13th March 2018

St Helens News L e a r n i n g w i t h F r i e n d s

TERM CALENDAR

Wednesday mornings Tuckshop money due Wednesday 14th March Breakfast/Crazy hair day Friday 16th March Last tuckshop of term Friday 16th March Year 2 swimming Friday 16th March Gala Day Yr 5/6 students Friday 23rd March Year 2 swimming Thursday 29th March Last day of term 1 Tuesday 17th April First day of term 2 Tuesday 1st May School photos

_______________________________________________ National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence: This Friday is the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. As our Year 5 and Year 6 students will be out of the school for the day this Friday at the interschool sport gala day, our school will show its support by completing activities in class and during break time this Thursday. Author Visit - Cameron Stelzer On Thursday 22 March, we have a special visit from Author and Illustrator Dr Cameron Stelzer. Cameron is visiting our State School to run workshops with our P-6 students. P-2 students will enjoy an interactive Big Screen Book Reading and follow-along drawing activity with Cameron. Cameron will be working with Year 3-4 students on drawing and illustration techniques. Year 5-6 students will be taking a behind-the-scenes look at creating a book, and applying their own creative components. Students and teachers are looking forward to a fantastic day!

In conjunction with the Author Visit, St Helens SS families have a special opportunity to purchase signed and personalised copies of Cameron’s books at special prices. Individual items are $15 each and there are also exclusive book sets available. Students will receive an order form on the day of the workshops. Forms and payment can be returned the following day, Friday 23 March, to the Office.

Re-boot sessions

On Wednesday last week we had Ryan Lewty presenting student workshops for Reboot. He had discussions with all year levels around the five faces and went into more depth with the upper years around the three brains. Students learned what it looks, feels and sounds like to be at each emotional level, how it affects our learning and strategies that can be employed to improve our mood and learning capabilities. Ryan also briefly touched on the topic of the three brains: Wild Brain, Emotional Brain and Smart Brain. He explained the function of each brain, how we move between each of these brains and how we can “feed” each brain. Ask your child what their favourite part of the workshop was.

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Tuesday 1st May It’s that time of the year again!

School photo day is early next term. Photo envelopes have been handed to students!

If you don’t have one please see Emily in the office.

Sibling photo envelopes are also available from the office.

Parents who place their order online do not need to return the order envelope to the school.

Breakfast for Elliot!

Tomorrow Student Council will be having a breakfast to support Elliot Kent. Elliot has very bravely volunteered to shave her head for the “Shave for a Cure “endeavouring to find a cure for blood cancer. To show our support as a school community, Student Council will be running a breakfast to help Elliot with her fundraising efforts. For $5 you get breakfast (drink, muffin and a piece of fruit) and you get to come with

crazy hair!!!! Otherwise a gold coin donation would be appreciated. Breakfast will be served from 8am!

Last tuckshop of term. Veggie Pasta Bake $3

Friday 16th March

Orders and correct money need to be handed in no later than Wednesday morning. There is a returns cupboard in the office for students to place their money and order in.

Michael Ymer Maths PD:

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P&C News The P&C AGM meeting will be held this Tuesday the 13th of March at 6pm in the library. This will be followed by a general meeting. All are welcome.

School Banking – A platform to help you teach

your child about saving!

St Helens State School will be taking part in the Commonwealth

Bank School Banking program. It's a great way to give your child a financial head start by helping them to learn about good money management and the importance of saving.

It’s time kids learnt that Mum and Dad are not the bank! Does your child always want? Do they understand how much things cost? Do they think there is an endless supply of cash from the machine in the wall? The School Banking program offers you a platform to start teaching your child the value of money and the benefits of saving. Our Saving Tips to discuss with your child:

1. Discuss what saving into the bank means. A bank

account is somewhere safe to keep your money, the

money remains yours and the more money you put in

the more money you have.

2. How do you earn money? A great way to start your

child’s venture into earning money is doing chores

around the house to earn pocket money. Set

expectations and what they have the potential to earn.

3. Set a goal, work out together something your child

would really like to save for, starting out with smaller

and achievable items works best. Discuss how much

money they will need to save to reach this goal.

4. Once your child has reached the goal, research through

catalogues or online as to where they will get the best

value for their money.

5. Watch your child’s sense of pride as you take them to

purchase the item that they have worked and saved for!

We realise that many parents already have an account for their child and are actively saving for their child’s future. Most of the time this is done through electronic banking and your child doesn’t get to see and handle the benefit first hand.

This program is once again about your child learning the process of saving and handling the cash themselves. Participating in School Banking gives your child the opportunity to do this on a weekly basis.

