EHPS Contact Issue 23 - 13 August 2021 Page 1 of 8

Issue 23, 13 August 2021

At EHPS we value: Friendliness, Honesty, Inclusiveness, Respect, and Persistence

CALENDAR Correct at time of publication, but due to the dynamic situation with COVID-19, please check Compass regularly for information and updates.

August Fri 6-Thu 19 ...... Remote & Flexible Learning Sat 14 ............... Sayembara Lisan finals Sat 14-Sun 22 ... National Science Week Thu 19 .............. School Council meeting Sat 21-Fri 27 ..... Book Week: Old Worlds, New Worlds,

Other Worlds Fri 27 ................ Book Week - Dress Up Day Fri 27 ................ Schools Tree Day - Parent Working Bee Tue 31 .............. VSSS Mass Choir Rehearsal

September Wed 1 ............... 2O & 2PB Detectives in Training incursion Wed 1 ............... District Athletics Fri 3 .................. Schools Tree Day - Student Planting Day Thu 9 ................ VSSS Rehearsal Fri 10 ................ VSSS Rehearsal Sat 11 ............... Victorian State Schools Spectacular

Students do not attend school on public holidays or student-free days.

Whole School Assembly Every Monday at 2.40pm in Stadium.

Not permitted under current School Operation Guidelines.

School Tours For 2021 & 2022 entry - Wednesday & Friday at 9.30am.

Bookings essential. Not permitted under current School Operation Guidelines.

2021 Term Dates Term 1: 27 January* to 1 April Term 2: 19 April to 25 June Term 3: 12 July to 17 September Term 4: 4 October to 17 December

EHPS student-free days: 27 January*, 28 January, 25 February, 27 May, and 13 October.

* State wide student free day.

Junior School Council Donate a gold coin to support our orangutan adoption project.

PARENT PORTAL ON COMPASS https://essexheightsps-vic.compass.education

CONTACT NEWSLETTER Published weekly on Friday during school terms and

distributed via Compass. Previous issues accessible on our school website.

Essex Heights Primary School

22-30 Essex Road

Mount Waverley VIC 3149

Telephone: (03) 9807 4944

essex.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au

www.essexheightsps.vic.edu.au

Principal: Mr George Perini Office Hours: 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday

during school terms.

Dear Parents and Carers,

I trust that you and your family are well and coping with the lockdown. This latest extension has again highlighted the outstanding work of our students, parents, and staff. Even though we had very little time to transition to Remote and Flexible Learning, it was accomplished smoothly and effectively. Thank you to all members of our school community for your cooperation and support.

Our school will continue in its Remote and Flexible Learning mode throughout next week. This will be again complemented by our onsite supervision program. All details are being communicated regularly through our Compass Portal. It is very important to remind all families to continually check for updates from classroom teachers and the school.

Showtime cancelled It is with regret that I inform the school community that this year’s Showcase has been cancelled. Showcase is an EHPS tradition, and a highlight of the school year. This difficult decision has been taken because the restrictions to group work for both vocal and instrumental rehearsals, in addition to the number of periods of remote and flexible learning, have prevented our students preparing adequately for the concert. Also, we cannot be assured on the level of restrictions and therefore their impact at the planned time of Showcase in late October. We look forward to 2022 and hope that this wonderful EHPS tradition will return as a celebration of music and performance that is so highly valued in our school community.

Swimming Program Currently we are awaiting updated information from our Swim Centres and COVID-19 restrictions before deciding on the possibility of conducting our swimming program. Currently this may affect Years 3 to 5. More information will follow as soon as we are able to decide.

Parent Opinion Survey I encourage all families that have been selected to participate in the annual Parent Opinion Survey to please complete it ASAP. Please refer to the item later in the newsletter.

… continued on page 3

Principal’s Report

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This week’s information on Compass: Notifications sent this week that were about events/information that have passed may not be listed.

