Upcoming Events Subscribe |
We are accelerating towards the end of Term 3 with many exciting events taking place over the next few weeks.
Book Week
We will have our first ever Book Week Parade on Friday 25th August at 9am. We are excited to see the many costumes that students will wear to celebrate this occasion. Parents are most welcome to attend the parade. Our students will also be participating in a live show in our gym based on the book ‘Jorn’s Magnificent Imagination,’ which is a shortlisted book in the 2023 Children’s Book Awards. Further to these two exciting events, we will be holding a Book Fair in our Wellbeing space. It promises to be a wonderful week.
Canteen
We are super excited that our canteen will be opening this coming Tuesday 22nd August. There will be counter service at recess and lunch time every Tuesday and Thursday. You can order meals up to 4 weeks in advance using the QuickCliq App. Check out the posters around the school or head to Class Dojo or Compass to see the menu. We are still in the process of putting in a coffee machine, so we will let you know when this service will be available.
Relocatables
We have received our first 4 relocatable buildings to increase the capacity of our school. These buildings are a welcome addition and will provide us with enough space to cater for the continued growth of Thornhill Park Primary School. They are now ready for use.
Enrolments
Our current enrolment for 2024 is around 405 at this stage. We are expecting a number of new students to attend our school next year either as Preps or from other schools, where people are moving into the area or are perhaps moving their children to our school after having them at other local schools, but they reside within our zone. We welcome all new enrolments and would appreciate if you spread the word within the community to ensure we are able to adequately staff any sharp increases in enrolments. Enrolment forms are available online or at the front office.
Matildas and our School Values
I’m sure many of you have been watching the Fifa Women’s World Cup with interest. As someone who comes from a footballing family where my sisters and mother all played when I was younger and I coach a girl’s Under 16 team, I am not surprised by the efforts of the Matildas. It has been a long time in the making. It is a shame that they couldn’t make it to their first World Cup Final, however they have showed amazing persistence and resilience by getting to this point in the tournament after losing early on and having to endure a grueling penalty shoot out. The players have given their all and remained respectful of their opposition by showing dignity in defeat and by congratulating the winners, whilst also consoling those who they have beaten thus ensuring their opposition’s wellbeing. The team has shown remarkable integrity by representing their country with pride , despite the pressure that they must feel. They have tanked the crowd after each game and have tried their best. There are huge lessons to be learnt from this experience. Australia has come together to support a team of wonderful individuals who have given their all to represent their country, their families and themselves. Go Matildas!
Hats
A reminder that Term 4 is once again a term where hats are required. Please ensure your child has a school hat with their name on it. Hats are available from Dobsons.
Hoodies – issues
We have noticed that the logos have been coming off some of the hoodies that students are wearing to school. If you are not satisfied with the logo on your hoodie and think that it is falling off, we would ask that you take the hoodie to Dobsons and they will endeavour to put a new logo on your child’s top. I would appreciate any feedback you have on any uniform items because I keep in constant contact with the uniform supplier and want to ensure our uniform remains at a high quality standard.
Athletics
On Thursday 17th August, we had out first ever students competing in the District Athletics at Cobblebank Athletics track. We are sure our students had a great day and represented our school with pride.
Bikes
Please ensure that your children wear a helmet when riding a bike to school. There are far too many students putting themselves at risk by not wearing helmets to school, not to mention that wearing a helmet when riding a bike is a law in Victoria.
Parking
We still have a number of parents parking in the ‘drop off’ zones at the front of the school. Please observe the signs to assist in traffic flow. It is not essential for you to park at the very front of the school to pick up your children if you have a clear routine for pick up and drop off. Failure to follow signs can result in hefty fines from the Melton Council.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Darryl Spiteri
Principal
Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents / caregivers / guardians think of our school. The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
All families are invited to participate in the survey.
The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open from Monday 7 August to Friday 8 September 2023.
The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Please speak to our office staff if you would like more information.
