Hello everyone,

We are quickly approaching the middle of Term 4.

Curriculum Day and Public Holiday

Monday will be a Curriculum day before the Melbourne Cup Public Holiday.  Teachers will be doing Professional Learning at school on this day and children are not to come to school.

Community Event

I want to thank all those who organised and attended our first ever Community Night and movie.  Given it was the first time this occurred we had to ensure that we tested our processes and developed a strategy for future events.  We thank you all for your patience and know that we need to look at ways to speed up popcorn and fairy floss creation, whilst also ensuring that there are no children running around the venue during the movie, as it affects the enjoyment for others.  This was a wonderful first attempt at this and we raised over $500 for our year 6s for their end of year activities.  We will run future events next year for those of you who missed out this time.

Prep Transition

We have had three Prep transition sessions so far this year with our last one to be held on Tuesday December 12th as part of our whole school Step Up Day.  These sessions have been extremely valuable in helping us to understand the needs of these children and to place them carefully in classes for next year.  We make every effort to ensure we are taking into consideration things such as previous connections with students from kindergartens.  We cannot always accommodate parent requests to place students together as there are number of factors to consider.  Our main aim at school is to ensure that children can adapt to a range of situations and develop some independence, whilst developing their academic ability.  Making new friends is part of this process.

Rugby

Congratulations to our students who represented the school in rugby.  Mr Ford reports that the students played with an amazing spirit and represented our school with pride and respect.  Our girls team finished the day undefeated, which holds us in good stead for future competitions.  Thank you to Mr Ford for organising this event.

Truck detour

Please be mindful that there are an unusually high number of trucks passing through Baxterpark Dve at the moment due to road closures.  Please ensure you are using our crossings and parking in designated parking areas when picking up or dropping off your children , with this increased risk.

Issues outside of school hours

Please speak with your children about their role in maintaining our values of respect and integrity whilst online after hours or when playing in the local parks.  We do our best to manage situations during school hours, but most situations that we are dealing with at the moment are due to incidents that are occurring after hours at the park or as a result of less than respectful online interactions.  I encourage you to call the police if something occurs out of school hours that needs immediate attention or affects the safety of your child at home.

Enjoy your week

Darryl Spiteri

Principal

Colour Fun Run

On Friday the 10th of November Thornhill Park Primary School will be holding our very first Colour Fun Run. This will be a major fundraiser for the school with all funds received going back into the purchase of resources and equipment.

Included in the entry fee:

• Participation in the fun run where students will get sprayed with water and coloured powder thrown over them.
• A pair of bright sunglasses and a headband.

Fundraising:

• All students have been sent home with a sponsorship form.
• They are asked, if possible, to get sponsorships from family, friends, neighbours, parents colleagues etc. in order to support our school.
• Students will be rewarded with a prize for their fundraising efforts. Once they have a total amount raised, they will need to choose a prize from that prize bracket on the sponsorship form. Students will rank their preferences from 1 to 4, but will only receive 1 prize.
• If there are siblings who would like to pool their donations to receive a better prize they can do that too.
• Sponsorship forms and money (all should contain your child’s name and class) should be returned to the classroom teacher by Wednesday 8th November.

Protecting against mosquito-borne diseases

Victoria’s mosquito season started this month and will extend to late April 2024.

Warm and wet weather can result in greater numbers of mosquitoes and increased risk of illnesses from mosquito bites. While the overall risk is low, some mosquitoes carry diseases that make people sick.

The best protection against mosquito-borne illness is to avoid mosquito bites.

Families can protect against mosquito bites by:

• covering up as much as possible with long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing
• applying insect repellent that contains picaridin or DEET on exposed skin when leaving home
• limiting outdoor activity if lots of mosquitoes are active.

To reduce the risk of illness linked to mosquitos, such as Buruli ulcer, promptly wash any new scratches or cuts with soap and clean water and apply a topical antiseptic and dressing.

Families with any health concerns should see their doctor or phone NURSE-ON-CALL: 1300 606 024 (available 24 hours).

Free Japanese encephalitis vaccines

Japanese encephalitis virus is spread to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes and can cause a rare but potentially serious infection of the brain.

Free Japanese encephalitis vaccines are available to protect Victorians at higher risk of the virus.

The Victorian Department of Health encourages eligible people who live or work in high-risk local government areas to get vaccinated ahead of summer, which brings an increased mosquito presence.

