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.

21 February 2018

21 February NO PREPS AT SCHOOL School Council

24 February Working Bee 9-11am

27 February Volunteer induction 3.00pm Sustainable day (grade 2/3H)

28 February NO PREPS AT SCHOOL Produce Market (grade 2/3H)

1 March Parent Seminar Series 2-Dr Michelle Andrews 6-7.30pm

2 March Drive-In Movie Night GPS 135 year Celebration

5 March GPS Athletics Day (grades 3-6)

7 March KMotion Resumes

7-9 March Grade 5/6 City Camp

12 March Labour Day-Public Holiday

13 March Sustainability Day (grade 3/4B)

14 March Preps at school full time Produce market (grade 3/4B)

15 March Close the Gap Day

16 March HPV Wonthaggi

21 March EDEC Athletics

28 March Toastmasters Speech Night (grade 6)

29 March Last Day of Term 1 2.30pm pickup

18-20 April MLC Camp

26-27 April Grade 2 Camp

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

Values: Respect and High Expectations

School Office Hours

Current School Activities (check flexibuzz for notification of all school notices. All notices can be downloaded from the school’s website: www.gembrookps.vic.edu.au 2018 Grade 5/6 Camp HPV Wonthaggi Expressions of Interest

Tobias & Mr Fitz cook up a storm for the Family Night BBQ. Tobias is displaying his Tobes Special Creation!

This week’s Friday lunch special Ham & salad sandwich Muffin Juice box $5

A VIEW TO THE FUTURE

Bren’s Banter

continued

Dear Families and Friends, It is absolutely fantastic to see so many mums, dads and family members attending Friday morning assemblies this year. Our whole school assemblies, run superbly by our school captains Tom and Hayley, have a clear focus on celebrating student achievement and communicating the exciting things that are happening at school, as well as within the school community. I’ve noticed a real sense of pride and community at assemblies this year and it was great having Murrundindi perform a special Welcome to Country at assembly last Friday.

Information Evening Thank you to everyone who attended our 2018 School Information Evening last night. It was lovely to see so many people gathered together in the Circle of Harmony on such a beautiful evening, sharing a delicious sausage sizzle prior to our learning centre information sessions. A big thank you to Mrs A, Mrs Bigwood, Mrs Drew, Shelley, Nat and Tobias who cooked up a storm on the BBQ and to our teachers who provided great information about teaching and learning for this year, as well as planned events for 2018.

It’s Not OK to be Away (and it’s not great to be late!) – In other words ‘EVERY DAY COUNTS’ Going to school every day is the first important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind.

We all want our children to have a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day. If students miss school regularly, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years of school. There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes. Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achieve-ment in numeracy, writing and reading.

Attendance patterns are established early – a child regularly missing days in kinda or in the early years of school will often continue to miss classes in the later years, and receive lower test scores than their class-mates. It’s vital that students go to school every day – even in the early years of primary school. At Gembrook Primary School we are very proud of our ‘EVERY DAY COUNTS’ initiative. This involves: If for any reason your child must miss

school, please speak with your child’s classroom teacher and find out what work they need to do to keep up.

Remember, EVERY DAY COUNTS. If your child must miss school, please send a note of explanation or contact the school via the Flexibuzz App. The app sends an email to the school email account and is free to download from the app store.

Sickness – There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. It’s vital that they’re only away on the days they are genuinely sick, and setting good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference.

‘Day off’ – Please think twice before letting your child have a ‘day off’ as they could fall behind their classmates – EVERY DAY COUNTS!

It’s also important to remember that learning time begins at 9:00am Monday through to Friday. In classrooms this is a time when important information is provided to students that assists them with understanding the planned activities for the day ahead. Students who arrive after 9:00am can miss out on important learning, and research shows that repeated lateness can have a seriously negative impact on progress. Please ensure that your child arrives at school in plenty of time to make their way to the classroom and be ready to commence learn ing at 9 :00am

A VIEW TO THE FUTURE

Bren’s Banter continued...

Bren (Principal)

School Council 2018 I’m very excited to announce our School Council members for 2018. The composition of School Council for this year is: DET Council Members: Shelley McLaren Kerri Drew Ann Liston Parent Council Members: Michelle Andrews Jacqueline Child Tara Farr Brad Whatman Tanaya Lawrence Jacinta Woehl Jo McCrohan Blake Wilkinson Mary Toogood Executive Officer: Brendan Fitzpatrick Congratulations to all of our 2018 school council members. We wish you all the very best as you embark on making a vital and generous contribution to Gembrook Primary School. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the 2017 School Council including those who will not be continuing this year. Your years of dedicated service to Gembrook Primary School are very much acknowledged and appreciated. Thank you Gembrook RSL and Rotary Club of Emerald & District Recently both the Gembrook RSL and the Rotary Club of Emerald & District presented Gembrook Primary School with extremely generous donations. The donations will be used to assist students of families experiencing financial hardship, and will assist in ensuring that no student misses out in relation to all aspects of school life including excursions, camps, and learning resources. As a school, we truly value and appreciate the strong links established with community groups such as Gembrook RSL

and the Rotary Club of Emerald & District. Close The Gap Day Thursday 15th March National Close the Gap Day is an annual awareness event that aims to close the health and life expectancy gap between indigenous and non - indigenous communities in Australia. Close The Gap Day began in 2007 and was in response to the poor health outcomes among indigenous groups in Australia. Studies have shown that the life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is 10-17 years lower than that of non-Indigenous Australians. The main aim of National Close the Gap Day is to bring awareness of this problem to both indigenous and non-indigenous communities and work towards finding ways to solve it. Gembrook Primary School has registered for the Close The Gap Day and we are asking students to come to school dressed in either a yellow, black or red top. We have some special activities planned and we are seeking a gold coin donation which will be donated to Oxfam, the organisation that runs Close The Gap Day. Working Bee Saturday 24th February 9:00am – 11:00am – Yes……………..This Saturday! We are holding our Term 1 Working Bee at school on Saturday 24th February from 9:00am to 11:00am. There are several jobs that we would like to complete in readiness for our 135 Year Celebrations. Pruning, weeding, sweeping, pressure cleaning and a general tidy up of school grounds will be the order of the day. 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! Have a great week everyone and all the best.