Year/Group Compass News Feed

Prep ........................... Accessing the Learning at Home site and videos Prep Remote Learning 6.0 Info

Year 1 ........................ Small Group Conferences for Term 3

Year 2 ........................ Remote Learning Planner for 9th-13th Aug Year 2 Remote Learning Update

Year 3 ........................ Grade 3 Week 5 Learning Pack

Year 4 ........................ Year 4 RL6 T3 Week 5 Learning Pack

Year 5 ........................ Year 5 Week 6 Details (and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader Family Night on Zoom)

Year 5 Aug 9-13 Learning Matrix

Year 6 ........................ Correct Specialist Zoom Link Year 6 Remote Learning Update 8.8.21

Years 3 to 6 ............... Monash District Athletics information

Prep to Year 6 ........... Specialist Subject Zoom details

Whole School ............ The language of respectful relationships Parent and Carer Update Lockdown extended 11 August 2021 Lockdown Update Book Week 2021 is nearly here!

Compass Events:

Year/Group Activity/Event Notice and Payment & Consent Due Date

Year 4 ........................ Community Kinder Visit - consent only by TODAY, 13 August.

Year 5 ........................ Year 5 Sovereign Hill Excursion - $65 & consent overdue.

Years 4, 5 & 6 ............ Marimba Ensemble lessons 2021 - $50 & consent overdue; CSEF does not apply.

Please contact the Office regarding events that have overdue payment and/or consent.

August

14th ...... Aaliyah S Faye L Ethan S 15th ...... Alysha H 17th ...... Siddharth K James A 18th ...... Jacky Z Kenan J Ella F Shihao H Rami P 19th ...... Veronika S

Assembly: Monday 16 August

No Assembly on Monday - remote and flexible learning period.

The following events and activities have been postponed, rescheduled or cancelled: • Indonesian Day/Hari Indonesia (16 August) - cancelled; online activities during

next week, and activities on return to school. • Book Fair - postponed. • Prep Melbourne Zoo excursion (27 July) - to be rescheduled. • 2O & 2PB Police Detectives in Training incursion - rescheduled to Wednesday 1 September. • 2O & 2PB Police incursion: Magic show - rescheduled to Monday 25 October. • 2O & 2PB Police Academy excursion - rescheduled to Friday 29 October. • 2B & 2D Police Detectives in Training incursion - rescheduled to Wednesday 27 October. • 2B & 2D Police incursion: Magic show - rescheduled to Monday 22 November. • 2B & 2D Police Academy excursion - rescheduled to Friday 26 November. • Year 4 Kinder Community Program - to be rescheduled. • Year 5 Sovereign Hill excursion (6 August) - rescheduled to Friday 15 October. • Year 6 Winter Inter-School Sport - program concluded. • Year 6 swimming program (26 to 30 July) - cancelled; to be advised. • EMR Cross Country (22 July) - to be rescheduled. • Victorian State Schools Spectacular Mass Choir Rehearsal (17 August) - rescheduled to Tuesday 31 August;

rehearsals also on 9 and 10 September. • Chamber Choir performance - to be rescheduled.

Take note ...

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Principal’s Report

SunSmart We’ve got a few more weeks of low UV levels and then we’ll see them start to rise again around mid-August. Whatever the weather, it’s important for people of all skin types to use sun protection whenever UV levels are three or higher. Quickly get the day’s UV level from the SunSmart widget accessible on our school website homepage. A reminder that SunSmart compliant hats are compulsory for everyone at school in Terms 1 and 4 when outside.

I hope your family members are all safe and well. Kindest regards.

George Perini Principal

Principal’s Reading Challenge

We are half way through the term and the Principal’s Reading Challenge!

Keep up the momentum and think of all the things you’ve learnt and all the places your books have taken you to as you’ve been competing in this reading challenge with Mr Perini and the whole school. Well done Essex Heights!

Lena Papadatos

We have a school membership with Parenting Ideas, one of Australia’s most trusted sources of parenting education and support, providing our school community with excellent resources, including Insights articles, and webinar attendance at no cost (a saving of $39).

The following Insights article was distributed via Compass this week: • The language of respectful relationships

For further Parenting Ideas information, please CLICK HERE.