Earning fun rewards Every time your child makes a deposit through the School Banking program, regardless of how much, they receive a Dollarmites token. Once they reached 10 tokens, they can redeem them for Dollarmites reward items, such as handballs, scratch pad, slushie maker cup and many more items to choose from. What you need to know School Banking Day will be Thursday Your child will need a Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account. There are several options on how to open an account. You can Go into any Commonwealth Bank branch with identification for yourself and your child’s birth certificate, apply online at commbank.com.au/schoolbanking, or if you’re an existing Commonwealth Bank customer you can log on to your Commbank app. Existing accounts can be used just simply bring the account number in on the first banking day. Banking Day Simply bring in your yellow wallet and deposit book on Thursday mornings. It will be collected and processed and the wallet will be returned Friday once banking has been processed. Dinner Table Topics

Prep W - We are learning about Living and Non-Living things for Science. Ask your child about their bean seed. Ask your child what a living thing needs. Prep/1D – We are working hard with our writing and letter formation. Keep up the great work! Year 1R – Reading every night is important. Please continue encouraging and reading with your child. Year 1/2A – Just a reminder that homework and camera words are due back at school on Fridays for marking.

Year 2B – There are only 2 weeks left of swimming. I would like to congratulate the children on their excellent behaviour each week and how quickly they are able to get themselves changed.

Year 2/3C – This is our second last week of swimming for the year 2’s. They should all be congratulated for their excellent behaviour and independence, especially when it has been drizzling rain and the play pools out of action last week. Year 3D – There has been a few questions regarding homework reading lately. If students want to read their own books from home each night instead of the class homework readers, that is absolutely fine. Otherwise, students can read their library books. The aim is for about 10 – 20 minutes reading each night. ☺

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Year 3/4M – Parents, please encourage your children to practice spelling words at home. Exposure to these words is key; the more the children say, see or write the words, the more familiar they will become. Have a dinner table discussion about the spelling words each week and help clarify the meaning of those tricky words.

Year 4H – Good readers keep making predictions and adjusting them all through their reading. Predicting is an easy strategy to try at home. Have a go with your child this week. Predicting helps us think about what to expect when we read. What we know already (our prior knowledge) helps us to predict. When we predict we can use the title, front and back covers, blurb, pictures, diagrams and table of contents.

Year 4/5H – Students have been investigating time the last week. Discuss with your child all things time! Reading clocks, calculating time durations and converting between 12hr and 24hr time. Have the conversations at the table, when you’re cooking, in the car and before bed! Year 5N – Over the next two weeks we will be working on assessments for multiple subjects. Ask your child about their assessments, and what is expected of them for each one. Also, keep checking Class Dojo for more important information this week. Year 5/6H – A big thank you to everyone who has donated silver coins. We will collecting coins until the end of the term.

Year 6S – Dear parents/caregivers, fingers crossed that Gala Day will still be on this Friday. Keep checking the schools facebook for details. Senior school shirts have been ordered and should be delivered in the first two weeks of Term 2. The students have begun their short stories for an English assessment and not surprisingly, they have wonderful imaginations.

COMMUNITY NEWS Ducklings for Sale Ducklings for sale at $5 each. Ages range from 3 days old to 2 weeks old. Please call 0423 738 072 if you are intrested.

Uniforms for sale:

size 14 formal shirt $10 size 16 school shirt $5 x2 size 12 skorts $10 each size 6 school shirt $5 Please contact office if you are interested.

Star of the Week

Prep Wombats

Aiden Gibbs For being a kind and caring classmate. Keep it up!

Year 1R Mia Dullahide For being an exceptional role model both in and outside the classroom. St Helens is lucky to have you.

Year 1/2A Noah Schwarzrock For being a math quiz during lessons this term! Keep up the great work!

Year 2B Travis Lightbody For the outstanding way you demonstrate commitment in class by always being prepared for learning. Great work Travis!

Year 2/3C Malcom Irwin For the commitment you give your classwork. Great work Mal!

Year 3D Zac Akers For putting in 110% during math lessons. Awesome work Zac!

Year 3/4M Jack Frey For your positive attitude to learning. Keep up the fantastic work!

Year 4H Will Lindley For the independence you demonstrated in all learning areas.

Year 4/5H Hunter Ambrose For demonstrating a wonderful commitment to his learning and great participation in class discussions.

Year 5N Charlie Hutchinson For being a team player, and going the extra mile for your classmates. St Helens is lucky to have you!

Year 5/6H Hamish Mobbs For being an exceptional role model to your peers. Well done, keep it up!

Year 6S Zye Manitzky For your commitment when completing each and every task you have been given. Keep up the great work!