Hi everyone,

I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Easter break

and we look forward to seeing all our students back on Monday

19th April. I would like to thank all the staff for their diligence

and hard work this term. It has been an extremely busy term

for everyone and a holiday to recharge the batteries is very

timely.

A reminder that children will continue to wear school hats until

the end of April, in line with Sunsmart recommendations.

Some upcoming highlights of Term 2 includes the

following:

ANZAC Day ceremony

Attitudes to School Survey (Grades 4-6)

Fathering Project launch and first student activity

District Athletics

Bendigo Writer’s Festival

School, District & Regional cross country events

Grade 1 excursion to Echuca (Twisted Science)

Pizza Day-(Energy Breakthrough fundraiser)

Grade 5 excursion (Quantum Melbourne)

Cyber Safety Session Grade 5s and Parents (1st June)

Division soccer and hockey

Grade 4 Excursion (Scienceworks Melbourne)

Choir competition

Parents & Friends Group Mother’s Day stall & breakfast

Education Week Open Day and Activities

Mid-year reports

NAPLAN testing for years 3 & 5 students

Easter Raffle Excitement

On Friday we drew the winners of our Easter Raffle for 2021

at assembly. The following lucky winners were:

1st- Madison M 2WD

2nd- Kelly Harris

3rd _ Zaphyr T-C PF

4th - Kaylee J 5HB

5th – Bev Stephens (crossing lady)

6th – Alexa Clohesy

I wish to thank our P&F Group volunteers for buying and

preparing the raffle prizes, they were amazing! Thanks also to

our school community for buying and selling raffle tickets; our

barrel was more than half full! This fundraiser added more than

$3000 towards the development of the area around the hat tree.

Shed Guys - Open Air Cinema

Last Friday evening, PFG hosted our Open Air Cinema night

on the school oval. There was a large contingent of families

in attendance with almost 300 tickets pre-sold. The weather

held off and everyone enjoyed the movie; The Croods 2. A

huge thanks to our dedicated group of P&F members and

their partners who worked industriously to organise the event,

set and pack up and sell the food items on offer.

Overall approx. $2500 was raised, which will further assist

the redevelopment of the Hat Tree area.

White Hills Primary School No 1916 Week 10 Term 1 Thursday 1 April 2021

P 54430799

white.hills.ps@education.vic.gov.au

At White Hills Primary School we provide students with skills to be

lifelong learners. We are a community which caters for academic,

physical, social and emotional needs, preparing our students to

contribute productively to an increasingly globalised world.

Term 1 2021: Wednesday 27 January – Thursday 1 April Week 10

Thursday 1 April Last Day Term 1 – 2.30pm dismissal

Friday 2 April Good Friday Holiday

Term 2 2021: Monday 19 April – Friday 25 June Monday 19 April First Day of Term 2!

Monday 26 April Head lice Checks

Thursday 29 April District Athletics

Tuesday 18 May Energy Breakthrough - Pizza Lunch

Term 3 2021: Monday 12 July – Friday 17 September Friday 10 September Energy Breakthrough - Colour Run

Term 4 2021: Monday 4 October – Friday 17 December

End of Term Dismissal

Students will be dismissed at 2.30pm on Thursday, 1st April. We will

have recess from 2:00 until 2.30pm, but due to Department of

Education regulations, we are unable to dismiss students until 2.30pm.

However, parents may collect children earlier if they wish. Please

make sure you sign out your child/children before taking them home

if you leave early.

Amazing Attendance for Term 1

Term 1 saw approximately 390 students (66% of our students) be

absent for 0, 1 or 2 days for the whole term so the Principal’s

celebration morning tea on Tuesday was extremely busy. This includes

196 students who did not miss a day this term! Congratulations to all

these children for their amazing attendance in Term 1.

Shed Guys - Open Air Cinema Colouring Competition Winners:

Prep- Molly T

Grades 1 & 2- Kallum J

Grades 3 & 4- Imogen G-T

Grades 5 & 6- Sienna T

School Athletics Day

This year we saw a change of venue for our Grade 3-6 athletic day to the athletics track in Retreat Road. What a fabulous venue for

our students to demonstrate their athletic prowess!

