Wembley Primary School Newsletter No. 33 – 26 October 2016

Upcoming dates: Monday 24 October Dyslexia Empowerment Week Thursday 27 October Year 6 Film Night Tuesday 1 November Cup Day – Public Holiday Wednesday 2 November Year 2 Cottage by the Sea Camp 1st Group departs Thursday 3 November Year 2 Cottage by the Sea Camp 2nd Group departs

Child Safe Standards 2016 Over the past couple of weeks the school community has been introduced to the Child Safe Standards that are being implemented in all schools. Today we will have a look at Child Safe Standards 3 and 4. Child Safe Standard 3 also refers to the Code of Conduct. Wembley Primary School has a Code of Conduct that establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour with children. Within these guidelines is a clear explanation of appropriate relationships with children for staff, volunteers, parents and children. Child Safe Standard 4 includes all aspects of Human Resources for Wembley. At Wembley we ensure appropriate screening, adequate supervision, training and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel. Existing and newly recruited staff and volunteers are made aware of the importance of child safety and the relevant policies and procedures. All staff, volunteers and contractors are required to have current Working with Children Checks and these must be presented at the office prior to commencing at the school. Training is another component of the human resource standard and this requires all employees and volunteers to regularly undertake training in relation to child safety. Staff is required to complete a Department of Education and Training, online training module, on Mandatory annually. Presentations and relevant reading is available to all staff on a regular basis. Next week there will be a brief overview of Child Safe Standard, which will cover reporting and responding to suspected child abuse.

Clubs and Activities Students are continuing to enjoy the many lunchtime clubs and activities provided at lunch times. Clubs run for 15-30 minutes and range from dance & coding to sport training & singing, and everything in between! Some clubs have changed since Term Three, so students are reminded to check the timetable sent around at the start of the week. A copy of this timetable will be in next week’s newsletter. A huge thank-you to the teachers and ES staff who support these clubs during their lunchtimes, providing students with different opportunities to engage while at school.

From the Principals

Planning for 2017 Planning has commenced for the new school year and several parents have already informed the office that their child/children will not be returning to Wembley in 2017. Early notification of your intention to transfer will assist us in the finalizing our class numbers and forming the new classes. If your family will not be attending Wembley next year it would be appreciated if you could notify the office as soon as possible. Class Placement for 2017 Over the coming weeks teachers will be looking at 2017 class placement for all students currently in Prep to Year 5. If you have any information that you feel will impact on your child’s educational progress next year please contact Annmaree Jones via email jones.annmaree.a@edumail.vic.gov.au or telephone to discuss your concerns. The final date for parent concerns will be Friday 28 October. Wembley Choirs visit to Yarraville West Primary School Last Friday two of our school choirs visited Yarraville West Primary School to join with choirs from St Monica’s, Footscray and Yarraville West PS for a singing workshop. Each school choir taught the group a song that they have been learning and then there was a performance at the end of the session. The students who attended had a wonderful time; they sang beautifully and were quick to make some new friends. Thank s to Gina Tan and Sarah Mason for taking the groups and to Yarraville West for inviting us and providing the venue. Hopefully this will be become an annual event for the Wembley School Choirs. Melbourne Cup Day holiday-Tuesday 1 November Parents are reminded that Tuesday of next week is a Public Holiday. The school will be open on Monday 31 October and classes will be running as normal. If your child will not be attending school on the Monday immediately prior to Cup Day please notify your child’s classroom teacher in advance. Please see message below that was sent out today via TiqBiz & Sentral: Dear Parents and Carers, ! The day before Melbourne Cup Day, is not traditionally well attended by students, as many families take a four-day weekend. To assist with planning for the day, we ask that ALL families complete the following short survey, identifying your child/ren, their year level/s, and whether they will be attending school next Monday 31 October. The survey will close on 9am Friday 28 October to enable us to analyse the data and make suitable arrangements. Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/83ZSMCG Yours sincerely, Terry Lawless Principal

Term 4 Camps for Students in Years 2, 3, 4 & 5

This term continues to be packed with exciting educational experiences as our Years 2, 3, 4 & 5 students head off to camp over the coming weeks.

