Our School Newsletter

11 March 2022


Prinicpal's Report

Meet the Teacher

Thank you to all those parents/carers who attended (virtually or by phone) our ‘Meet the Teacher’ discussion on Wednesday. The information teachers gained from these discussions was invaluable and will assist in planning for a happy and successful year for your child. If for any reason you were unable to attend a discussion with your child’s teacher, please make contact with them, as your involvement in your child’s education further supports and strengthens the home/school partnership as we work together to provide every child with the opportunity to flourish.

COVID

This week has seen an increase in the number of positive cases and household contacts isolating in our school community. I would like to say thank you again for notifying me promptly of this and helping to reduce the spread amongst our students and staff.

Students and staff should continue to conduct Rapid Antigen Tests at home twice per week on school days and must report any positive results to the school on 9308 1228 (we will record your child as absent and enter the details into the Schools COVID Case Management Tool). You should also report a positive case through the Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

We do hope that anyone who has tested positive makes a speedy recovery, and we are sending you our very best wishes. All positive cases and household contacts must isolate for 7 days from the test date before they can return to school, as long as they are not symptomatic. If you would like some learning activities to do at home, please contact your child’s teacher and we can arrange to email these to you.

Schools are also required to communicate with their community on a daily basis if there has been a report of a positive case from a student or staff member who was at school during the infectious period. Please keep an eye on Compass each afternoon for an update on positive cases we have been notified of. This helps all of us make informed decisions about actions we can take to minimise the spread of COVID19.

Staffing

I am pleased to announce and welcome the following staff to CPS

·         Kristina Trajanoska – Physical Education

·         Maja Sormaz - Speech Therapist

·         Emily Scherping – Admin (First Aid)

·         Sam McKenzie – Groundsman

·         Shameela Sadik – Grade 2B

·         Kirandeep Sidhu – Grade 4E

Over the holidays we ran a number of advertisements for vacant positions.  Unfortunately, there were limited applicants. Therefore, I have had to make some changes to the roles of some of our current staff.   Elizabeth Giramondo has changed her days to cover Visual Arts on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. Stephanie Augello will work between Physical Education and Literacy Intervention. Peta Coulthard-Clarke will work between her role as the Mental Health in Primary School Co-ordinator and covering 2 classes in Visual Arts on Monday. We are employing Leslee Young on Monday to cover 6D classroom.  I would like to sincerely thank these teachers for their understanding and flexibility to accommodate these changes.  We are currently recruiting to fill 4C Classroom position.  Unfortunately, we were also unsuccessful in appointing an Italian teacher for the third time. We have readvertised this position.

UNAUTHORISED ENTRY

Unfortunately, on the weekend there were reports of unauthorised people on our school grounds the 3 teenage youths were found entering one of the classrooms. This is highly unacceptable, I sincerely thank the police and security services for their prompt response to the unauthorised entry on the weekend. I urge all of our community to call the police if you see anyone on our school premises after school hours.


Education Week - ‘The evolution of education’

This year, Victoria will celebrate Education Week from Sunday 22 May to Saturday 28 May 2022.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of public education in Victoria, when Victoria made education free, secular and compulsory to all children aged 6-16 under the Education Act 1872.

To coincide with the milestone anniversary for Victoria’s education system, Education Week activities and celebrations will encourage all schools to commemorate the past, celebrate the present and imagine the future of education. The theme, ‘The evolution of education’.

Please see the following link for more information:

https://www.vic.gov.au/150th-anniversary-public-education-victoria


Community and Fundraising Sub-committee (Parent Club)

We are keen to get as many parents as possible involved in our Community & Fundraising Sub-Committee (Parent Club) this year. It is a great way of meeting other parents and supporting the school at the same time. We look forward to meeting with returning members and warmly welcome any new members who would like to assist in any capacity. Further information will be posted on Compass on when our next meeting will be held.


