PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY

Peanut & Cashew Free School Newsletter

Friday 29th March

Newsletter 4 2018

Respectful, Responsible, Safe and Kind Learners

School Calendar of Events 2018 -See Page 2

Last Day of Term today! School finishes at 2.30pm

Harmony Day Harmony Day is an initiative that was developed by the Australian Government in 1999 promoting the message that “Everyone belongs”. It reinforces the importance of inclusiveness to all Australians. Thousands of Harmony Day events have been staged across Australia with Portarlington Primary School hosting one of the best! Port’s Junior School Council should be congratulated on organising and running such a successful day full of cultural activities for our students to experience. The Junior School Council decided to make this day a fundraiser and were successful in raising $242 towards the purchase of some new chapter books for our school. Great effort JSC and Mr Greenwood!

REMINDERS-2018 School Calendar

Please check the calendar regularly as some events are subject to change.

School Hats will be required each day until May 1st.

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 per-mitted to go directly to classrooms at any time without signing in at the office and dis-cussing their needs with an office staff mem-ber. Thank you for your understanding.

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2018 (further dates will be added as they come to

hand) Term 1 28th Mar School PHOTOS 29th Mar Last Day of term at 2.30pm 30th Mar Good Friday Term 2 17th Apr School Council Meeting 23r d Apr Assembly 24th Apr Division Cross Country-Barwon

Heads 25th Apr Anzac day (No School) 7th May Assembly 11th May Lightning Premiership SLC 15th May School Council 29th May District Cross Country-Eastern Gar

dens 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 Aug Division Athletics Carnival 4/5/6 11th Sep District Athletics 21st Sep 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

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

Our school grounds are supervised from 8.30am each day. This will support many of our parents and caregivers who have work or appointments first thing in the morning.

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

Students arriving after 9am will need to enter through the Front en-trance of the school.

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

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PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY …….

Each fortnight Even weeks 2.45-3.15pm In the Hall However there are times when assembly needs to be cancelled or even extended. When this occurs, families will be informed.

Woolworths Easter Colouring Competition

hamper winners

CONGRATULATIONS

Annabelle Debono Seth Tankard Lucinda Zuidema Destiny Woodbury Emma Van Dorssen Lilija Polwarth-Schuster Mitchell Smith Sierra Polwarth-Schuster Tom Morfitt-White

Congrats Phoebe!!!! Phoebe came 4th in both her heats of Butterfly and Breaststroke in the Division swimming championships. WOO HOO Phoebe!!!

Barwon Area Respectful Relationships Student Voice Forum Ethen Burnett, Eve Righettii, Brock Turpin (abs. in photo), Mea Allan, Archie Hearn and Maddi McRae all attended this student forum with Mr Tim O’Hara. It focussed on building student capacity to take an active and authentic role in the whole school approach to Respectful Relation-ships. All students represented our school demonstrating our values and came back to school with many ideas of where to go to from here. Stay posted!!

Thank you to all our parents and staff members who supported our presentation last Tuesday night on Understanding and Supporting our Children with Anxiety. From the feedback received it was an extremely valuable session and we all walked away feeling more confident in knowing how we, as adults can not only support our children but also how to support each other when showing signs of anxiety.

Breakfast Club 2018 WHEN: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday every week 8.25 am till 8.45am WHERE: In the Jill Graham Hall, Portarlington PS WHO can enjoy some food? Any early bird students What’s on the menu? Fresh fruit, toast, cereal, muesli, yoghurt, cheese/baked beans toasties, smoothies, pancakes, tinned fruit. Thanks to all the volunteers who are giving their time and talent

to make a nutritious breakfast for our children.

PORTARLINGTON PRIMARY …….

UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORTING

OUR CHILDREN WITH ANXIETY

JULES HADDOCK

IMPORTANT INFORMATION Please remember that we are a PEANUT and CASHEW free school which means that we cannot have any of these on our school site. We have students in our school who are anaphylactic to these nuts meaning that it’s a matter of life or death when these students come into contact with these nuts or food containing these nuts.

