World of Work Excursion

Grade 3 / 4

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Special Events Next Week

Monday 21st November

PUPIL FREE DAY—SCHOOL CLOSED

Wednesday 23rd November

BOOK CLUB orders and money due

Thursday 24th November

Prep Transition—Day 2—9am-11.30am

STUDENT LEADERS

Imogen Tall & Liam Hamilton

Thank you for your work as Student Leaders.

Our School Values

Respect-having regard for self, others

and the environment

Inclusion-sense of belonging

Integrity-being honest and fair

Responsibility-being responsible for your actions & words

Personal Best-striving for excellence

In Term 4 our focus is on Personal Best & Integrity.

Echuca West Primary School

Personal Best at the West echucawestps.vic.edu.au.

(03) 54822263

Newsletter No. 34 Friday 18th November 2016

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Pupil Free Day - Monday 21st November

Don’t forget that Monday 21st November is also a pupil free day. This will be our final

pupil free day for the year and staff will be using this time to develop plans for next

year using the new Victorian Curriculum Guidelines. The school will be closed on this

day.

Retirement of Julie Mansfield

Due to ill health, Julie Mansfield has taken leave until the end of the year with the

intention of retiring before the start of 2017. Julie has been a wonderful asset to our

school and in her role as School Chaplain has helped us to create a safe, stimulating

and nurturing environment. On behalf of the school community I would like to wish

her all the best as she moves into the next phase of her life.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club, started by Julie Mansfield this year, will continue to operate every

Wednesday morning for the rest of this year. The Student Action Group, supported by

Mr Taberner, and the Parents and Friends Committee have kindly offered their

assistance to keep this valuable program going.

Step Up Day

‘Step Up’ is an important part of our transition program and aims to create a sense of

excitement, positively and reassurance about next year. This year, we are having our

step up session on Tuesday 6th December from 11:30am to 1:30pm to provide

students with the opportunity to ‘Step Up’ one grade level and find out some things

about next year. All of our Grade 6 students will also be visiting their new schools on

this day.

Art Show

Due to the success of our Art Show last year, I am excited to announce that we will be

having another display set up at the Rich River Golf Club prior to the school concert.

All students will be displaying their favourite piece of work. The doors will open at

6.15pm before the concert starts at 7.00pm. Last year we had a lot of trouble keeping

children off the stage and away from the dressing rooms before the concert started so

could all parents please be mindful of this on the night.

End of Year Reports

End of year reports will be given to students to take home on Friday 16th December.

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STAR OF THE WEEK AWARD

Grade Prep A— Alanna McKee— You are a very kind and considerate friend, Alanna. You always make sure that everyone

feels included and valued. It is great to see you ask your class mates to join your lunch table or game. Well done, also for the

great work you are doing in our classroom. Superstar friend, superstar worker.

Grade 1B— Jack Mundie— Jack, it has been great to see you so focused and on ‘fire’ with your learning this week. I’m really

proud of your super effort in everything we have been doing. Congratulations, you are our STAR OF THE WEEK. Well done.

Grade 2C— Maree Lever—You have been a very active participant in classroom discussions lately and have been working

hard. You pushed yourself with your writing about the elephant and the cat, and you wrote a great story that included lots of

punctuation. Keep it up. Well done.

Nikita Green—You have shown great concentration in class this week and I have noticed you trying extra hard to solve

addition and subtraction problems during ‘Around the World’. Keep it up. Well done Nikita!

Grade 4E— Brodie Millen—Brodie has had a very good week. He is always very organised at school and tries his best. He co-

operates well with his classmates and is a valuable member of the grade. Well done Brodie.

Grade 5F—Dael Buntine— I have been super impressed with your effort this semester Dael. It gave me great pleasure

sharing your On Demand and George Booker results and showing the terrific growth that you have

made. Your commitment to learning is excellent. Keep up the fantastic effort, well done.

Alicia Callander— I was really impressed with the way you worked and participated in your group for

your procedure topic. Your information was excellent and you were able to plan detailed materials and

steps to create a fantastic piece of writing. Keep up the excellent work, well done.

Grade 6G—Sommer O’Connell— She has settled in really well into the Grade 6 room. She tries her

best at all times, working hard and easily adapting to catch up on work that she has missed. She is an asset to the Grade 6

room. Excellent work Sommer!

Kirsty Nichol—She has worked really hard this week to complete her procedural text and to improve on her writing ability.

She has displayed a positive attitude towards learning at all times. Keep up the great work Kirsty!

CLASS OF THE WEEK

This week’s Class of the Week is Grade Prep : For being helpful and welcoming buddies for the new

Preps during transition.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT CONTINUED

School Absence/Attendance Trial

Starting in December we will trial a new way of recording student absences in the school. If your child is absent and we have

not received an explanation, the school will text parents between 10am and 11am requesting one of the absence codes listed

below. The text will say: EWPS: Your child is absent today (date). Please reply with an explanation code: 201 Ill, 205 Doctor,

209 Dentist, 807 Parent Choice. If you have any queries regarding this new system please see Clare or Vikki in the office.