Be your best, each and every day,

Bernadette Pizaro
Principal

Curriculum News

To begin the year, all year levels engaged in Learning to Learn lessons that focus on getting to know others in the classroom, establishing positive learning routines or classroom processes, and understanding our school values. Now teachers are delivering a weekly program planned with their year level teams, using the Victorian Curriculum, that is designed to improve student academic outcomes. In planning meetings teachers are looking at assessment data and selecting curriculum content and strategies to meet students’ needs.

The Welfare lessons continue to focus on social and emotional learning and Zones of Regulation are being introduced during these lessons. The ZONES is a concept designed by an occupational therapist Leah Kuypers to help kids gain skills in the area of self-regulation. Self-regulation (self-control, self-management impulse control) is defined as the best state of alertness of both the body and emotions.

The ZONES are designed to help students recognise when they are in different zones as well as learn how to use strategies to change or stay in the zone they are in. In addition to addressing self-regulation, the students have an increased vocabulary of emotions, skills in reading other’s emotions/expressions, perspective about how others see and react to their behaviour, insight into events that trigger their behaviour, calming and alerting strategies, and problem-solving skills.

At school and at home students can use The ZONES language and talk about concepts of The ZONES as they apply in each environment. Students are encouraged to articulate how they are feeling by relating it to the zone they may be in.

Teachers continue to discuss the zones in classrooms to help students consolidate and practice this learning.

The Grade 5/6 Camp to Portsea was held Monday to Wednesday in Week 6 (28 Feb to 2 Mar). The students enjoyed the challenges of adventure activities, such as the Giant Swing, Kayaking, Survivor Skills, Beach Activities, Orienteering and Team Building activities. Camp provided opportunities to build and practise resilience, as students took on challenges that help them push previous limits and surprise themselves with their achievements. Camp also provided opportunities for students to use our school values of responsibility and kindness, as students lived with their friends, peers and teachers learning to make positive contributions to the group. Grade 5/6 are preparing information to share with parents through this newsletter and will provide photos for you to enjoy.

Risk minimisation and infection control remains an ongoing important planning consideration when curriculum is being delivered. Staff continue to monitor hand hygiene and encourage the use of soap and sanitisers. Doors and windows are open to maximise air flow and some lessons are taught in outside areas, weather permitting. Air filtration units and RATS Testing are also assisting staff to minimisation risk, along with staggered dismissal times, which have reduced congestion in the yard at the end of days.

NAPLAN is moving to Online delivery in Term 2, so students will be involved in practice tests this term to build their understanding of the new test format. No results will be recorded online when students are practising.

Amanda Lee
Assistant Principal Prep to Grade 2












Simon Rennick
Assistant Principal Grade 3 to 6

First weeks of Prep 2022

The students have had a wonderful first few weeks in Prep. They have settled in quickly and have been establishing good routines, setting an excellent foundation for learning. The students have been developing good relationships with their teachers and peers and have expressed enjoyment every day.

In Literacy, we have been learning about the concepts of print such as: how to hold a book, where to start reading, which way to turn a page and about the differences between a letter and a word. A big part of Prep is learning High Frequency Words and this week the children were introduced to the C.P.S Magic Word Program.



On Wednesday, the Preps visited the library for the first time and had the opportunity to borrow books. The Prep teachers are looking forward to seeing the huge progress the children will be making in reading this term.

See our Preps in the library in the photo gallery.

Grade 1 Inquiry and Writing

In the Grade 1 team, students played detectives and explored outside with magnifying glasses. They discussed the many objects they found, such as insects, ants, leaves and many more objects. 

We noticed how things changed when looking through the magnifying glasses.  Students then used this hands-on experience as the basis for their writing.

Grade 1 Inquiry photos

Grade 3 Mathematics

This week in Maths the Grade 3 students have had lots of fun learning about time.

We explored features of calendars, identifying dates, days, weeks, and months, including the seasons.

We used analogue clocks to revise, make and record various times. The Grade 3's have enjoyed using hands on resources to explore these areas of Measurement.

