Issue 31, Friday 21 October 2022
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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
Dear Parents/Carers
With comedy night just around the corner I thought I’d start with a joke… Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven ATE nine!!
You will have picked up my notification sent on Monday regarding your child’s class placement for 2023. Again, I encourage you to email through any preference you have for your child in terms of class placement. These thoughts should be based around your child’s learning needs and are not driven by their friendships – the children will, as always, be given the chance to voice who they want to be placed with.
Any submissions should be made as soon as possible. It is important to note at this point that we do try to honour most requests but there are no guarantees, and I cannot place all students by parent request.
I am able at this stage to share our school structure for 2023. The school structure is developed with substantial consultation across the teaching and non teaching staff at Parkhill through our Consultative Committee. Consideration is given to many factors including cohort make up, parent feedback and student numbers.
Next year we plan to run the following classes:
F | Y1/2 | Y1/2 | Y3 | Y4/5 | Y4/5 | Y6 |
Our Koori Ambassadors have been busy planning for our next event, they are working with Desiree Schlack who has taken on the role in Bella’s absence. Thanks Des for taking this on.
It was great to see that school communication had such a positive response in our recent Parent Survey. I would like to remind you that our policy states that teachers will respond to emails within 48 hours. If you are trying to contact your class teacher during the hours of 8:30 and 4pm you will need to send that correspondence through the office at parkhill.ps@education.vic.gov.au. Our teachers are generally with children, or preparing for class between these times, and will not be actively checking emails during the day. Anything urgent should always include the office.
I would like to thank Dan Edwards, our School Council President, for the work he has done pulling together an election lobby group. The group has developed a letter outlining our next projects to send through to our local political parties. Check out his section below.
Lastly I would like to remind you about signing in. It is amazing to have so many parent helpers in and around school on a daily basis – it really is wonderful to have our parents back onsite again! If you are helping out at school, please remember to sign in. This includes reading support, garden, incursions and excursions.
SOCIAL MEDIA
It’s concerning that many of our students as young as Y3 are actively engaging in social media practices. I wonder how many parents are aware of their child’s online activities and how many platforms they are accessing. Many children in our upper school are known to have a variety of accounts.
I ask you to have a check of your child’s device – consider how often you check their device history and your awareness of what they are doing online. We hear lots about online safety and how to help our children access the online world safely.
There are many places you can find information about platforms and recommended ages to signup as well as guidelines for parents to help support their children. Online activity is something that is monitored at home but has a huge impact on the playground at school.
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/skills-advice/are-they-old-enough
Have a super weekend.
Best wishes,
Elaine Mitskinis
Principal
Calendar of Curriculum Events
STEAM Update
It has certainly been another busy week in the STEAM room. YF/1 have been exploring more about light. This will continue next week as we apply this knowledge to photography. Y2/3, Y4/5 and Y6 have finished off their exploration of robotics coding. Special mention to the Y4/5 who applied the loop and if/then/else commands to designing a Sphero Mini game. Below is the link to the Robotic Rodeo booking page. I would love to see lots of families join us at school on the afternoon of Monday 7th November, so that our clever coders can share their learning with you.
In other STEAM news our entrants in the Wild at Art competition have almost completed their artworks. Students are finalising their submissions and writing short blurbs to accompany their art pieces. It was lovely to see students working together in the STEAM room during lunch times, sharing ideas and encouragement. I have a few to share with you today, but will pop more in the newsletter as others complete their work.
Andrea Crane
STEAM Teacher
Robotics Rodeo!
Monday 7th November
4 – 6 pm
Junior School Building
Book one 15 min time slot to explore the Sphero Indi, Sphero Mini or Mindstorms NTX robot with your child. Please book a time for the robot your child has been working with using the links below.
SRC - Loud Shirt Day!
Today we had Loud Shirt Day and we saw lots of colourful and bright shirts! Thank you everyone for your donations. You helped raise a total of $139.70, which will help fund technology and therapy for children born with hearing loss. It was great to see so many students supporting our cause today!
Mali and Jayda
SRC Captain and School Captain
I Am Mindful Parent Session - Tuesday 25 October 7.30-8.30 pm
Y5/6 families are invited to attend the I Am Mindful parent session, to explore more about the program that students in Y5/6 are participating in.
Apologies, the previously issued link to the parent session was incorrect. You can access the session on the following Zoom link:
Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8670995532?pwd=YjBCYWZSWVN2WmI2aVFRaXNSZkNzUT09
Meeting ID: 867 099 5532 Passcode: 1sYFq4
Our Priorities for the Upcoming Victorian Election - We Need Your Help!
A sub-group of School Council has been meeting over recent months to help form a list of priorities for candidates and political parties to consider in the lead up to the state election in November. We were pleased to have the funding pledge of Asher Judah that Elaine highlighted in the newsletter last week. We have recently sent a letter outlining our priorities to the Labor MP and candidate for the seat of Ashwood in the election, Matt Fregon.
Our priorities are listed below in an example email that we encourage members of our school community to send to Matt Fregon. You can cut and paste the text below and adapt it if you would like. Our hope is to provide a strong and united voice to attract attention and funding to continue to improve our school.
Matt Fregon’s email address is Matt.Fregon@parliament.vic.gov.au
**
Suggested email wording:
Dear Matt,
I write as a resident of the Ashwood electorate to ask for funding help for our school: Parkhill Primary School.
Our three priorities for 2023 are:
- New large-scale playground infrastructure with landscaping to incorporate a natural look, supported by a new masterplan for the school, and offering stimulating spaces for kids to play, learn and be proud of. Estimated cost: $1,000,000.
- A new carpark in an underutilised space on our campus to facilitate community access to school facilities after hours and to be used by teachers. This will help ease daily traffic congestion in the surrounding streets.Estimated cost: $90,000.
- Finishing our boundary fencing, a parent-driven funding initiative that commenced in 2022 needs some Government funding to ensure timely completion. Estimated cost: $80,000.
Best wishes… etc.
**
Dan Edwards
School Council President
Smile Squad is coming to Parkhill!
Dear Parkhill Primary School families,
The Smile Squad team from Link Health and Community is coming to our school soon.
Smile Squad is the Victorian Government free school dental program.
This means all students can get a free dental check-up, preventive services, and treatment at school.
How to access free dental care
We need your consent before we can provide services. Consent is usually provided by a parent or guardian.
Sign up to Smile Squad at: https://bit.ly/smilesquadvic
Please complete and submit the consent form by 28/10/2022.
The Link Health and Community Smile Squad team look forward to seeing you soon.