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CHRISTMAS HAMPER RAFFLE

Christmas Hamper Raffle

Our Parents and Friends Committee are once again organising a Christmas hamper raffle and are requesting a non-perishable donation from all families. A basket has been placed in the General Office. Raffle tickets have been sent home this week.

SCIENTIST OF THE WEEK

Akyra Zeven—for using her initiative and detective work during Science. Your discovery was a great

find and we enjoyed dissecting it.

SPORTS STAR OF THE WEEK

Noah Mundie—You have made huge improvements in your knowledge of Touch Footy. In

particular, your ability to run the ball forward and work with your team mates was really

impressive yesterday. Keep up the great work Noah!

SCHOOL CONCERT

It’s concert time again! The concert is on Wednesday, December 14th. It is in the Tatalia Room at Rich River Golf Club,

Moama at 7p.m. sharp.

Once again there will be an Art Show for you to browse and enjoy before the concert. The doors will open at 6.15p.m.

Parents are asked to please supervise their children prior to assembling for the concert. Children are not permitted near

the stage or dressing rooms. A note for each year level will be sent home shortly concerning costumes. Most of the

children already have some idea of what they are wearing. Please feel free to come and see me if you have any questions.

It will be a fun night and the children are working very enthusiastically on their acts. On the night, we ask for a gold coin

donation upon entry. The Christmas Hamper raffle will also be drawn on the night.

Thank You, Rosey Devlin.

BOOK CLUB

Orders and money are due back at school by Wednesday 23rd November so orders can be

sorted and books received before the end of term.

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PREP TRANSITION 2017

Not long now for all those preschool children waiting to start school. As part of our transition program we email the weekly

newsletter to new families. This will help you keep up to date with what’s happening.

Birth Certificate and Immunisation Details. If you have not already done so please

bring to the school on the first orientation day a copy of your child’s Birth Certificate

and Immunisation details. These are a requirement for enrolment.

All new families are invited to attend any programs that are planned in Term 4.

Transition sessions will be held for children who are enrolled in Prep for 2017 on

the following days:

Day 2: Thursday 24th November 9am-11.30am

On this morning students will be in class from 9.00am to 11.00am and then spend recess with the rest of the school. They

can bring along a snack for morning tea. Parents can pick up their children from the playground any time between 11.00am

and 11.30am.

Day 3: Wednesday 30th November 1.30pm-3.10pm

On the third day students will be in the class for the whole afternoon. They will need to bring some lunch. They will eat

lunch in the undercover area and then have a short play before going back into class. Parents can pick up their children at

3.10pm.

Day 4: Tuesday 6th December 9am-3.10pm

On the fourth day students will be in the class for the whole day. They will need to bring a small snack for morning tea and

lunch. Parents can then pick up their children at the end of the day at 3.10pm from the Prep room.

ECHUCA MOAMA SHOW WINNERS

We would like to congratulate the following students who won prizes at the Echuca

Moama Show recently. What a fantastic effort.

Highly Commended: Jayda Golding, Charlette Davison, Zoey Marr, Tegan Lenne,

Charlette Davison, Luke Steele and Jake McKay.

1st Prize: Asha Gray, Luke Steele, Kiarrah Johnson, Shaun Darlacey, Aliyah Rankin,

Georgia Wiltshire, Alanna McKee, Sean Tuckerman, Eden McInnes, Logan

Blachford, Molly Rix, Stevie Lever and Sophie McKee.

2nd Prize: Kirsty Nichol, Charlie Brain, Olivia McKay, Paul Scott, Sophie McKee,

Shyloh Chique, Tegan Lenne, Akyra Zeven, Norah Lenne and Molly Rix.

3rd Prize: Alicia Callander, Jake McKay, Jaida Randall, Jacey Nilbett, Zoey Marr,

Emma Judd, Jayda Golding, Tegan Lenne, Georgia Wiltshire, Serena Monigatti and

Echuca West Primary School.

CASUAL COUNTRY BUS TRAVELLERS

Any students wishing to travel casually on any country bus must fill in an application at the school

office and give 24 hours notice of their intention to travel casually on any country bus. Notice

needs to be given as the bus driver needs to be contacted to maintain an accurate roll and to

ensure there is room on the bus for extra travellers. For more information please see the school

office.

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CHOCOLATE FROG STALL

On Monday 28th November at 3p.m. we will be holding a Chocolate Frog stall to sell the leftover Cadbury

Chocolate Frogs from our fundraiser. Chocolate frogs will be available to purchase for $1 each on the day.

BIRTHDAYS IN THE SCHOOL THIS WEEK

There are no birthdays in the school this week.

TERM DATES FOR 2016.

Term 4—Monday 3rd October to Tuesday 20th December

REMINDERS

Lunch Orders are Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Lost Property Box is in the Undercover area.

Student Banking Day is Thursday.

FUTURE DATES

Monday 28th November

Chocolate Frog Stall 3p.m.

