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Thornhill Park PS Newsletter #13

10th November 2023

Our newsletter is published on a fortnightly basis and is an effective medium of informing students and parents about various school activities, achievements, and events.

We also have a Facebook page and use Compass and ClassDojo to communicate between the school, and parents, students, and staff.

Upcoming Events

Principal’s Message

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We are into week 7 and just over half way through the term.  School will finish for the year on December 20th at 12.30pm.  Until then we have a lot to get through including a few more community events and our Step Up Day where students meet their new teachers for 2024 on Tuesday 12th December.  I always say to my staff that once we pass the Melbourne Cup weekend, the rest becomes a blur and we are at the end of the year before we know it.

Colour Run

What a fantastic day we had on Friday for our Colour Run.  It was wonderful to see the whole school community come together once again to enjoy the event.  A huge thank you to Mrs Payton for organising the day and all the obstacles, powder, water pistols and prizes.  It was lovely to see smiles on all the student’s faces and great to see the way that our staff came together to make this experience special for our children.  We raised over $5000 for our school, which will go towards providing technology to one of our new Specialist classes in 2024.  We thank all those who donated to this event.  We look forward to doing this again in a bigger and brighter way in 2024.

Traffic at the Front of the school

Whilst road works are taking part on Mt Cottrell Rd, it appears that trucks have diverted past the front of our school.  It is important to ensure you are not hindering the movement of these trucks as they are large and take up quite a bit of the road.  Please remember that the parking directly at the front of the school is a drop off and pick up zone.  Parking in this spot and leaving your vehicle is not acceptable and will most likely attract a fine from the Melton Council Parking Inspectors.  I would also ask that you observe the 40km hour speed limit when using the roads around our school.  We have observed some very dangerous driving at the front of the school with some people driving at excessive speeds.  Please ensure you are considering the safety of all of our students when around school zones in particular.

End of Year Events

As we approach the end of the year we will have a number of events including a whole school performance night, Year 6 graduation ceremony, Crazy Hair Day raising money for charity and our whole school transition event.  These will be advertised mainly on Class Dojo, this newsletter or Compass as this is our internal communication system.  We will also sometimes advertise on Instagram and Facebook if it is a larger event.  Please ensure you are completing the documentation and payments required on Compass by the deadline provided as we had a number of students miss out on our event on Friday.  Most of the events we provide at school are free, however where there is a cost we would expect that payments are made by the due date as we need to confirm numbers with external providers or ensure we have enough items to run activities at school.  We would love all of our students to participate in the experiences we are providing.

Hats

We have noticed a few students wearing baseball caps to school.  These are not Sunsmart hats and will require students to sit in the shade during play time.  If you are in need of a hat we would ask that you either go to Dobsons or purchase one at our front office.

Are you leaving or going on holidays?

We are obviously in the process of setting up 2024 and need to know if any of you are moving to new schools in 2024.  We would also like to know if any of you are travelling overseas and will be returning late in 2024.  We would prefer that all holidays are taken outside of school time, however we do understand this is sometimes unavoidable and would like to know your movements if this is the case to assist with planning.  Please let the office know as soon as possible if this applies to you.  We thank you for your cooperation on this matter.

Canteen

The canteen is now operating on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week.  The canteen will also be open this coming Friday as a ‘once off’ to give everyone an extra day to get their canteen goodies.  Lunch orders can be made on QuickCliq.

 

Have a great week.

Darryl Spiteri

Principal

From the Office

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Lost Property

We have a substantial amount of lost property including jumpers, hoodies, beanies etc that remain uncollected in the office.  Please check to see if any of the items belong to your child.

A reminder to make sure that you have labelled your child’s belongings.  This assists us with items being returned to the rightful owner.

Early Departures

Parents/carers MUST come in via the Office and sign their child out if leaving school early.  We will then organise for your child to come to the Office area to be picked up.  Please do not make your way into the school grounds or to your childs classroom except via the office where you will need to sign them out first.

Thunderstorm Asthma

Grass pollen season, which typically runs from October to December each year in Victoria, brings an increase in asthma and hay fever symptoms. It also increases the risk of thunderstorm asthma. For people with asthma or hay fever, especially those who experience wheezing or coughing with their hay fever, thunderstorm asthma can be sudden, serious and even life threatening.

