Stanhope Primary School Newsletter Midland Highway P.O. Box 19 Stanhope Victoria, 3623 Ph. 5857 2514 Fax. 5857 2772 stanhope.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Issue 12 May 15th, 2009 Principal: Christine Owen Well, all grade 3 and 5 students can breathe a sigh of relief now that NAPLAN testing is complete. I know that they all did their very best. However, no time to relax, today we have the Waranga Schools Athletics Day and the competition will be fierce. I know our students will again put in every effort and come out shining. Grade 5/6 students have been utilising their Netbooks across all curriculum areas to great effect. They are finding that they can complete tasks in a more efficient way and find answers to their questions and wonderings, very quickly. The technology allows them to pursue individual areas of interest and they can the relate the classroom to the real world. They have also been alerted to safe usage of the internet and related tools and how to deal with any such intrusions. Later in the newsletter there is information for parents interested in finding out about the issues around 21st century technology and how to support your children. There will be an online discussion and forum for parents beginning 18th May through to 24th May. Well worth a visit. (further information on last page). A huge thank you to all the volunteers who have come to help us in our Community Garden. It has been wonderful to see parents and community members turning up on Thursday afternoons to help our students in the garden. Once again, a huge thank you. We have a huge stock of abandoned clothes here at school! There are dozens of uniform items sitting in Lost Property. If you think you have lost an item, please contact the office. All items of clothing should be CLEARLY NAMED to assist in identifying the owner of the item. Another reminder that we have BEFORE and AFTER school care available for families who need to either have their child at- tend school before teachers are on duty or need to collect them after school hours. Kim has a range of activities planned and students are provided with either breakfast or an afternoon snack. Please contact the office if you need to use this service. Students and staff had their photos taken on Monday and parents will be notified when they arrive. Late orders can be placed at the office for individual, whole school and class photos. EDUCATION WEEK Next Thursday, we will be celebrating the great things about Public Education. At 12.30 we will have a family sausage sizzle where family and community can spend time with the students and staff and get to know everyone a bit better. At 2pm, classrooms will be open to highlight some learning feature of each class. This will be followed by the official opening of our magnificent ‘Water Wise, Earth Wise’ mural, which has been completed by our students under the expert and guidance of Mica Rosenberg. After that, the day will conclude with a short school assembly and a performance by the choir, again with Mica expertly guiding the students. Please come along and see what goes on here at Stanhope Primary School – a great place to work and play! Dates to Remember May 21st Education Week Family Day BBQ May 20th-21st Scholastic Bookfair June 8th Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday- No school June 19th Reports sent out Page 1 THIS WEEK’S ANTI-BULLYING MESSAGE: Bullying and harassment can…. Be physical - hitting, kicking, pinching, Be verbal – name calling, teasing, threatening Be Psychological – stand over tactics, gestures, Be social - social exclusion, rumours, Put downs Be motivated by jealously, distrust, fear, misunderstanding or lack of knowledge Make people feel threatened Continue over time Be hidden Our Community Vegie Patch We started to get our vegie patch into shape with the help of community members, parents and past staff. The students are looking forward to developing the garden and watching produce grow. Waranga Athletic Sports May 15th, 2009 Schools from across the Waranga Shire participated in the ‘Annual Waranga Athletic Sports’ today. Book Fair reminder Next week the Scholastic Book Fair will be held in our library between Wednesday and Friday. Books will be on display and for purchase from 8.30 -9.00 am and again at 3.15 - 4.00pm. There will be an extra session on Thursday evening from 6.00pm – 7.30pm. Please come along and support our school and re-discover the joy of books! Rotary Echuca Steam Horse and Vintage Rally 2009, 6th & 7th June Free entry tickets to the Echuca Steam Rally is being made available by the Rotary Club of Echuca Moama in conjunction with Member for Rodney Paul Weller for each primary school student in the District who is accompanied to the Rally by a paying adult. If you are interested in this offer please contact Christine or Debbie National Online Conference for Parents: “What support do parents need to be active participants in their children’s learning and development?” Parents of primary and secondary students, in all locations, are invited to take part in the third online conference, hosted by Parents Victoria. The conference will be held non-stop on the internet from 6am Monday 18 May to midnight Sunday 24 May. No special software is needed, other than an internet-connected computer and a browser. The online discussions will be very easy to join in, and guidelines about how to participate will be provided. Join in for all days, just some days, or even a few hours, depending on your lifestyle and other commitments. Register online at no cost. The Parents Victoria Online Conference 2009 website will open from 6am on 18 May at: http://www.cybertext.net.au/pv1_09/ but please register yourself online first at http:// www.cybertext.net.au/pv09.htm Each day, the conference will discuss one of the following questions: • Parent/teacher meetings - how could these meetings be improved? School attendance - when is it okay to stay away? Transition - what could be done to improve transition from one level of schooling to the next, i.e. kindergarten to primary, year 6 to secondary? Cyberbullying - how do we keep our children safe? • Sex education - who's responsible? Banning confectionery from school canteens - tell us your thoughts (this will be hosted on Thursday 21 May by Prue Cerin from the Victorian School Canteen Association)