Grade 3 Mathematics photos

Grade 6 - Learning to Learn

Learning to Learn is our start-up program across the school, where children learn how to build strong relationships with teachers and classmates and develop a classroom atmosphere of learning. Children understand why our school values are important; understand classroom routines and how to be a positive learner.

Students have been developing their understanding of our Reader’s Workshop sessions and have been enjoying building their reading stamina and keeping tracks of their thinking while they read. Students participated in activities that discussed ways to be safe online and learnt about their digital footprints.

Students spent some time learning about and practicing our Term 1 Interschool Sports (cricket, t-ball, basketball and volleyball).

This photo gallery highlights some of the activities.

Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR)


Emotional Literacy


Emotional literacy is described as the ability to understand ourselves and other people, and in particular to be aware of, understand, and use information about the emotional states of ourselves and others with competence.

It includes the ability to understand, express and manage our own emotions and respond appropriately to the emotions of others.

The children are continuing with our RRRR program each week. These are pictures of children participating in the Emotional Literacy component where they had to act out their emotions.


Social and Emotional Learning


Self-regulation is something everyone continually works on, whether we are aware of it or not. We all face difficult situations that test our limits from time to time. If we are able to recognise when we are becoming less regulated, we are able to do something about it to feel better and get ourselves to a better place. This comes naturally for some, but for others it is a skill that needs to be taught and practiced. This is the goal of The Zones of Regulation. By focusing on underlying deficits ine motional and sensory regulation, executive functions ( skills that are used for: planning and doing tasks, organising, regulating behaviour, working memory, impulse control and attention), and social cognition. The Zones of Regulation incorporates Social Thinking® concepts and numerous visuals to teach students to identify their feelings/level of alertness, understand how their behaviour impacts those around them, and learn what tools they can use to manage their feelings and states.

Managing our emotions is difficult, whether you are six or forty-six! Teaching our children to effectively manage their feelings and emotions is such an important, ongoing task for both teachers and parents – there is no onesize-fits-all lesson for helping children to understand feelings, it takes many, regular touches as a child moves through the following stages of emotional development;

  • Recognising a range of emotions in themselves and others
  • Recognising the physical and emotional responses we have to each of these emotions
  • Learning to express their own feelings verbally
  • Learning to calm oneself down in the face of overwhelming
  • Learning to calm oneself down in the face of overwhelming emotions, and
  • Learning to treat others with kindness and empathy.


Managing Big Emotions

Patience is always right there at the top of the list as a struggle for parents. We struggle to keep our cool in all sorts of situations – when we are rushing to get everyone out the door, when we have asked our kids to do something 100 times, when they whine and whinge, when siblings squabble, and the list goes on. Often it is when our children are having the most trouble keeping their cool that we also lose ours. Which we all know is pretty unhelpful in the scheme of things, especially as our children are watching and learning from everything we do. And managing big emotions is hard when you are six or sixteen. In fact at times it can be hard, whatever age you are! Being prepared with a strategy for helping children through those times when they are experiencing big or overwhelming emotions such as anger, frustration, jealousy or embarrassment, is one way to help both you and them to work through those emotions more effectively. It’s not about teaching our children that their emotions aren’t important or valid, or that they must be hidden or suppressed, but it is about helping them to find socially acceptable ways to express and deal with their emotions – most importantly, in ways that don’t hurt others.


Wendy Alway

Student Wellbeing Coordinator


School Nursing Program

The School Nursing Program offers support to Prep students and families through the School Entrant Health questionnaire (SEHQ). The Victorian Primary School Nursing Program is a free health assessment service offered by the Department of Education and Training to all children during their first year of primary school.

You should have the School Entrant Health Questionnaire (SEHQ) this week. SEHQ is a parent report instrument where you can record your concerns and observations about your child’s health and wellbeing as they begin primary school.

