PRINCIPAL’S PIECE School Pride At this week’s assembly our school leaders were presented with their badges in front of a huge gathering of proud family and friends. Seven of our students made speeches, representing the twenty leaders that were inducted on the day. We were fortunate to have past student, Madeleine Rijs, as our guest speaker. She reflected on her roles as Junior School Councillor and House Captain and how it set her up for more leadership roles later in life. Madeleine is the Assistant Coach of the Tatura Bulldogs Football team - the first female to have this role in the league. Here is a list of our leaders for 2016: School Captains: Jordan O’Neill and Eowyn Bowles Junior School Council President: Zahra Alrahmawi

Batman House Captains: Jensen Parker and Katrina Charlton Henty House Captains: Maddie Bethell and Zach Langlands Mitchell House Captains: Ned Fletcher and Chloe Johnson Sturt House Captains: Abi Miller and Robbie Fitzgerald

Junior School Council Representatives: Ben Andonoudis, Rhys Coonerty, Sarah Usher, Robert McAllister, Isabel Boyd, Chloe Newman, Darcy Brewer, Alisha Fitzgerald and Shakara Ralph.

Out of Hours School Care Last week, we said farewell to one of our carers in the OHSC program. Jess Graham has been assisting us here at the Tatura Primary School for the past year. We wish her all the best as she commences work at the Tatura Children’s Centre. Grade 3 to 6 Swimming Sports

I can’t wait for my first Tatura Primary School Swimming Sports day on Friday as Principal. I encourage parents and grandparents to drop in during the afternoon to watch. The weather

forecast is sounding promising - we should have a pleasant day with enough warmth to keep the goose bumps away. Remind your children to slip, slop, slap and we’ll have a great day. The grade 2 students will be walking to the pool to watch proceedings in preparation for next year and support their fellow house mates. Supervision at the start of the school day I wish to remind families that students shouldn’t be arriving to school before 8:45am as the yard isn’t supervised until that time. If you need to drop your children off earlier than this, please book them into before school care where we have a supervised program available.

School drop-off/pick-up There are a number of available car parking spaces across the front of the Albert Street entrance to the school, but it has been brought to the attention of staff that some parents are intentionally double parking and thus taking up two spaces unnecessarily due to fear of having car doors opened into their vehicles by other families. Please be courteous of the school staff and other families who also wish to utilise these parking spaces by only taking up one park per vehicle. Parents and Friends The next meeting will be held on Monday 22nd February after assembly. All parents are welcome and encouraged to come and share ideas about the school. There are many exciting fund raising ideas planned for the remainder of the year - starting with the Easter Raffle. More answers to your great questions Last year, in her lovely letter to me, Makayde asked me about my family. My husband’s name is Bruce. He is a hydrogeologist. I have a prize in my office for the first student to visit me in my office on Thursday who can tell me what a hydrogeologist does. I also have two children who came to Tatura Primary School. Peter is an apprentice plumber and Miranda is studying to be a teacher like her Mum! Peter and Miranda were in Batman House when they were here and both had leadership roles. Hamish wanted to know if I lived in town or on a farm. I would love to live on a farm, but I live in town and enjoy being close to school.

Susanne Gill PRINCIPAL

TATURA PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

Phone: 5824 1684 Fax: 5824 1898 Before School Care: 0417 554 094 (BSC cancellations only)

Email: tatura.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Website: www.taturaps.vic.edu.au

February 17th, 2016 Term 1, Week 4

GANBINA 2016 PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS Scholarship information Ganbina’s Primary School Education Scholarships are designed to help cover education expenses of Indigenous families. The 2016 Scholarship applications are open to the families or guardians of children from prep through to Grade 6 who are attending a primary school in the Greater Goulburn Valley.

2016 application dates Applications open on Monday, 8 February 2016 and close on Friday, 19 February at 5.00 pm. We can only accept applications within these dates.

How to apply If you would like to apply for a Ganbina 2016 Primary School Education Scholarship, please call our office on 03 5821 7333 to arrange an appointment with us. When you come in to the office for your appointment, please bring with you: l If your child is in prep, an enrolment letter from your child’s school. l Your child’s 2015 end of year school report. l A letter showing where you live (bank statement, electricity or gas bill). l Proof of identification from parents or guardians (driver’s licence, birth certificate or health care card).

1 High Street, Shepparton Vic 3632 T 03 5821 7333 E info@ganbina.com.au www.ganbina.com.au

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

PA Brodie Lowry For being an excellent classroom helper. Keep up the great work Brodie! 1/2A Jhett Parker For a brilliant start to 2016! Jhett has read at home 11 nights already!! 3/4B Mia Wilkinson For working very hard at finding patterns when adding and even numbers. Keep it up Mia. 5/6B Kaleb Snelling For settling into the senior school in a confident and well organised way. 5/6C Zach Bowles For settling well into grade 5 and working extremely well on all tasks. P.E. Tanz Dellar For participating enthusiastically in PE lessons, always following instructions and being a positive role model to his classmates.

