Calendonia Drive, Eltham North 3095 Ph: 9431 1599 Fax:9431 0686 OSHC Ph: 9431 2503 www.glenkps.vic.edu.au/ Office Hours: 8.00am– 4.00pm

Email: glen.katherine.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

LINKLETTER

Issue 3 16th February 2017

DIARY

Children, Teachers, Parents: A partnership for the future

2017 - TERM 1

Tuesday 21st Feb Open Classrooms P-6 3.10pm-4.30pm Thur Feb 23rd 4pm School Council Elections close. Tuesday 28th Feb District Swimming Wednesday 1st MARCH PREP FAMILY BBQ 5.30pm - 7.00pm Tuesday 7th March PFA Meeting AGM - 7.30pm Thursday 9th March Whole School Photo Day Mon 13th Mar LABOUR DAY Mon 15th Mar School Council AGM 7.00pm Meeting 7.30pm Fri 17th Mar The Resilience Project STUDENT WORKSHOPS Mon 21st Mar

RESILIENCE PROJECT PARENT INFORMATION SESSION 7.00pm-8.30pm At St Helena Theatre Wed 22nd Mar Parent Teacher Interviews 3.10pm—4.30pm Wed 29th Mar Parent Teacher Interviews 3.30pm—7.00pm

LEANNE’ S MESSAGELEANNE’ S MESSAGELEANNE’ S MESSAGELEANNE’ S MESSAGE

Premier Daniel Andrews officially opens the

St Helena Sporting Precinct

We have had a little bit of excitement this week with an official visit from the Honourable Daniel

Andrews, Premier of Victoria. Yesterday morning the four School Captains (Ethan, Brigitte, Noah &

Jeyda), Jodee Jackson (Business Manager) and I greeted the Premier with the St Helena Principal,

Karen Terry and other MP’s and key facilitators of the precinct. The initiative of the sporting precinct

began in 2013 with Vicki Ward, our local Member of Parliament visiting our old oval and shared

sport sites, envisioning what it could be. With 2.5 million dollars pledged by the local government,

we have been able to complete stage one of this amazing facility.

What was pleasing to see was Premier Andrews chatting casually to not only our School Captains

but also our Yr5 students who were on the soccer pitch watching St Helena Secondary students

using the field. Our Captains were then treated to morning tea over at St Helena where they

continued to converse confidently with Danielle Green (Member for Yan Yean) and other adults and

students in the room.

It was also lovely to see Jill Ramsay (our former Principal), and Brett Anquetil (Former parent of GK

and School Council Member) in attendance. Both Jill and Brett were on the initial facilities

committee back in 2013 so it was great to have them back to celebrate what has now come to

fruition. I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank Jodee and Ross McDonald

(St Helena Business Manager) for their efforts in facilitating meetings and logistical needs that sit

behind this development, alleviating much of the workload from myself in the process. Our students

are now reaping the benefits of a fabulous team effort all round.

The Resilience Project is COMING

Under our KidsMatter focus this year, our intent is to hit key areas of need that have been

highlighted from our student, staff and parent surveys completed in Term 3 last year. It was clearly

established that our community as a whole have a yearning to learn more about mental health and

how to build healthy minds. We are committed to educating our entire community about this and our

first major step towards this is initiating the Resilience Project later this term.

The Schools Program aims to teach young people to be mentally healthy. Why is this important? These are some research based facts that are startling:

We want our students to have a toolkit of strategies to build resilience in order to develop strong

mental health. Staff are participating in structured professional development sessions later this term

and your child will participate in a RESILIENCE PROJECT workshop facilitated by the project team.

Importantly, The Resilience Project Team and I invite you to attend a PARENT INFORMATION SESSION on TUESDAY 21st MARCH, 7.00pm—8.30pm in the St Helena Secondary College Theatre. I encourage you attend if you are able as the more knowledge we have around mental

health, the more we can unite collectively in supporting our students to grow up being the best pos-

sible versions of themselves.

