57 Birdwood Street Box Hill South 3128 Telephone: 9890 2372 Facsimile: 9899 5490 www.robmacps.vic.edu.au

PEN

Newsletter

16th

July 2014

13th

November, 2013

We value:

Creativity

Endeavour

Respect

Trust

Honesty

Friendliness

Notices sent home last week

To: 3-6’s House Athletics Excursion Permission Form J2B Letter re: Tara Butler commencing Maternity Leave 5/6V Letter re: Ash van Hattam taking Long Service Leave J8L Head Lice Letter dated 16 July 2014

* Please note – items marked in BOLD require parent response. ** For your convenience, Permission Forms can be printed from the

school’s website. Click on Forms button on the Home page.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Friday, 18 July

School Tour 9:30am

District Football Grand Final at Kalang Park, Blackburn– 9:30am

District Netball Grand Finals (Mixed, Girls B, Girls A) at RMPS from 12:30pm onwards

Monday, 21 July

Grades 3-6 House Athletics Sports Day at Bill Sewart Athletics Day

Wednesday, 23 July

5/6‘s Family Life Education program

Preps Fire Brigade visit

School Discovery Session for 2015 Preps - 2:45pm – 3:30pm

Education Committee Meeting – 6:00 – 7:00pm in the Staffroom

Friday, 25 July

School Tour 9:30am

Monday, 28 July

U-Time – No Assembly

Tuesday, 29 July

ICAS Testing – English

Preps 100 days of School Party in Classrooms

Wednesday, 30 July

5/6’s Family Life Education program

Book Fair arrives – Sales After School – 3:30 – 4:30pm

Thursday, 31 July

Book Fair Sales – 8:30 – 9:00am and 3:30 – 4:30pm

Friday, 1 August

Book Fair Sales – 8:30 – 9:00am and 3:30 – 4:30pm

EMA Parent Applications 2nd

Instalment close – 4:00pm

Saturday, 2 August

PFA Movie Night at RMPS – 6:30pm

Monday, 4 August

Preps celebrate 100 days of School at Assembly

Wednesday, 6 August

5/6’s Family Life Education program

School Discovery Session for 2015 Preps - 2:45pm – 3:30pm

Friday, 8 August

Whole School ‘Seussical the Musical’ rehearsal – 9:00 - 2:00pm

School Tour – 9:30am

Tuesday, 12 August

4th iPad Payment due

FROM THE PRINCIPAL CLASS TEAM

Welcome back to the start of Term 3! I hope you all had a fun and relaxing break with your families. This week we are farewelling Tara Butler who will be starting maternity leave on Friday. Tara has been a dynamic and enthusiastic member of the junior team over the past 3½ years and I wish Tara and her partner Ben all the best for the impending birth of their first child. I would like to thank Tara for the positive contributions that she has made to our school community and for the wonderful teaching and learning that she has demonstrated at RMPS, especially with the children in her J2B classroom. A reminder that if you are interested in attending the parent workshop about ‘Returning to Work’, TMG Training and Consultation will be running a session next Friday 25

th July

at 9.00am in the school library. It may be a great opportunity to learn about courses you can undertake. The School House Athletics Sports day for 3-6 students is on next Monday July 21

st at Bill Sewart Athletics Track in

Burwood East. The children have been preparing for the track and field events over the past few weeks so please come along and support this special day. A final reminder to families with children starting school in 2015 that our School Discovery sessions commence next Wednesday July 23rd at 2.30pm. Please note that children must be enrolled at the school in order to attend. To ensure the smooth running of these sessions enrolment forms need to be received by this Friday so the transition committee can organise the activities and groupings. The following School Discovery sessions will be held on Wednesdays at 2.30pm on August 6

th & 20

th and September 3rd.

The removal of our oak tree has now been completed. The remaining pieces of wood will be available for people to collect from school if they wish from 2.00-5.00pm this SATURDAY 19

TH July. Please be aware that wood will take

some time to dry out.

