Dates to Remember

13th February Grade 1/2 Hawthorn Football

Clinic

13th February Grade 1/2 Information Night

14th February Whole School Picnic

14th February Grade 3-6 Information Night

16th February Badge Presentation for

School and House Captains

20th February Parent to Teacher Feedback

Sessions

20th February Grade 3/4 Carlton Football Clinic

27th and 28th February World of Maths Incursion

4th March Billy Cart Derby

6th – 8th March Grade 3/4 Camp

12th March Labour Day Holiday

13th – 16th March Grade 5/6 Camp

NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS Deadline by Wednesday 11am

Email - ferny.creek.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

If you would like to receive the Newsletter every week via email then

go to the website to subscribe to online newsletter.

PRINCIPALS BLOG

Dear Parents and Friends,

Welcome to all our new Foundies. This week has seen both groups at school, and together, and learning their routine and building their relationships with their buddies and each other.

Welcome to all new families to the school. We hope you come to love our community as much as we do! New families joining us this year are the Alsop, Dawson, Hill, Hudson, Laird, Lancaster (returning), Lim, MacFarlane, Passamani, Piper, Rashleigh, Riddell, Sims, Sloane, Hastings and Hall families.

A special welcome to our newest staff member, Katie Knothe, who will be working with Jodie to support our Year 3/4 program.

Matthew Matthew had his pacemaker inserted last Wednesday. He is now home and recovering nicely. The children will be writing a get well card for him this week. We wish him a speedy recovery.

We are one step closer to appointing an Acting Principal for the remainder of this term. The process and protocol involved in ensuring the right person for our school requires a little more time that was originally expected. Cheryl will remain in the Acting Principal role for Week 3 and Kristy will continue supporting the 1/2 team. Thank you to Kristy for agreeing to stay with us for the extra week.

Ferny Creek PS Whole School Picnic We are holding our whole school picnic on Wednesday 14th Feb. Last year we had a wonderful day. It was a great way to celebrate our first two weeks and the conclusion of our Valued Start Program.

The day will (approximately) be; 9.30am Walk to Ferny Creek Reserve 10.00am Free play 10.30am Play lunch together as a whole school 11.00am Announcement of new House Captains for 2018 11.15am Year 6 students lead a fun games session 12.30pm Lunch together as a whole school 1:00pm Free play 2.30pm Walk back to school

(Foundation students can be picked up from the Reserve) 3.00pm Arrive back at school

Parents are very welcome to join us for the day!

Newsletter

Thursday 8th February 2018 TOGETHER WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Hats Reminder As Ferny Creek is a SunSmart school, all students are required to wear a Ferny Creek hat every recess and lunchtime during Term 1. Hats can be purchased at the Uniform Shop or fill in an order form at our office.

Visitor Badges A reminder to check in at the office when you arrive to help in classes or the playground. It is imperative that we know who is in the school at all times.

MPR During the holiday’s part of the ceiling in the Multi Purpose Room collapsed. It required one whole section to be renovated and repaired. We decided to use this opportunity to plaster over the skylights as well and add more downlights into the area. This will make it easier for our movie nights as well as improving the lighting of children when they are performing out the front. Dan Lucas, (Layla, Mabel and Archie’s dad) kindly took on the job for us at short notice and has been very accommodating and thorough in his approach. The ceiling is now very strong and superbly finished. We would like to thank Dan and his team for their efforts.

School Council Election Nominations are open from next Monday for the 2017 School Council. There are four parent and three staff vacancies for this next two year period. Parents whose two year period is up, may of course nominate or be nominated again. There is an information notice posted in the office foyer. Please ask Jill for the forms you need if you wish to nominate a person or nominate yourself. There will also be nominations called for one Department position on School Council.

Monday 12th Feb Call for nominations – Please see the office for a nomination form.

Monday 19th Feb Close of nominations. Wednesday 21st Feb Candidates posted outside office. Monday 26th Feb Ballot Papers available if an election is necessary. Monday 5th March Close of Ballot. Tuesday 6th March Declaration of poll. Tuesday 20th March First new Council meeting.

