ATHOL ROAD

PRIMARY SCHOOL

4th March 2020

NEWSletter

SPECIAL INFORMATION AND

CALENDAR EVENTS

--------------------------- 2020 Term Dates (students) Term 1: 31/01 – 27/03 Term 2: 14/04 – 26/06 Term 3: 13/07 – 18/09 Term 4: 05/10 – 18/12

Term 1 PUBLIC HOLIDAY Monday, 9th March

No school for students!

CASUAL DRESS DAYS Last Friday of each month

Students choosing to participate in casual dress days are required to bring

a gold coin donation – proceeds to the Royal

Children’s Hospital Appeal

IMPORTANT DATES Friday, 6th Assembly : 3pm Monday, 9th Public Hol. Friday, 13th Family BBQ Friday, 20th Athletics

ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL APPEAL

RCH envelopes will be coming home next week.

PLEASE donate if you can.

Our target is $2 422.20 Our Casual Dress money goes to the RCH Appeal

but we need your support for this worthy cause!

From the Principal’s Desktop I am pleased to report that our hall refurbishment is well underway and looking awesome. The project is on track for completion late Term 2 as planned. There is a large stage with a back dressing room, curtains, side wings and a sound and lighting box which will be fantastic when our singing assemblies and end of year concert come around each year. At a cost of $850 000 this project is one of School Council’s largest projects in recent years and will be a huge asset to our school.

PARENTS, THE SCHOOL NEEDS YOUR ASSISTANCE

1. The crossing man has highlighted a number of issues on the school crossing which have the potential for serious injury. Some parents are not using the crossing before and after school. I personally spoke to two fathers who blatantly crossed the road opposite the school gate, just metres from the crossing, one afternoon while I was monitoring the crossing. It is important that parents are good role models for children.

RULES OF THE CROSSING • Wait BEHIND the white lines on either side of

the road

• WAIT until the crossing man blows the whistle BEFORE crossing the road

• WALK across the road, the traffic will wait

• STOP when the crossing man blows the whistle and wait for the next crossing

The reason why we ask that you walk across the road is because if you run, trip and fall and are unable to be moved, the traffic congestion on Athol Road would be horrendous!!!!! 2. Students are asked to be at school by

8.50am each morning in order to be ready 3. 4. 5. 6.

to start their learning at 9.00am. Quite a number of children are late for school because parents insist on holding their hands after they enter the school grounds and because parents are unable to hurry, the children cannot hurry. PLEASE parents make whatever arrangements are necessary to have your child at school by 8.50am. Lateness is a disease which seems to be spreading all too quickly. Your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

3. The Athol Road Primary School policy states that only students in Years 4 – 6 are permitted to ride to school and they MUST have a helmet. Students in Foundation – Year 3 are NOT permitted to ride bicycles or scooters to school. Please make sure that your family complies with this requirement.

4. Casual Dress Days occur on the LAST school day of every month regardless of what day it might be! Only students who bring a GOLD COIN donation on that day are exempt from wearing school uniform – no gold coin, school uniform is compulsory. The money raised from Casual Dress Days goes to the Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal.

ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL APPEAL

Shortly you will be receiving RCH envelopes where families can donate to this very worthy cause. Last year ARPS raised $2 422 – can we beat that total in 2020??????

VISION STATEMENT

Create a vibrant learning community where lives are transformed and individuals inspired to achieve beyond what they ever believed possible

A school where ‘Every minute matters’

BULLYING IS NOT ACCEPTABLE AT ARPS!

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SUN SMART - ‘NO HAT NO PLAY’

ARPS is a Sun Smart School and enforces a strict ‘No Hat No Play’ at recess and lunch breaks from mid-August to the end of April. Sun safety is a shared responsibility between staff, parents and students. Student hats must be navy blue and have a broad brim around the whole hat in line with Sun Smart guidelines and school uniform policy. If your child does not have a hat they are available for purchase from the school office for $15.00.

A Welcome Parents’ Afternoon Tea

Wednesday 11th March 2020

2:30pm – 3:30pm in the Early Learning Centre (Breakfast Club Room)

Special Afternoon Tea – all parents welcome! Offered by Parent Group

Discussion:

Vibrant Learning Community & Parent Group Program Plan

Do not miss out!

YEAR 5/6 COOKING

The 5/6 students were very excited to stroll through the beautiful, lush Athol Road Primary School gardens earlier this term. They made a list of produce they found and then brainstormed/researched recipes they could make using at least two items from the garden. Some of the recipes chosen were French toast with fruit toppings, roasted vegetables with herbs, mini pizzas with vegetable toppings and egg omlettes with herbs and vegtables. They used their experience in the garden and in the kitchen to help them write interesting recounts and link their knowledge of measurement to maths. What a fun experience!

