Welcome to Term 4 I hope everyone had a lovely break and spent time with family and friends. It was lovely to see all the smiling faces return to school raring to go and take on the learning, challenges and events of EPS life in Term 4. As always, Term 4 will be an eventful and exciting time – please keep an eye on our newsletters, website and Konnective App to keep up to date with all of our news and happenings!

Curriculum Day We have the last of our Curriculum Days on Monday. All of our staff will be working with our Maths Leaders; Jay, Ari, Louisa and Lauren on building our understanding of maths teaching and learning, the use of questions in our maths sessions and how we can capture our students’ learning through evidence for future planning. A reminder this is a student free day. Team Kids offers care for students at school on the day, depending on numbers, so please visit their portal or our website for information and bookings.

St Kilda PS Review As part of the improvement cycle, each Vi c t o r i a n g o ve r n me n t s c h o ol undertakes a review every four years. The school community completes a comprehensive self-evaluation, which involves students, teachers and community members. An independent analysis is also completed of a school’s performance against their goals and targets in their school strategic plan. The review evaluates the school's strengths, areas for improvement and the impact of its improvement efforts. At the end of the review, a new four-year school strategic plan is created and endorsed by the school community.

It is my pleasure to partner with St Kilda Primary School this term, over a number of days, to assist in the process and support them as an independent reviewer. I am looking forward to this process; it is such a wonderful opportunity to share this with our neighbouring school and colleagues.

Camps In the last week of Term 3, our Grade 5 and 6 students, along with their teachers, pre-service teachers, Sam and Jay, enjoyed the sights, sounds and adventures of Arrabri Lodge in the Upper Yarra Valley at East Warburton. This week, our Grade 3 students and staff headed off to their camp in the hills of Myrniong, Lake Dewar. Camps are a wonderful way for the staff and students to spend time together, getting to know each other outside of the classrooms and school and build relationships. Our students have an opportunity to develop a sense of independence through trying new adventures and activities away from home. They gain self-confidence as they learn new skills and develop a huge variety of social skills! I would like to say thank you to all of our staff for taking time out from their families to provide these opportunities! Thank you!

Staffing On Tuesday we said goodbye and good luck to Rosie who is having her second baby! We wish her health and happiness and look forward to meeting Sonny’s little baby brother. Shaun, our Integration Aide who has been with us for 3 years supporting and guiding many of our students, is taking an opportunity to follow a different direction and career path as of Wednesday. We wish Shaun luck in his new endeavours. We thank Farooq, our ICT support technician, for all of his expertise and

09 October 2019 No. 16

Newsletter

CALENDAR

Monday 14 October Curriculum Day

Student Free Day

Tuesday 15 October Prep, Fire Ed Excursion

Friday 18 October

Ready Set Go Session 5 Grade 2 Sleepover

Monday 21 October

Assembly

Wednesday 23 October Parent Information Night

JLC 6.30pm

Friday 25 October Grade 4 Incursion, Professor Bunsen

10.00am-11.00am & 11.30am –1230pm

Saturday 26 October

Elwood Community Market Grade 1L, 2C, 3R, 5C & 4A rostered

Monday 4 November

Assembly

Website : www.elwoodprimary.vic.edu.au Scott Street, Elwood Vic 3184 Phone : 9531 2762

Community Market (bookings) : www.trybooking.com/437202

Monday 14 October Curriculum Day

Student Free Day

Saturday 26 October Community Market

Grade 1L, 2C, 3R, 4A & 5C rostered

Monday 04 November School as usual

Tuesday 05 November Melbourne Cup Day Public

Holiday, School Closed

knowledge in managing all of our computers and systems throughout the school as he finishes his role on Friday.

2020 Grades We will begin working on grades for 2020 shortly. If you have any specific concerns about the placement of your child, they need to be placed in writing with an appointment made to discuss them with Rosie, Jay or myself. These need to be based on educational or emotional grounds and brought to our attention with a meeting during Weeks 3 and 4, Monday 21 October through to Friday 1 November. Meetings must be held before Friday 1 November to allow us time to consider best teaching and learning combinations. Emails or letters without an appointment and requests for particular teachers, because you would prefer them, will not be considered. Our staff know your child extremely well and they consider every aspect of your child’s learning journey to assist them in creating new classes for the following year. We appreciate your trust in our knowledge and process.