HOUSE POINTS

1st: Sturt with 22 points 2nd: Batman with 21 points

3rd: Henty with 18 points 4th: Mitchell with 16 points

SICKBAY DUTY

This Week: Emily Downie Next Week: Mel Andonoudis

FREE FRUIT FRIDAY PARENT

ROSTER

Sponsored by

This Week - Friday February 19th:

Amanda Ross & Alana Cope

Next Week - Friday February 26th: Jolene Bowles, Tarja Pena & Lisa Denham

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU CHECK THE PARENT ROSTER

AND IF UNABLE TO ATTEND PLEASE LET THE OFFICE

STAFF KNOW SO THAT WE CAN ORGANISE A

REPLACEMENT HELPER.

Please collect laundry from the office on Friday afternoons.

OFFICE HOURS: 8:30AM - 4:00PM

ABSENSE NOTES: If your child is going to be/were absent, please fill in an absence note available from the office or provide a handwritten note to your child’s teacher providing the reason your child was not at school.

REMINDER: Students are required to bring a box of tissues to

share with their classmates throughout the year.

We do not provide tissues to students.

AVAILABLE FOR SALE:

1 x Size XS 2016 Grade 6 Polo Shirt

Please contact the office to purchase.

Non-Urgent Appointments: When booking non-urgent appointments for your child such as dentist checks, hair appointments etc. please try and book these in after 3:30pm.

Scheduling these appointments during valuable class time can cause disruption to not only your student but their whole class.

News From the Middle Section

Welcome back to another year. We are looking forward

to some fantastic events this year. All three classes have

settled in well and everyone is aware of our morning

routine. At 8.50am all of the students come into the

class to start silent reading & to organise themselves

with fruit & homework books.

It has been pleasing to see most of our students

completed their first week (last week) of reading 3

times a week & practising their spelling words from

Monday to Thursday night.

Thank you to the families who were able to

come along to our open classrooms. We

understand not some families may have

been busy. If you were not able to attend

then your child should have brought home

an information booklet. Please call in to see

your child’s teacher if you haven’t received

one!

We have already experienced a

few Fun Friday sessions this year.

Our first one involved each class

trying to create a paper wheel so

that all the students in the class

could fit inside it. The second aim

was to be able to work as a team

to move along without it

breaking! What a fabulous

session this was & each class did

a wonderful job working

together as a team!

Mrs Gill was incredibly impressed.

Summary of Homework Expectations:

Read 3 nights a week to an adult for at least 15 -

20 minutes and get an adult to date & sign their

name.

Learn spelling words by completing the L.S.C.W.C.

page in their Homework Book.

REMINDER

Don’t forget to pay the $4 or let us know your

membership number before Friday!

We are all looking forward to our first sporting

event of the year. Today we went down to the pool

to practise our events so that we feel confident to

have lots of fun on Friday! Good Luck to all the

houses. We hope everyone has a great day!

Literacy & Numeracy

We have been busily getting into our learning &

revising both literacy & numeracy skills. We have

looked at nouns, capital letters, spelling rules and

will be starting reading groups next week.

In maths we have been looking at patterns,

mapping, odd & even numbers & adding &

subtracting numbers. We are also looking at how

small number facts can help us when adding &

subtracting larger numbers.

Helpers -If you are

able to help us out at

the swimming sports

on Friday, come

down to the pool for

a 12pm start!!!

Dust off your runners, it’s that time of year again!

Save the date … Sunday April 17th, 2016

Tatura Primary School Fun Run Come along for a morning of fun and fitness.

Family, friends and neighbours…everyone is welcome!!

Dedicated runners, walkers and families, young and old are encouraged to join in on this annual event on the school calendar. Their will once again be a 10km, 5km and 3km run as well as a 3 km family walk, with drink stations along the way. All routes

leave from the school grounds in Service Street.

Registration forms are available from the school office

or at http://www.taturaps.vic.edu.au/

A BBQ and milkshake stand will be available throughout the morning.

All proceeds to go towards TPS programs and facilities.

Not a runner, not a problem! We would also appreciate parents making themselves available to help on the day with marshalling, record keeping, drink stations, as

course guides, catering, etc.

Looking for a way to avoid running in the TPS Fun Run!!!

Become a Volunteer!

We need volunteers to help out on the morning of our Fun Run.

If you can help fill out the form below and return it with your child to

school.