Congratulations to Napier who were the successful House at last week’s school athletics. I was so impressed by the effort and

persistence of all the students. A huge thanks to Stewart Scoble and Jac Tanner for their organisation and to the staff and Weeroona

student helpers on all the activities.

COVID-19 Changes

The Victorian Government has further relaxed its COVIDSafe settings from 6pm on Friday 26 March 2021.

Changes to the COVIDSafe settings include allowing more visitors in the home, changes to mask wearing in some settings and

updates to density limits in some settings. There are limited operational changes for schools.

Visitors continue to be welcomed at our school, however face masks must be carried by individuals 12 years and over at all times

and worn when physical distancing of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained.

Individuals aged 12 years and over must continue to wear a face mask when on public transport, school buses and when in taxis or

ride share vehicles – unless they have a lawful exemption.

Thank you for your understanding and support throughout this term as we continue to

implement COVIDSafe practices at our school.

I look forward to welcoming our students and families back to more school events in

Term 2.

Bendigo Bank Schools Dragon Mile is Back!

In previous years, students from WHPS have competed in the Schools Dragon Mile

Event. The details of this year’s event are as follows:

Sunday 4th April commencing at 10:30am entry forms available at the school office or

online at www.bendigoharriers.org

The Fathering Project

Launch Event -Dads Only: Monday 26th April from 5:30-7:00pm. Special guest-Rodney Eade ex-AFL player and coach.

Pizza and soft drinks provided. Please register your attendance to assist with catering at Andrew.schaeche@education.vic.gov.au

Thanks to Brad Robinson, one of our group Leaders for organising sponsorship from McCulloch’s Engineering for offering to cover

the costs of the pizzas for this event and to Ben Reynolds (another Group Leader) for organising the drinks, much appreciated.

Event 2- Dads and Kids Monday 24th May. 5:30-7:00pm: Paper plane competition with the dads and kids, start practising to make

your best plane-prizes given in a variety of categories.

If any dads are keen to still be a Group Leader or wish to know more please contact me, the more the merrier!

This week’s video is titled ‘Letting Go and Moving Towards Independence and Self-Discipline’

As children grow and come into their teenage years, the process of setting boundaries evolves. This involves sticking to your

boundaries but also allowing teenagers to have independence in 'having-a-go' on their own.

Remember to tell them that you trust them in making their own decisions and healthy choices, this is a powerful motivator for your

kids to prove it to you.

Tips to establish boundaries and support independence in teenagers

• Be clear and consistent with your expectations.

• Allow competent teenagers to take responsibility when you see them handling situations well.

• Praise their efforts. When your teenager displays good self-management skills let them know you have noticed and are

proud of them.

• Step in if you need to. You can show respect for your teenager’s feelings and opinions but should reserve the right to limit

some of their actions if you feel they may be at risk.

Please let us know if there’s anything further that we can do to support you here at WHPS. Andrew Schaeche, Principal

Watch

Students of the Week – Week 8, Term 1

CLASS NAME AWARDED FOR…. CLASS NAME AWARDED FOR

PE Jett Smith For your improved listening in the classroom

and working on your tasks. 4R Kaitlyn R For her positive mindset when

participating in the athletics day activities.

PF Jackson S For bouncing back and always trying his

best; moving on with a smile! 4W Rubi A For displaying resilience and aspiring to

achieve her personal best at the school

athletics day.

PR Harry S For following our classroom expectations

without needing any reminders. 4C Abbey H For her excellent effort at the school

athletics. Your can do attitude was

outstanding Abbey, well done!

PP Zaphie T-C For wowing your teacher this week with your

improved letter and number formations! 4CM Noah K For displaying all of the values and

leading by example at our school Aths

Day.

1F Jesse For being switched on and working hard in

Maths this week. 4O Kiera For always being a respectful and

responsible member of the class.

1S Jed For working extremely hard on showing

respectful listening. What a difference Jed! 5HB Kaylee J For showing persistence to complete work

to a high standard.

1T Billie For not only finishing her work, but helping

others with theirs. 5B Mannix B For being a responsible member of our

community.

1AK Wyatt For bouncing back and being his best. 5M Angus S For being resilient and coming to the aths

day even when he was injured and having

a go at the events.

