Issue 13, Friday 20 May 2022
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Principal's Message
Dear Parents/Carers
My first thoughts lie with a massive thanks! I was thrilled to see so many families at the working bee on Friday after school – what a buzz! The garden space is prepared and ready for planting which will happen during Reconciliation Week.
The focus on Respectful Relationships continues to be at the forefront of our mind. The RR program guides focus on 8 key areas:
- Emotional Literacy
- I understand my emotions and what is going on for me and others
- I understand how my behaviour may affect others’ emotions
- Personal Strengths
- I can use my strengths on purpose e.g. courage, determination, creativity
- Positive Coping and Stress Management
- I can calm myself down and cheer myself up on purpose
- I can work on my mindset through my self-talk – e.g. having a go even if I fear it might be challenging
- Problem-solving and Help-seeking
- I can think things through, and consider options and possible consequences as part of making choices
- I can seek help for myself or others and support others when things get tough
- Gender and identity
- I can understand that boys and girls and men and women are of equal value and should have equal opportunities
- I can see that some gendered pressures and expectations can lead to limiting choices and increase vulnerabilities
- Positive Gender Relations
- Everyone is entitled to respect, regardless of gender diversity
- I understand that violence and sexual harassment is not acceptable within or between genders
- I know how to help-seek for self or others in situations involving domestic abuse or gender-based violence
Bully Zero came out to work with the children across the school this week. The program revisited key ideas around bullying and the influence of bystanders. The evening parent webinar “Understanding Bullying” was well attended by our parent community – your feedback on this would be great.
Carlie Eriksen and I visited some of our local kinders this week. She spent some time with pre-school children singing and dancing! It was super fun and just gorgeous to be able to see the children in their environment. We are out again next week! In Term 3 we are looking to host Storytime and parent and preschool science sessions, as well as parent and preschool Performing Arts, Chinese and possibly Physical Education sessions.
Some of our upper school girls were off the John Monash Science School to continue their work in the Robogals program. Robogals is an enrichment program offered every year from JMSS.
Last night was our second full School Council meeting of the year with our newly established 2022 council. I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting. It is awesome to be part of a new group with exciting times ahead! I would like to thank the exiting council members for their contributions over the last few years.
Students from our Y4, 5 and 6 cohorts head off to Jells Park for the Divisional Cross Country running event this afternoon – good luck to those who will participate!
Just a quick reminder that Monday is a Curriculum Day so therefore students do not attend school. The teachers are revisiting CAFE reading, writing and report writing time. Our focus also will be on presenting our classrooms ready for Open Day and Night next week.
EDUCATION WEEK:
Victoria will celebrate Education Week from Sunday 22 May to Saturday 28 May 2022. The focus of the week will mark the 150th anniversary of public education in Victoria. During Education Week we will hold our Open Day and Open Night on Wednesday 25th – see below for details. Our classrooms are open from 9:30am – 10:30am, with the evening events running from 5:30pm.
I leave you with an interesting thought: When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. Therefore they put in extra time and effort, and that leads to higher achievement.
https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/
Have a super weekend!
Best wishes,
Elaine Brady
Principal
Calendar of Curriculum Events
Please note that these events are subject to Covid-19 restrictions and are subject to change and/or cancellation.

Choir Performance at Open Night
Parkhill’s Choir will be performing next Wednesday at Open Night in the library from 7pm. Choir members will meet Marinda in the library at 6:45pm to prepare for their performance.
We hope to see you there!
Parent Payments
Dear Parkhill parents,
Our Parent Payments ensure our lovely school is well stocked with all the essentials our children need in their learning environments. The types of things we mean are the most basic items such as pens, pencils and paper, to higher end resources such as digital subscriptions for Reading Eggs. Please know these items are not covered by the government funding that our school receives. It is vitally important we obtain the highest percentage of payments we can. Changes to DET policies mean schools can no longer remind us to pay. If have yet to make a contribution, and are in a position to do so, please follow this link to access payment information or see Jo in the office who can assist.
Currently, our school has received parent payments from 57% of families.
If you have any questions about these voluntary payments, please contact Jo at the office (jo.ravida@education.vic.gov.au) or ask a School Council member. Please know there is also assistance available including payment plans and community assistance funds.
Thanks,
Elle Delmee – Finance Committee Chair on behalf of the Finance Committee