The PFA will run an Icy Pole Fundraiser this Friday 23 Feb.

Icy Poles will cost $1. Please bring cash on the day.

The Icy poles will be sold at the classrooms just prior to the lunch break.

PFA will be selling icy poles this Friday

Helpers wanted for the 135th Anniversary Twilight Fair

& Open Air Cinema. Please contact Michelle Andrews if you are able to help

0425 737 440

We are so proud of you all

A Note from Mrs Drew

What a busy time for learning all classes are having! As a school, we have set out our expectations for being at school and around our classrooms and we are now into the nitty gritty of learning. I know I want to be a lifelong learner which means I aim to learn more each day. This takes commitment, support and an openness to try new things. Being a lifelong learner means we need to want to improve our learning and this is why all teachers and students have goals to work towards so that they can improve in a given area. For teachers, we are always striving for ways to improve our practise to support students and we set goals according to our self-reflections and reviews of best practise. For students, they are identifying the areas they need to improve in and with support work towards the goal by learning strategies through explicit teaching. Being able to break down a goal and be given strategies and support to achieve little milestones helps us know we are on the right track and that the goal is achievable. Every success should be congratulated, no matter how small! May I say how amazing the parental community at Gembrook PS is! The attendance at our information night across the school was brilliant and fantastic to see so many parents interested in their child’s learning. Bravo! “Life is a learning process, learning is a life-long process; you can’t separate them!” Vivienne Forrester Bye for now Kerri Drew (Assistant Principal)

Student Absences

Please notify the school of any

student absences by 9.30am on the day of the absence.

Notification via FLEXIBUZZ, the school app, is preferable.

Download the FREE flexibuzz app from the

app store!

If you need assistance, please contact the school office.

Words of Wellbeing

“Always be a little kinder than necessary” - James M Barrie (1860-1937)

I love that my role at Gembrook PS is broad and far-reaching. This means I am here to support not just children, but parents too. So, you may ask, what can I actually help you and your family with? I can work with students on issues such as:

Anxiety & Worries Perfectionism Managing Change Family situations Friendship Skills Grief & Loss Self-esteem Emotional Self-regulation

Whilst I mostly work with students individually, I may sometimes facilitate small groups where students share similar issues or run general interest groups to practise friendship and social skills. After receiving written consent from parents or carers, I’ll spend some time getting to know your child and start to build a relationship based on trust. This takes as long as it takes. I will listen to your child and ask questions to learn how things are going in different parts of their life. I’ll ask about their strengths, their worries, likes and dislikes. From there, we will continue to talk about what’s on the student’s mind and sometimes work through specific activities together and practice the skills that can help your child learn to manage more effectively. I will model the way we talk about our feelings, describe emotions (extending their emotional vocabulary) and problem solve. It’s not about ‘fixing’ things for the student, but upskilling and empowering them to feel more capable and confident the next time this issue arises, as well as learning how these skills can be applied to other situations. Building this capacity also builds resilience in a child and that is a really valuable strength to nurture. Parenting can be challenging at the best of times so when the road gets a little bumpier than usual it can be helpful to bounce your thoughts off another person. Parents and carers are most welcome to make a time to speak with me if they wish and I can offer a listening ear, a cuppa and, hopefully, some useful information. Whilst I don’t have a magic wand that can make problems disappear, I have found that simply sharing your concerns with another person and working through your options can alleviate some of the stress. If, after chatting with you and you think it might be helpful, I can suggest referral to specialised support to access greater expertise. Don’t forget you can always speak confidentially with Shelley or Carol in the Office if you are experiencing financial difficulties and need to find out what options are available for managing school expenses. Finally, if I was to offer two of the handiest resources for parents I have found, I would make the following suggestions: Parentline: Phone: 13 22 89 ,7 days a week 8am to midnight and Raising Children Network www.raisingchildren.net.au

Have a wonderful week Warm regards, Jody Yandle School Wellbeing Officer

SUN SMART ‘HATS ON’ FOR ALL OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Hats available for purchase on Qkr or at the

School office ($10)

Conveyance Allowance 2018 Applications are now available for conveyance allowance for Term 1. This allowance is available to Gembrook Primary School stu-dents who use a private car to travel to school and who live 4.8k or more by the shortest practicable route from the school or the last stop on the school bus route and attend the nearest appropriate school at which admission is possi-ble. Your application is valid for the entire school year if your circumstances do not change. Application Forms are available at the school office and should be submitted to the school by Monday 26th February 2018. More information about the Conveyance Allowance Program is available at hhttp://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/finance/Pages/conveyance.aspx

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Star of the Week

February

23 Sienna-Rose Amelie G

27 Rani K

Come and have fun with us and learn new skills in our Ourside School Hours Care Program (OSHC). All students are welcome-come along and enjoy the activities and spend time making new friends. Before school care goes from 7am-8.45 and after school care goes from 3.30pm-6.00pm. Collect an OSHC enrolment pack from the school office or download an enrolment pack from the school website: www.gembrookps.vic.edu.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 136150

Gembrook Community Op

Shop

Come in and grab a bargain

Donations Accepted

Opening hours

Mon-closed

Tues-Fri 10am-3pm Sat 10am-2pm Open Sunday on

Gembrook Market Days only