Issue 31, Friday 13th October 2023

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The Parkhill Community touch the land and think of the Wurundjeri People and surrounding Clans of the Kulin Nation who cared for the land before us.

We share our gratitude to their Elders past, present and emerging.

As we touch this land we promise to treasure it; taking care of all its people, animals, plants and waterways.

We at Parkhill appreciate this land.

Thank you.

Principal's Message

What a great week we’ve had at Parkhill – week two and it seems our students are well and truly settled back in and back into the routine of learning.

The grounds have been looking great right now, and I want to thank our Building and Grounds committee and the volunteers that come to help make our school look neat, tidy and inviting. Also thank you to Kerry and the Happy Helpers, who have been working in the yard as well. Finally, I especially want to shout out to Brent who is often moving mulch around the yard and has stated “you can never have too much fun moving mulch”! I will be putting their theory to the test in the upcoming school working bee – please see further on for more information.

This weekend another exciting event is being held on Sunday: the Solar Challenge comes to Parkhill. Over the past term Michelle and the students have been working on building a solar driven vehicle, and we look forward to seeing how well Parkhill goes in the competition this Sunday. Please feel free to come and join in this exciting event between the hours of 8am and 3pm: I am told the whole school will be filled with all kinds of solar powered vehicles!

Next week we begin our swimming program for the students in F-Y5. This week – while exciting – can traditionally be tiring for students. Over the week please ensure your child has enough to eat and drink; the post-pool hunger was always something I remember from primary school swimming! Students will be given time to have snacks at school before and after swimming, and, since their lesson falls over lunch, will be given time outside to give them a break and have lunch.

Finally, I’ve had the pleasure of teaching in Y6 this week and I’m enjoying having the extra time with our soon to be Parkhill Graduates of 2023! They have much to do in the coming months with a focus on ensuring they are high school ready, followed by the reward of their graduation week activities. We’re very lucky to have these fine students and I look forward to seeing them in class again next week.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Jo Jolly

Principal

Calendar of Curriculum Events

Refer to our calendar for any updates of events

04Dec

Awards Assembly

12Dec

Move Up Transition Day

13Dec

Last Day for Flexischools Lunch Orders

14Dec

Y6 Lifesaving Education Program

15Dec

Y6 Big Day Out

18Dec

Y6 Graduation

19Dec

Term 4 Ends at 3:30pm

20Dec

Professional Practice Day

No event found!

Student of the Week

The Term 4, Week 1 recipients were:

FA – Ollie R

1/2A – Scarlett S

1/2B – Hazel T

3A – Jack C

4/5A – Mustafa A

4/5B – Anna O

6A – Felix C

Loud Shirt Day

Friday the 20th is Loud Shirt Day! Loud Shirt Day recognises children born with hearing impairment. Students will do some learning around this in Care Groups on Tuesday, but on Friday’s Loud Shirt Day, we would like students to wear their loudest and brightest shirt to help show solidarity for this cause.

There is no gold coin donation required.

Alex Davies

SRC Coordinator

Looted Lunches - A Forensic Family STEAM Night

There have been a number of lunch thefts from the staff room and hungry teachers are calling for action. In order to corner the culprit, we need you! Together we will use forensic science to analyse the evidence, compare findings and identify the guilty party.

Places are limited – booking is essential via Compass.

Date: Monday 23rd October

Session 1 – 5:00pm – max 12 families (please provide consent for one child per family)
Session 2 – 6:15pm – max 12 families (please provide consent for one child per family)

Location: STEAM Room

Cost: A donation to the STEAM program

Andrea Crane

STEAM Teacher

Solar Challenge at Parkhill - This weekend!

Solar Challenge is an annual event, where students from all over Victoria come together to race model solar vehicles they have constructed in teams against one another. It’s a really exciting event, and this year, we are proud to host the Solar Challenge at Parkhill.

Selected students from Y5/6 at Parkhill have created boats to race in the Junior Boat competition. We welcome visitors to the event and it would be great to see you there to cheer on our keen teams on the day. We also hope that it is nice and sunny!

Our fantastic PFA and Y6 team will be raising funds for the Y6 Graduation – sausage sizzle and more.

Please join us on Sunday 15 October. The event will be open from around 8:00am to 3:00pm. For more information, please visit the website https://www.modelsolar.org.au/

Michelle Smith

Solar Car Coodinator

Chemistry Connections

This week the STEAM room has been a buzz connecting with our prior knowledge of ‘States or Matter – Solids, Liquids and Gases.’ Y1/2 had an icy-pole conundrum; Why did it melt? Did it happen quickly or slowly? Could I turn it solid again? It will be fascinating to experiment in the weeks to come and learn why solids melt and liquids freeze. Y6 engaged with our Sphero robots, programmed them to act like solid, liquid and gas molecules and then set explaining their movement. We will continue exploring these physical changes and then move into making chemical changes as the term progresses.

Andrea Crane

STEAM Teacher

Working Bee

We have a working bee coming up on Saturday 21st October. If you have not been before we encourage you to come along with your children and enjoy making your school look great, socialising and enjoying a lovely afternoon with some delicious afternoon tea treats. See you there!

Head Lice

We have had some reported cases of head lice throughout the school. If your child presents with head lice, please make sure you treat their hair before they return to school.

OG Comes to Parkhill 2024!

Continuing our MSL and synthetic phonics journey in 2024, we are proud to host the Orton Gillingham training at Parkhill Primary School. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone working in education or allied health (such as speech pathology or occupational therapy) to take up this week of training here at Parkhill. The first four days are basic certification with an optional fifth day of advanced morphology training. Hosting a training week also means that we can send our own staff at a reduced rate to this valuable PD. If you know of any people who OG training would appeal to, please book via the links at the bottom of the flyer.

PFA News

President: Zoë Littlewood
Treasurer: Chris Fagan

General Members: Adam Keens, Emma Gullan, Lih-Shan Yam, Marinda Tanner, Michelle Wickman, Trish King, Vanessa Cowley, Iona Tsykalo, Jo Argaet

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