PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY

Peanut & Cashew Free School Newsletter

Friday 9th Feb 2018

Issue No: 1

Respectful, Responsible, Safe and Kind Learners

Welcome Everyone- Happy New Year Our current enrolment is 225 students. We would like to welcome all our children and families to the new school year. It is really fantastic to see our children excitedly bounce into school ready for learning. New Families Welcome to the following new families to our school-We have lots of families with the same surname! O’Meara Bowers Cardamone Hughes Hazell Naidu Wilson-Axlak Vince Barrios Baigent Cambridge Champion de Crespigny Elliott Field Harrison Maloney Macauley Moorhouse Osther Perry Robertson Russell Stone Tankard Thomas Willoughby-Stover Lintzeris

Staff

We welcome Michael Campbell back to our school for 2018. Michael comes to our school from Tarneit P-9

College.

First day of School

Our children in the Foundation Learning Community had a brilliant start to school. They were all very excited and

settled into their learning space so quickly. Our families (the grown-ups and little ones) were warmly welcomed to

our new school. We held a morning tea and approximately 40 people had a cuppa in our Da Vinci studio.

School Calendar of Events 2018 -See Page 2

REMINDERS-2018 School Calendar

Please check the calendar regularly as some events are subject to change. Keeping our Beautiful Children Safe in the Sun! Hats must be worn outside commencing the 1st of September until the 1st of May each year.

Child Safety Standards Enter at the Office only-To maximise safety we request

that parents and visitors do not use other doors to enter

the school. Parents and visitors are not permitted to go

directly to classrooms at any time without signing in at

the office and discussing their needs with an office staff

member. Thank you for your understanding.

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY …….

2018 (further dates will be added as they come to

hand) Term 1 26th Jan Australia Day 29th Jan Teachers Start 30th Jan Years 1-6 students start 7th Feb Foundation Students start 13th Feb Family School Tours 3.15 - 4.15pm 23rd Feb PPs Cross Country TBA 27th Feb Parent Teacher Interviews 12th Mar Labour Day (No School) 14th Mar Division Swimming –Kardinia Park 27th Mar PARENT information Session– Anxiety

in Children with Jules Haddock (6.30- 8.30pm)

28th Mar School PHOTOS 29th Mar Last Day of term at 2.30pm 30th Mar Good Friday Term 2 25th Apr Anzac day (No School) 6th –8 Jun MLC Camp Anglesea 11th Jun Queen’s Birthday (no School) 29th Jun Last Day of term at 2.30pm Term 3 16-20 Jul NAIDOC Week for PPS 23rd Jul Student Led Interviews 30 Jul-1 Aug SLC Camp to Phillip Island 17th Aug Book Week Parade 21st Jul Footy Dress Up Day Last Day of term at 2.30pm Term 4 19th Oct Buddies Excursion 24th Oct Geelong Cup Day (no school) 2nd Nov Pink Day 23rd Nov White Ribbon Day Year 2 Sleepover 7th Dec F-2 Carols at Parks Hall 19th Dec Final Assembly Year 6 Graduation 21st Dec Last Day of Term at 1.30pm

Portarlington Primary supports the Bellarine Sunset Run

Money raised by this event is directed towards supporting mental health

programs for the young people on the Bellarine Peninsula. Physical exercise is

proven to be an excellent strategy to reduce the effects of many mental health

issues such as depression. We are proud to be foundation sponsors of this

event.

For the third year running, our dedicated volunteers have set up a BBQ. Thank

you Lisa, Amanda, Ray, Wayne and Caine. All the money raised goes directly to

the Sunset Run event.

Our staff, parents and children also support the event by entering the various

sections (4km. 10km or 21km).

Our student leaders, volunteered their time on Saturday

afternoon to hand out the medals to the event finishers.

Thank you to our school captains and house sports captains

for all your help– Brock, Ethan, Eve, Mea, Claire, Tylah,

Raynier, Maddi, Taiia, Katherine and Jackson.

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY……..

A Great Start to 2018- Team Work is the Key! Volunteers and parent helpers are appreciated so much all year round. They offer their time to make our school

the wonderful place that it is every day.

THANK YOU to the VOLUNTEERS who helped to get the school ready! Thank you to all of our amazing staff who put in hundreds of volunteer hours during January to ensure that our school was all ready to go on the 29th of January. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Jackie Kaiser, Lisa Gale, Mel Singleton, Brendan Beattie and volunteers Karen and Neil Sheard and Darren Allbutt who started back between the 3rd and 5th of January with me. Thank you Tim O’Hara and Michael Nelson for setting up the Da Vinci Studio and assisting with other tasks. Also a big thank you to Renee Lowry who helped set up the Take Home Book Storage. Brent, Gary, Joel, Josh, Jonah, Sam and Ade from Drysdale Removals and Storage spent three days transferring all our equipment and resources from the old buildings to the new facilities. They took great care handling our precious cargo and also were very careful moving everything in to the new learning spaces. They have since returned to further empty the heritage building for us. Thank you to our local company B & N Blinds for working hard to make the blinds for our office spaces in time for the start of the new school year.