Attitudes to School survey - Y4-6
The Attitudes to School survey survey asks students about their perceptions and experiences of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, bullying, life in general, as well as health and wellbeing questions.
We are planning to hold the survey in class from Monday 30 May to Friday 17 June.
AtoSS是教育和培训部实施的年度学生调查,以协助您孩子的学校了解学生的看法以及他们在学校的经历。问卷涉及学生对其学校、学习、同学和家庭关系、韧性、霸凌、精神健康、身体活动及一般生活问题的想法和感受。
您孩子的学校将在今年30 May – 17 June期间开展AtoSS调查。
Further information about the survey will be sent out to families with Y4-6 students soon. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Koorie Garden Working Bee
Last Friday we had an awesome turnout after school of approximately 25 very eager kids and 20 incredibly hard working adults at our Working Bee. The weather had looked miserable all day but the rain dried up as the school bell went and we were able to dig up the 8 garden beds in our new Koorie Garden and then lay 10 cubic metres of top soil. The garden is now ready for the students to start planting the native plants they have been selecting in class.
It was hard and messy work but we were all well fed and looked after thanks to the generosity of Baker’s Delight Ashburton who provided an amazing afternoon tea.
Thanks again to Bella Crowe and our Koorie Student Ambassadors for securing the grant that provided the funding for this garden, to Brent Muller who coordinated the project and our ever present and reliable maintenance person, Roger. A massive thanks to everyone who has played a part in this project – it has been an incredible team effort! Well done Parkhill community!
IT’S A MATERIAL WORLD: F/Y1 CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATIONS
It’s been an interesting two weeks in the STEAM room as the FY/1 students have started their investigation into materials. We began with a school walk, hunting for different materials around the school and thinking about why each material was selected for its purpose.
This week students reflected on their observations and set to work designing their own playground, thinking about the materials that would be most suited to the equipment they were designing. Students had both plastic and metal slides because they are smooth, swings with wood frames because they are strong and many placed tan bark under their equipment to soften any falls. Enzo even made sure he had a shelter over his slide for all weather playing.
Check out some of our great examples!
Andrea Crane
STEAM Teacher
Y4/5 Inquiry
This week during Inquiry, the Y4/5s have been exploring collaborative expressive art. The students were really engaged with the learning and were super excited to create their own collaborative art piece as a class. There were lots of creative images. The students took great pride in the finished product.
Jamie Dimopoulos
Y4/5 Teacher
Library News
Hi Parkhill Families,
Issue 4 is now out! Look for your brochure that was sent home this week or simply browse the online catalogue Book Club Issue 4 2022. You can place an order at scholastic.com.au/LOOP or by using the LOOP app.
Kindly note the cut off date for orders is Friday 3 June.


Every Book Club order earns Scholastic Rewards for the school to purchase additional resources, however there is no obligation for you to make a purchase.
Please email me angelita.williams@education.vic.gov.au if I can be of any assistance.
Angelita Williams
Librarian


Just a quick thank you to those families who have collected their bread bags and deposited them in the box near the front office. For every 5kg of bread bags we collect we gain 500 reward points to go toward sports and play equipment. Let’s try and maximise our rewards by collecting the capped amount of 2,500 points. Collection will continue until September, so we have plenty of time to achieve this goal. Keep up the good work for both the environment and our fabulous school.
Andrea Crane
STEAM Teacher




PFA News




TRIVIA NIGHT IS BACK!
Time to dust off those clothes that have been hiding in a box in the garage or raid the local op shop and get ready for some fun – Trivia Night is back in 2022!
You can purchase a table of 10 or individual tickets.
Tickets coming soon!
ENTERTAINMENT BOOK
They cost $70 and provide over $20,000 in discounts to all the things you love to do…dining, attractions, shopping, travel and more! They are filled with up to 50% off or 2-for-1 style offers, they are a great way to discover new favourites and enjoy the value at the same time. The proceeds of the books sold goes to Parkhill Primary School. Please order one now via this link




REMEMBER TO SAY ‘PARKHILL PRIMARY SCHOOL’ WHEN SHOPPING!
Rebel Community Kickbacks Program.
Under this program, Parkhill Primary School can earn 5% of your purchases at Rebel Sports as an in-store credit to spend on our school sports programs.
You can sign up in store or log into your rebel Active Member account when shopping online at www.rebelsport.com.au to attribute the expense to the school.
RITCHIES COMMUNITY BENEFITS
$52 Million is up for grabs!!
It’s quick, simple and easy to: Download, Register and Activate.
Scan QR code below
Nominate ‘Parkhill Primary’ as your chosen school.
Don’t forget to share the news with family and friends.
Need more?? Visit a store within 14 days of activating your card, spend $100 or more in a single transaction and scan your Ritchies card or app.
Get $10 off instantly. (Valid for one transaction).


DON’T MISS A THING!
Join our Facebook page.
Search for us using the name “Parkhill Primary School Community Page”.
Then click the “join group” icon.
A group administrator will confirm your association with the school and approve your request.
If you would like to be on our email distribution list and receive communication and minutes from our meetings please email parents.friends.secretary@gmail.com


Contact us on WhatsApp – https://chat.whatsapp.com/DtYmFR9RjrZ7ayDpYAVy6L or email parkhillpiranhas@gmail.com
Lunch Orders
You can find the links to the lunch orders on the website under Quick Links.