11 November 2016

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates to Remember

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Principal’s Report

School Zone Flashing Lights

I have had communication from our Member for Waterford, Shannon Fentiman outlining these important additions to the road safety of our children at key times of the day.

I can confirm the flashing school zone lights we were informed about earlier this year, we are expecting them to be installed in the very near future. In combination with the new “Stop, Drop and Go” zone the additional installation of the flashing lights assists motorists in being alerted to slow down around the school. This will enhance community safety during these peak periods. The changes made in the interest of safety of our community are welcomed and I thank our Local and State Representatives for their work in making this a safer place for our children and our community!

Premiers Reading Challenge

It was a great achievement to have 100% of our children participating in the Premiers Reading Challenge. What a fantastic achievement from our students and a beautiful family effort from our teachers, parents and school community! It was so very exciting to have the Member for Waterford, Shannon Fentiman come to celebrate this achievement with us. Outstanding work in what is a critical space for all of our children. We need to make sure our children can read with fluency but importantly too that they understand what they are reading as well and can answer questions about the text.

I don’t care what they read! But let’s make sure we are getting them to read! It’s a lifelong skill we must give them and if we all give just 10 mins a day to listen to or read with our children I know that would make the world of difference!

Preparing for 2017

We have commenced some classroom movements in preparation for 2017. In the next couple of weeks we will relocate our current Prep classes from the bottom of the school up to the top of the school where in 2017 all Prep classes will be housed. This enhances our ability for teachers and students to work together in the very best interest of ensuring outstanding outcomes for students. I’m also really serious about making sure our Prep year teachers are proximal to one another so we can share the wonderful teaching and learning they do. At this point it is the only year level of teachers who are not afforded this set up. Strangely I’d say it’s the most important year level in terms of us getting a positive smart start to the rest of the child’s life at school so you can see why the current arrangements concern me.

Family, Family, Family! Our Edens Landing Family is important to me and we need the opportunity to act as a family for the benefit of our children and importantly make sure we have opportunities for our staff to develop, share and indeed implement the latest and greatest of teaching and learning within our classrooms. It’s a bit hard to do that from opposite ends of the school. In 2017 all prep classes will be operating from the location at the top of the school. You will see some minor building works commencing in the near future to facilitate this process.

The current facility at the bottom of the school closest to the car park will become a student services hub (yet to be named) where we will deliver a suite of student and family support services that will be coordinated by the Head Of Special Education Services (HOSES) and an additional Deputy Principal as part of their key responsibilities in delivering on the behaviour and welfare agendas of the school. Building children for success is what we are about and we know what we need to do to assist in that space. The previous models have been delivered from a number of places across the school which we believe is counter productive to the cause we are trying to assist.

In addition previously the services of the Special Education Program (SEP) have been moved every year from one room to another. It is my opinion once again that in our Family every child and indeed every service delivery should have some form of constant home where possible. The facility at the bottom of the school will house a number of programs and importantly serve as one of the learning spaces for the SEP. The program will however continue to be one of inclusive practices for the most part supporting our children in their classroom setting.

The vision for enhanced student services through this facility is to include on site services such as hearing, eye testing, access to a general medical practitioner, priority access to paediatric services, links to family and personal counselling services and so on. Our need in these spaces is obvious when we look across our Edens Landing Family. It makes sense to invest time in trying to make this vision a reality for our community. To be honest do I think I can pull this off? Lets just say I don’t believe this type of service is the “norm” so it will certainly have challenges within, however as a community I believe we are well placed to lobby for what we need. So I can’t promise the services for sure – but I can promise my team and I will be working overtime with our P&C and local council to deliver what we can.

What’s new?

We will also see works going on to relocate our garden area to the free space beside the tuck shop, making it proximal to the kitchen and the centre of our school. The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program will be extended across 2017 to include all year levels. The tightening of defined links to curriculum outcomes for all year levels has been undertaken by our Head Of Curriculum and includes links to maths, science, technology and so on making the program a viable hands on component of curriculum exposure for our students . This space will also be fenced and the deliberate staged and planned growth of items to support the program will be undertaken.

In E Block where we currently have our kitchens, a computer lab and some free learning space we are building a new Science Technology Engineering and Maths Centre (STEM). This area will house a flexible learning space for our students to engage in programs within these areas that are commensurate with the new Australian Curriculum demands. This area of curriculum is about future proofing the thinking skills and problem solving abilities of our children to cope with the changes we will see in jobs, technology and society into the future.