LLLLeeeeaaaannnnnnnneeee TTTTiiiinnnnggggwwwweeeellllllll

1 in 4 adolescents

have a

mental illness

65% of adolescents

do not seek help

for mental illness

1 in 7 primary

school kids have a

mental illness

1 in 3 girls suffer

from an anxiety

disorder, and 1 in 5

boys.

Ethan, Brigitte, Jeyda & Noah with Premier Daniel Andrews

and other MPs and officials Casual chatting from Leader to Leader

Libby Downey and Year 5

Students

With Vicki Ward MP and the St Helena

School Captains

Our School Captains with Danielle Green MP

I am extremely proud of our School Captains and how they conducted themselves during this

occasion. They represented the GK community proudly and demonstrated why they were

nominated by their peers and staff as School Captains. A memorable occasion for them that they

were grinning ear to ear through.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2017

TERM 1

Month Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

FEB 20

21

OPEN AFTERNOON

3.10pm-4.30pm

22 23

School Council Elec-

tion Nominations

close at 4.00pm

24

FEB/

MAR

27

Prep First Full

week

28

District Swimming

1

Prep Family BBQ

afternoon

5.30pm-7.00pm

2

3

MAR

6

7

PFA AGM

7.30pm

Division Swimming

8 9

Photo Day

10

MAR 13

LABOUR DAY

14

15

School Council AGM

7.00pm

16 17

MAR

20

21 Harmony Day

Resilience Project

Parent Session

7.00pm-8.30pm in

the St Helena SC

Theatre

22 Prep-6

HOUSE FUN RUN

Parent Teacher

Interviews

3.10pm—4.30pm

23

24

MAR

27

28 29 Parent Teacher

Interviews

3.20pm—7.00pm

30 31

Last Day Of

Term

2.30om

Portfolios home

Linkletter Page 3

IMPACT LEADERS

Another one of our fabulous teams

STEM Leaders

ADMIN UPDATE

Reminders: • The School Council elec�on is now open and we are calling for nomina0ons. Nomina0ons close at 4pm next

Thursday 23rd February. More informa0on about school council & the elec0on process follows.

• The Teaching & Learning Fee is now due, last year this was referred to as the Curriculum Charge. This fee is used

to support & sustain teaching & learning programs which are part of the school’s standard curriculum as detailed

in the le7er sent to all families late last year. This charge is $140 per student and can be paid via our preferred

method Qkr or EFTPOS, Bpay, cash or cheque.

• Grade 5&6 Spor�ng program charge. The first instalment payment or full payment is due by Friday 17th March

so please make sure some payment is made so your child can par0cipate in the program. Also we wanted to let

you know that the Individual Sports Tops that were ordered late last year have been delayed and will be arriving

in the next couple of weeks, will let you know when they arrive.

• Student accident insurance, ambulance cover arrangements and private property brought to school

Parents/Guardians are reminded that the Department does not provide personal accident insurance or ambu-

lance cover for students. Parents and guardians of students who do not have student accident insurance/

ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the

cost of ambulance a7endance / transport and any other transport costs. Parents/Guardians can purchase insur-

ance policies from commercial insurers. Private property brought to school by students is not insured and the

Department does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage.

• Camps Sports & Excursions Fund (CSEF) applica0ons for 2017 are now open. Payments of $125/child are

received by the School to go against camps, sport & excursions. Applica0on forms are available from the office.

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS INFORMATION NOTICE 2017

Information for Parents

What is a school council and what does it do?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally formed bodies that are given powers to set the key direc-

tions of a school within centrally provided guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence the quality of edu-

cation that the school provides for its students.

Who is on the school council?

There are three possible categories of membership:

A mandated elected Parent category. More than one third of the total members must be from this category. Department of

Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) employees can be Parent members at their child’s school as long as they

are not employed at the school.

A mandated elected DEECD employee category. Members of this category may make up no more than one third of the total

membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.

An optional Community member category. Its members are co-opted by a decision of the council because of their special

skills, interests or experiences.