“Schools are at their dynamic best when teachers and parents work hand-in-hand together” Michael Grose

Photo: George Perini & Gael Munro

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ArtSEL

The ArtSEL focus for Years 3 to 6 will be published on Compass each week, including Home Links homework when set. This week’s focus is outlined below.

Learning to respect similarities and differences In ArtSEL this week we learnt to respect similarities and differences in people so we can predict the feelings of others.

We need to be able to recognise how others are feeling – even if it’s different from how we are feeling.

In friendships, we can be different in lot of ways yet be similar in another.

Paying attention and understanding that others have both similar and different feelings to us is part of empathy and respect.

When you make plans or decisions that will affect another person, you need to consider how that person might feel about it. This is called predicting feelings. Predicting means thinking in advance, about what might happen. We can predict more correctly, when we:

• think about how others might react • think about what anyone in that situation might do • put ourselves in someone else’s shoes.

Practise making predictions about others in different scenarios by recognising similarities and differences.

Jean Elliott ArtSEL Coordinator

Leaving EHPS

If your child is leaving EHPS this school year, it is essential for the planning and preparation for the next school year that you advise Mr Perini, our Principal, as soon as possible. Include the following information in your email to Mr Perini:

1. Child’s name and 2021 class. 2. Date of last day at EHPS (end of 2021 school year is Friday 17 December). 3. Name of the school your child is enrolled at. 4. Commencement date at new school (the 2022 school year commences on 28 January). 5. The reason for leaving EHPS. 6. New contact details, if any are changing (eg address, phone number, email).

Please also note the following if your child is leaving EHPS: • Ensure that any outstanding school charges are paid. • Library books are returned. • If your child participates in the Instrumental Music Program, please advise Alyssa Kennedy in writing that

they are withdrawing from the program, and if applicable, return hired musical instruments. • Copy academic reports on Compass to an external source before the last day at EHPS; access to the parent

portal closes when students leave EHPS.

TRP@HOME

TRP@HOME is a hub of activities and ideas to bring gratitude, empathy and mindfulness to day-to-day life: from kitchen table conversations, to bedtime stories and backyard expeditions.

The Activities section is for everyone; adults, children, teenagers, parents and carers alike! Head here for wellbeing tips and ways to build resilience and happiness for yourself, family, housemates and the wider community around you.

The Blog is an avenue to share some of the incredible stories of the Everyday GEMs in our community. Read how these people use gratitude, empathy and mindfulness to build positive wellbeing.

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100 Days of Learning in Prep

As always, the excitement builds in Prep, as we count the days of learning and finally we crossed off the 100th day!! While there was a little confusion with some of the children if this meant they then went into Grade 1, this confusion quickly disappeared as the celebrations began. Throughout the week the theme of ‘100’ was interweaved within many of the planned classroom activities and learning for the week.

On Tuesday 3 August, we had our BIG day of celebrations!! Many of the children and Prep teachers came dressed up as if they were 100 years old and some got creative with 100 themed outfits. During the day the children engaged in many fun activities, even bringing along 100 items from home such as pom poms, buttons and pasta, and worked in teams to practise their counting. The children were also very proud (as were the teachers) to each receive their ‘100 days of learning’ certificate and a box of smarties to enjoy. We finished off the day with a short movie and a bag of popcorn each. What a treat and a special way to end a wonderful day!!

Here’s to the next 100!!

Love from some very proud Prep teachers! x

Photos: Shona Misso

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It is with great regret to inform you that the House Athletics Carnival for Years 3 to 6 will not proceed in 2021. We are unable to reschedule, as the venues are at capacity.

The good news is that we are still able to select our District Athletics Team to compete on Wednesday 1 September. This process will be run in accordance with DET COVID-19 restrictions, and as such we will be working under circumstances beyond our control.

The selection to trial process will be upon an expression of interest from the students, endorsed by parents/guardians, within their age group and will include all track and field events. Your child has the opportunity to select two events. The Essex Heights relay team will be chosen from the sprints we will conduct when we return to school. To lodge your child’s expression of interest, complete and return the Nomination to trial for athletics form by email to Marita Steward - Marita.Steward@education.vic.gov.au - by Sunday 15 August.