We are very fortunate to be receiving a visit from the school nurse during Term 3. At the time of the main school visit, the Visiting Primary School Nurse will complete a review of all Prep students who have returned a SEHQ with signed consent. This may include an assessment screen of distance vision, hearing, speech and/or teeth along with any other concerns raised by you or teachers in relation to behaviour, health or wellbeing.

Can you please complete and return the form to your child’s classroom teacher via your students blue communication bag no later than Friday 1st April.

Clean Up Australia Day

Thank you to all the staff and students that helped make our school a more beautiful place on Clean Up Australia Day.

There are some photos of this event in the photo gallery.

School Photo Day

If you have any questions regarding your photos, or if you would like to order a photo package, please call Advanced Life Photography on 9852 1133. Photo Day was held on Tuesday 15 March

If you forgot to order your child's photos and would still like to click on the information below

Ordering School Photos after photo day.





Student of the Week Term 1 Week 6

 

Student of the Week - Term 1 Week 6

 

Class and Room

Name of Student

Reason

PA

Rm 12

Milla

For showing our school value of responsibility. Keep up the wonderful work Milla!

PB

Rm 11

Iris

For showing our school value of resilience when writing. Well done, Iris!

PC

Rm 9

Holly

For showing our school value of resilience when beginning each day. Keep up the excellent effort Holly.

PD

Rm 10

Christopher

For doing his best and showing Resilience.

1A

Rm 16

Jackson

For consistently showing all our school values!

1B

Rm 15

Rami

For settling into CPS beautifully and always showing our school values!

1C

Rm 14

Ashley

For showing the school value of responsibility by helping others out. Thanks Ashley!

1D

Rm 13

Rayan

For always displaying the value of kindness.

Well done!

2A

Rm 5

Brodie

For having a positive attitude towards his learning!

2B

Rm 6

Gursharan

For always showing the school value of responsibility.

2C

Rm 3

Losipeli

For trying hard with all his learning!

2D

Rm 4

Mehnaz

For always demonstrating the school value of kindness.

2E

Rm 7

Brody

For working independently on his narrative. You wrote some great detailed sentences and you remembered to use creative adjectives! Well done!

3A

Rm 33

Evan

For being a responsible learner, completing all his tasks to the best of his ability!

3B

Rm 34

Layla

For your excellent text-to-text connections in Reading. Well done!

3C

Rm 35

Carter

For being a responsible member of our class who engages fully in all lessons.

3D

Rm 36

Ella

For being a great helper to her peers and her teacher

4A

Rm 27

Alvin

 For trying his best during the morning sessions. Keep it up Alvin!

4B

Rm 28

Chloe

For showing great interest and skill when researching a historical figure for a biography. Great work!

4C

Rm 29

Gabriel

For always being enthusiastic about his learning!

4D

Rm 30

Ruby

For showing kindness to others in the classroom! Thank you, Ruby!

4E

Rm 31

Lucas

For always showing the value of respect. Well done!!

4F

Rm 32

Mathieu

For always contributing to class discussions and making a difference. GO Mathieu!

5A

Rm 22

Olivia

For displaying resilience at camp and being a great group member. Awesome work Olivia!

5B

Rm 21

Anjelina

For a fantastic effort and great ideas in her country project.  Well done!!

5C

Rm 23

Zoe

For displaying the school values during camp and having a positive attitude in all the activities!

5D

Rm 24

Jake

For showing resilience by having a go on the giant swing!

5E

Rm 17

Jaskaran

For his help during dinner services at camp. You are a great help!

6A

Rm 1

Murat

For always displaying our school values and being a great classmate!

6B

Rm 2

Harshal

For his willingness to show responsibility and lend a hand when needed. Thank you Harshal!

6C

Rm 19

Charli

For her enthusiastic participation on camp and for upholding our school values.

6D

Rm 20

Tanveer

For displaying responsibility and leadership when assisting in the classroom and in his approach to all of his studies!

P. ARTS

P - 2

Ayden - 2A

For showing enthusiasm while learning about “ta, “ti-ti” and “rest” notes

P. ARTS

3 - 6

Valerie - 3A

For being very confident during this week’s drama lesson

P.E.