Parent to Teacher Conference and Grade Level Information Evenings A very important school activity in February is for us to communicate clearly, the expectations and goals of each grade in the school. To do this we will be having Information Evening meetings from 7.00pm to 8.30pm on Tuesday 13th February for our Years 1 to 2 and Wednesday 14th February for Years 3 to 6. We have staggered these into two sessions so you have a chance that your family can be catered for. These sessions will outline all the requirements, expectations and needs for that particular year level.

You will receive, in the near future, information about our very important Parent to Teacher sessions. We are holding these on Tuesday 20th February. There is great value in having parent to teacher information exchange sessions, as the more information we gather about your children at the start of the year, the quicker we can cater for their individual needs. This is attended only if you feel you need to talk to your child’s teacher about any issues that will, or may impact on their learning this year. Our new Foundation students do not need to attend this session as you have already given our teachers detailed feedback.

At the Information Evenings we will open up bookings for the parent to teacher discussion sessions. A list of times for each class will be

Phone: 9755 1522

Fax: 9755 2493 School Road, Ferny Creek,

Victoria 3786

Web: www.fernycreekps.vic.edu.au

Email: ferny.creek.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

Banking Details Account: Ferny Creek Primary School

Bank: CBA

BSB: 063 414

Account Number: 10022451

Office Hours Monday – Friday 8.30am - 4pm

Principal: Matthew Coyle

coyle.matthew.j@edumail.vic.gov.au

Business Manager: Jill Heathcote

ferny.creek.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

School Council President: Liam Smith

Promotion & PR: Rhian Jessop

ferny.creek.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

Education, Policy & Planning: Matthew Coyle

coyle.matthew.j@edumail.vic.gov.au

School Crossing: Diane Garsed

Uniform Shop: Monday 8:50 - 9:30am

Karra Rhodes

Library: Beth Byrne

Buildings & Grounds: Michael Paterson

mpaterson@probuild.com.au

School Banking: Tuesday

Kirrily Whatman

Costume Hire: Sarah Jennings

After the Bell: Head Office: 9758 6744

P.O. Box 7082 Ferntree Gully Vic 3156

Email: admin@afterthebell.com.au Website: www.afterthebell.com.au

A BIG thank you to

Rebecca Hughson (Zac

Hughson 3/4 J), Nadine

Michel (Lewis Fitzgerald

5/6K), Jim Green (Keelie

Geyer 5/6 A) for painting

lots of undercoat on the

sleeper retaining wall in

readiness for the Billy Cart

Derby in a few weeks.

We need to apply colour next. If you would like to help ring Doug on 0425 827 790.

Thank you to Rebecca

mother of Levi (1/2B)

and Zac (3/4J) for the

fantastic donation of

contact book covering

for the Library. It is very

much appreciated.

Thanks,

Beth

available to book a time at these sessions, and then will be placed in our school foyer. You may also call the school to book a time. Please try to fill in a time if you need to meet with your child’s teacher.

Billy Cart Derby The Billy Cart Derby has been pencilled in for Sunday 4th March. This is the first time we have held it on a Sunday. We feel that this may work better for our community and help to make it a real Family Friendly event. Please keep this date free in your diaries.

Diane Diane, our crossing lady, is currently on long service leave for Terms 1 and 2. Graham is our crossing person at the moment, so introduce yourself and make him feel welcome.

Some Safety and Traffic Issues. Car Park: If you are parking across the road in our car park you are reminded to reverse into your car spot. This way, you are parking with no children in the car park, and only moving forward when you have picked up your children. Also, a reminder not to park on the roadway anywhere near the crossing. Please be aware there is also new road signage in this area, and people using the crossing need clear vision both ways.

Playing in the Carpark: Students are not allowed to play in the carpark before or after school. Tell your child(ren) to wait inside the school fence until they are picked up.

Walking Through Staff Car Park: No children or families should walk through the staff car park. Cars are coming and going all day, and the risk to save a few seconds is just not worth it.

40 kph Speed Limit: A reminder that we have a 40kph speed limit out the front of the school 24 hours a day. As we are encouraging the use of our school grounds and facilities during out of school hours, we can have children and families crossing the road at any time.

Ferny Creek Primary School procedures for the bushfire season Fire danger ratings and warnings are used in Victoria to provide clear direction on the safest options for preserving life.