PFA News
COMEDY NIGHT – Last Chance!
Comedy Night is back! Bring your family and friends. Show starts at 8pm. Drinks and snacks will be available for purchase before the show and during the intermission. www.comedyforacause.net/PH




PARKHILL COLOUR FUN RUN – ONLY 1 WEEKS TO GO!!!!!!
Thursday 27th October 2:30 pm
Our aim is to reach $8,000! So far, $2,888 has been raised and 4/5A is in the lead for donations!!!! However, F/1A is a close second! To start fundraising for your child, sign up here https://chuffed.org/project/parkhill-colour-fun-run and share the link with friends and family!!!!!!! The more your child fundraisers, the better choice in their prize of Lego or sports equipment!!! GO PARKHILL!!!!!
Winning Class and Prizes
There will be a special surprise reward for all children in the class that raises the greatest amount of money.
On the Day
On the day of the Colour Fun Run, pack a light coloured or white T-shirt into your child’s school bag. This is an extra fun way to show-off the colours from the dye on the day. There will be an early afternoon brain food break, then straight after the fun run will begin at 2:30pm. Parents and guardians are most welcome to come to cheer on their loved one.
Further Information
Detailed instructions on how to sign-up to start fundraising are attached below. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the office or Zoe on 0459 841 337.
Sign up instruction: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RfB_Z8flV5JCLMfGXf7lSM5qE-UepGeE/view?usp=sharing
NOTE: You will need a different email address for each child.


COLOUR FUN RUN SIGN-UP – 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
The PFA is looking for volunteers to help out with the running of the Colour Fun Run. Eighteen volunteers are required to set up the course and to throw the kids with dye and water and two volunteers are required to cut up oranges. Please sign-up! https://signup.com/go/eikOWwi
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.
FLEXISCHOOLS LUNCH ORDERS
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