Amanda Wigg

Assistant Principal

2015 Preps PLEASE NOTE: If you haven’t enrolled your Prep child

for 2015, please do so ASAP. School Discovery sessions, groups, times and dates are now available on

our school website

RMPS is offering an information session for parents

Run By: TMG

Where: RMPS Library

When: 9:00am, Friday, 25th July 2014

EDUCATION MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE - 2nd INSTALMENT Please note if you: Made application through Roberts McCubbin Primary School and received the first instalment of the Education Maintenance Allowance, and Hold a Centrelink card valid as at 14th July, 2014. you do not need to make a further application to receive the second instalment of the allowance. This will be processed automatically by the Department of Education & Early Childhood Development following verification of the validity of your Centrelink card. However, if you are: New to our school and received the first instalment of the allowance through your previous school, or Recently became the holder of a Centrelink card which was valid on 14th July, 2014. you will need to submit an application (forms can be obtained from the school office) to receive the second instalment. This application must be submitted to the school office no later than 4.00pm on 1st August, 2014. Unfortunately, no late applications can be accepted.

Free Wood

The removal of our oak tree has now been completed. The remaining

pieces of wood will be available for

people to collect from school if they

wish from 2.00 - 5.00pm this

SATURDAY, 19TH

July. Please be

aware that the wood will take some time

to dry out.

House Athletics Sports

Our House Athletics Sports day will be held in Term 3 at the Bill Sewart Athletics track. These sports involve all children in grades 3 to 6. The children have been training in various athletics disciplines for the past few weeks and this will continue right up until our Athletics sports.

I’m putting a request out for parent helpers on this day. The sports will be held on Monday, 21st

July. You don’t necessarily need expertise in this area, just a willingness to be involved and help out. If you would like to help then could you let me know either in person or by returning the form below. I’ll need to know if you’re available in the morning (approximately 9:00 – 11:30am), afternoon (11:30am – 2:30pm) or all day (9:00 – 2:30pm). Please contact me either by email, in person or on my mobile or fill in the tear off slip below. PLEASE NOTE: Parents that have already offered to help out on the day, need to meet at Bill Sewart

Athletics Track as close to 9:00am as possible.

House Athletics Sports

I am available to assist on Monday, 21st

July at the School House Athletics Day.

Name _________________________________

I am available to help all day ___________

I am available in the morning (9:00 – 11:30am) __________

I am available in the afternoon (11:30 – 2:30pm) __________

(Please tick one)

My contact number is ________________ (Home)

________________ (Mobile)

I am also available on the back up day (If required) on Friday, 1st August. Yes / No

SPECIALISTs’ Spot

Visual Arts This term we are focusing on the wonderful aesthetically pleasing medium, CLAY!

The children have all been looking forward to this, however, some children still do not have an art smock!

Clay is fun but very MESSY!!

PLEASE ENSURE YOUR CHILD HAS AN ART SMOCK!!

Thank you, Lena Zappia and Katrina Cassidy

Local Landscapes Last term, a group of very talented and dedicated year 6 students participated in the Local Landscapes project. This was initiated by the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) with an excursion to explore the works of early Australian artists and to appreciate their skills, techniques and stories behind their pieces. The children also had an amazing opportunity learn from a contemporary Australian artist, Dale Cox, who shared his exceptional works and his techniques, process and development.

Throughout the term, the children spent many lunch hours painting their own local landscapes working from a photograph they selected of their special place. They developed techniques, skills and understandings about painting as well as telling the all-important story behind their picture.

On Sunday the 29th June, the magnificent completed art works were exhibited formally at the NGV. Local Landscape

participants and their families were invited to reflect on their journey and celebrate their fabulous. Marg Stephens from the NGV was most impressed with the outstanding achievement of our Roberts McCubbin students both in dedication to the task and creation of fine art. I would also like to congratulate all 21 students for their tireless effort to create such beautiful work with passion and willingness to learn. It was a challenge worth taking for all of us!

Lena Zappia

日本語のニューズ From Vimpani Sensei

What’s happening in Japanese this term? Grade 3/4 children will be learning to introduce themselves while finding out about some much loved Japanese children’s animation characters. Children will then use ipads to design their own anime character and help it introduce itself in Japanese.