We expect these works to start in the next couple of weeks at an overall cost in excess of $30,000 to refit and repurpose the area to be able to manage multiple educational outcomes. Importantly our P&C have also assisted with the provision of various devices to support student learning and we thank them greatly for this support. Across two areas, STEM and Technology they have generously supplied us with an additional $15,000 to equip these spaces with the latest and greatest technology.

We have also purchased an additional 30 Laptops ($60,000 )for flexible learning and lab use and some additional experimental furnishing that are commensurate with the latest research on best practice in supporting student learning. I am looking to explore “how” we deliver learning experiences to our children in 2017 with some research based trials in what we hope will make for some pretty exciting learning spaces that will have children and teachers lapping up the opportunities to learn together in a space where mistakes are encouraged with a positive mindset on flexible learning opportunities for all children.

We will also have 2 trials proceeding next year that will be experimenting with device based outcomes and learning. I guess that is fancy talk for what better outcomes can we see from the immersion of curriculum delivery using digital devices as a predominant mode for learning tasks. I have selected 2 control classes for this trial in 2 year levels which will allow us to compare data and outcomes for children before considering if we proceed down this track on a larger scale. I must make it clear these classes will not be chosen in any way different to the normal class composition processes within the school. A valid trial for learning outcome comparisons needs to ensure this is the case.

HELLLLLLLLP!

If you anticipate in any way that you may not be returning in 2017 please notify the office immediately. I am currently forming a class structure for 2017 based on the student numbers we have. Changes in expected enrolment cause changes for our children at the commencement of the school year. Sometimes this is unavoidable as a result of unexpected increased enrolment. The opposite however (decreased enrolment) is something we can hedge against if we know what is happening NOW!

Review of Learning

In 2016 our school was selected for a Priority Review by the region. The outcome of that review can be seen in the summary on our school website. In particular the school was urged to consider ceasing the streaming of classes as a basis for enhanced student outcomes. This year we have dismantled that process in part and as of 2017 we will no longer stream classes. There review found there was no evidence to support that this was resulting in increased/ enhanced outcomes for students at any level of the streaming. In fact as I had detailed previously, the process was counterproductive to allowing a fair and equitable opportunity for all students. The individual learning pathways for students is an area we have done a lot of preparation on this year. We will continue to work on this processes in 2017 to deliver a suit of modes of learning and opportunities for all children in our school based on their needs and capabilities.

Integral to this focus is:

1. Reading Results / Pedagogy – what are we doing in classrooms across our school to support excellence in this area? This includes excellence in curriculum programming and teacher development.
2. Better Behaviour outcomes for all – A concentrated school community approach to supporting excellent behaviour and learning outcomes across our school including the delivery of whole school processes to support a focus on better choices for all children. Importantly too, a deliberate focus on support and referral processes for children not meeting our expectations in attendance and behaviour.

Mem Fox a wonderful author and advocate for reading talks about the importance of reading aloud with our children. I’d encourage you to visit her site for the ten read-aloud commandments and many other wonderful resources!

2017 Principal Edens Landing

I have been informed that my contract will continue into 2017. This is good news for us and I look forward to working here with you in the capacity as principal. The contract renewal is through to the end of term 1 at this point. If any further information is made available we will be sure to let you know.

Thank you once again for being the warm welcoming community that you are and particularly I thank you for your support of our teachers and the school in making sure we get the very best results possible for our children. My work here supported by a wonderful teaching team and dynamic leadership and administration team is exciting and a pleasure to be involved in.

Mr Andrew Cummings
Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

2017 Senior Shirts

The payment for 2017 senior shirts has now been finalised and the order is being prepared to send off. The supplier has told us that the senior shirts should be ready for the first day of term 1 next year. If you missed the deadline, please speak with me as soon as possible.

2016 Graduation

Letters have now gone home for graduation. Please return payment as soon as possible as tickets are limited. If your child does not wish to attend graduation, but wants to receive a graduation pack, payment still needs to be made by the due date.

Rule of the Week

The rules for weeks 7 and 8 of Term 4 are outlined below. Teachers will be discussing these with their students over the next two weeks, and it would be wonderful if parents spoke with their children about the importance of each rule.