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STUDENT OF THE WEEK AWARDS…………………………

Katherine Davey….being respectful and confident in her friendships.

Brenden Connell….responsibly giving his all enthusiastically in 3-6 sport.

Blake Davie….using what he has learnt in writing to up level his persuasive piece.

Matilda Brooks….improving exceptionally on her place value check ins.

Bailey Brown….monitoring his behaviour in class so that he has completed more work independently.

Cooper Thomas….working cooperatively and enthusiastically in his maths group.

Jayden Ostler….listening to the sounds in words to help his writing.

Blake Davis-Atkins….being a word detective and reading smoothly.

Ayla Winspear….organising our learning area safely and taking pride in all areas of her work.

Tom Gillet….continuing to improve his writing in every piece he completes.

Kyenan Roy….displaying resilience and settling into your new school. You have displayed a wonderful

work ethic and kindness to peers.

Ari Lacey….sharing his knowledge of renaming tens and ones with the class.

Arya Fattoretto….always being kind, respectful and responsible.

Kayden Harrison….making progress in learning his initial sounds.

Mikyla Burnett...showing persistence and resilience by self-correcting and developing to achieve her pen

license.

Emily Dunn….showing her expanded notation skills in place value during maths.

Roseleigh Monks….consistently reading at home and having her diary signed.

Alistair Wicks….starting his Rocket Writing straight away and setting personal bests.

Emie Dowling-Button….showing determination and resilience when publishing her persuasive writing.

Aiden Brown….impressing us all with his persistence during the cross country trials...we are so proud!

Benjamin Waller….using paragraphs in his persuasive writing.

Aiden Trost….sharing his opinions during persuasive writing.

PRINCIPALS AWARD….

Xavier Pavez….for being respectful of environment and putting all the rubbish that had blown into our

yard into the rubbish bin.

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

Consent and Permission Please ensure that you are providing consent for your children to attend events and excursions. It is a legal requirement of all schools to en-sure parent/guardians provide informed consent to attend extra-curricular activities such as sports, excursions, visiting perform-ers etc. Children do not attend if there is no permission provided prior to the event. Communication is sent to parents via COMPASS and SMS messages are followed up prior. It is distressing for the children (tears) and the staff when children are not able to at-tend because parent permission has not been received. If you have any queries at all, please contact our friendly office staff who can help you with any event information on 52592572

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 hall.

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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.

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CSEF PREP WINTER WARMER UNIFORM PACKAGE 2018 If you are eligible for the CSEF ( Camps Sports and Excursions Fund), the school will apply for the above uniform package for you. Details will be in your child’s bag on the first day of next term so that you can get your order in as soon as you are able after that date. If you have questions please see the front office staff or you can call the school on 5259 2572.

Portarlington Primary……..