DEECD employees are not eligible to be Community members.

The term of office for all members is two years. Half the members must retire each year, creating vacancies for the annual school

council elections.

Why is Parent membership so important?

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school.

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their chil-

dren feel a greater sense of belonging.

How can you become involved?

The most obvious way is to vote in the elections, which are held in Term 1 each year. However, ballots are only held if more people

nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant. In view of this, you might seriously consider;

· standing for election as a member of the school council

· encouraging another person to stand for election.

Do I need special experience to be on school council?

No. What you do need is an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the

school’s future.

GLEN KATHERINE PRIMARY 2016

SCHOOL MAGAZINE

Extra copies are still available from

the office

$18.00 each

Linkletter Page 5

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS informa�on con�nued.. What do you need to do to stand for election?

The principal will issue a notice and call for nominations following the commencement of Term 1 each year. All school council

elections must be completed by the end of March. If you decide to stand for election, you can arrange for someone to nominate

you as a candidate or you can nominate yourself in the Parent category. School Council nomination forms are available from

the school office. Once completed, please return the nomination form to the principal within the time stated on the notice of

election. If there are more nominations received than there are vacancies on council, a ballot will be conducted in the week fol-

lowing close of nominations. Remember …. If you are interested and need more information, please don’t hesitate to contact

the Principal.

Schedule 4 Notice of Election and Call for Nominations

An election is to be conducted for members of the School Council of Glen Katherine Primary School.

Nomination forms may be obtained from the school website or office and must be lodged by 4.00 pm Thursday 23rd February,

2017. A ballot (if required,) will close at 4.00 pm on Thursday 2nd March, 2017. Following the close of nominations, a list of

the nominations received will be posted in the foyer. The terms of office, membership categories and number of positions in

each membership category open for election are as follows:

Membership Category Term of office No. of Positions

Parent Category From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2017.

to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of the poll in 2019.

4 positions

4 x 2 year terms

DEECD Employee Mem-

ber

From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2017.

to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of the poll in 2019.

2 positions

2 x 2 year terms

Co-opted Members

From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2017.

to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of the poll in 2018.

2 positions

2 x 1 year term

(1 is designated for

Community, the other

for a PFA rep)

SCHOOL BANKING

School banking has started.

If anyone is interested in helping out the lovely ladies on a Wednesday please

contact our school banking co-ordinator, Sally King 0450 906 309

Linkletter Page 6

CANTEEN

A REMINDER THAT SOME PRICES HAVE BEEN INCREASED & THE NEW MENU CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH QKR, SKOOLBAG, and GK WEBSITE or by grabbing a hard copy from Admin or the Canteen.

Students using the old list may have items omitted if there are insufficient funds to cover the order.

** Special Meal Deal until sold out **

Potato Bake (Gluten Free), 100% Juice & Canteen-made Muffin $5.00

** New to Menu**

Super Summer Salad Box with choice of sliced ham or diced chicken $6.50

Vegetarian Lasagne (gluten free) $4.00

We have had some very hot days to start the year & with it some large crowds at the canteen trying to purchase something cool to cope with the day. Please remind the children that the volunteers are working as fast as they can & to just wait patiently and remember their

manners when speaking to these wonderful helpers. Calling out or trying to push in will not help us serve any faster!

I have the following days available in the roster & would love to fill them as soon as possible:

3rd or 4th Tuesday

2nd or 3rd Wednesday

If you would like to help out in the canteen, please just contact me on 9431-1599, Tues to Fri 8.30am to1.30pm or email cunning-

ham.suzanne.s@edumail.vic.gov.au or sms 0408 172 778.

Cheers, Suzi

DAY & DATE NAMES

Tues 21st Feb C McFarlane

Wed 22nd Feb C Robertson ( L Mills-Prep)

Thurs 23rd Feb S King; K Wishart

Fri 24th Feb L Cooperwaite; N Gadbois; S Ktistakis

UNIFORM SHOP OPEN TIMES CHANGE

FRIDAY MORNINGS ONLY Just a reminder that uniform shop will now only be open FRIDAY MORNINGS.