P - 2

Oscar - 2A

For always coming to PE with a smile and giving it a go.

P.E.

3 - 6

Liam - 5A

For showing resilience during PE and at Portsea Camp.

ART

P - 2

Alyssa - PD

For a fantasitc seagull collage

ART

3 - 6

Zeinab - 5D

For a great tiger pastel drawing



Student of the Week for Term 1 Week 5

 

Student of the Week - Term 1 Week 5

 

Class and Room

Name of Student

Reason

 PB

Rm 11

Hasan

For showing our school value of kindness everyday by always including his classmates. Well done Hasan!

PC

Rm 9

Eleen

For showing responsibility by bringing her blue communication bag everyday and changing her reader independently. Well done Eleen!

PD

Rm 10

Amelia

For always showing the school values.

1A

Rm 16

Elisa

For showing resilience in the classroom.

1B

Rm 15

Charlotte

For showing resilience when coming to school!

1C

Rm 14

Tyrone

For being a great member of the class and always showing the school value of kindness.

1D

Rm 13

Heidi

For always displaying the school values. Excellent effort!

2A

Rm 5

Maddison

For displaying our school value of kindness and being a good friend!

2B

Rm 6

Zander

For always being a good friend and showing the school value of kindness. Great Job Zander!

2C

Rm 3

Holly

For showing resilience when coming to school! Well done, Holly!

2D

Rm 4

Reema

For always being a fantastic member of the class.

2E

Rm 7

Emmerson

For making such a wonderful start to the school year. Not only does Emmerson produce a consistent high level of work,she is also a caring and friendly classmate and student.

3A

Rm 33

 

Jasleen

For always completing her work to the best of her ability, and having an AMAZING start to Grade 3!

3B

Rm 34

Atharv

For always completing tasks with great enthusiasm. Well done on an awesome start to Grade 3!

3C

Rm 35

Mitchell

For his focused approach to all his schoolwork this week. Well done!

3D

Rm 36

Emaan

For always presenting neat work in class.

4A

Rm 27

Sukhraj

For a fantastic attitude to his learning. Congratulations to a great start to the year!

4B

Rm 28

Chiara

For using a growth mindset when learning about place value in maths. Keep believing in yourself!

4C

Rm 29

Zoe

For always contributing to class discussions, well done!

4D

Rm 30

Lovely

For showing responsibility in the classroom by being an excellent technology monitor!

4E

Rm 31

Awais

For being an excellent library monitor. Well done!!

4F

Rm 32

Zainab

For always being on task and listening so attentively. Well done Zainab!

5A

Rm 22

Jamison

For always dispalying the school values and being a great class member and helping others. Well done!

5B

Rm 21

Ian

For your amazing effort in maths and always displaying our school values! Thank you Ian!

5C

Rm 23

Jarred

 

For your great efforts during maths and always showing kindness. Keep it up Jarred!

5D

Rm 24

Eshal

For a fantastic start to the year and always displaying the school values.

5E

Rm 17

Sahiba

For displaying the school values at all times. Well done!

6A

Rm 1

Alex

For always displaying our school values and being a great classmate!

6B

Rm 2

Larina

For her fantastic attitude towards learning and understanding. Well doneLarina!

6C

Rm 19

Zehra

For writing a wonderful information text for her Prep buddy. Well done Zehra!

6D

Rm 20

Elly

For displaying a growth mindset when working on her maths.

P. ARTS

P - 2

Ali - 1A

For always having a big smile when he comes to Performing Arts!

P. ARTS

3 - 6

Ruby - 4D

For showing enthusiasm during the drama lesson this week

P.E.

P - 2

Charlotte -1B

For being a PE Superstar

P.E.

3 - 6

Chiara – 6D

For being a PE Superstar

ART

P - 2

Khadijah - 1C

For making a fabulous tiger collage

ART

3 - 6

Manraj 3D

For fantastic work on his dragon.