2P Muchovey For always making good choices in class. 5S William B

& Sam C

For being resilient and finding a solution

to the great lost reading diary dilemma!

2M Carson For aspiring to do his best in all areas by

working hard straight away at his table. 6DW Amber D For being a respectful class member,

friend and teacher helper.

2WD Angeline S For aspiring to do her best in writing by

stretching herself to include a compound

sentence in her procedure on ‘how to be an

engaged reader’.

6D Ashton E For aspiring to learn new computer skills

when making his role model project.

2Y Harry L For aspiring to do his best by offering many

creative ideas for making 2D shapes. 6S Jackson G For listening and working diligently

during our unit on division.

3D Mason A For consistently showing excellent manners

and respect towards his teachers all term. Chinese Isla S P/E For always striving to reach her full

potential and is committed to doing her

best!

3V Tyrone B For aspiring to do his best in class and

having a go at all activities. Art Edan M

6DW

For creating an original eye drawing that

displayed excellent shading skills.

3G Ruby E For always having an incredibly positive

attitude towards everything she does. Sport Jackson M

5S

For aspiring to do his best at the Athletics.

Music

Amber D

6DW

For an outstanding start in the superstars

band. Choir Mia D 4O For always standing up straight and

signing beautifully.

We Need Volunteers! In Term 2 we will be beginning headlice checks again at the school. Having regular

headlice checks by our volunteers, helps keep headlice under control and to a minimum

within our school. Our first headlice checks will be on Monday 26th April, and we are

in great need of some new volunteers. It doesn’t matter if you have prior experience

with headlice checks or not, we will teach you what to look for, and what you need to

know. So if you are free once per term (usually the 2nd Monday of each term) – please

let us know. All volunteers will need a current Working With Children’s Check –

which are available for free (for volunteers) online

at: https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/

Please contact the school office if you have any questions or would like to leave your

name and number – so we can contact you. Thankyou.

3-6 School Athletics

On Wednesday, 24th March, the grades 3-6 made the bus trip to the athletics

track in Flora Hill. This was the first time White Hills PS had used the athletics

track as a venue. After days of rain we were unsure how the day was going to

turn out, but after a light sprinkle of rain we saw some much needed sunshine.

Students participated in shot put, discuss, vortex, long jump, triple jump, high

jump and the 100m and 200m sprint. It was great to see all students participating

and giving it a red hot go and earning points towards their house.

- The house with the most points and winner of this year’s athletics was Napier.

We will be selecting students with outstanding scores at each event to go on to

the District Athletics held on the 29th of April. The District Athletics will be held

at the same athletics track, which is also one of the reasons we chose to hold our

athletics there this year. It gave students who will be returning for district

athletics an idea of what to expect on the day.

Students enjoyed participating on the athletics track and it was great to see some parents there supporting as well.

Cross country practise will be starting this week, as we look forward to this event on Thursday 22nd April (1st week of Term 2).

Jac Tanner and Stewart Scoble

PFG News

The Shed Guys Open Air Cinema We hope all who attended our screening of The Croods 2, had an enjoyable night last

Friday. Our PFG members were kept very busy all evening, and it was a very successful

social event. We would like to say a big thankyou to our main sponsor The Shed Guys

Bendigo, for their generous donation. Without their sponsorship, and our other donations and

sponsors – this event could not be possible. Thank you to those families who attended, and we

hope to see you all next year around the same time!

Mother’s Day/Special Person’s Day Stall A flyer has gone home asking for donations for the Mother’s Day Stall. Take the time to look out for some bargains over the

holidays. Please donate one gift per child - new and unused gifts only. You can drop these into the tub at the school

office. Donations to be in by Monday 3rd May.

Our Next Meeting We wish all families a lovely Easter break, and we will see you all in Term 2. Or next meeting will be Monday 19th April – the

first day back in Term 2. We will be in the staffroom from 9:05 for a 9:15 start time. It will be held in the wooden portable near

the toilets and basketball courts, along the creek side. We welcome any newcomers throughout the year - and younger siblings are

welcome as well. We will ask you to sign in when you attend. Come and have a cup of coffee or tea, and meet our little group to

see what we are about.

Thankyou from all PFG members

Community News