THANK YOU to the VOLUNTEERS in our School Veggie Patch

The school curriculum program in the veggie patch has been ‘on hold’ for the duration of the school build although we have still provided our families with all the fresh produce that has grown during this time. Volunteers are the most important part of the success of the Veggie Patch. Our garden volunteers also worked tirelessly all year and over the January break to support the timelines in preparation for the start of the school year. All year, they volunteer for thousands of hours including additional watering rosters in the hotter months. Our garden volunteers are all retired community members who give up their spare time to support our school and we are ever so grateful to them for creating the productive fruit and vegetable garden that we are so lucky to have. Thank you also to Tracey Morphett and Yvette White (parents) who have also volunteered lots of their time in the Veggie Patch. 2018 is going to be an exciting year for the Vegetable Garden as we prepare the area for our new Kitchen Garden curriculum directions. Strategic and thoughtful planning throughout 2018 will ensure that we can deliver a successful program that incorporates the use of the Da Vinci Studio and the Galley to fully implement a Kitchen Garden program at our school. The area will have a makeover that includes organising all the equipment and planning for the extension of the space towards Fenwick Street.

WORKING BEES To support our volunteers, several working bees will be organised to carry out this work and school families can

volunteer to help us to get the garden ready for use by the children. A sort and an audit of the current materials and equipment will help us to determine what the storage needs are.

After this, we can plan for the extension of the Veggie Patch and develop an area to include some chickens.

THANK YOU to the VOLUNTEERS of our School Monthly Market The monthly market is run by our school council and is the Major Fundraiser for our school. The profits are directed

towards to ICT program and saving funds towards new playground equipment. The parent payment costs are kept a minimum for you due to the funds raised by the market.

The December Market hosted 77 stall holders and in January we hosted 47 stall holders.

Thank you to the following people who volunteer their time to support the market- Mel Singleton, Lisa Gale, Ray

Brown, Justine Devonport, Tess Carr-Howard and Amanda O‘Farrell.

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY……..

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY……..

Information and Reminders Communication to Parents

Portarlington Primary uses electronic systems of communication. The online system at our school is called COMPASS. Our friendly office staff can help you with any login issues or show you how to use COMPASS. Newsletters are produced every fortnight. They can be accessed via COMPASS and on our school website -www.portps.vic.edu.au On our website you will also find the web link to COMPASS. Social Media – for school updates and information (facebook). Please contact the school if you have any questions as we only use facebook to share information and to celebrate events. SMS messaging system– important information is sent to parents via a text messaging service. Please do not respond to any requests sent out through the SMS service. Do not reply using texts as the school does not receive reply messages. Student Diaries and phone calls are also used to communicate to parents. Staff are also available for meetings with parents. We want to make sure that we provide you with our full attention so please phone the office to make a suitable time for an appointment. Staff have meetings everyday between 3.30 and 4.30pm. Staff are preparing for student learning, attending briefings or yard duty from 8.40am. Parent, Teacher, student conferences (interviews) are held in February and July.

Health and Safety

No Smoking with in 4

metres of our school

boundary .

Speed Limit– There is a 40k speed limit in designated areas during school times. The main street is always 40km per hour

Sasha baked some beautiful bread at home for the staff this week. Thank you Sasha. It was delicious. You are so kind and thoughtful.

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY …….

Extreme Weather

At school we can experience days of extreme weather—this could be rain, wind or heat. We have guidelines and procedures for extreme weather conditions which include ensuring the children are inside so that they are safe. Depending on the weather, we may implement one or more of the following processes according to the conditions- Seek shade or cover Wear hats/coats/scarves Drink plenty of water Open the school hall Direct children to passive play in the hall. Instruct staff and students to remain in classrooms for break times Provide sunscreen Encourage parents to apply sunscreen and provide water bottles for their children

There is an urban myth that schools send children home when the thermometer hits a certain temperature-this is not the case and normal school

hours apply.

Kids or Animals in Cars Melbourne and greater Victoria will experience extremely high temperatures for the back to school period. Parents and/or guardians are reminded that on hot days it is important never to leave children or pets alone in a car. Temperatures inside a parked car during summer can be around 20 to 30 degrees hotter than the outside temperature. Leaving children or pets in hot cars, even for a moment, can result in serious injury or death. Young children’s smaller body size and underdeveloped nervous system places them at a much greater risk of life-threatening heatstroke, dehydration and other serious health risks. If a parent or guardian is travelling with a child, never leave them alone in a parked car, not even for one moment.

Reminder-Student Supervision Staff supervise the school yard between 8.30am—8.50am, 11.10 -11.30am, 1.40-2.15pm and 3.15-3.30pm. Children arriving at school before 8.30am must be accompanied by an parent/carer or booked into the before school care program Kelly Club as no supervision is provided before this time.

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY……..

Yard Supervision Every day Please discuss this with your child. Our school yard is always supervised. Staff wear fluorescent vests for easy identification. Staff members may also be found in the office and staff room during break times. Passive play operates (with a teacher), at lunch time in the library.