Week 7 - Resolve conflicts appropriately

• Tell them how you feel.
• Negotiate in.
• Let it go.
• Tell an adult.
• Apologise
• Think how the other person feels.
• Take turns.

Week 8 - Be sun safe

One of the most successful health campaigns in Australia's history was launched in 1981, when a cheerful seagull in board shorts, t-shirt and hat danced his way across our TV screens singing the jingle.

‘Slip, Slop, Slap! It sounds like a breeze when you say it like that Slip, Slop, Slap! In the sun we always say 'Slip, Slop, Slap!'

Slip, Slop, Slap! Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat Slip, Slop, Slap! You can stop skin cancer - say: 'Slip, Slop, Slap!'

At a time when melanoma rates were climbing and evidence of the link between UV radiation and skin cancer was mounting, the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria (now Cancer Council Victoria) approached broadcaster Philip Adams – then creative director of an ad agency – to come up with a campaign that would encourage Australians to protect their skin.

Adams and colleagues, Peter Best (composer) and Alex Stitt (designer/animator), created Sid the Seagull which was an immediate hit with children and parents alike.

Throughout the 1980s, variations of the original Slip! Slop! Slap! advertisement were produced and shown as paid advertisements and as community service announcements. They featured Sid's kids and Sid and friends in protective sunglasses and seeking shade from a tree 'between 11 and 3'. The Slip! Slop! Slap! slogan is the core message of the Cancer Council's SunSmart program and has become part of the Australian language.

Cancer Council believes its Slip! Slop! Slap! campaign has played a key role in the dramatic shift in sun protection attitudes and behaviour over the past two decades. Over the years, the sun protection message has expanded to Slip! Slop! Slap! Seek! Slide! The Cancer Council asks us to protect ourselves in five ways from skin cancer whenever the UV level is three and above, so as a school, it makes perfect sense that we promote the same expectations of all students:

1. Slip on sun protective clothing that covers as much of your body as possible (this is why our uniforms have collars and sleeves).
2. Slop on SPF 30 or higher broad spectrum sunscreen liberally to dry skin, at least 20 minutes before sun exposure. Reapply every two hours when outdoors (Parents often send roll-on sunscreen to school to be applied for the 2nd play time).
3. Slap on a broad brimmed hat that shades your face, neck and ears (Our school hat does this, caps do not!).
4. Seek shade (We have a large number of shaded areas for students to play during both breaks).
5. Slide on sunglasses (optional at school due to difficulties monitoring and storing them safely).

Regards
Mrs Cheryl Gibson

Deputy Principal’s News

We have all been victim to gossip, it can be a very upsetting and stressful experience. At Edens Landing we teach children not to become involved with the gossip cycle, by teaching them

The Three Filter Test for Gossip

This story has been accredited to Socrates, although the original source may have been someone else. Either way it’s a great tale that gives us some helpful hints on how to better deal with those who gossip and how to stop ourselves from spreading rumours as well.

One day, a student came up to the great philosopher. “Socrates, I have just heard some news about one of your friends” he excitedly exclaimed.

“Before you tell me this news, we need to make sure that it passes the triple filter test,” responded Socrates.

“What’s the triple filter test?” the man asked.

“The first test is that of truth. Tell me, do you know that what you’re going to tell me is absolutely true?” asked Socrates.

After thinking for a moment, the man said, “I heard this news from someone else, so I’m not 100% sure if it’s true.”

“The second test is that of goodness,” Socrates continued, “Is what you’re about to tell me something good?”

“No, actually it’s the opposite…”

Socrates interrupted the man, “So what you’re going to tell me is neither true, nor good?”

The man was slightly embarrassed and shrugged his shoulders.

Socrates continued, “There is one final test which is usefulness. Is what you’re about to tell me going to be useful?”

“Probably not,” the man replied.

“Well, if you’re going to tell me something that’s not true, good or useful, then why tell me at all?” responded the philosopher.

I’m sure that we’ve all indulged in a bit of gossip from time-to-time. We all come across spicy information occasionally that we feel compelled to pass on to others. The next time you do, pass the information through the triple filter test to see if you really should be telling others.

Excellence in Reading at Edens Landing SS includes

Everyone,
Everyday,
Everywhere.