5/6 children will be preparing for their 1:1 Skype lessons with children in Japan during term 4 by learning how to find out about their Japanese partner and answer the questions about themselves that they are asked by their partners. We will be learning about the top Japanese Youtuber and children will use ipads to create their own interviews with their favourite personalities. A notice went home on Monday asking grade 3-6 families to download the FREE Zondle app onto children’s ipads. I am really excited to have all the games focussing on the Hiragana we are working on this term set up and ready to go! There are a number of fabulous things about using this app. Children can choose from about 15 different engaging games to

practise our focus hiragana and can access these games at home and at school via their own ipads and through the internet on computers/laptops. As children play the games they are shown the correct answers for any mistakes. Each time a child plays a game I am able to see the percentage of correct answers and which characters they are having trouble with and so I can easily monitor children’s progress in their hiragana reading and help with troublesome characters.

It would be great if all children who have their own iPads had the app downloaded by the start of next week so that during next week’s Japanese lessons I can get all the children linked in so they have access to the games I have created. It will be a much easier process if I am able to do all 250 children in my classes up and running next week rather than in dribs and drabs. Children without their own ipads will be set up through the school owned computers and ipads next week also

Do you recognise this person??! One of our 5/6 students has taken up a Japanese martial art recently and is experiencing great success. I have interviewed Ethan and asked him to share his passion for this lesser known Japanese sport. It is such an exciting time in Australia-Japan relations, there are so many ways we can enjoy and learn from Japanese culture without even leaving home!! Kendo is one example. Thankyou to Ethan and his parents for sharing this information and impressive photos!!

What is Kendo?

Kendo means "Way of the Sword". It is a martial art which focusing on Swordsmanship. Modern Kendo began in the late 18th century when protective equipment was introduced including the men (head piece), kote (wrist and gloves), dou (the body) and the shinai (bamboo sword). How long have you been learning Kendo?

4.5 months

What inspired you to start practising Kendo?

I wanted to do a martial art and Kendo looked fun, different and it used a Shinai Where do you learn Kendo? Burwood Dojo on Warrigal Road

What is the name of the Kendo school you go to?

Australian Kendo Dojos

Do you use any Japanese in your Kendo lessons?

Yes, we do use Japanese a lot to name the strikes and counting during our warm up Do you wear a uniform or use any special equipment?

Yes, we wear a uniform called the Keikogi which is made up of the uwagi (top part) and the hakama (the trousers). And we use a Shinai which is made from Bamboo for sparring

How often do go to classes and how long is each class?

Once a week for 2 hours Do you practise at home too?

Yes, I train for about 20 minutes 4 days a week

What is the most important thing you need to remember when you are practising Kendo?

Your footwork, listening to your sensei [teacher] and always focusing on kendo. What has been your greatest achievement in Kendo so far?

Doing well in my first tournament. What do enjoy most about learning Kendo?

I enjoy talking to my sensei, to the other people and sparring. I like learning new strikes and being able to forget about everything else. Is there anything else you would like to add?

In Kendo you need to have a good spirit and actually enjoy doing Kendo

Attention: Parents / Carers

Canteen News

Effective immediately, there will be NO LUNCH ORDERS from the Canteen on Mondays, however, counter sales will still be available at recess and lunchtime.

Lunch Orders are still available on Wednesdays and Fridays.

PFA

Family Movie Night - with the movie E.T.!

Saturday 2nd August 6.30 at school

$5 per person for Popcorn and Choc Top

BYO: comfy pillow/doona/cushion

RSVP: by THIS FRIDAY!

Not too late to RSVP this week for the Family Movie Night!

Put your slippers on and bring your doona, cushion/beanbag and teddy/pillow pet and get comfy to

watch the movie on our big projector screen at school! Heaps of fun for everyone! A flyer for your replies

can be downloaded from our website under “Practicalities” 2014 Permissions and Information Forms. Please

add your name and class to the form.

Parent Information Sessions and Activities

The PFA provides opportunities for parents and carers to get together on a regular basis, such as Monday

Morning Teas after assembly, a “walk and chat” over the warmer months and “Coffee at a local Café” on

U-Time Mondays.

We now really like to know…what other activities the PFA (or the school) can offer to parents and carers in

our school community?