The Year 2 students are first up and Group 1 (2A, 2C and half of 2D) will depart for Cottage By the Sea-Queenscliff at 9 am on Wednesday morning. The second group (2B, 2D and second half of 2D) will leave on Thursday morning. The groups will return to school on Thursday and Friday, as advised between 2.30 and 3.00pm. The teachers have organized a busy schedule for the, duration of the camp, which include a visit to the Marine Discovery Centre, beach activities and games around the Cottage and possibly a night walk. The camp to Queenscliff complements the concept work that is being covered in class this term.

The other camps that are planned for this term are as follows:

Year 3-The Island, Phillip Island-Monday 21 –Wednesday 23 November

Year 5-Kangaroobie, Warrnambool-Monday 21 November-Friday 25 November

Year 4 Sovereign Hill, Ballarat-Wednesday 30 November-Friday 2 November

Celebrating Dyslexia Empowerment Week 2016

An invitation to all parents at Wembley to attend a

Morning tea and workshop

Focus will be on:

The Importance of Phonological Awareness

Including games to try at home

With Cathy Harrison, Taxia Katsouranis, Annmaree Jones

And later Elizabeth Beilby, Speech Pathologist

Wednesday 2nd November 2016

2017 Diary Dates To assist parents in planning for the coming year the following dates have been confirmed. Wednesday 1 February 2017-Students in Years 1-6 return to school. Thursday 2 February 2017-Prep students commence school at 9am (proceed directly to classrooms). School Council confirmed the 2017 Curriculum Days at the October meeting: Tuesday 31 January-Teacher preparation Wednesday 22 February Wednesday 3 May Wednesday 28 June Term Dates for 2017 Term 1: Wednesday 1 February to Friday 31 March Term 2: Tuesday 18 April to Friday 30 June Term 3: Monday 17 July to Friday 22 September Term 4: Monday 9 October to Friday 22 December Other dates (e.g. Year level camps and swimming programs) to be advised as soon as confirmed. New Payment Option-QKR! We are excited to announce the launch of our new school payment app called QKR! (pronounced ‘quicker’) by MasterCard. This is a secure and easy way to pay for school items from your phone at a time and place that suits you. With QKR you can:

• Pay for school fees, camps, excursions and more; • Pay and order Canteen lunches with the ability to order lunches in advance; • See your receipts on the app and get them sent by email if required.

(Please note Canteen payments will appear as ‘Jude Corporation’ on your credit card/bank statement. All other payments will appear as ‘Wembley Primary School’). Please click on the QKR! page located on the Wembley PS Website for further information and tips. More information is also contained in this Newsletter. Please email: sentral@wembleyps.vic.edu.au for any assistance with QKR! Road Safety around the School A concerned neighbour telephoned the school today to report a potentially serious incident that was avoided earlier this week. While driving along a local street, at a speed well below the recommended 50kms for the area, two students from Wembley ran out in front of his car causing him to quickly brake and avoid hitting them. Upon reflection, the gentleman decided to report this situation in the hope that parents can be more vigilant with their children when they are accompanying them home from school. Safety around the school is a matter of concern for us all as our student numbers increase along with the increasing amount of traffic in the local area. Parents please take a moment to discuss road safety with your children and practise safe skills in crossing the road. Road safety is covered in the curriculum and regularly mentioned at our school assemblies. We all have a responsibility to ensure that our children are safe from harm in all situations.

Reporting As we move to our ongoing reporting, we see great value in seeking feedback about our practise. In Term Three we gained valuable insights into the reporting at WPS by engaging with:

• Junior School Councillors: 600+ responses • Teaching Staff: 40 responses • Parent Reporting Survey: 86 responses. • Parent Opinion Survey: 60 responses

With these four sources of input, we have been able to analyse and use this feedback to guide our actions for the future. We would like to thank all those who have contributed to the feedback, especially those with suggestions for improvement. Overall, the shift to ongoing reporting has been well received, especially by students and teachers. The purpose and overall vision “makes sense” and aligns with our mission ‘To empower all students to learn at high levels to become successful, independent, lifelong learners’. Our focus for the remainder of the year and 2017 will be to provide workshops, information sessions and online mini tutorials to support parents in the use and understanding of our systems, while also updating some options on the Parent Portal. These will be begin in November and continue into the New Year. Attendance Our Term Four, Week 3 attendance average was 93.1%. Our Annual Implementation Plan target is 95%. This is currently below our target, however you can see in the graph below that our attendance is tracking upwards after a decline at the end of Term Three and start of Term Four. While every effort should be made to attend school, we understand that sometimes children are sick or other circumstances may mean a child cannot attend school. If a child is absent, can parents or guardians please provide an explanation to the school. This can be a signed note or you may speak with the teacher. Students cannot provide their own explanation.

