please contact the school office if you would like to place an add in the school newsletter

Fencing / Retaining Walls / Decks / Handyman