Issue 7, Friday 25 March 2022
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Principal's Message
Dear parents and carers,
Last night we held a community forum in which we shared a range of school performance data as well as the initiatives and actions that the school and School Council will be implementing this year for continued school improvement. We examined the declining enrolment trend, NAPLAN results and student and parent perception feedback to provide a context for the school improvement journey. Thank you to everyone who attended and for your thoughtful questions and the way in which you engaged in the discussion. A big thanks to Melo Conti for hosting the forum and to Dan Edwards, Sasha Guy and Melo for their thorough planning of the presentation. We had around 25 people attend in person and another 18 who attended online which is an excellent result. School Council his keen to seek feedback on this forum with the intention to run them through the year on a more regular basis.
Special Visitors
Last week we had a special visit from Premier Daniel Andrews, Member for Burwood Will Fowles and Member for Mount Waverley Matt Fregon. The purpose of the visit was to tour the new hall facility. School Captains Jayda and Noah also joined us on the tour.
There are still a few minor things to complete before the hall is handed over to the school but we are hoping this will happen prior to the end of term.
Rapid Antigen Testing Program – Parent Survey
Important feedback on the rapid antigen testing (RAT) program is being sought from our school community through a short survey that has been developed by the Department of Health.
RATs are helping students and staff to safely return to school and ensure positive cases are identified as quickly as possible. All RATs ordered by the Victorian government for schools are effective in detecting coronavirus (COVID-19) variants, including Omicron.
To help evaluate and improve the roll-out of the program to schools and ensure that staff and students have the required support, a short survey is being sent to parents at a sample of Victorian schools.
Our school has been selected to complete the survey from Tuesday 22 March 2022. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. Our school will have no access to your individual data or responses. The link to the survey is here:
You are asked to complete the survey by 5.00pm Sunday 27 March 2022.
Have a lovely weekend,
David Wells
Acting Principal
Calendar of Curriculum Events
Please note that these events are subject to Covid-19 restrictions and are subject to change and/or cancellation.
Twilight sports
Our Twilight Sports are coming up on Tuesday 29 March. From 5pm there will be a family picnic with a delicious sausage sizzle! Our sports events will begin at 5:30pm and run for around an hour. Our local kinders have been invited to join us to experience our Parkhill spirit!
Come along to support our students and join the festivities.
Foundation at Parkhill in 2023
Next week we have a special introductory session planned for parents new to Parkhill. Our current Foundation teachers will introduce themselves, we’ll show what the classrooms look like and will answer some questions. We’d be grateful if you know of anyone who might be interested to pass on the good word.
Our Foundation at Parkhill in 2023 session will be online on Thursday 31 March at 4:30pm.
Access at http://meet.google.com/ktr-euek-cap
school photos
Please see the attached document for information about School Photos. Please contact the office if you would like another envelope!
LOTE news
The Y4/5/6s have presented their Self-Introduction speech in Mandarin during LOTE this week. The children have worked very hard for the topic throughout the term. They were all very interested in finding out their names in Chinese. The students were also able to express their personal favourite food and leisure activities in full sentences in Mandarin. During the speech presentations, students spoke with good fluency, clear pronunciations and impressive content in Mandarin. Well done Y4/5/6 students!
What a great way to conclude the term with fantastic learning experiences and outcomes!
Shuoyin Tu
LOTE Teacher
STEAM Hits the Road!
I had fabulous fun this week spreading the STEAM word at Ashwood Memorial Kindergarten and Ashwood Children’s Centre. Friction was the name of the game as we experimented rubbing our hands together, racing cars down different surfaces and finally making Parkhill students who climb the string using friction. It was a privilege to spend some time with prospective Foundation students and share a little bit of the Parkhill magic with the surrounding community. We hope to nurture this relationship during the year and in doing so promote our wonderful school.
Andrea Crane
STEAM teacher
NAPLAN 2022 - Our Second Practice Test
Our second practice test centred around the writing test. The Y3 students tried out a timed pressure test using one of the prompts from a previous year. It was hard to concentrate for the whole 42 minutes! They were very proud of their writing sample when finished.
The Y5 students sat the Coordinated Practice test, which is a load test to see if the NAPLAN platform could manage. Pleasingly there were no connection issues and all students wrote very long writing pieces. Students are managing themselves admirably and will certainly be ready for the real tests in May.
Don’t forget that you can visit the demonstration site online https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site and do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher if you have any questions or concerns.
Michelle Smith
Assistant Principal
Second Hand Uniform Stall & Lost Property
Thank you to all who supported the Second Hand Uniform stall yesterday morning. The stall made $88.00 which I will be looking to purchase some new board games/activities for the children’s break times.
The Lost Property process is:
- If it ends up in Lost Property and is clearly labelled, the Lost Property Monitors sort and return items to the classrooms.
- If there is no name, it becomes a kind donation to the Second Hand Uniform stall.
Please label all items clearly!
The next stall will be in term 2 – date to be confirmed. In the meantime, if you need any items please leave a note at the office and I will get back to you.
Kerry D’arcy
Second Hand Uniform Coordinator
Library News
Hi Parkhill Families,
Thank you to those families who have placed orders. 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.
As advised, kindly note that we may only receive book orders after the term 1 break.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries.
Angelita Williams
angelita.williams@education.vic.gov.au
Librarian
Stargazing at Parkhill - Save the Date!
Some Parkhill families will remember we tried to get a stargazing event planned but were continually thwarted by this that and the other in previous years. It’s time to try again!
We are planning to gaze at the stars on Thursday 5 May. More information will come out soon, including an event form through Compass to book your place.
PFA News
Executive Committee:
President: Zoë Littlewood
Vice President: Vacant
Treasurer: Chris Fagan
Secretary/Communications: Vacant
General Members: Elle Delmee, Sumi Sundram, Vanessa Cowley, Jo Argaet, Iona Tsykalo, Lih-Shan Yam, Emma Gullan, Trish King, Marinda Tanner, Alex Cilsby, Emily Meagher, Nadine Philips
EASTER RAFFLE
Calling all chocoholics! Our fabulous annual Easter Raffle is back this year and we need your help to make it a fundraising success!
Ticket books have been sent home this week. Tickets are just $2 each, 10 tickets per book. Please sell them to all of your chocaholic family and friends! Drawn at the final assembly of term, Friday April 8 at 2pm.
- Donations requested! Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, stuffed bunnies, and other Easter gifts. Please add an Easter item or two to your trolley during your next grocery shop and then drop them off at the office by Friday 1st April.
Thanks in advance & good luck!
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.
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
Lunch Orders
You can find the links to the lunch orders on the website under Quick Links.
FLEXISCHOOLS LUNCH ORDERS
community notices