We all need to model reading to our children whenever we as adults are required to read, this could include reading the mail, catalogues, and menus. Of course we should also model reading for pleasure so children can see that reading is both purposeful and fun.

Here’s Mr Cummings reading for pleasure at home.

Working with the school to support your child’s asthma needs

For many students, asthma will be a lifelong health condition, so it is important for students as they become older and more capable, to recognise their signs and symptoms and be confident to administer their own medication independently when required.

If your child is not yet confident with this and you would like the school to administer asthma medication to your child, it would assist us if you could provide an Asthma Action Plan, completed and signed by your child’s doctor when you provide their prescribed medication to the school.

However, when you feel that your child can confidently, competently and safely administer the right dose of their own medication at the right times and can store their medication securely, let the office know. We will note/update your child’s medical records to reflect your decision.

The school only needs your child’s Asthma Action Plan if staff are administering or helping your child to administer their asthma medication, or if their emergency response is complex.

Our school has staff trained to provide Asthma First Aid in an emergency to any student demonstrating signs and symptoms of serious asthma attack.

If you are unsure whether your child is ready to self-administer, or if your child’s health condition changes, please contact me to discuss further.

Thank you for assisting us in supporting your child’s health needs.

Regards
Ms Anthea Grant

Curriculum News

Last Friday on our whole school parade I was extremely fortunate to be able to present all of our classes with their Premiers Reading Challenge Certificates. What an amazing feat it was to have 100% of students who participated in the challenge complete it. A huge congratulation to students and staff for all of their hard work- I look forward to seeing us achieve the same result next year

Year 1

In English we are continuing to work on our persuasive texts. The students are enjoying trying to talk their teacher into taking the class to Australia Zoo or everyone getting an ice cream.

Our current focus in Mathematics is making connections between addition and subtraction, describing addition patterns in problem solving and exploring different methods of recalling addition facts.

It was very exciting in Science this week with students bringing in toys that had a light or sound feature to share.

We are continuing to discuss water safety in preparation for our swimming lessons. NEXT MONDAY 14th NOVEMBER IS THE LAST DAY TO PAY FOR SWIMMING.

Year 2

Year 2 students have been sharing their speaking presentations on: "How to demonstrations," we have seen some creative presentations including posters, videos and PowerPoint presentations over a wide range of topics including: how to feed the dog, how to make the bed and how to get ready for school.

In science students have been exploring forces and factors affecting them and how to conduct fair tests. Students this week have been using this knowledge to conduct their own fair test investigation on how different surfaces affect a rolling toy.

We are also looking forward to swimming starting in a couple of weeks’ time. Some classes are still requiring parent helpers so if you can help out please contact the classroom teacher.

Year 3

In Year 3, students have been having lots of fun preparing for their poetry presentations. Using the poems from the hilarious author, Ken Nesbitt, students have been exploring how to use voice and body gestures to add meaning to their presentations and capture the attention of the audience. There final presentations are sure to be entertaining.

Year 4

The Year 4s began their Footsteps program this week and loved it! Great to see the students dancing and giving it a go. We do have some fancy footwork happening here.

Year 5

In Year 5 we have been learning about poetry. Mr Tate came in to speak to 5L about why he writes poetry, and Conroy has written the following poem about one of his favourite things.

Lego

The buildings are built as fast as an eagle soaring through the sky.
Construction is a simple thing, but destruction is something else.
When creation is happening, a war is coming like a great big bomb.
Towering towers tower through to tomorrow.
When a tower or building is being built to its finishing touch
It’s so much like a great new life.
The one thing I like about Lego most is that it is just like a great big life that you can bring to life.

By Conroy

Have a wonderful week,
Mrs Rachel Pope

What’s On at Edens Landing State School

P&C News

Upcoming P&C Meeting – 21st November 2016

Our Parents and Citizens' Association meets in the staffroom on the third Monday of each month, from 7:00 pm to 9:00pm.

The association receives regular reports from the principal and teachers in charge, together with updates from the various committees in the school.

The P&C provides advice and support to the principal and staff and is involved in making many decisions pertaining to the school.

If you would like anything placed on the agenda you can email it to the P&C secretary or leave a note at the office.

To become a member you must be present at the meeting you are lodging your application. Membership forms are available at every meeting.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.

School Banking

School Banking day is Wednesday.