It’s about books! It’s about your children. It’s about fun! It’s our Scholastic Book Fair — a special time for our entire school community, to be held in our Library/Wellbeing area.
Please plan now to attend our Book Fair, scheduled for Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd, Thursday 24th and Friday 25th of August before school (8:15- 8:40 am) and after school (3:00-3:30pm). You’ll be glad you did! It’s a perfect time to explore the affordable books and products with your children. Plus, a portion of the sales benefits our school directly. Money raised will contribute to purchasing books for our students. We encourage you to take time for this special event. Can’t wait to see you there!
On Friday 25th of August, at 9am in the gym, we will be holding our Book Character Parade. Students can come to school wearing their costumes based on a character from a favourite story book. Our theme is READ, GROW, INSPIRE! The costume can be anything you already have at home in the cupboard. We look forward to seeing parents and guardians joining us at the parade.
As part of the fundraising for the Grade 6 Graduation, the Year 5&6 students will be holding a ‘Guess How Many Lollies ae in the Jar’ competition. The competition is open to all students, parents and the wider community. The cost is 50 cents an entry. Students will be able to enter the competition at recess and lunchtime. The competition will run for a couple of weeks. Parents and the wider school community may enter the competition during Friday assemblies. The lucky winner takes home the jar full of sweets. Good luck everyone!
Compass Events is a tool within Compass that allows us as a school to invite your child/ren to an incursion or excursion without sending home a physical paper notice. You can give consent, complete medical information and enter notes within these events.
Compass Pay is a tool that allows you to pay for incursions, excursions and camps online with a credit or debit card.
What does this mean for you as parents?
You will notice that your Compass account will have some different options, requests and features.
Notices, permission and payment for your child/ren to attend a school-based event (excursions, camps or incursion) will be sent to you via your current Compass account.
Please contact the school office if you require any assistance.
This Term, students have been working on developing fluency when reading. To support them in practising their fluency, students learnt about and participated in Reader’s Theatre. This was an opportunity for students to be assigned a character in which they practised reading the words and changing their voice to match the character. Students read one of the following plays, ‘The Three Little Pigs’, ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, ‘The Greedy Farmer’, and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.
This Term, in Writing, we have been focusing on writing personal narratives. Students brainstormed a variety of moments that have happened to them in their life, such as camping, going to the shops or family holidays. Students then picked a small moment from their event and wrote about it, adding some made up parts to make the story more interesting and engaging for their reader.
In our 3/4 classes, we have been learning about multiplication and division. Students have been using concrete materials, diagrams, and algorithms to solve a variety of multiplication and division problems. Students have developed their abilities to use ‘groups of’, ‘arrays’ and ‘algorithms’ to solve multiplication and division problems.
“A great leader is someone who helps people. They are important because they can be kind. A leader is a good buddy because when someone is sad you can cheer them up. A leader can show the values.”
Enayat 1/2A 
“A good leader is kind and follows the school values. A good leaders helps others and does full body listening. A good leader does not hit others and push others. A good leader does not bully others, and make fun of others.”
Kirylls 1/2B 
“Hi my name is Shnaya and I am honoured to be the class captain of 1/2 C. I believe a good leader is someone who…
A good leader is someone that guides the class TO LISTEN AND BEHAVE IN THE CLASSROOM”.
Shnaya 1/2C 
“A good leader is when it is break time and somebody is hurt on the soccer pitch or anywhere you help them or if they are very hurt you can tell the teacher.”
Ali 1/2D 
“A good leader is honest. A good leader is persistent. A good leader is smart. A good leader is friendly.”
Indy 1/2E 
Resilience … it’s a familiar word, isn’t it? But what does it really mean?
When we talk about resilience, we’re talking about a child’s ability to cope with ups and downs and bounce back from the challenges they experience during childhood – for example moving home, changing schools, studying for an exam or dealing with the death of a loved one. Building resilience helps children not only to deal with current difficulties that are a part of everyday life, but also to develop the basic skills and habits that will help them deal with challenges later in life, during adolescence and adulthood.