Grade 2 Sleepover We have some very excited Grade 2 students and teachers! The Grade 2 Sleepover is coming up Friday 18 October. Students come to school after dinner at home and set up their beds, head off to activities around the school such as night orienteering with torches, heating marshmallows on

the campfire and enjoying the tradition of the canal night walk! Before bedtime we have a disco, enjoy some supper and relax with some yoga. We are then treated with pancakes and a yummy breakfast

from the Grade 2 parents before heading home at 8:00am on Saturday morning. We got this!

Parent Info Night After a very successful Parent Night last term, Heidi returns to EPS for another wonderful Parent Session. Heidi will be talking about Building Resilience and Managing Anxiety on Wednesday 23 Oct from 6:30pm. This is a FREE Parent Session with thanks to Team Kids for hosting. See attached flyer for more info and booking.

Leaving EPS in 2019? Planning for 2020 is already taking place. It is important to have an accurate picture of student movement for the upcoming year. Accurate anticipated student numbers has a huge impact on planning for the number of classes we have and our budget. If you know that you will not be at Elwood PS next year, please complete the form attached, email or call the office on 9531 2762 as soon as possible.

Nicole Richards…..Principal

Good news story With a successful year in Elwood Primary School’s Aerobics Team and comps, Hannah (5C) decided to join Advantage Gym Sports (AGS). In August, as well as competing with the Elwood Team as part of Aeroschools, Hannah also represented AGS at the Victorian State Competition a few days later. Hannah placed 1st and won GOLD at the level 3 individual event. Following on from the State competition, in September Hannah travelled to Queensland to compete for AGS in the National Clubs Championship where she placed 2nd and won the SILVER medal, only narrowly missing out on the gold medal by just 0.005 points! This was no easy feat, as there was a huge field of 46 girls from clubs all over the country in her category. We congratulate Hannah on her commitment to her training and her skills! Hopefully this will encourage more students to sign up for Elwood Primary aerobics next year!

Teena’s Kitchen A reminder, Teena's Dumplings & rice paper rolls are no longer available to be ordered from school. Please do not bring brown paper bags to the office for ordering dumplings or rice paper rolls on a Tuesday. Teena’s homemade dumplings will now be available every day as an option through our online lunch orders. You can still order Sushi on a Wednesday from the office.

Visual Arts Bring on Term 4 in the Art Room. Bug sculptures, emoji softies and foam printing are just a few amazing things that will be created this Term. The Art Room is in need of newspaper and thin cardboard to construct our Year 1 bug sculptures. We are also after magazines, small plastic lids/bottle caps, and styrofoam pieces. Any arty donations are greatly appreciated. Check out ourartadventures_eps to see a small snapshot of student learning. Thank you!

Leyna Parkes… Visual Arts Teacher

We would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are gathered

today, the Yalukit Willam clan of the Boon Wurrung People and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We

acknowledge and respect their continuing relationship to the land upon which we meet.

Summer Soiree On Thursday 12 December students will be performing in the Summer Soiree. If you learn an instrument please consider performing! Collect a form from Kaz or at the office if you’re interested. During the concert students will play a piece they’ve finished and get a little more experience playing to an audience. Hope to see you there! Thank you!

Kaz….Music Teacher

Boots for all Do you have old sports equipment or sports uniforms lying around the house, well it’s time to find a new home for them? For our leadership project, we are donating sport equipment or sports uniforms to a company called “Boots for All”. From then on they donate it to clubs or kids that don’t have enough money for sports equipment. Anything you donate must be in reusable condition. There is a box in the office for donations. The box will be there for the first 2 weeks of term 4. You will be able to donate any time during the week except for Wednesday after school, due to taking the box home to empty it. Thank you, Isabella and Audrey.