Schools and children’s services listed on the DET Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR) will be closed when a Code Red fire danger rating day is determined in their Bureau of Meteorology district. Our school has been identified as being one of those at high bushfire risk and is listed on the BARR.

Where possible, we will provide parents with up to four days’ notice of a potential Code Red day closure by letter, FlexiBuz and our school Facebook page. A Code Red day will be determined by the Emergency Management Commissioner no later than 1.00pm the day before the potential closure. Once we are advised of the confirmation of the Code Red day we will provide you with advice before the end of the school day.

Thank

You!

A program for faster learners.

A reminder to all families who have children that have qualified for WiseOnes

that it is beginning this week. The unit is ‘Around the World in 8 weeks.’ If

you would still like to enroll your child or require any further information

please email Sandy sandyrobertson777@gmail.com or call 0432 326 070.

Once confirmed, the decision to close will not change, regardless of improvements in the weather forecast. This is to avoid confusion and help your family plan alternative care arrangements for your child. It is also important to note that: No staff will be on site on days where the school is closed due to a forecast

Code Red day. Out-of-school-hours care will also be cancelled on these days

School camps will be cancelled if a Code Red fire danger rating day is determined for the Bureau of Meteorology district in which the camp is located.

On these Code Red days families are encouraged to enact their Bushfire Survival Plan – on such days children should never be left at home or in the care of older children.

For those of us living in a bushfire prone area, the CFA advise that when Code Red days are forecast, the safest option is to leave the night before or early on the morning of the Code Red day.

As part of preparing our school for potential hazards such as fire, we have

updated and completed our Emergency Management Plan, which now

includes the possible relocation to Wattle View PS on days of Extreme Fire

Danger.

What can parents do? Make sure your family’s bushfire survival plan is up-to-date and includes

alternative care arrangements in the event that our school is closed. Ensure we have your current contact details, including your mobile phone

numbers. Keep in touch with us by reading our newsletters, by checking our website and by talking to your child’s teacher or any other member of the teaching staff about our emergency management plan.

Most importantly at this time of year, if you’re planning a holiday or short stay in the bush or in a coastal area, you should check warnings in advance of travel and remain vigilant during your stay.

If your child is old enough, talk to them about bushfires and your family’s bushfire survival plan.

You can access more information about children’s services closures on the Department of Education and Training website – see http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/pages/closures.aspx

For up-to-date information on this year’s fire season see: https://emergency.vic.gov.au Facebook (facebook.com/cfavic) Twitter (twitter.com/CFA_Updates) ABC local radio, Sky News and other emergency broadcasters VicEmergency Hotline (1800 226 226)

Volunteer needed

to mend the

Friendship Chair

flags – please see

Brian or Jill in the

office.

Jack F: For an enthusiastic start to grade 1 and for showing super listening skills in class. Caine T-M: For making a positive start to the year and helping others settle into the class routines. Charlie D: For trying really hard to demonstrate our school values, especially during our morning meetings! Seb H: For quickly settling into Grade 1 and remembering to follow our morning routine without reminders! Jackson H: For settling well into our class. We’re so pleased to have you at Ferny Creek Primary School, Jackson! Emma P: For the fabulous cover you designed for your Reader’s Notebook. You included some great quotes! Well done Emma. Bobby D-H: for making an excellent start to grade 4! You’re becoming a great role model for our class. Havanna H: for making a wonderful start to your first year at Ferny Creek. We love having you here! Charlie B: For your AMAZING round of Letters and Numbers in which you used all nine letters to create the word detection, equalling the computer and its endless bank of words. Well Done!!! Wren G: For the artistic flare you have demonstrated throughout our Valued Start Program. Your Tee-Shirt and the body you created for our class poster were WONDERFUL. Well Done!!! Jordan R: For taking her learning further and creating a sculpture of her imaginary class pet. Your wonderful idea lead to others creating as well. Lucas W: For being our class’s hypermid…hypermod…hypermobility (weird body tricks) champion.

Stars of the Week

Creative Artist Award

Evie-Lee S

Grade 3/4S

Performing Arts Student of the Week

Will L

Grade 3/4S

日本語がんばった賞

Todd P

Grade 5/6C JAPA

NESE