“Sing In” Choir Excursion

On Friday, the 21st of October, the two Wembley choirs (Years 3 & 4 and Years 5 & 6) went to Yarraville West Primary School for a “Sing In.” St. Monica’s Primary School came as well. We walked from Wembley to Yarraville West with Miss Tan, Miss Mason and Nicole. Luckily, it didn’t rain on the way there! When we got there, we had a little Meet and Greet session and then we got straight into our singing. We sang some songs in canon – this is when one group starts the song and then another group comes in a little bit later. We also sang some short, funny songs that helped us with our vocal range. The first song that we sang was Let It Play. All of the choirs knew this song, so they all joined in. The other songs that we sang were Flashlight, When I First Came To This Land, The Little Fish and Step by Step. We had our fruit before going outside to have a play and eat our snacks. The playground was small but lots of fun. When we returned, we practised our songs again. Then, some other classes from Yarraville West PS came in and watched us sing. Mrs Jones came to watch us too! It was then finally time to go back to Wembley. But it started to rain!! So we had to go back to school in some cars driven by Mrs Jones, Karen, Mary and Kristen. I thought that this day was a great experience for the choirs and I’d love to do it again. Thanks to Miss Tan and Miss Mason for organizing it! By Asha Maycock (3B)

Choir “Sing In” at Yarraville West PS Music filled the room – sopranos, altos, melodies and harmonies. Let’s just say that Wembley PS learnt a lot at Yarraville West PS. This event was run marvellously by Kathy and Sam (Yarraville West PS), Maria (St. Monica’s PS) and the beautiful teachers Miss Tan and Miss Mason (Wembley PS). After a few intriguing, unique and enjoyable exercises, the choirs sang Let It Play from Music: Count Us In. The performance included Kathy’s stunning guitar strumming and Miss Tan’s sensational piano skills. We learnt a diverse number of canons and sang several songs including Flashlight, When I First Came To This Land, The Little Fish and Step by Step. Everyone enjoyed the event and it was a fantastic experience. I highly encourage other students in Years 3–6 to join either choir. This occasion was ended by a beautiful farewell and thank you on behalf of St Monica’s and Wembley PS to Kathy for specially organising and hosting the event. Personally, I would like to thank all the teachers who were involved for making this once-in-a-lifetime experience happen. Thank you! By Aakriti Malhotra (5B)

Dear Wembley Parents,

We have two exciting events coming up for

Music in Term 4:

1. Music: Count Us In (MCUI) We are once again taking part in MCUI to celebrate music in Australia! Last year, we were one of over 2,100 schools to participate in this nation-wide school initiative. The song this year is called Let It Play. Along with many other schools, we will be singing (at the exact same time: 12:15 pm) in the hall on Friday, November 3rd. A rock band consisting of instrumental teachers and students will also be performing, and before we sing, we will watch a live telecast of what’s happening in Sydney. Parents, families and guardians are most welcome to come along, join in the fun and sing along with us!

2. Wembley Christmas Album This year together with Playback Group, Wembley is recording our first Christmas Album, featuring the voices of our students and teachers. The recording date is on Friday, November 11th. Leading up to the recording day, we will be holding a:

Cover and Disk Design Competition – We will be organising a competition for students to design the album cover and CD artwork. Templates are available at the office and finished artworks may be also submitted at the office. The closing date for submissions is on Friday, November 4th.

Further information regarding the purchase of the Wembley Christmas Album will be available in the following weeks and available on the school’s website.

Prep A No Award

Prep B Harriet L For her fantastic effort to separate a number different ways and record her number sentences. Impressive work!

Prep C Liam H For carefully estimating and measuring the length of his hand using unifix blocks.

Prep D Mila T For using multiple reading strategies when reading her books. Well done Mila!

