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The Oak Leaf |
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Address: Willett Avenue, Oak Park VIC 3046
T:(03) 9306 9182 E: [email protected] |
Issue 25
August 16th 2024 |
Oak Park Primary School will work collaboratively to provide a stimulating, safe and challenging learning environment that promotes resilient, innovative thinkers.
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Calendar of Events
Term 3 Events:
Term 4 Events:
Principal's Column
Early Finish for Term 3 – 12:30PM, Friday September 20th
School Council have approved an earlier finish to our final day of term, at 12:30 PM on Friday September 20th. This supports providing some time in lieu to teaching and ES staff from our upcoming school concert. Staff are contributing around 8 additional hours of worktime to ensure our musical comes to life and are repaid this time via reduced meeting times during the term and this slight reduction to the length of the final day in term. Thanks to School Council for their support and understanding to support staff and the workload of an amazing musical. Team Kids will have after school care available from 12:30 PM on this day – thanks for their follow up and flexibility. Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey – Links sent via Email Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey, and we are seeking your valuable feedback. The Department of Education offers this survey to help schools understand families' perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. Your opinions are crucial to us and will help identify areas for improvement and professional development needs. This feedback will guide our school planning and improvement strategies. Additionally, the department will use the survey results for research purposes to enhance student outcomes. The survey is conducted online and takes only 20 minutes to complete. It can be accessed on any internet-enabled device, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, and is compatible with most browsers. The survey is available in English and 10 other languages: Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Links to the survey have already been sent to randomly selected families via email. We appreciate your participation and look forward to your feedback. Kind regards, Michael Gill Principal WHOLE SCHOOL
WHAT'S COMING UP
School Saving Bonus
Information You may have seen the recent announcements of the School Saving Bonus, as part of the Victorian Budget 2024/25. We are sharing the information we know about when and how families will be able to access this support. Eligibility The School Saving Bonus is available to parents and carers of every child enrolled in a government school. It is a one-off support of $400 to assist with school costs. If your child attends a government school, you do not need to apply or do anything to receive the School Saving Bonus; the funds will be provided to your child’s school. If you are a parent or carer of more than one child, you will receive the $400 School Saving Bonus credit for each child. It will be available to families in 2025 and will be in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for camps, sports, excursions and uniforms (CSEF and State Schools Relief). How families will receive the School Saving Bonus Cash will not be paid directly to individuals or families (or paid in cash to families from schools), it will be received as a credit on their school family account to help meet the cost of activities and uniforms. The Department of Education is working on the implementation of the school saving bonus and further information and guidance will be provided to schools and families soon, ahead of the implementation in 2025. Assembly Timetable
School Concert
Moana Production
Our production is on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th of September. All students are required to attend both nights. If your family has approved absences on these dates or you know you are going away please email Melanie ASAP. We are currently making costumes for all students and choreographing dances so Melanie needs to be aware of absences. Tickets will be going on sale soon. Please refer to the weekly newsletter and Compass notes for further details. Book Parade
The Great Book Swap
It is less than a week until our Great Book Swap, on the 21st of August 2024. This event supports fundraising efforts for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, a charity that provides culturally relevant reading materials to students in rural and remote communities around Australia. This will be a fantastic opportunity for students to engage with new reading materials, whilst contributing to a worthwhile fundraising event. Thank you to all of those who had donated their books at the front office. Please continue to donate to the cause if you have any unwanted books at home. Students can drop any book donations in the drop off box next to the office (The boxes will be there until Tuesday 20th August). Our Great Book Swap during lunchtime, recess and afterschool on Wednesday the 21st of August 2024. Students are asked to bring in some money on the day, each book will be sold for $1 each. Last year we raised $494 during The Great Book Swap! Let’s see if we can beat this fundraising target this year! Thank you in advance for supporting our efforts to promote reading in our school and contribute to the important work of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation! 