All trials will take place when we return to school and have clearance to conduct mixed exercise sessions. These trialling sessions will be during year level sport and lunchtimes. The school’s team selection will be final. Consideration is given to sportsmanship alongside ability.

A big, warm, thank you to the families who volunteered to help on the previously scheduled Athletics Carnival day. This also goes out to all who were planning to volunteer and never got the chance. Your contributions are vital to the success and enjoyment of the sport program at EHPS.

Please feel free to contact me for any further clarifications.

Marita Steward

Years 3 to 6 House Athletics Drysdale Lindsay Nolan Boyd

Randomly selected families have been sent a letter inviting them to participate in this year’s Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey (previously known as the Parent Opinion Survey). All responses to the survey are anonymous. If you’ve received an invitation, we encourage your participation. The survey can be completed anytime until Friday 3 September.

The survey is conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek.

The survey results will be communicated to families through the School’s Annual Report.

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey

Library

Book Fair postponed Our annual Book Fair has been postponed. We hope to be able to reschedule in October.

Gael Munro

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Sayembara Lisan A big thank you to the 28 students who participated in the first round of Sayembara Lisan (Indonesian speaking

competition) on Saturday. We are so happy to announce that 14 students from EHPS have been selected to proceed to the finals that will take place tomorrow, Saturday 14 August! I hope that this opportunity has sparked an interest in your children in learning Indonesian language further. We can’t wait for the finals!

Indonesian Day Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, Indonesian Day is no longer going to be held at school on Monday. However, that does not mean we still can’t celebrate Indonesian Day remotely! If you go to the Learning at Home Indonesian page on our school website, there is a plethora of things that you and your children can do to celebrate Indonesia Day remotely.

On Wednesday and Thursday next week, students will also get the chance to have a Zoom session with one of the representatives from The Orangutan Project to learn more about ways we can help to save the Orangutans.

When we come back to school, we will also play some Indonesian games during recess and lunch such as ‘Lomba Krupuk’ (cracker eating competition) and ‘Balap Karung’ (sack race).

Indonesian

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at Meldeen.Pratiwi@education.vic.gov.au

Meldeen Pratiwi

National Science Week this year is from Saturday 14 to Saturday 21 August. The theme for 2021 is Food: Different by Design. It honours the United Nations International Year of Fruits and Vegetables and the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.

Next week, Monday 16 to Friday 20 August, our focus as a whole school, is to be involved in propagating fruit and vegetable food scraps to potentially produce our own future crops. For this activity, we are encouraging families to be involved in using fruit and vegetable food scraps that might have otherwise been discarded, to regrow or sprout new plants. This task, also involves observing the new shoots and

monitoring how they grow and change over time. To begin this task, please go to the EHPS Learning at Home page on the school website, and scroll down to the National Science Week section.

This site includes watching a video with Australian landscape architect and television presenter Costa Georgiadis to see how we propagate fruit and vegetable food scraps. In preparation for the activity, you will also need some offcuts of fruits and vegetables (spring onions, bok-choy, potatoes, celery, carrot tops and avocado pips), some sunlight and water for the propagation. Please note: continually change the water to reduce slime.

Once your plant has sufficient roots and shoots, plant it in the garden. Continue to water, monitor and care for the plant help to help continue its growth.

Video: https://juniorlandcare.org.au/learning_activity/propagating-from-fruit-and-vegetable-scraps/

Activity: https://juniorlandcare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/JLC2020_ActivityWorksheet_A4_Propagating.pdf

Nikki Olsen

National Science Week

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Book Week 2021: Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book Week will be celebrated from Saturday 21 to Friday 27 August. The theme for 2021 is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds.

Dress Up Day In celebration of Book Week and the ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’ theme, students are invited to come dressed up as their favourite book character on Friday 27 August. We’re looking forward to seeing all the wonderful choices.