Resilience is important for children’s mental health. Children with greater resilience are better able to manage stress, which is a common response to difficult events. Stress is a risk factor for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, if the level of stress is severe or ongoing.
Lates research finds that there are five areas that offer the best chance for building resilience in children.
Find out more.
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:
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.
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.
Congratulations to Prep B, our first Thornhill Park Primary School weekly attendance award winners.
Week Ending: 11th August
Week Ending: 18th August
Congratulations to 5/6B, our first Thornhill Park Primary School weekly attendance award winners.
| CLASS | TEACHER | STUDENT |
| Prep A | Mrs Nicoll | Rajvir S |
| Prep B | Miss Belovitch | Ridhi N |
| Prep C | Miss Thomas | |
| Prep D | Ms Leslie | Jeenawal S |
| Class 12A | Mrs Scott | Isabella H |
| Class 12B | Miss Afxentiou | Harnaaz K |
| Class 12D | Miss Duffy | Noah T |
| Class 12E | Miss Trigueros | Akaalikrat K |
| Class 34A | Mr Micallef | LJ T |
| Class 34C | Mrs Cornock | Mary Y |
| Class 56A | Ms Fabbro | Jashan S |
| Class 56B | Mr Duffy | Jasmeen K |
| Class 56C | Mrs Hackworthy | Askari A |
| STEM | Mrs Andersen | PA |
| ART | Mrs Shoebridge | 12E |
| PE | Mr Ford | PB |
| CLASS | TEACHER | STUDENT |
| Prep A | Mrs Nicoll | Kaya D |
| Prep B | Miss Belovitch | Habil M |
| Prep C | Miss Thomas | Arwa J |
| Prep D | Ms Leslie | Rafael M |
| Class 12A | Mrs Scott | Tyra N |
| Class 12B | Miss Afxentiou | Jaspreet S |
| Class 12C | Mr Lindsay | Isaac M |
| Class 12D | Miss Duffy | Yuvraj D |
| Class 34A | Mr Micallef | Adrian G |
| Class 34B | Miss Baba | Dante Q |
| Class 56A | Ms Fabbro | Bereket Z |
| Class 56B | Mr Soumbassis | Suvleen K |
| Class 56C | Mrs Hackworthy | Ellie E |
| STEM | Mrs Andersen | 12D |
| Art | Mrs Shoebridge | 56B |
| PE | Mr Ford | 12A |
Nivaan 34C
Stella 56B
Harjot 12E
Ronin PC
Aisha 12C
Xavier 56C
Triman Kaur 12A
Mya 34A
Yarna 12D
Shareya 34B
Daniel 34C
Mohammad 12C
Friday 25th August – Years 3 & 4 – Earth Crusaders Incursion
21st August till 25th August – Book Week – Theme – ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’
Tuesday 22nd August and run until Friday 25th August – Book Fair
Trading times for parents & students to purchase items will begin at 8:15 to 8:40am (before school) and 3:00- 3:30pm after school.
Friday 25th of August – Book Character Parade
28th August – Literacy and Numeracy Week
Wednesday 30th August – Years 5 & 6 – SES Victoria Incursion
Thursday 31st August – Father’s Day Stall
Monday 28th August at 9am – Whole school incursion -‘Books to Life’
Friday 15th September – Last Day of Term – Casual Clothes Day (Gold Coin Donation)
Monday 2nd October 2023 – Wednesday 20 December 2023
Thursday 12th October – Prep 2024 Transition – 9:00am -10:45am
Friday 20th October – Prep 2024 Transition – 9:00am -10:45am
Thursday 26th October – Prep 2024 Transition – 9:00am -10:45am
Wednesday 6th December – Year 6 Excursion to Fun Fields
Tuesday 12th December – Prep 2024 Transition – 9:00am -10:45am
Thursday 14th December – Year 6 Graduation