These do not have to be incorporated with our Monday morning teas, they could be offered on a different

day at school, at drop off or before pick up times, or in the evening.

They could be an informative session or fun activity such as –

Guest speakers

Special topic/themes for parent discussion over coffee

Exercise/fitness classes eg Fun Fitness Class with Rohana

We would endeavour to keep the cost for a guest speaker or class to a minimum.

If you are interested in attending or have any suggestions for a topic or activity, OR perhaps you know

someone who may be able to run a session please contact the PFA via email on rmps.pfa@gmail.com or

speak to any of our PFA Committee members.

President: Matoula Romeo Co - Vice Presidents: Robin Fripp and Lisa Hanna Treasurer: Chris Rosicka Assistant Treasurer Jo Townsend Co Secretary: Ellen Swansson & Andrea

Belmonte

rmps.pfa@gmail.com

Thank You to everyone that donated second hand clothing/uniforms to the

First Aid Room, it is greatly appreciated

Jen Walker – First Aid Nurse

Morning Tea – all welcome!

Next Morning Tea: Monday 4th August - in the school hall after assembly

On the first Monday of the month Parents/carers, grandparents and toddlers are invited to a morning tea in

the school hall after assembly. Catch up with parents in our school community over a cuppa - we hope to

see many of you there!

A huge thank you to Giannina for bringing in a most delicious chocolate cake for morning this week!

Trivia Night

Saturday November 8th – Lock it in!

The planning process has begun and yes the theme will be a secret just for a little while longer. Keep the

night free for the biggest social night on the Robbie Mac calendar and we will keep you posted!

If you would like to be involved in the planning process please contact the PFA via our email.

PFA Meeting

Next Meeting: Monday 28th July, 7.30pm in Staffroom

Join us to discuss our up-coming events and other new business. All levels of participation and involvement

are welcome – you don’t have to put your hand up for a task, you can come along and join in on the

discussion.

Craft Group Workshop

Next Workshop: Wednesday 30th July 1pm to 3pm

If you would like to join in on all the crafty fun and have ideas or suggestions or want to learn a new skill,

come along to the next craft group session. All skill levels are welcome! Please contact Rachael on 0429 409

920 or email rhibbins@icloud.com and see what projects are the go that you can help out with.

PFA Up-Coming Events

August

Family Movie Night at school – Saturday 2nd August

September

Father’s Day Stall - Wednesday 3rd Sep

Father’s Day Pancake Breakfast - Friday 5th Sep

Footy Day Walkathon – Wednesday 10th Sep

October

Mango Drive

World Teachers Day Morning Tea

November

Trivia Night - Saturday 8th Nov – Biggest social night on the Robbie Mac Calendar – Lock it in!

Election Day Sausage Sizzle/Cake Stall – Saturday 29th Nov

Prep Transition Morning Tea – Tues 11th, 18th and 25th Nov

December

School Disco 12th Dec

Helping Hands

The Helping Hands is a service that provides help in the form of lunches and dinners to families who are

experiencing difficult circumstances. Often family and friends help out but sometimes that is not always

possible.

If you need or know of a family that needs assistance please contact Alison who is the helping hands co-

ordinator.

If you need a helping hand please contact;

Alison Mc: Mob 0434 132 224 or alimci@optusnet.com.au

How to contact the PFA:

rmps.pfa@gmail.com

If you need to contact us for any reason, please just send us an email and we will get back to you!

Thought for the Week

“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.” - Lucius

Annaeus Seneca.

The PFA Team

Uniform Shop

Uniform Shop Hours are:

Tuesday 3:00 – 4:00pm and Thursday 8:30 – 9:30am

Sue Truscott & Jo Townsend

Booklist and Order Forms

available at the office.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Knitting & Crochet

classes for children Where: Box Hill South Neighbourhood House

47 Kitchener Street Box Hill South, 3128

When: Starts Thursday, 24 July for 4 weeks Time: 3:45pm – 5:00pm Cost: $40 Materials: Bring a pair of 4mm knitting needles or a 4mm crochet hook and 8ply wool. Phone: 9898 8270 to book