Some Reminders for 2018 School Uniform: The students are looking amazing in their complete uniforms. If you can’t find an item, please ask, as we will do our best to make sure that we keep them all looking part of a team.

Hair: hair that is past shoulder length is to be tied up

Nail polish other than clear is not welcome

Bike shorts are only to be worn under a skirt or dress, not as a uniform item.

Leggings ( dark blue only) can be worn under shorts, dress or skirt, not worn by itself with a long T shirt.

Shoes – runners or black school shoes only

Hair ties – dark blue or red

Jewellery- only sleepers or stud ear rings. No necklaces/ bracelets /rings of any kind for safety reasons.

No netball skirts please. Second Hand uniforms: We have a small supply of second hand uniforms. Mel, Lisa or Margaret are able to help you. The stock of second hand uniforms is regularly replenished from unclaimed, un-named clothing which has been laundered. Thank you to the parents who have donated good quality uniform items which children have outgrown. We really appreciate your support. All money raised from our second hand uniform sales is directed toward funding of our sponsored child Emmanuel Wasilwa from Uganda. This costs us $360 per year to sponsor him plus last year we paid an extra $270 for his accommodation for the year so he could go to secondary school (for his board during the school term). Absences and Late Passes: If your child is absent from school – please record the absence on COMPASS as soon as possible to explain the absence. It is important that absences are accurately recorded on our data system. If you know that your child will be absent for an upcoming appointment– you can record it at anytime on COMPASS (even the night before). If you are running late – Parents /carers must sign your child in at the office and have Mel or Lisa enter the attendance on the computer. The child collects an Arrival Pass Card and is taken to their class learning space by a member of staff. Conveyance & CSEF Forms Conveyance Allowance Application forms and Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund application forms are now available at the office. If you believe that you are eligible please contact Lisa or Mel at the office.

Kelly Club- Out of School Hours Care We would like to welcome back the Kelly Club team to our school as the providers of our OSHC service. All bookings, management, organisation and communication is done by the team at the Kelly Club. The school does not do this. Jodie Brown is the coordinator. Please contact OSHC on 0448 449 113 to find out how you can book into the Kelly Club.

2018 TERM DATES 2018– School Procedures & Operations There have been lots of changes to our school operations and procedures for 2018 due to the changes in the school facilities and the changes to the school yard. We will endeavour to keep families as up to date as possible with any further changes to our procedures as the school site continues to change.

2018 School Starting Time

We are pleased to be announce to you that our school grounds will be supervised from 8.30am commencing on the 30th of January 2018. This will support many of our parents and caregivers who have work or appointments first thing in the morning.

Classes will start at 8.50am and children will be required to be on time each day.

Period Start Finish Length

Term 1 Tuesday, January 30 2018 Thursday, 29 March 2018 9 weeks

School Holidays Friday, 30 March 2018 Sunday, 15 April 2018

Term 2 Monday, 16 April 2018 Friday, 29 June 2018 11 weeks

School Holidays Saturday, 30 June 2018 Sunday, 15 July 2018

Term 3 Monday, 16 July 2018 Friday, 21 September 2018 10 weeks

School Holidays Saturday, 22 September 2018 Sunday, 7 October 2018

Term 4 Monday, 8 October 2018 Friday, 21 December 2018 11 weeks

2018/2019 Summer School Holidays

Saturday, 22 December 2018 Tuesday, 29 January 2019

7.15am Kelly Club-Before School Care

8.30am Drop off Yard Supervision by a Teacher Breakfast Club on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

8.50am Classes Start Session 1

10am Session 2

11am Eat/Play

11.30am Session 3

12.30pm Session 4

1.30pm Eat/Play

2.15pm Session 5

3.15pm Classes End Kelly Club-After School Care Yard Supervision by a Teacher until 3.30pm

3.30pm Yard Supervision ends

6pm Kelly Club-After School Care finishes

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY …….

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY……..

2018 School Staffing

2018 School Structure 11 Home Groups

Prep x 2 home groups

Year 1-2 x 3 home groups Year 3-4 x home groups Year 5-6 x home groups

Principal Lesley-Ann Allbutt

Assistant Principal Jackie Kaiser

Business Manager Lisa Gale

Primary Welfare Manager Margaret Browne

Technical Support Brendan Beattie

Teachers- Home Group Michael Campbell

Jasmine O’Brien

Brad Greenwood

Christopher Hester

Lauren Bannam

Mel Meaney

Brooke McLaren

Mike Nelson

Michelle Primmer

Rhiannah Sgarbi

Lisa Waterman

Teachers- Specialist Program Renee Aloi

Kim Mikelsons

Tim O’Hara

Morgan Lee-Hickey

Education Support Staff Wendy Newton

Bec Pavez

Beth Rogers

Mel Singleton

Mary Minogue-Bolton

Teacher Coaching, Educational Consultancy and Speech Therapist

Melissa Edwards

Andrea Hillbrick

School Groundsman Neil Sheard

Portarlington Primary……..