Greythorn Primary School – Working Together

Greythorn Primary School

Reading Avenue, Balwyn. North 3104

Tel: 9857 9762

Website: www.greythornps.vic.edu.au

21 August 2019

School Calendar

Term Dates: Term 3: 15 July-20 Sept Term 4: 7 Oct -20 Dec

TERM 3 Dates To Remember

6 Aug - 13 Sept: Yr 3 Kindergarten Visits 9 Sept - Graduation Photo

29 Oct - Whole School Photo

Week 6 Wed 21 Aug: Yr 5 Bike Education

Fri 23 Aug: Curriculum Day

Week 7 Aug 26 to Sept 5: Yr 3/5 Swimming Mon 26 Aug: Eastern T-ball Finals

Tue 27 Aug: Yr 6 Marketing Manoeuvres Incursion Thur 29 Aug: Yr 4 Hoop Time Basketball

Week 8

2 Sep - 12 Sept : Prep/Yr 2 Swimming Thur 5 Sept: District Athletics Carnival

Week 9

Mon 9 Sept: Yr 3 Hoop Time Basketball

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Parents and Friends Association Greythorn Primary School has a long standing tradition of having an active Parents and Friends Association (PFA) that has overseen fundraising activities and social events in our community. The school’s PFA has been responsible for raising tens of thousands of dollars of additional funds over many decades. These fundraising efforts have ensured that the resources available to the students and staff, along with the wide and varied programs that the school offers, are maintained and improved on an ongoing basis. The PFA has also organised and run countless social events that have been successful in providing an environment for the parents in particular, an opportunity to socialise together whilst having a great deal of fun. We want this tradition to continue at GPS. Are you interested in assisting with our PFA activities? You may have limited time to offer, but there are many ways that parents can assist to continue the great work in our school for this year and beyond. Therefore, you are invited to a morning tea that I will be hosting on Monday, 2 September at 9:45am. During the morning tea I will be outlining and discussing with those in attendance the work of the PFA and the myriad of ways that parents can become involved. We need you! Please register via the Trybooking link if you will be attending the morning tea. https://www.trybooking.com/BEYIX Science Week The students and staff had a great time on Monday morning celebrating Science Week with the Egg Drop and Rocket experiments. The activities were organised by our Science Leaders, Jess L (606) and Tiana H (603). The Rocket experiment was either a film canister containing vinegar and bi-carbonate soda, or a drink bottle launched from a bike pump rocket launcher. We had a range of outcomes with some rockets shooting higher than the buildings, with others not so successful. But all great fun for everyone watching. The Egg Drop involved creating a structure around an egg so that it didn’t break when dropped over the wall adjacent to the basketball courts. Again, a range of outcomes was achieved with some eggs surviving the drop and others not so lucky. But again everyone enjoyed watching this. A range of prizes were presented to the winners in each category including, rocket launchers, solar powered helicopters and Lego kits. Thank you again to Jess and Tiana for all of their hard work to organise and prepare for this event, as well to Tanya Lee who assisted greatly with the preparations in the weeks leading up.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT CONT.

Book Week Celebrations Developing literacy skills and the love of literature has always been a priority at Greythorn. The classroom programs combined with our wonderful Library program, give every student endless opportunities to develop their reading skills and enjoy all aspects of literature. The students are spoilt for choice with our Library containing over 17,000 books. The Book Week celebrations include today’s dress-up day, the Scholastic Book Fair and competitions in the library. It was fantastic to see the students (and teachers) embrace these cele-brations coming dressed in an amazing array of costumes showcasing favourite books, characters and au-thors. The parade in the stadium was a highlight. Thank you to Mrs Kenos and Mrs Walling who continue to offer wonderful library lessons with an ongoing wide-range of activities and events. They also organised this week’s dress-up and parade along with the book fair and we thank them for that. Working Bee This term’s working bee has been set for Saturday, 7 September from 9am-12pm. We are asking all families from students in Woods and Allen House to attend with 500 house points on offer for every family member who attends. Tasks to be completed on the day include; painting newly installed barge boards, planting along the Greythorn Rd fence-line, mulching garden beds and general maintenance. Any assistance on the day will be greatly appreciated even if only for a short time. We look forward to seeing you there! Congratulations Mr Price Congratulations to Mr Price sand his wife Maya, as they recently welcomed their second daughter into the world. Flora was born on Saturday 10 August and is a sister to Sia. An exciting time for them all! OSHClub Survey OSHClub has provided before and after school care at Greythorn Primary School for several years. We are gathering some information on this service provision via Survey Monkey. Even if you don’t currently use the service, we ask that you also complete the survey. The survey contains four questions and will only take two minutes to complete. Thank you in anticipation for your assistance with this. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TDK2ZS2 Curriculum Day A reminder that this Friday is a student free day.

