Term 2 is in full swing as we approach Week 5 here at Thornhill Park Primary School.

Mother’s day Stall & Open Afternoon

We had our Mother’s Day Stall on Thursday in our Wellbeing Space where students were able to buy gifts for their Mothers.  We raised over $1700 for our school as a result of this day. This money will go towards providing extra activities for our students to participate in during recess and lunch times.  On behalf of the Thornhill Park PS Community I would like to thank the volunteers who took their time to help with the selling of items over the day.  A huge thank you to Silvia Shankar, Courtney Lichnok, Ritu Singh, Minaxmi Saha, Carly Busuttil, Ayesha Gama and Alice McGivney-Harper who helped on the day.  I would also like to thank Nalia, Jo, Tam, Jade, Kate and Sharon for helping throughout the day.

We also had the pleasure of having our Mother’s and significant females come into the classrooms and spend some time with their children on Friday afternoon.  It is always wonderful to have our community getting a sense of what goes on in our classroom and to help to promote positive attitudes to school and academic success.  We understand that some parents did not know this was on, however it was mentioned at our assembly and through Class Dojo.  We apologise if you were unable to make it due to our communication and we will endeavour to ensure we get messages out earlier on Class Dojo and Compass in the future.

I would like to wish all Mums in our community a Happy Mother’s day for Sunday.  I hope you are looked after well this weekend and your family take the time to show how much you are appreciated.  Have a great day!

Government $400 payment

You may have seen the recent announcement of the School Saving Bonus, as part of the Victorian Budget 2024/25. We are sharing more information about how families will be able to access and use this support. This one-off support will include $400 for each eligible student to help families cover the costs of school uniforms and activities in 2025.
It will be available to parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025.
Cash will not be paid directly to individuals or families. Instead, families will receive the bonus as credits on their school accounts that will help meet the costs of your children’s activities and uniforms.

Existing supports

The School Saving Bonus support will be in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for camps, sports, excursions and uniforms.
The application-based Affordable School Uniform program, through State Schools’ Relief, will continue to be available to families experiencing financial hardship or other forms of vulnerability and short-term crisis. This program allows schools to make multiple applications for support on parents’ behalf throughout the year if needed.
There will be more information and guidance about the School Saving Bonus in Term 3, 2024, ahead of its implementation in 2025.

Student Behaviours

For the most part, behaviours at Thornhill Park from our students is exemplary.  Our students earn Dojo Points for their efforts and spend these points at the Dojo Shop when they display our school values.  Over the last couple of weeks we have seen a small spike in anti-social type behaviour amongst our student cohort and would like to get on top of this as soon as possible and return to the wonderful place that this school is.  Please speak with your children about using our school values at all times and focusing on integrity and respect.  Many of our issues are stemming from situations that are occurring after hours that are brought to school and involve families.  Please ensure you continue to support our school with positive messaging.  We owe it to each other to maintain what is a very safe and enjoyable environment for the community of Thornhill Park.

School Parking

Please ensure that you are not using our Staff Car Park at all times, including after 4pm as the last teacher out of the car park will always close the gate and if a parent car is in the car park, it makes this difficult.  If you are attending events in the gym after hours or picking up your children from after school care, we require you to use the front entrance of the school.  Thank you for your understanding.

A reminder that parking bays at the front of the school are pick up and drop off only.  You are not to leave your car and you should not be here for longer then 2 minutes.  It is also not advised to be double parking and holding traffic up behind you until your child comes out of the school.  This practice is dangerous and encourages drivers to overtake on a narrow street outside of a school.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to do the right thing for the safety of our children.

Have a great weekend

Darryl Spiteri

Principal

2025 Prep Tour and Information Session

We have added another 2025 Prep Tour and Information Session for Wednesday 29th May 9.15am to 10.30am.
Register at https://www.trybooking.com/CQHYB or use the QR Code below if you would like to attend this session. #thornhillparkps

Student Appointments / Arrival / Departures

We would like to make families aware of our pick up procedures for collecting students early.

If your child has an appointment and is arriving late, or departing early, or has an appointment during the term, please let your child(s) classroom teacher know via Class Dojo.

When your child is leaving early, please wait at the school office.  Office staff will call your child’s classroom/exit your child, and then your child will be brought to the office, to minimise disruptions.

Please also be mindful that it is difficult for children to hear announcements whilst out in the playground enjoying themselves, should you need to collect them during break times it may take us quite a bit longer.

Book Club

We are currently involved in the Scholastic Australia book club scheme, which offers a wide variety of books at discount prices.

The school receives points based on the quantity of books purchased throughout the year which can be exchanged for new books or resources.

Paper brochures will be sent home for parents to order books, throughout the year, if they wish.