————————————————————————————-

Fun Run Volunteer

Name:________________________ Contact PH _________________

Tick the box of the positions you could be available for:

Pre run set up Out on the course marshall

Registration Table Timers and recorders

Any job needing to be done on the day

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

GOWRIE PARK FUN GROUP 2016 The Gowrie Park Kindergarten, Tatura, runs a 3yr old Fun Group session on Friday mornings from 9am-12noon. Enrolments are now being taken. Please contact Kinder teacher, Linda by telephoning 03 5824 1602 BERRY STREET FOSTER CARER INFORMATION NIGHT Currently there is a large demand for more foster carers in the Shire Of Strathbogie, Shire Of Mitchell & Shire Of Murrindindi. Come along to an information night to find out how you can become a registered foster carer and care for children and young people who cannot live with their families. Date: Tuesday 23rd February 2016 Time: 6.00 pm – 7.00pm Venue: 110 Wyndham Street Shepparton (Berry Street Building) RSVP: Friday 19th February 2016 to Janene or Annie on 58228 100 or humefostercare@berrystreet.org.au POST SEPARATION CO-OPERATIVE PARENTING PROGRAM 3 Hour Seminar to help separated parents have healthy and strong relationships with their children. Seminar includes:

Ways of communicating with the other parent

Impact of separation and conflict on children

Setting goals for future parenting Once participants complete the Intake Process they are registered to attend the seminar. To register or for more information please contact: Berry Street, Post Separation Services. Phone 5822 8100. MOOROOPNA EDUCATION & ACTIVITY CENTRE What is on at Mooroopna Education & Activity Centre for February 2016: Craft Card 1pm – 4pm 1st & 3rd Tuesday of the month Even Stitchers 1pm-4pm 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the month Art Gold coin donation 10am – 12noon Wednesday Craft 9am-12noon every week $2.00 9th February to 1st March: Computers for Beginners 9.30pm – 12.00pm $100 19th February, 26th February: iPad for Beginners 9.30am-11.30am $35.00 26th February: Mooroopna Blue Light 7pm-10pm Exercises classes have already started but you can come along at any time we have Tai Chi/Qigong, Healthy Hearts, Circuit, Men’s class, Strong Moves, day and evening classes and many more. MEAC are agents for V/Line tickets. For these and any other enquires please contact MEAC on 58251774. TATURA BASKETBALL AUTUMN COMPETITION Tatura Basketball Autumn Competition will commence February 29th. This competition is open to ages 8-16 (must still be 16 on 30th June 2016).

Registration Night: 6-7.30pm Monday February 8th, upstairs at Tatura Stadium. Registration and Payment must be made on this night. Can past players please return any playing singlets they may have on registration night. For further information please contact Lisa Cullum, President, at taba@viberts.com.au or on 0428242889. TATURA NETBALL ASSOCIATION Training and team selections to play for Tatura in the Shepparton Netball Association Saturday competition in 2016 are fast approaching! Join a friendly, competitive, community-based club that encourages leadership & excellence in netball. Training & team selections will be held on 25 February, 1 March, 3 March, 8 March & 10 March at the Tatura netball courts, Hastie Street, Tatura at 6:00pm. 11 & Under and 13 & Under (Primary age groups) 13 & Under, 15 & Under and 17 & Under (Secondary age groups) Registration on 25th February. All abilities welcome. Parents & prospective coaches & team managers are most welcome. Everyone plays at Tatura! Contact Simon Pogue for more details by phoning: 0417 305 637 or email: taturanetballassoc@hotmail.com .org.au

Tatura Primary School

School Council Election 2016 - Information for Parents

What is a school council and what does it do?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally constituted bodies that are given powers to

set the key directions of a school within statewide guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence

the quality of education that the school provides for its students. Who is on the school council?

For most school councils, there are three possible categories of membership:

A mandated elected Parent category - more than one-third of the total members must be from this category.

Department of Education and Training (DET) employees can be Parent members at their child's school as long

as they are not engaged in work at the school.

A mandated elected DET employee category - members of this category may make up no more than one-third

of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.

An optional Community member category - members are coopted by a decision of the council because of their

special skills, interests or experiences. DET employees are not eligible to be Community members.

Generally, the term of office for all members is two years. The term of office of half the members expires each year,

creating vacancies for the annual school council elections. Why is Parent membership so important?

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of

the school.

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find

that their children feel a greater sense of belonging. How can you become involved?

The most obvious way is to vote in the elections, which are held in Term 1 each year. However, ballots are only

held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant. In view of this, you might seriously

consider:

standing for election as a member of the school council

encouraging another person to stand for election. Do I need special experience to be on school council?

No. What you do need is an interest in your child's school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help

shape the school's future. What do you need to do to stand for election?

The principal will issue a Notice of Election and Call for Nominations following the commencement of Term i each

year. All school council elections must be completed by the end of March unless the usual time line has been

varied by the Minister.

If you decide to stand for election, you can arrange for someone to nominate you as a candidate or you can

nominate yourself in the Parent category.

DET employees whose child is enrolled in a school in which they are not engaged in work are eligible to nominate

for parent membership of the school council at that school.

Once the nomination form is completed, return it to the principal within the time stated on the Notice of Election.

You will receive a Nomination Form Receipt in the mail following the receipt of your completed nomination.

Generally, if there are more nominations received than there are vacancies on council, a ballot will be conducted

during the two weeks after the call for nominations has closed.

Remember

Ask at the school for help if you would like to stand for election and are not sure what to do

Consider standing for election to council this year

Be sure to vote in the elections.

Contact Susanne Gill for further information.