Andrew Searle Principal

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Wellbeing - Cybersafety

As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting Cybersafety Greythorn will be hosting a ThinkUKnow presentation on Tuesday, 27 August from 6pm-7.30pm in the Hall and all parents, carers and teachers are encouraged to attend. ThinkUKnow Australia is a cyber safety education program that educates parents, carers and teachers of how people are using technology, the challenges they may face online, and how to help them overcome these in a safe and ethical way. ThinkUKnow Australia is a partnership between the Australian Federal Police, Microsoft Australia, Datacom and the Commonwealth Bank. The program is delivered in collaboration with policing partners New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Western Australia Police, as well as Neighbourhood Watch Australasia. The presentation will be delivered by a local law enforcement member and an industry volunteer. The presentation covers issues relating to children and young peoples’ privacy and security online, their relationships with other users and their online reputation. It provides insight into the devices young people are using, as well as the popular websites, apps and social networking sites they’re accessing. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn more about young people and the online environment, and how you can help them to be safe and responsible users of technology. For more information, you can visit www.thinkuknow.org.au or contact Duncan Exton at school.

Professional Learning

The whole school curriculum day on Friday has a focus on student wellbeing and a specific focus on Restorative Practices. Restorative Practice is a strategy that seeks to repair relationships that have been damaged, including those damaged through bullying. It does this by bringing about a sense of remorse and restorative action on the part of the person who has bullied someone and forgiveness by the person who has been bullied. Once identified, the students who have been bullying meet with the Restorative practitioner and other students who have been selected because they are expected to be supportive of the person who has been bullied (who is not present). Knowledge of the distress experienced by the person is shared with the group and each member is required to accept responsibility and say how he or she will help that person. The outcome is monitored.

The rationale behind this approach is that when offenders reflect upon their harm to someone they have bullied: they become remorseful and act restoratively practitioners can focus on the unacceptable behaviour of offenders rather than their moral character this can lead to healthier interpersonal relations among members of the school community and more effective learning. Pick My Project We took the tenders to School Council last night and discussed what the school can afford with the current tenders. We hope to choose a tender in the next few days and get started with the project. Science Week Assembly Thanks to the fabulous efforts of Jessica L in applying for and receiving a grant for Science Week, GPS was able to provide students with fun and visceral science experiments and problems last week in class and celebrate them in Monday’s science assembly. The first project was to create a moon rocket design based on a film canister underneath. Students placed bicarb soda inside the lid of the canister, poured in vinegar, then shook the rocket and placed it on the ground. After a few seconds the pressure built up inside the canister causing it to launch into the air. Many rockets flew high into the air. We had prizes for the highest and second highest in Years F-2 and 3-5. The Year 6s separately used a pump up rocket launcher for their soft drink bottle launches. The first one went way up in the air and ended up on the roof of the F-2 building. The second project was the Lunar Egg Launcher. In this activity students worked with their buddies to create a device that would protect an egg when dropped from a 3 metre height but with limited materials (icy pole sticks, straws, pipe cleaners, tape and balloons). We had a representative from all F-3 classes drop their devices. All eggs formed cracks but 2 were very small and were declared the winners. These groups of students also received prizes. Duncan Exton Assistant Principal

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT CONT.

Book Week Pictures

Book Week Pictures

Pyjama Day at GPS

Thursday August 8 was the perfect day to wear our pyjamas to school. With a low temperature of only 12 degrees, we were all snug and warm. Unfortunately, that is

not the case for over 6000 Victorians who are spending the night on the streets on any given night. The Junior School Council decided to host a Pyjama Day and raise money

for the Melbourne City Mission. All money donated was given to the Youth Homelessness. It was a fun day had by all students and staff.

Cleo Kenos Social Service Leader

CSEF Uniform Package 2019 Prep 2019 families whose children qualified for CSEF funding in 2019 are entitled to apply for the CSEF 2019 Uniform Package. Please pick up an application form from the office. Complete and return it to the office. Applications close at the end of Term 3.

STUDENT BANKING EVERY WEDNESDAY EXCEPT THE LAST DAY OF TERM

Please find below an article provided by the Commonwealth Bank in

relation to pocket money.

Congratulations to 220 who was the winner of the School Banking Trophy for Week 4, F26 who was the winner for Week 5 and 220 who is the winner for this week. Ella and Anneliese (Banking Monitors). Tanya, Jacinta and Kate School Banking Co-ordinators (klocke@iinet.net.au)

YEAR 3 AND YEAR 6 FAMILIES

WE NEED YOUR

HELP!

The Greythorn PFA will be running its second Bake Sale for 2019 at school on Friday 6 September from 3.25pm We would like to ask Year 3 and Year 6 families to help us stock the stall. This is optional but we would be most grateful for any homemade donations that you can provide e.g. cakes, cupcakes, biscuits, slice, loaf, etc. For food safety reasons, all donations must be presented with the provided card (to follow shortly along with a plate), listing the name of the cake, ingredients, date baked and the baker’s initials. We also request that items do not contain cream or custard, and that goods do not require refrigeration. Donation plates can be brought to the hall kitchen on the morning of Friday 6 September, or

straight to the stall between 2.30 - 3.00pm. The stall will run in the walkway between the

Prep/Year 1 building and the Year 2/3/4 building.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at greythornpfa@gmail.com or

0409 856 376.