Remember, Wednesday is School Banking day and students should bring in their weekly deposit.

For every deposit made at school, students will receive a silver Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for an exclusive School Banking reward item in recognition of their regular savings habits.

School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school, raising 5% on every deposit made through the school (to a maximum of $10 per individual deposit).

If your child has lost their book, they can bring their money to school in a sealed envelope with a note on the next School Banking day. We will issue them with a replacement.

Thank you for supporting the School Banking program at Edens Landing State School. We would also like to thank the wonderful parents who volunteer as our School Banking Co-ordinators and process our banking every week.

New School Banking rewards now available!

Exciting new Term 4 rewards with an Outback Savers theme are now available, while stocks last!

For every deposit made at school students will receive a silver Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for exclusive School Banking reward items in recognition of their regular savings habits. There are two new items released each term so be sure to keep an eye out for them!

Bush Fly Fan stock is limited!!!

Thank you for supporting the School Banking program and remember, School Banking day is every Wednesday.

2016 Christmas Carols

It's carols time again, and we need help for our sausage sizzle and our raffle table.

If you would like to donate a raffle prize, either from your own business, the business you work for or even a personal donation, please contact the P&C executive ASAP at exec@elsspc.org.au.

Your business will receive free advertising in our carols program.

Uniform Shop News

Uniform Shop Open Day

These Christmas school holidays the uniform shop will be open from 9am to 1pm on Friday 20th January 2017.

New hats are in!

You can now purchase a new school hat for $17.00

Tuckshop News

Lucky Banker Award Winners

• Jaylen – Prep C
• Sahara – 4G
• Jackson – 1HR
• Scout – 3P

Tuckshop Roster

Last Friday the 4th November was Tuckshop Day and I and my volunteers were overwhelmed with the wonderful heartfelt messages and notes from so many classes. It is certainly nice to feel appreciated by our fantastic school community, many thanks from me and my super band of volunteers.

As you may have heard there was an issue with the supplier of our Chicken nuggets, this situation was out of my control and luckily only a handful of children orders had to be changed. I do my very best to accommodate all requests and orders and if there is a problem I try to help.

If there is ever a problem with the children’s lunches I encourage them to come and speak to me. A note sent in with future orders telling me of something that happened last week is not going to help the children on the day it occurred. Please speak with your children at home and let them know that if their order is wrong or there is a problem then come and see me so I can try and resolve the issue. I cannot try to fix a problem if I do not know about it and find out about it a week later.

Sometimes there are instances where money is owed to the tuckshop, if a child forgets lunch and prior arrangements have been made with parents to supply lunch, or not enough money is included in the order etc, I do have a book where I record all such occurrences and send a yellow note home with the child requesting payment for the outstanding money. There are at least 3 yellow notes sent home with children before you are sent an invoice via mail. Invoices then will continue to be mailed until the account is paid.

Online Ordering

Our school has now introduced a great new online ordering system for the Tuckshop called FlexiSchools. This system allows parents and staff to place orders from home, work or school at any time. The payment is also done online, so less paper bags, cash and envelopes are sent via your student to school. As well as being convenient for parents, the online orders are much faster and easier for the tuckshop to process - so it makes everyone’s life a little easier. FlexiSchools is well established and tested, operating in hundreds of schools across Australia.

Getting online is easy and only takes a few minutes to register. Simply go to the Flexischools website and click “Register Now”. You will be sent an email with further instructions on how to complete the registration. Once registered, you can start placing orders immediately. If you have any questions, FlexiSchools provide a great help desk on 1300 361 769, or you can contact them via their website.

There are a variety of payment options supported, including Visa, MasterCard (credit and debit) and Bank Transfer. The system operates via a pre-paid account.

As you might be aware a few Fridays ago there was an issue with FlexiSchools and their website. Any problems with the actual website are not something I cannot do anything about. When I contacted FlexiSchools I got the same recorded message as everyone else. If there are ever any issues with accounts or orders not going through it is something that needs to be fixed via FlexiSchools.

The system is now available, so we look forward to seeing your next order online.

Annette Honnery
Tuckshop Convenor
Ph: 3508 7999
tuckshop@elsspc.org.au

Student of the week

28th October 2016 (Week 4, Term 4)

4th November 2016 (Week 5, Term 4)

Smart Tennis Academy