LOOP online orders are required.   No Cash payments accepted.

https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-home/

Our Learning in Years 3 & 4

Dear parents and families,

The year 3/4 students and teachers are excited for our upcoming excursion to the Immigration Museum on Friday 17th May. This will consolidate student’s learning about Australian History and Immigration including First Peoples’ culture and connections. Students this term have explored the experiences of First Nations Peoples as well as those of the first European Settlers.

We are approaching the end of our unit on Persuasive text writing. Students have worked diligently on their text structure, focusing on paragraphs, language devices, such as emotive language and modality words, as well as their writing stamina. It has been great to see the children challenging themselves resulting in excellent quality work. Students are looking forward to commencing the unit on Information Report writing in the coming weeks!

In reading, the children are continuing to identify language devices in persuasive texts. They have grasped an understanding of the purpose of each device and the author’s opinion.

Our unit on Fractions has commenced in week 4. The children will explore different representations of halves, quarters, thirds, sixths, fifths, and tenths. We will also explore representations of fractions in collections, number lines, mixed number fraction and equivalent fractions.

We are excited to see the progress and growth our students are achieving so far this term!

Friendly reminders:

-Please check Compass for information on the upcoming excursion.

-Notify the school of student absences via Compass.

-Art smocks are required for Visual Arts.

The year 3/4 team. 

Eat Up

Eat Up is proud to be supporting our school with lunches for students needing food support. These lunches are available for any students needing assistance throughout the school day. They consist of cheese sandwiches and can also include fresh apples, Chobani yoghurts, Messy Monkeys snacks and Heinz baked beans.

About Eat Up: 

Eat Up is a not for profit organisation which provides free lunches to over 780 schools nationally. Eat Up’s mission is to ensure that all children at school have access to a nutritious lunch, so that they can get the most out of their school day. More information can be found at eatup.org.au

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 May

Congratulations to 12F who achieved almost 100% attendance this week.

Congratulations to 12F who achieved the highest attendance for 2 weeks in a row.

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

Keep up the great work!

Students of the Week – Ending 03/05

Students of the Week – Ending 10/05

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

We hope you had a lovely day!

Bor 34C

Ishi PC

Peyton 12G

Dhriya 34F

Alarena 34E

Japneet PC

Ranvir PF

James 34F

Enayat 34B

Rostam 34C

Soraya-Lee 34F

Danielle 56D

Benjamin Xavier PE

Sai Praneel 12G

Mayom 56A

Serenity 12C

Shivansh 34A

Avneet 56A

Bekami PA

Senaaf PD

Shanvi 56C

Janvi PB

Shnaya 34F

Jeenawab 12H

Melaine PC

Shobhit PC

Joshua 12G

2024 School Terms    

Term 1  Tuesday 30th January till Thursday 28th March

Term 2  Monday 15th April till 28th June

Term 3  Monday 15th July till 20th September

Term 4  Monday 7th October till Friday 20th December

Important Dates – Term 2

Term 2 – Commences on Monday 15th April

Thursday 16th May – Year 3 & 4 – Author Visit (2pm-3pm)

Friday 17th May – Year 3 & 4 – Immigration Museum Excursion

Friday 24th May – Pajama Day – Gold Coin Donation

Monday 3rd June – Friday 7th June – Year 5/6 Swimming

Monday 10th June – King’s Birthday (Public Holiday)

Wednesday 12th June – Years 5 & 6 – Interschool Soccer

Friday 21st June – Year 5 & 6 – Winter Sport Lightning Cup

Friday 28th June – End of Term 2

Cricket Star Academy

Cricket Star Academy is delighted to announce that they will be hosting Cricket programs at Thornhill Primary School from Term 2, 2024.

To determine which days/times are the most convenient for you, please kindly complete the online EOI form below by 5pm Friday 10th May 2024 to register your child’s interest in joining any of our programs. 📝 
https://forms.gle/P9ACGAvf3VdycrXeA 

Please note:
These programs will be open to any of your children – students and siblings! 😊 
All enquiries about cost and program inclusions etc. should be directed to Cricket Star Academy, not the school. 

Cricket Star Academy is part of Sport Star Academy (SSA), a leading provider of sporting programs in schools across Australia and we are delighted to support Thornhill Primary School in being able to develop a connected, inspirational and supported learning community in a dynamic and stimulating environment where children achieve their potential and become confident and contributing citizens.

At SSA, we believe in setting children up for success, today, tomorrow and in the future. Our driven, all-star team does this by providing a professional and nurturing learning environment that builds a child’s confidence, teaches them skills, creates lifelong memories, and gives the parent back time.

We understand that each child has a different pathway. Whether that’s from beginner to elite, shy to confident or solo player to team player, these programs are a child’s pathway to thrive. 🌱

We look forward to having you join in on the fun! 😊