Thornhill Park Primary School will implement a range of measures to keep our school community safe as the risk of thunderstorm asthma increases.
Many of our staff are trained in asthma first aid, and we will monitor the Vic Emergency app to receive thunderstorm warnings, and, where appropriate, keep students indoors when weather forecasts identify greater risk.
During the season, there are some things you can do to prepare and protect yourself and your family:

  • If your child has ever had asthma, talk to your doctor about what you can do to help protect them from the risk of thunderstorm asthma this pollen season, including updating your asthma action plan. Taking an asthma preventer properly and regularly is key to preventing asthma, including thunderstorm asthma.
  • If your child has hay fever, see your pharmacist or doctor for a hay fever treatment plan and check if you should have an asthma reliever puffer. These are available from a pharmacy without a prescription.
  • If your child has hay fever and experiences wheezing and coughing, it is important to make sure they don’t also have asthma. Speak to your doctor about an asthma action plan.
  • Where possible, avoid being outside during thunderstorms from October to December, especially during the wind gusts that come before the storm. Go inside and close your doors and windows. If you have your air conditioning on, turn it to ‘recirculate’.
  • Protect yourself this pollen season – managing asthma and allergies matters.

** If your child suffers from hayfever , it is advised that you give them their medication prior to attending school in the morning.

For more information, speak to your doctor. You can also visit the Better Health Channel website.

 

 

Our Learning

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Our Learning in Year 3/4

This term in Writing students have been learning about information reports. They have been focusing on highlighting, collecting and rephrasing important information to show their understanding of the information. Students have then been working on sorting information using subheadings, drafting and publishing using PowerPoint Presentations. Below are photos of students working in groups to highlight and rephrase important information.

In Numeracy students have been learning about Location and Transformation. Student have been revising directional language (left, right, forward, backward, clockwise and anti-clockwise). They have been learning about transformation language (flip, turn, slide, reflect, rotate and translate). Students have participated in a variety of activities such as physically moving to match the directions, drawing diagrams that show transformations and using maps to create simple directions to familiar locations around the school.

Mental Health & Wellbeing

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Dealing with distressing online content

With the tragic and distressing events unfolding in the Middle East, Australia’s independent regulator for online safety, eSafety, has issued guidance to help parents and carers support their children in dealing with distressing online content.

The eSafety website has resources for parents and carers about online safety. These include information on extra precautions you can take to protect your children from seeing disturbing content online.

eSafety encourage parents and carers supporting young people who may be more vulnerable to check in with them. If they are presenting with signs of distress, support is available through external services including:

 

Attendance

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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: 3rd November

Congratulations to 1/2C , who had the best classroom attendance for the week ending 3rd November

Week Ending: 10th November

Congratulations to 3/4C , who had the best classroom attendance for the week ending 10th November

Students of the Week

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

Keep up the great work!

Students of the Week – Ending 3/11

CLASS TEACHER STUDENT
Prep A Mrs Nicoll Norah G
Prep B Miss Belovitch Rydah W
Prep C Miss Thomas Meena C P
Prep D Miss Leslie Emily T
Class 12A Mrs Scott Mia B
Class 12B Miss Afxentiou Mehtab S
Class 12C Mr Lindsay Jasmine K
Class 12D Miss Duffy John A
Class 12E Miss Trigueros Yovin R
Class 34A Mr Micallef Caleb G
Class 34C Mr Luca Te Rina U
Class 34D Mr Smith Mankirat G
Class 56B Mr Soumbassis Nimrat A
Class 56C Mrs Hackworthy Perry B
ART Mrs Shoebridge 34D
PE Mr Ford 12B

Celebrations

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

We hope you had a lovely day!

Navika 56B

Zaynab 34A

Sharlette 12B

Harnoor 56A

Hashaam PA

Ahmad 34C

Jacob 56B

Nevaeh 56C

Akaldeep 34B

Amelia 12A

Lilith 12C

Ayaan 12D

Ashton 56A

Tyler PD

Aishleen 12A

Sohail 56B

Ebubechukwu 12C

Important Dates

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School Term 4

Monday 2nd October 2023 – Wednesday 20th December 2023

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

 

 

Community News

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