THE PIPELINE

ISSUE 03

Wednesday 28th February 2018

PUBLISHED IN WERRIMULL SINCE 1995

Erin Fush, Principal - fush.erin.m@edumail.vic.gov.au

www.werrp12.vic.edu.au

https://www.facebook.com/Werrimullp12

This week marks the middle of the Term! We have barely had time to sit still and it doesn’t slow down any time soon either. The DATES TO REMEMBER column is an extremely important part of our Pipeline so I implore you to keep an eye on this – if we make any changes they will be in red to make it easier for our families.

Our partnership with the other Mallee schools is growing and is integral ar we move forward, We are a cluster of schools who have acknowledged that working collaboratively rather than in silos is the best for our students and have badged our schools the MEC (Mallee Education Cluster). We also work closely with the Country Education Partnership (CEP) and each year they highlight a school that is doing great things in terms of education and teacher development. This year we have been recognised with our work in employing graduate teachers and the “why” young teachers join our school. We do not employ a teacher if we are their last option, we only employ them if they are passionate about rural education and Jordon was this. Over the page is the article that is circulated around Australia about our school from Jordon’s perspective.

Thank you to our families that shop at Coles and have been collecting the vouchers, we also have had generous donations from others as I picked up a huge bag from the 15th Street store last week. Please encourage everyone you know to put their vouchers in our box if they have no other schools they are donating to.

Lastly I would like to make sure that everyone in our community is supported in any way that we as a school can support, please feel free to make an appointment

From the Principal

A Rural Graduate’s Passion

Undertaking her first term at Werrimull P-12, in the Mallee, graduate teacher Jordon McPhee says she is "the lucky

one".

Lucky to be in a rural school where there is a genuine sense of community and where she believes her presence is

sincerely valued.

"I cannot imagine being this comfortable in my role, and within my ability, so soon at a big school," she says.

"I actually find it hard to put into words just how supported I have felt in this role already, by the staff, the students,

everyone; it has been truly amazing."

Raised and educated in Mildura -- about 80 kilometres from Werrimull -- Ms McPhee says her decision to look be-

yond the regional city for employment was multi-faceted.

And that, having now taken the leap into her rural setting, she feels a sense of conviction.

"I came to Werrimull because I really wanted to be a part of the community -- the whole community -- and, at the

same time, I wanted the professional freedom, or professional challenge, where I knew I'd be able to teach across a

wide range of subjects, and I probably wouldn't get that in a larger school," she says.

"I wanted to make a difference and being here I think I am, or I can.

"(The students here) are engaged, they are motivated and I think they genuinely care about what we (teachers) say

-- at least most of the time -- because we are so intimately involved in their lives by virtue of the school's small size."

But the school's small size presents challenges of its own.

And life for a rural teacher is far from dreamy, even if Ms McPhee describes her new job as "a bit of a dream".

"It's also extremely consuming work -- it's incredibly demanding and involves so much more than your 'A,B,C' and

'1,2,3' of education," she says.

"Being a teacher in a small rural school, there is no downtime, there is no 'someone else' who can pick up the slack;

you're it.

"I mean, I'm sure all teachers in all schools would say the same -- teaching is so much more than just teaching -- but

out here I think it's definitely heightened."

Werrimull P-12 is one of seven schools involved in the Mallee Education Cluster – a collaborative learning initiative

supported by the Country Education Partnership (CEP) and the William Buckland Foundation.

The cluster concept encourages rural schools to work together to overcome issues stemming from isolation and

population decline in the Mallee.

CEP also heads-up programs to help attract and retain teachers in country towns; a challenge Ms McPhee concedes

will ‘always be there’.

“To me, the key to being a good teacher is passion – you’ve got to be passionate about the job and where you work

so you can give 100 per cent to the kids,” she says.

“A teacher has to want to be in a rural school in order to truly succeed.”