1A Aya E For showing a great understanding of repeating patterns.

1B Jessica H For her impressive growth and knowledge gained with a range of repeating and growing patterns.

1C Edward J For his improved effort and focus during Writing. Keep up the fantastic work, Edward!

1D Jon A For his wonderful efforts in his writing and taking care and pride in his work. Well done Jon!

1E Rayanne D For her outstanding focus and effort during class independent reading time.

1F Lucas E For putting such excellent effort into his reading. Amazing work, Lucas!

2A No Award

2B No Award

2C Maeve O For an engaging lead and strong craft used throughout her information report on kangaroos. Great work Maeve!

2D Emelyn D For her wonderful effort with developing a range of strategies for division.

2E Sunita P For her outstanding effort with classifying words according to their long or short vowel sounds. Great work!

2E Rian D For confidently sharing his knowledge and understanding of transformation during Mathematics. Well done!

3A Daniel S For his fabulous effort in Mathematics and Writing, showing wonderful growth in his learning. Well done Daniel!

3B Wilson H For the effort, enthusiasm and engagement he has shown in our reading groups, and for creating his own mini book club.

3C Maja F For going above and beyond each week with her homework, further practising our current Essential Learnings. Well done Maja, all of that hard work is paying off!

3/4A Lauren M For excellent application to her work in Mathematics. Well done, Lauren!

4A Austin Z For his fantastic description of his setting of the goldfields, reflecting his use of figurative language. Well done, Austin!

4B Grace L For her cooperation in the classroom and completing her book club work to a high standard. Well done, Grace!

4C Abe A

For amazing focus and cooperation when working with his Maths group to explore Mass. Great effort Abe!

4D No Award

5A Willow H For excellent effort when identifying and continuing number patterns using whole numbers and decimals.

5B Ryan B For his brilliant work ethic and productivity when working on independent tasks. Keep it up Ryan!

5C Nick O For a clear improvement in attitude and effort throughout all class learning activities. Well done, Nick

5/6A No Award

6A Holly G For her consistent and outstanding academic achievements as well as her knack for keeping those around her honest.

6B Evan D For his enthusiasm across all aspects of the classroom but in particular his contributions towards his Year 6 movie, in concept.

6C Connor T Andrique H

For his exceptional hard work during maths sessions and his renewed effort to stay focused during Writing sessions. For his consistent effort across all areas of his learning and his focus and cooperation on his Year 6 Movie.

WPCG

Wembley Parents Community Group

As of Term 4 2016, WAG will now be known as WPCG.

(Wembley Parent Community Group)

Who is WPCG?

We are a group of likeminded parents focusing on community awareness, along with forming the fundraising arm at Wembley

Primary School.

****** We would like to extend an invite out to all parents & students to

embrace and participate in the events that will be held to help create the school culture that will be the envy of the area. Some events will be run solely for the students and family’s enjoyment,

others with fundraising in mind.

Please keep up to date via our Facebook page, where we have regular posts not only on WPCG events but also general school information. If you know any school parents that haven’t already

liked the page, please send them a page invite to do so.

Also event updates will be sent through Tiqbiz, Sentral and the school website & via the newsletter as well.

You can contact us on: ~

wembleycommunitygroup@gmail.com Or via the Facebook Page

Thursday 8th December 2016 Time: 5pm to 8pm

Wembley Primary School along with Wembley Parents Community Group invites all students and their family

members to join us for an end of year picnic to be held at the school. This will be a time for us all to come together

to celebrate and reflect on the year that was. There will be a sausage sizzle (Halal option available), BYO picnic,

student carol singing and a chance to come together and celebrate the upcoming summer break. More details to

follow, but for now save the date.

Book Launch @ Wembley Primary Prep to Year 3

Monday 31st October

The team from KART (Kids Are Raw Talent), a Wembley Mum and grandmother, are launching their children’s book, Helga and May

Discover the Magic of Colour. They will hold a book reading, signing and colour mixing activities

The book has Mr. K’s stamp of approval.

The book is available for ALL students via pre-order prior to 31st

October@ $20.00 or after this date @ $24.99. Please refer to the note sent home earlier this week

Any queries, please call Cath Anicic on 040 864 331