Wednesday 30th November

Prep Transition—Day 3—1.30pm-3.10pm

Tuesday 6th December

Grade 6 Transition Day

Step Up Day

Prep Transition—Day 4—9am-3.10pm

Wednesday 7th December

School Council Meeting 7p.m.

ADVERTISING SPACE

If you would like to sponsor our newsletter and advertise your business in this space we would love to hear from you. This will cost $20 each week to include your business card or logo in our weekly newsletter. If you are interested please contact the school on 54822263.

FUTURE DATES

Friday 9th December

Prep/1/2 Sleepover

Wednesday 14th December

School Concert & Art Show

Friday 16th December

School Reports go home

Monday 19th December

Grade 6 Graduation

Tuesday 20th December

Last Day Term 4 Dismissal 12.30pm

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GRADE REPORTS

Grade Prep A: Another busy week in the Prep room. We enjoyed the company of the 2017 Preps last Tuesday and the old Preps were a great help making them feel welcome and comfortable. Subtraction has been a focus this week, using the different terminology such as the difference between two numbers, counting back and minus. 2D and 3D shapes were revisited as we have a little bit of confusion around cylinders and spheres. Our room looked a little like a recycling plant last Wednesday as we turned boxes into pieces of art work. The creations have been undercoated and the final coat and details will be added next week. We have also started to make birds from scrunched up paper and they are waiting for the addition of feathers and finery. The excursion to Little Mermaid was enjoyed by all and was a little different from our Cinderella experience. The Preps are moving along superbly with their writing and reading. We still need to read every night. Mrs Devlin is fine tuning the concert item with the Preps so keep that date free. Enjoy your extra long weekend.

Grade 1B & 2C: It’s a very busy time in the 1 & 2 Community at the moment. End of year testing is in full swing and we are very proud of all our students and the way they are so focused and giving everything their personal

best. It’s a very rewarding time of year, celebrating success from learning gains achieved. Students continue to explore and develop their persuasive writing techniques. They have also been revisiting narratives through photo stories and remembering to add detail and make their writing interesting and engaging for anyone who reads it. Grade One students continued to develop their simple division strategies through sharing items into equal groups. Grade Two students have been revising concepts covered across the year. We started to explore

simple coding this week. Coding is quickly becoming a prized 21st century skill and it encourages students to become creators, not just consumers of the technology they use. Grade One students are currently using studio.code.org and Grade Two students explored Scratch Junior on their iPads. We have our sleep over coming up on Friday 9th December. Please check home school journals and reader satchels for permission notes, invoices and additional details. Remember Monday 21st November is a pupil free day. Enjoy your extra-long weekend.

Grade 3D & 4E: Hi everyone, Week 7 has finished and we are well and truly past the half way point of this term. With most of our major assessment/testing finished the students gasped a sigh of relief. It’s been a busy three weeks with George Booker, On Demand and Essential Numeracy testing. It was lovely to start the week with a local excursion to the Beechworth Bakery and Ellwaste on Monday to compliment the work of our Inquiry unit which is ‘The World of Work’. Students learnt and got to view the running/operation of the bakery and recycling plant, while also learning about a few different career areas of each workplace. In the classroom, our regular structure was back in place with ‘Poetry’ being our focus in Reading and Writing. While in Maths, we looked at temperature and with the warm days we received throughout the week it made for a perfect setting for discussion. From Grade 3/4 we would like to thank our Parent helper from Monday which was Jodie Blachford. Another great week. Keep it up Grade 3/4!

Grade 5F & 6G: Week 7 has flown by in the Grade 5 and 6 rooms. We have been working hard on procedural texts in Writing as well as learning about order or sequences of events in Reading. We have found this both enjoyable

and challenging. Grade 6 students have also started making preparations for our end of year Graduation writing invitations to their family members. The highlight of our Maths this week has been continuing with our Maths project which involves planning an overseas holiday on a budget! Our other Maths group have been designing a house using their knowledge of area and perimeter. We have continued to work hard on our digital portfolios in class and they are looking fantastic. In Art, we started looking at the work of Romeo Britto a famous British artist and we are looking forward to creating a replica of his work. In PE, students enjoyed a game of T20 cricket. We hope everyone

enjoys their weekend and remember that Monday the 21st of November is a student free day.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

BAMAWM EXTENSION

CHRISTMAS TREE.

When: Thursday 22nd December

Where: Bamawm Extension Hall, 6.30pm.

BBQ provided by a gold coin donation, Santa arrives 8p.m. Tea, coffee and cordial provided. Could all families bring a small plate of supper to share. ALL WELCOME. Cost: 0-1year $10, 1year-Grade 6 $15. Includes present, Icy pole and lollies. Payment due Thursday 8th December, in an envelope with child’s name, age and grade on the back.

Contact: Janelle Elgar: 0400574752, Nicole Cunnington 0439596576 or Jodie Blachford 0400005129.

We are in need of helping hands to help with our Christmas Tree event! So please if you can help out

before or on the night let us know ASAP. Our next meeting is 13th December at the Bamawm Extension Hall at 7pm.