MOVING BEYOND CYBER SAFETY FOR HAPPY, RESILIENT DIGITAL KIDS

BY MARTINE OGLETHORPE

As digital devices becoming increasingly immersed into our lives, it is certainly clear they will con-tinue to play a major role in the education, learning, entertainment and socialization of our children’s lives. This can be a scary prospect for a parent today as we are saturated with news about predators, por-nography, cyber-bullying and sexting. And certainly these are real concerns, as is the safety of our children on these devices. But these devices are not going anywhere and so we need to be smarter when it comes to helping our kids navigate this world. And for me, that means moving away from a fear based approach, toward one that helps our kids get the skills, behaviours and thinking to become not only safe, but happy and resilient users of digital technologies. Our kids are getting pretty good at keeping their passwords safe, not sharing private information, and thinking about talking to strangers online. All important lessons we need to continue to teach. But being immersed in this world requires skills and behaviours well beyond safety measures. It needs to be an ongoing lesson in critical thinking, resilience, self-esteem, empathy and the pro-motion of good habits that they can carry with them throughout life. Digital Resilience The online world opens us up to comments, judgements and even abuse from people known and un-known, all coming from different backgrounds and situations, all with different beliefs, and all with a little extra keyboard courage or anonymity. Whilst we would like to be promoting kindness and re-spect online, this is not always the reality. We need our kids to be able to recognize and move on from the people whose opinions do not matter. The greater audience and the permanence of the online world also means the effects of mistakes are magnified. They need to be able to withstand the very permanent and public nature of this world. There may always be a party they are not invited to, or a sleepover they were excluded from, so how will they deal with the constant flow of images appearing in their social media feeds? Self esteem away from the screens There will always be comparison online. With access to so much and so many, there will always be someone prettier, smarter, skinnier, with more friends, more likes or more followers. We need to be constantly working on the self esteem of our kids, both online and off. Conversations about our self worth, where that comes from, whose opinion matters, what success and happiness really looks like. These all need to form part of the equation, not just how many likes you get on your latest selfie.

Portarlington Primary……..

Digital skills Our kids need skills to know how to handle different situations that arise online. Do they know how to abort a conversation that is going badly? How do they speak up in a group chat when someone is being excluded or spoken about in a nasty way? How do they deal with unwanted attention online? Do they have the words to respond to a nasty comment? Should they respond? As so much of their social life and connection to others will be based around online conversations, these are just some of the skills our kids need to have in order to keep those interactions positive. Good habits The earlier we start with good habits, the greater chance we have of them becoming behaviours they adopt throughout adolescents and beyond. So start out with your own rules to ensure these habits are formed. Maybe it is no devices an hour before bed, no devices in the bedroom, no devices at the dinner table, asking permission before sharing pictures of others. Making sure there is plenty of time for friends, extra curricula activities, outside play, chores, homework and good sleep. These all help us be in charge of our time management and the control we have over our devices, so they don’t end up controlling us. Critical thinking There is so much content online, so our kids need to be really good at determining that which is real, fake, relevant, helpful and worthwhile. This can be a difficult task (even for adults), but a crucial skill. Critical thinking must be an ongoing process every time they watch a video, look at a photo, read an article or connect with someone. Why was this written or produced? Is the language bias? Are they trying to sell me something? Is there research to back up their claims? Would this video have a warning if it was on TV? Is this worth my time? These are just some of the critical thinking questions kids need to be asking of themselves every time they consume content online. So whilst keeping our kids safe and giving them the skills to do this is of utmost importance, there is so much more to cyber safety than avoiding predators. The emotional and social well-being of our kids and the ability for them to be in the best position possible to learn, grow and thrive are impera-tive, and will help them become resilient and happy both online and off. Martine Oglethorpe is a mother to 5 boys with a background in secondary education and a

Masters inCounselling.

Portarlington Primary……..

29th March 2018 Dear Parent/Guardian, At Portarlington Primary school we strive for the best outcomes for our students, ensuring targeted teaching and learning for every individual. This year we are making some exciting changes to how we report your child’s learning progress. This year you will receive:

Areas of achievement and future learning results for selected skills in Reading, Writing, Maths and Inquiry at the conclusion of every term.

A Progression point page demonstrating your child’s progress against The Victorian Curriculum F-10, at the

conclusion of each semester. During this term your child has completed Learning Tasks in a skill of Reading, Writing, Maths and Inquiry. These tasks include:

A piece of student work. (This piece is the students’ choice and is a piece that they feel best demonstrates their learning against their personal learning goal.)

A grade as either; Above the expected level, At the expected Level, Working towards the expected level,

Emerging skills or Not assessed. A comment that outlines what a student has achieved in the area of learning. A comment of future learning in the subject area.

The above learning tasks can be accessed through your Compass portal today, Thursday March 29th, by clicking on the pencil icon and then Learning Tasks. An information session will be held next term regarding the learning tasks and the changes to the semester reports. Kind regards, Chris Hester Reporting Coordinator