Sales however can s0ll occur on Qkr at any 0me and then items are delivered directly

to the students. If there is an issue or wrong sizing, items can be sent back & changed.

If you have further ques0ons about this please contact the office.

SWIMMING TRIALS

Swimming trials were held on Monday 13th February at the Diamond Creek Pool

Over 60 gr 3-6 students trialled for selection in the GK Swimming team that will compete at the District Swimming Sports to

held at Watermarc Pool on Tuesday 28th February.

Thank you to Teachers Mary Green, Sandra Febbraro, Katya Gaiotto and Amy Johnson and parents Jodie Watts and Helen

Giannakos who assisted in the running of the day.

Linkletter Page 7

INTERSCHOOL SPORT

Interschool sport commences this Friday

Matches will be held from 9.30 - 11.00am

This weeks games are

GK DARKS vs APOLLO B - AWAY

GK LIGHTS vs PLENTY VALLEY B - HOME

SPORTS NEWS

Developing independence in primary schoolDeveloping independence in primary schoolDeveloping independence in primary schoolDeveloping independence in primary school

By Michael Grose

Practical ideas for parents to encourage real independence in children.

Your goal as a parent should be for your child to be completely self-managing by the end of primary school. Here are four practical ways to develop real independence in primary school-aged children:

1. Involve them in mealtimes

Mealtimes are the fulcrum around which healthy families operate. Mealtimes also offer plenty of opportunities for children to help including running errands, preparing the meal, setting the table, clearing the table, packing the dishwasher and other jobs. There’s something for everyone!

2. Use pocket money to develop independence

A regular allowance is a fabulous way to promote real independence in children. Start in lower primary school and gradually increase their allowance the older they become. Importantly, you need to increase the areas that their allowance covers. Pocket money used well is a fantastic way to develop independence in kids.

3. Look after pets

It’s a quirk of life that most children want a pet, but they just don’t want to look after it in the long term. Many kids discover that following the initial flush of enthusiasm looking after a pet can be a grind – walking the family pooch, cleaning out the guinea-pig cage, or feeding the family feline. But pet care offers priceless lessons in the development of grit, responsibility and nurturance – all necessary attributes for independent success.

4. Walk, ride or take public transport to school

The opportunity to go to school on your own devices was a luxury that previous generations enjoyed. While it may have seemed at the time like something to be endured rather than enjoyed, most people I discuss this mat-ter with look back with fondness and nostalgia. For most people it meant freedom, friendship and fun. For a short time each day kids experienced a delicious type of freedom away from both teachers and parents – a time to muck around, dawdle and mess around with mates. It also gave kids some familiarity with their neighbourhood.

It’s well established that currently more children are driven to school than ride or walk, which denies children the same opportunity for friendship, fun and freedom. Busy schedules, less child-friendly neighbourhood layouts and working parents are just some of the reasons that prevent kids walking to school. If possible, look for ways to allow your child to get to school on their own. It’s fantastic for their independence and wellbeing. If children are too young, walk or ride with them some of the way until they are old enough and skilled enough to make the trip without you.

The age of opportunity

Children in this stage have an outward orientation and are exploring their place in the world. This is an age and stage for greater neighbourhood exploration, for taking on real responsibility and for developing personal confidence and efficacy before adolescence starts.

Linkletter COMMUNITY WELLBEING INFOMATION Page 9

Linkletter Page 10

COMMUNITY NEWS

COMMUNITY NEWS

Linkletter Page 11

Linkletter Page 12

COMMUNITY NEWS

Keyboard Lessons

2017

Places are available for any child who would

like to learn keyboard/piano Term 1 - 2017

please contact Peter Raymakers (B. mus. ,A.mus.A, Dip. Lib. Arts)

on:- 0431 817 470 email:- rayfam64@gmail.com