Learning focus:

7/8 Science Living Cells

7/8 SOSE Vikings

7/8 Health Water Safety

7 Maths Geometry

8 Maths Geometry

9 Maths Pythagoras

10 Maths Algebra

7/8 English Novel Study

9/10 science Genetics and DNA

9/10 SOSE 20th Century History

9/10 Health Water Safety

9/10 English Novel Study

7 – 10 STEM Microprocessors

7 - 10 Music Pop Music

7 – 10 Dance Major Scales

7 – 10 Photography Art Elements

7 – 10 PE Swimming

7 – 10 Drawing Graphite Techniques

VCE Further Maths Unit 3 SAC and Statistics

VCE Accounting Unit 3 Journal Entries

VCE English Unit 3 Analytical study of “Burial Rites”

VCE HHD Unit 1 Health and Wellbe-ing

VCE Studio Arts Unit 1/3 Exploration Proposal

VCE PDT Unit 1 Design Brief

VCE Food Studies Unit 1/3 The Science of Food

VCAL Maths Numeracy for Practi-cal Purposes– Design

P-6 Monitors!

This year we will continue to have our classroom

monitors to help keep our classroom organised!

Students are awarded Dojo Points for their work

which they can spend on prizes at the end of the

Term. Here are the monitors for this week:

Hall Ninja - Ode & Travis

Technician Ninja - Ethan & Mia

Classroom Ninja - Cove & Montanah

Learning Zone Monitor - All 4-6s

Library Ninja - Max & Ivy

Reminders/Dates

6th Mar– Crazy Hair Day

12th Mar– Public Holiday

19th-23rd Mar– STOMP

News

What’s on in Primary?

P-3 students in Digital Technlogies have been working very hard on learning about Coding with Mr. Harris and Miss

McPhee! They have been working with our robot Dash by coding instructions for it to follow around objects and mazes.

Students look like they are having a blast!

4-6 students have been working hard in Art with Miss Smith to finish their personality swirls. These will be on display in

the passageway for all to enjoy! They have been exploring the different elements of Art and will be using them in future

artwork.

Congratulations to these super spellers for getting 100% on

their spelling test:

Max, Shianna, Ella

For getting 100% each student receives 3 dojo points to go towards

their end of term dojo shop!

All students have received homework and are expected to complete

this as well as reading every night...so remember

Practice makes PERFECT!

Please remember your BRAIN FOOD each day!

**For fresh fruit please cut these prior to school**

Thank you!

Aussie of the Month

Cove

Oliver

Please note readers for P-3’s get changed every

Monday, Wednesday & Friday!

Dates to Remember

MARCH

7th March No Preps 12th March Labour Day Public Holiday 14th March No Preps 21st March No Preps 27th March ( Subject to change)

Community Easter Celebration from 11am at Kinder

Last Day of Three Year Old Kindergarten for Term One

29th March Werrimull Whack 29th March Last Day

of Term One 2pm Finish

APRIL

16th April First day of Term Two 25th April Anzac day Public Holiday

Gus Rowe 11th March

Issue 2 of scholastic Book club has arrived. If your child would like

to place an order, please have completed orders and money to

Mrs Carter no later than Thursday 15th March.

Thank you

Millewa Pre-School

What’s Happening

Well I don’t know how but we are already halfway through the

first term! Our kindergarten group has continued to settle happily

into the routines of our day and make the most of all our

wonderful resources.

We’ve been making the most of the fine weather and spending

our mornings outside in the sunshine, exploring the sandpit and

the garden. We are lucky to have Mim helping us again with our

garden, her green thumb can make anything grow! We’ve been

experimenting with what happens when you add water to the

sandpit and making some excellent sand castles with the wet

sand. We also discovered that the dump truck does not hold

water but does make a lovely waterfall!

Dates to Remember

6 March Crazy Hair Day (Gold Coin Donation)

27 March Community Easter Celebration from 11am

Last Day of Three Year Old Kindergarten for Term One

28 March Last Day of Four Year Old Kindergarten for Term One

17 April First Day of Three and Four Year Old Kindergarten for Term Two

25 April ANZAC Day - No Four Year Old Kindergarten

Shared Snack

At the Millewa Pre-School we have

shared snack each day and ask that

you bring along one thing to share

each day with the rest of the group.

If you send along something bigger,

such as a packet of dry biscuits,

cheese or dried fruit, we don’t expect

anything for the next week or two.

Shared Snack Ideas

Fruit

Vegetables

Cheese

Dry biscuits

Dried fruit

No nuts please for shared

snack