Kitchen Garden Program Our new flock of hens have settled in happily, and they are already laying eggs! During the week, our grade 3s and 4s will care for them, as part of the kitchen garden program; however, the chickens' water and food will need to be topped up on weekends, too. If you would like to be involved in looking after our gorgeous girls, please contact o u r g a r d e n s p e c i a l i s t t e a c h e r , K a t h y : Beckwith.kathryn.a@edumail.vic.gov.au

Walk to School this October Elwood Primary is excited to be taking part in VicHealth’s Walk to School from Monday 7 October to Friday 1 November. Walk to School encourages primary school students to walk, ride, scoot, skate or take public transport to and from school every day in October to highlight the ways active travel improves children’s health and wellbeing and helps reduce air pollution. Walking to school is a great way to help kids achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day. We’ll be encouraging families and students to walk, ride, scoot or skate to and from school as often as possible during October to help students learn healthy habits for life. Teachers will use classroom calendars to record each time students walk, ride or scoot to and from school. The City of Port Phillip Council have donated some prizes that we will award to students with high participation. You can visit the Wa lk to School websi te for more information: www.walktoschool.vic.gov.au Not sure how to get started? There are lots of ways families can get involved. You might like to: · walk with your child to and from school and enjoy the

chance to chat · connect with other families and friends on your way to school, and share the journey · just go part way – if you live a long distance from school or have limited time, drive part of the way to school and walk the rest, · mix it up – if your child enjoys riding their bike or scooter, that’s great too!

Play Team The Play Team have been busy working with UK Playworker Marc Armitage and landscape architects Jeavons to maximise the play potential of our yard. So why are we doing this? Research shows that through improving play opportunities, particularly through the use of green spaces schools experience improved attendance, attainment and behaviour. Students are more relaxed and come in to class from the yard more ready and able to learn. Participating in the Play Team has provided a great opportunity for students from Prep to Grade 6 to actively be part of the process; sketching, mapping and sharing their experiences in the yard. We are extremely proud of the effort they have put in to ensure we create an outdoor space that reflects their desires and the types of play they seek. We plan to prioritise development of the gardens in the

senior school along Poet’s Grove as our first project and look forward to engaging our school community in donating time, expertise and materials as we move forward. Some of the key features we would like to include are; - swings - hills, height and slopes - gardens we can pick and play in - spaces to hide or be quiet in - more loose parts - dividers between spaces Please see the display boards in the JLC and office for more information.

Rebecca Hoban….Teacher

M a n n e r s M a t t e r

This fortnight for Manners Matter, we will be focusing on: Taking Turns Almost every day at school we need to take our turn. Sometimes it is in the classroom and other times, outside in the yard. In the classroom we may need to wait for our turn to see the teacher or to use some equipment. In games, we need to take our turn to bat or bowl and all sorts of play. When we are turn taking, it is important to wait patiently, allow others to finish and give others a chance to have their go too.

You Can Do It! Term 4 : Confidence Confidence means…. Feeling I can do it. Confidence also means not being afraid to make mistakes or to try something new. Confidence also means standing up tall and speaking with a clear voice (not too loud, not too soft). Work confidence means choosing to participate in new, difficult activities or classes, doing hard work without asking for help, offering to take responsibility and trying problems and answering questions when not too sure of the answer. Social confidence means meeting someone new, sharing ideas with classmates, speaking in a clear voice so that you are heard and starting up conversations.

Good Winners and Good Losers

Winning is great fun but we should remember that we need to win in a way that keeps our friends and promotes others’ respect for us. Celebrate our successes but do it in a way that does not offend or hurt others.

DO Keep celebrations low key Comment on good players Always try hard, even when winning Thank others for the game Give others a go. DON’T Boast about your ability or victory Comment on how far behind others are Point out where others are going wrong Act happy about others’ mistakes Cheat or manipulate others. At all times, we play fairly. Give others a go and stick to the spirit of the rules. In the end, the game should be fun for all; win, lose or draw. Being a good winner and a good loser - shows everyone that we are thoughtful, considerate and friendly children. All part of being an Elwood Kid.

Attachments : Elwood College, Sustainability Port Phillip, Community Shred Day, TeamKids Parents Information Night, Sport Phillip, Intentions for next year, Boots for all, Parking Port Phillip, Hocking Coaching, Parentline, Sweat With Soul.