For more information, including what is considered a high risk area and eligibility for a free vaccine, refer to the Department of Health’s Japanese encephalitis webpage.

Find out more

For more information on protecting against mosquito-borne diseases, families can refer to the following Better Health Channel pages:

• Mosquitoes can carry diseases
• Protect yourself from mosquito-borne disease, including a handy checklist to help reduce mosquito breeding sites at home and resources translated into other languages
• Japanese encephalitis
• Buruli ulcer.

Sunscreen

Our Learning in Year 1/2

Literacy

This term, in Reading students have been developing their comprehension skills through learning about the strategy of Inferring. Inferring is when the reader uses clues in the text and their prior knowledge to make a smart guess about something the author didn’t directly state. Students have been focused on making inferences about how a character is feeling by using clues in the text and illustrations. Building on this knowledge students will be able to extend themselves to infer about character traits by looking closely at their actions and dialogue.

This Term, in Writing, we have been focusing on writing imaginative narrative texts. Students have explored what features are included in a narrative text, the purpose, being able to describe their character and the character traits. Students have been practicing to provide more details into their writing for the reader to become more engaged.

Students have had opportunities to develop their spelling skills by exploring common spelling patterns and completing related activities to build on their knowledge. 

Numeracy 

In our 1/2 classes, we have been focused on learning more about the concept of time. Through using analogue clocks, interactive displays and visual images, students have become familiar with the units of time such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months. They have explored and compared the duration of everyday events and become familiar with the terms, morning, afternoon and evening. Students have enjoyed using our class calendars to record and count down the number of days to special events. Students also practiced ordering the days of the week and months of the year.  

It’s been a very positive and busy start to the term in the Grade 1/2‘s! 

Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing at home

Positive mental health and wellbeing is important for your child’s healthy development and learning. It supports them to manage the normal challenges of life.

Environments, experiences, relationships, and individual characteristics all contribute to mental health and wellbeing.

For children and teens, wellbeing is supported when they:

• feel valued, loved and safe
• have their basic material needs met
• have physical, mental, emotional and social health
• can learn (in and outside the classroom)
• participate in decision-making
• are connected to their community
• have a positive sense of identity and culture.
• Mental health exists on a continuum

It can be helpful to think of mental health and mental ill-health as existing along a continuum.

We all move along the continuum as we face challenges and situations that test our capacity to cope and change our mental health. Our mental health can change slowly or quickly.

Most people will experience changes in their mental health at some point during their lifetime. Social, emotional, and environmental factors all influence our position along the continuum. Learn more about the mental health continuum.

Even if someone isn’t experiencing mental ill-health, that doesn’t mean their mental health is flourishing. Alternatively, it is possible to be diagnosed with a mental illness and still feel well and function effectively in many aspects of life.

Supporting your child’s wellbeing at home

As parents and carers, you’re already doing lots of things to support your child’s mental health and wellbeing. You can continue to protect your child’s mental health and wellbeing by developing and promoting:

• healthy sleeping habits
• healthy eating habits
• physical activity
• strong and nurturing relationships
• positive self-talk and providing praise, encouragement
• mindfulness, kindness and gratitude
• social and emotional skills
• help seeking.

For a range of videos and articles backed by Australian experts on how to support your child’s mental health, visit Raising Children Network.

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.

Week Ending: 20th October

Congratulations to 34C, who had the best classroom attendance for the week ending 20th October.

Week Ending: 27th October

Congratulations to 56B, who had the best classroom attendance for the week ending 27th October.

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

Keep up the great work!

Students of the Week – Ending 20/10

Students of the Week – Ending 27/10

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

We hope you had a lovely day!

Iyra        PB

Japneet 12C

Rian       34D

Atsobel 56B

Zayd      12D

Zayden 34A

Connor 34B

Aminah 12E

Samer   12E

Aroha    34D

Betty     56C

Ryan      56B

Aarav    34C

School Term 4

Monday 2nd October 2023 – Wednesday 20th December 2023

Monday 6th November – Curriculum Day (Student free day)

Friday 10th November – Colour Run Event

Wednesday 22nd November – Year 5/6 Incursion – Market Manouveres

Wednesday 6th December – Year 6 Excursion to Fun Fields

Tuesday 12th December – Whole School 2024 Transition – 9:00am -10:45am

Thursday 14th December – Year 6 Graduation @ 4:30pm

Monday 18th December – Whole School Presentations and Performances

Wednesday 20th December – Last Day of Term – 12:30pm Finish