This year we will be celebrating Footy Colour’s Day by raising awareness about kids with cancer and to celebrate the upcoming AFL Finals!

Date: Thursday 16 September Dress: Come dressed in your AFL Team, Team colours or Sports Team of your choice. Bring: Please bring a gold coin donation for the ‘Fight Cancer Foundation’ and

be ready for a fun day! Thank you for your support!!!!

Karen (1K) and Melanie (2B)

Fight Cancer - Footy Colours Day

Wonder Recycling Rewards Program - GREAT NEWS! Thank you for ALL your WONDERful efforts bringing your empty bread bags and bread tags to school.

Each item helped our school earn points for more marvellous sporting equipment. We can’t wait to share our new equipment when it arrives!

You can keep recycling from home. Your local supermarket will have a plastics collection point.

We are still collecting bread tags for the Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs. Please bring them to school when we return to onsite learning and leave in the marked tubs in the School Office reception.

Sustainability

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We are pleased to have the opportunity for our Year 2 students to participate in a program with Victoria Police, with assistance from Deakin University, to develop positive relationships, and assist police who are being trained to speak to child witnesses. The program involves incursions at school and a visit to the Police Academy in Glen Waverley.

The rescheduled dates are as follows: Wednesday 1 September ......... 2O & 2PB incursion - Detectives in Training Monday 25 October ................. 2O & 2PB incursion - Magic show Wednesday 27 October ........... 2B & 2D incursion - Detectives in Training Friday 29 October .................... 2O & 2PB Police Academy excursion Monday 22 November ............. 2B & 2D incursion - Magic show Friday 26 November ................ 2B & 2D Police Academy excursion

Information will be published on Compass. Contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

Year 2 Police Incursions and Excursion

Year 5 Sovereign Hill Excursion

The rescheduled date for the Year 5 excursion to Sovereign Hill is Friday 15 October.

Year 6 Inter-School Sport

Winter Competition As it was not possible to reschedule the remaining dates, the Winter Inter-School Sport competition has concluded for this year.

Marita Steward

This year’s Victorian State Schools Spectacular is currently scheduled to take place on Saturday 11 September at John Cain Arena. This event is a celebration of achievement in the performing arts with primary and secondary students from across Victoria, and includes the mass choir, dance groups and individual performers. Selected EHPS students who are members of our Chorale choir will participate this year.

Choir Rehearsal The first mass choir rehearsal has been rescheduled and will be held on Tuesday 31 August. Rehearsals will also be held on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 September. The venue for all rehearsals is John Cain Arena.

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Orangutan Adoption Project We are still taking donations for the Orangutan Adoption! Below are some pictures of the Orangutans that need our help!

When you adopt an orangutan, you support that infant and others at the care centre. Adoption funds go towards food, medicine, enrichment, Jungle School and more. Jungle School is one of the most important parts of a young orphaned orangutan's life, as they would normally learn the skills for survival in the wild from their mothers. They are not

born with the instincts to survive in the wild, and they normally stay with their mothers for up to nine years. When orangutans are orphaned, they need to learn these skills somewhere else, or they won't know how to climb a tree, how to swing through the canopy, what foods to eat, and how to stay safe.

If we are able to adopt an Orangutan, EHPS will receive updates on our adopted orangutan so we can keep track of how they are going.

Don't forget to bring a gold coin to school! Donations will be collected by the JSC, or can be given directly to Bu Pratiwi.

Junior School Council

Upcoming Fundraisers The JSC have planned to promote and run the following fundraisers this year: Jeans for Genes in Term 3 Canteen Bandanna Day in Term 4

Community Noticeboard Products & services advertised in Contact are placed on a paid basis and are not necessarily being promoted by Essex Heights Primary School. In responding to any advertisement, you accept full responsibility for the consequences of goods or services received.

2022 SUMMER SCHOOL

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Community Noticeboard Products & services advertised in Contact are placed on a paid basis and are not necessarily being promoted by Essex Heights Primary School. In responding to any advertisement, you accept full responsibility for the consequences of goods or services received.

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