If you haven’t already, please get your Flexischools Online set up within the FlexiBuzz app. With Flexischools online you can

conveniently order a school canteen lunch with minimum fuss! If you need assistance school office staff are happy to help.

WINNERS of the THE GOLDEN TICKET!!

The last two winners of the Golden Ticket are: Tasha Inaina and Sahara McDonald.

Students who order a canteen lunch go into the weekly draw for the Golden Ticket.

Every Friday, a Golden Ticket is awarded to one lucky student who has had a lunch

order that week. The Golden Ticket is a $5 voucher towards a school canteen lunch order.

SCHOOL CANTEEN NEWS

Maths Photo Challenge

March is the re-launch month for the ‘ARPS Maths Photo Challenge’. We want families to think about

how they use Maths in their everyday lives. Take a photo of you and your child participating in an

activity related to Maths, such as paying for items at the shops with money or measuring ingredients

for cooking.

Be creative and interesting!!

Give a copy of your photo to your child’s teacher by Wednesday 18thMarch.

The most interesting photo will be presented with a prize at the Assembly on Friday 20th March.

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY ARPS FAMILY BBQ: Sausage Sizzle (Free),

&

MINI FETE

Friday, 13th March: 5.30pm – 7.30pm

ATTRACTIONS: Jumping castle, Dunk the Teacher, Face

Painting, Secondhand Stall, Snocones, Ice cream, Lucky Dip,

Drinks, Guess the number of lollies in the jar & more

Watch out for the flyer on Flexibuzz!

AUSSIE OF THE MONTH

The first Aussie of the Month certificates were handed out this month to Ella Phan in Year 2 and Christine Pham in Year 6. Aussie of the Month awards acknowledge students who demonstrate one or more of the key values of ‘Fair Go’, ‘Mateship’, ‘Respect’ or ‘Inclusion’. Congratulations to Ella and Christine for being the very first students to receive this award.

Leadership badges were presented at the last assembly to School Captains: Benjamin Nguyen & Christine Pham: Vice Captains: Jenisa Sereibott & Kevin Quach: House Leaders: YELLOW: Davin Chea & Bryan Duong

RED: Ashley Phan & Ryan Nguyen GREEN: Jeremy Chhaylim & Soneta Ung BLUE; Julia Soebadio & Alvin Nguyen

CONGRATULATIONS to all of our 2020 school leaders!

KINDERGARTEN CORNER: Miss Williams, Kindergarten Teacher

Separating from parents and meeting a large number of new people can be a very scary

experience for children. This year children across all kindergarten groups have settled in well

and have demonstrated resilience and courage while beginning their new journey.

The children have been learning to follow new routines and expectations, develop social skills

to make friends and life skills to develop their independence. The kindergarten views children

as capable and competent learners and encourages children to learn how to pack their own

bags and carry them, open and close their lunchboxes, put on their own coats and jackets and

apply their own sunscreen. It is important that parents and guardians support their child’s

learning by providing appropriately sized bags and easy to operate lunch containers as well as

encouraging children to perform these tasks at home.

The children have been exploring a HUGE range of learning experiences and have already

participated in their first Environmental Education and Music classes with Mr. Hunter and Miss

H. Mr. Hunter introduced the children to some of his animals and shared some interesting facts.

Miss H introduced the children to the concept of ‘keeping a beat’, an essential element to

creating music.

Due to a large number of children learning English as an additional language, educators are

working with Athol Road Speech Pathologist, Ella, to support children’s language development

through a range of teacher-directed and incidental play-based experiences. Educators are

currently focused on developing children’s ability to create short sentences, listen and respond to

questions, use prepositions such as: in, on, under, in between and increasing each child’s

vocabulary.

The kindergarten team has also planned experiences for children based on developing their fine

motor skills (coordination of the small muscles in your wrists, hands, fingers and toes). Strong fine

motor skills are necessary for children to form a correct tripod pencil grip as well as performing

many other important day-to-day actions. The kindergarten team is currently supporting children

to develop this skill by encouraging them to use play-dough, peg boards, small construction blocks,

puzzles, writing and cutting tools, tongs and by zipping and buttoning up their own jackets.

So many exciting things are planned for this year, stay tuned in for more!

Thursday, 19th March 2020

7.00pm – 8.30pm 3 Callaghan Street, Noble Park

Telephone: 9546 9066