Lost Property
There is a black bag on top of the lost property cupboard that contains uniform pieces that are unnamed. Please feel free to go through this and take any piece of uniform you may require. All lost property will be disposed of by Friday if not claimed. P.F.A News
PFA News: Volunteers needed for Father’s Day Stall, 29 and 30 August Dear Families, The PFA’s Father’s Day Stall is scheduled for Thursday 29 and Friday 30 August, and we are seeking volunteers to help out with sales at the stall between 8.50 and 11 am. All volunteers at the school must have a current Working with Children Check. If you are able to lend a hand, please email Selda at [email protected] indicating which day and time you are available. Even if you are only able to come along for an hour, it will be a big help! Call-out for donations for Father’s Day Stall This year the PFA’s Father’s Day Stall will be held on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 August, and we are looking for donations from the school community to augment the stock for the stall. Gifts are usually sold for between $1 and $6, so items such as key rings, socks or other small, simple handmade goodies are ideal. If you are able to make or otherwise have something to donate, please email us at [email protected] to let us know what you would like to give and to organise drop-off details. We will need to receive donations by Friday 23 August. The PFA Thanks you for your support! PFA Meeting Dates Below are the PFA meeting dates for the reminder of the year to put in your diary! Meetings start at 7.30 pm and are held in the staffroom at the school. All are welcome to attend. Term 3 Tuesday 27 August Term 4 Tuesday 8 October Tuesday 12 November Tuesday 3 December (mtg/end-of-year celebration) Maths Mingle
We are excited to invite you to our upcoming event, Math Mingle: a Family Maths Afternoon! This is a wonderful opportunity for you to visit your child's classroom and learn three engaging maths games together. On the day, please head straight to classrooms to play the game and leave with your resource pack. Event Details Date: August 28th Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Where: Your child’s classroom We look forward to seeing you there and exploring the fun side of maths as a family! SENIOR SCHOOL
Math and DigiTech Olympics
Congratulations to our 10 Grade 5 students who on Tuesday competed against 7 other schools in the Maths and Robotics Olympics at Glenroy College. Despite winning almost all the challenges, we were 1 point away from the win and secured a solid second place. It was such a great day which celebrated different types of mathematical thinking, but most of all teamwork, problem-solving and resilience. Well done to April 5/6C, David 5/6M, Cengizhan 5/6M, Julian 5/6A, Leo 5/6D, Adam 5/6A, Hania 5/6T, Lewis 5/6D and Anwita 5/6T. You made us so proud! Here are just some of the things the students had to say: “The activities we did were making a Lego bridge (that could withstand as much wait as possible), a balloon estimate where we made a balloon rocket, some luck based maths games and coding a robot to move in a square.”
“I would definitely recommend this experience to other students, it was an extraordinarily fun day”
“My favourite activity had to be the Lego bridge challenge. We had 10 minutes and our bridge held 8kg which was the highest amount of weight possible. I loved going there because I got to do something different on a school day.”
“Our Lego bridge could hold 8kg of weight! My highlight would probably be the sausage sizzle and the hot chocolate. I had a blast even though we came second.”
SPECIALIST
Visual Arts
Moana Junior F - 2 Colouring Competition Students in Foundation, Grade 1 and Grade 2 are invited to participate in a colouring competition based on the Moana Junior school concert. This is not a compulsory activity. Only students that wish to enter the competition are going to be bringing home an A3 sized colouring page. Students can collect a colouring sheet when attending their art classes, or they can pop by the art room at lunchtime, recess, before or after school to collect one. Artwork entries for the competition are due back to David (OPPS Art teacher) or the Art Room no later than Thursday the 22nd of August. Guidelines for students to keep in mind when colouring You may add colour using:
Competition PRIZE The 3 winners receive a $50 Smiggle voucher and a pencil case with art supplies inside. Please forward any questions to David Flint (OPPS Art Teacher) via email. Good luck to all students that enter the competition. 
Performing Arts
Please come and check this area of the newsletter for random items we are hoping to borrow for our Moana Production. We need 2 jump boxes – 
Or Steppers
and 10 large TV/Fridge boxes!!!
Japanese News
In Japanese the foundation students have been learning the names of body parts such as head, feet, eyes, nose, ears etc. We have been singing lots of songs to practice saying the names in Japanese including ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’. Students have loved singing along and doing the actions. Students are also becoming familiar with the names written in hiragana and have worked on matching activities including matching the names with Pikachu’s body parts. The roll and colour game has also been a favourite where students roll the dice, read the matching body part and colour it in on their Pokemon character. It has been wonderful watching the Foundation students settle into our Japanese program and their enthusiasm is fantastic! 
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School Contacts
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