Two weeks left of Term 1 and my has that time flown.

Harmony Day

Today we celebrate Harmony Day in our community.  It is a time where we celebrate the wide variety of cultures and diversity within our community.  It has been wonderful seeing all the students in the clothing of their heritage or wearing something orange, which is a symbol of Harmony Day.  We embrace our diverse culture at Thornhill Park Primary School and understand that our differences are necessary and beautiful.  What make our community so special is that we are able to learn to accept all people and their customs and beliefs.  Thank you all for your participation in this day.

Parking and Crossing

An ongoing issue that doesn’t seem to go away is the failure of people to use our crossing and for people to continue to ignore traffic signs.  Please contact the local Council if you feel strongly that changes in this space needed to be made.  We are doing all we can as a school, but we need the community to work as one to sort this out for the safety of all in our community.

Absences

We are one of the highest levels of absenteeism in Victoria at our school.  In 2024, 47% of our students had 20 or more days off school.  That is 4 weeks on top of the holidays that are already given to students over the school year.  If the pattern of 20 days per year follows a student through their schooling, they will accumulate up to 48 extra weeks of days off which is over a whole year.

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

The annual CSEF amount per student is: $154 for primary school students.

HOW TO APPLY: Contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from www.education.vic.gov.au/csef.  If you applied for the CSEF at your child’s school in 2024 you do not need to complete an application form in 2025 unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.  Applications close on 21/04/25

Congratulations to 56F who achieved the highest attendance

for the week ending 14th March.

Congratulations to 2D who achieved the highest attendance

for the week ending 21st March.

PRIMARY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind.

If your child is sick or absent, you are required to notify school as soon as possible on the day of absence using one of the following methods:

1. Online: log the absence directly using Compass.
2. Telephone: the school office and let the staff know your child’s name, class, date of absences and reason.

Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility.

Why do I need to notify the school if my child is absent?

Schools need to know when and why a child is absent and you need to know if your child isn’t at school.

If your child is absent on a particular day and you have not contacted the school to explain why, the absence will be marked as unexplained.

This system also promotes daily school attendance. Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education, they learn new things every day – missing school puts them behind.

What is your responsibility?

You are legally required to ensure your child attends school every day or you must provide an explanation for their absence. You should let the school know in advance of any upcoming absences or let them know in the morning if your child won’t be at school. Avoid making routine medical and dental appointments during the school day or planning family holidays during the term.

Recognising great attendance and punctuality.

Our attendance target is 96%.  Each week, we reward the class with the highest attendance (which includes getting to school on time!), with our school mascot, Ripwell in their classroom for the week.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

Promoting positive student behaviour and wellbeing is a priority at Thornhill Park Primary School.  School-wide positive behaviour support (SWPBS) is a whole-school framework which provides an approach to promote improved behaviour at school.  SWPBS has been developed through evidence and data and has shown to reduce inappropriate behaviour, improving school culture, and increasing academic performance.

Instead of using many different behaviour management strategies, a consistent system of expectations for all students within our school is implemented in all areas including classrooms and the yard.  All students enhance their social, emotional, and behavioural competencies by

• Regularly reviewing their school’s agreed upon school-wide social values.
• Frequently experiencing specific recognition when they engage in expected behaviour
• Extending expected behaviours to all parts of the school, especially in classrooms to enhance their academic engagement and success
• Experiencing predictable instructional consequences (reteaching) for problem behaviour without inadvertent rewarding of problem behaviour
• Using a common language for communication, collaboration, play, problem solving, conflict resolution, and securing assistance

Classroom teachers explicitly teach the positive behaviour expectations just as we explicitly teach academics. Mistakes in behaviour are treated as learning opportunities, much as mistakes in learning are treated as learning opportunities.

Our Learning in Prep

Welcome to Term One. We hope everyone is settling into Prep and enjoying the school year so far. In Prep, the students have been engaged in lots of exciting learning activities during their first Term of schooling. 

LITERACY

In Speaking and Listening students have had opportunities to build their vocabulary and develop their oral language skills through class discussions. Students have been encouraged to share their ideas and understandings with their peers. 

In Handwriting, students have been working on developing their fine motor skills, pencil grip and the formation of letters. 

In Daily writing, students have been practising identifying and writing their names. They have had the opportunity to recount an experience they have had such as, what they have done on the weekend, what they ate for fruit break and how they celebrated their last birthday. 

Through daily reading, students have become more familiar with concepts of print including front cover, back cover, spine, title and author. 

We have launched our Phonics program, UFLI and students have been learning the sounds and formations of letters.

NUMERACY 

During Numeracy, students will have the opportunity to engage in a range of Numeracy related activities that will enable them to:

• Read, write, represent and order numbers to 10
• Use prepositions to describe the position of objects

INQUIRY 

During Inquiry students have been engaging in the unit topic of ‘Marvellous Me’. Students have been able to talk about what they like about themselves, draw their own self portrait, discuss their likes and dislikes and talk about and create a house with who is in their family unit. 

WELLBEING

Students have been learning all about showing Our School Values of Respect, Integrity, Persistence and Wellbeing. They have been introduced to our school mascot Ripwell and have been participating in our lessons with enthusiasm. 

Sincerely,

Prep Team.

STEM

In STEM, students in 5/6 STEM 1, have been learning about physical and chemical reactions. This week they felt like real scientists using test tubes, wearing safety glasses and gloves, while looking at chemical and physical colour changes using fooddye and adding bleach, hydrogen peroxide, vinger and bi-carb soda. There was lots of excitemet as their liquids changes colour.

Congratulations to the following students who received awards during our assemblies!

Keep up the great work!

Students of the Week – Ending 14th March

Students of the Week – Ending 21st March

Congratulations to the following students who are celebrating a birthday in March!

We hope you had a lovely day!

Ahem 2E

Evangeline 56D

Ekam 56B

Aarav 1G

Azalea PA

Saanvi PF

Arlo PH

Zachary 34G

Kuvi 34C

Genesis 56A

Zelda PB

Gurshabad PG

Adeeb 34F

Braylen 56E

Sophia PB

Japsimar 2A

Serenity 2C

Harnaaz 34E

Niyamat 1A

Aria 1F

Diljot PG

Clara PD

Inaya 1C

Ilyana 34A

Shivansh PE

Mehreet 34E

Rehan 1G

Isaiah 2D

Zack 34G

*Please note that birthdays are only published up until the date of publication.  

Important Dates – Term 1

• Naplan commencing from Wednesday 12th to Monday 24th March
• Monday 24th March – Friday 28th March – Year 1/2 Swimming
• Wednesday 2nd April – Ripwell’s Beach Party Dance Off!  Prep to Year 2 (during lunch break/gold coin donation)
• Thursday 3rd April – Ripwell’s Beach Party Dance Off!  Years 3 – Year 6 (during lunch break/gold coin donation)
• Friday 4th April – “Dress Up as a Famous Person” fundraiser (gold coin donation)
• Friday 4th April – Assembly will be at 2.15pm
• Friday 4th April – Term 1 ends – Students will be finishing school at 2.30pm

Come along and try Karate! Increase your confidence, learn new physical skills and have FUN in a safe and nurturing environment.

THORNHILL PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL GYM – WEDNESDAYS 4PM (AGES 4+)

To register for 2 FREE SESSIONS, please call 0407320333 or visit our website www.artofdefence.com.au

Term 2 registrations for Coerver Soccer