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The Oak Leaf |
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Address: Willett Avenue, Oak Park VIC 3046
T:(03) 9306 9182 E: oak.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au |
Issue 07
March 16th 2023 |
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
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Principal's Column
Ride and Stride at Oak Park in 2023 We excited to announce that Oak Park Primary are one of six schools selected to participate in Merri-bek City Council’s Ride & Stride program for 2023! The program is designed to get more of our children and families moving safely and sustainably, and will deliver a range of activities over the year to enable more of our students to ride and stride to school. The Ride & Stride program will be launching in Term 2. Parent Survey: As part of our involvement in this program, we would like to engage with parents and carers to better understand how you travel with your children to and from school, and any barriers you face to doing so actively (ie. on foot, bike or scooter). We’ve created an online survey that will take just a few minutes to complete. The more we can understand about the way our students and families travel, the better we can ensure the Ride & Stride program is tailored to support safe, easy & active transport to our school. https://forms.office.com/r/gRcAWDLShq All data collected is anonymous, will be aggregated in the results, and your participation is voluntary (and appreciated). The information collected from the survey will help us to understand our school’s transport issues and opportunities for improving the way your family chooses to travel! We will be sharing the results of the survey, and more information about Ride & Stride initiatives in the coming month. Thankyou! Rory (Champion) and Michael (Principal)
NAPLAN has begun!
Students completed their Writing and Reading assessments online this Wednesday and Thursday. A catch-up session is planned for Friday providing the last opportunity to participate in the Writing assessment. The final two assessments are scheduled Monday and Tuesday next week with some catch up sessions following on Wednesday and Thursday for any absent students. Kind regards, Michael Gill Principal Interschool Sports
Assembly Schedule - Term 1
2024 Enrolments
Thanks to those families who have sent in enrolment forms for their child for next year. A reminder: If you are enrolling your child next year at Oak Park Primary School, or you know of someone wanting to enrol their child, please email Fran at frances.macdonough@education.vic.gov.au to request an enrolment form. You may also collect one from the Office for completion. If you have a child already attending our school, and will be enrolling a sibling in 2024, please also complete an enrolment form. We would request that enrolment forms are handed in by July 1st, so we may have an understanding of what our numbers will be for 2024. OSHC Program
If your child is booked into our After Care Program, please ensure you advise the program (9300 3412) if your child is picked up at 3.30pm and will not be attending. We have had numerous instances where children are picked up at 3.30pm from school with no notification to After Care when they have been booked in. This means staff are searching the school for your missing child unaware they have been collected already by a parent or carer. Thank you Harmony Day
Harmony Day- Tuesday 21st March Students to wear something orange! 
On Tuesday 21st March, OPPS will be celebrating Harmony Day. Students will be participating in activities during class time and are encouraged to wear orange on the day.
What is Harmony Week? Harmony Week runs from March 20th – 24th. It is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, and the successful integration of migrants into our community. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it. The message of Harmony Week is everyone belongs. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values. Why orange? Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Students can choose to wear something orange on Harmony Day to show their support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia. PLEASE NOTE- This day is not a casual clothes day, if your child does not have something orange to wear, they are to wear their school uniform. If you’re interested in discussing and celebrating Harmony Week in the home, the link below has some great DIY craft activities. https://www.harmony.gov.au/resources/hand-tree-diy/ 
Foundation Teddy Bear Picnic
On Wednesday the Foundation students enjoyed a Teddy Bear Picnic to support our learning about the letters t and p. We had a spectacular day with face painting, teddy bear biscuit decorating, a bear hunt obstacle course, and a teddy bear picnic outside with our Year 6 buddies. Thank you to the Year 6 teachers and students for supporting our day and to Alison German for volunteering her amazing face painting skills! Check out some pictures of our day:
Specialist
Performing Arts There are many drama activities that you can do at home with children to help them develop their creativity, imagination, and social skills. Here are some ideas:
Remember, the most important thing is to have fun and encourage your child to be creative and imaginative! You could write these ideas down and place them in a jar. let your child pull out activity and follow the instructions. Melanie 
Physical Education
It's important for children who play sports to take care of their bodies to prevent injuries, improve performance, and promote overall physical and mental health. Here are some recovery techniques that can help:
By implementing these recovery techniques, your child can sustain their athletic performance, reduce the risk of injuries, and promote their overall physical and mental health. Thank you for your continued support of our school's sports program. Liam Science
"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." Henry Ford This week in the science room we have been focused on the school value of resilience. Resilience is the key to being able to keep on going through difficulty and know that if we continue to try, we can see different results. Just because something is hard in the beginning doesn’t mean it always will be hard. Our junior scientists have been learning about animal life cycles and habitats and are now putting their learning to the test by completing projects to demonstrate their understanding. For many junior students this is an unfamiliar task. Our learning has been around the positivity we can find in making mistakes, being resilient and trying again. Being resilient isn’t always easy or fun. It can be hard and feel like we are not getting anywhere fast. But resilience is the key to learning (particularly in science!) and luckily it is a skill that can be learned! Here are some of the strategies we are learning about. 
If you are interested to read more about this topic please visit
https://healthyfamilies.beyondblue.org.au/healthy-homes/building-resilience A resilient scientist Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, knew a lot about failure. Ford did not create his legendary vehicle without making a few big mistakes. He started his career much later than most people would expect. At 28 years-old, Ford decided he wanted to become an engineer, working for Edison Illuminating Company, quickly becoming Chief Engineer within two years. Five years later, he would design and build his own self-propelled vehicle, leading to the founding of the Detroit Automobile Company a year later in 1899. Sadly, the company would fail miserably, bankrupting Ford. However, shortly after Ford would create his legendary Ford Company. Stephanie Lambiris Japanese News
Last week in Japanese we learnt about the Hinamatsuri or Doll’s Festival celebrated in Japan on March 3rd each year. On this day, families display beautiful dolls to pray for the health and happiness of their daughters. The festival was originally known as the Peach Festival or Momo no sekku as peach trees usually bloom around this time. During this festival, ornamental dolls are displayed on platforms called hinadan which are covered in red material. The most important dolls are the odairisama (Emperor) and ohinasama (Empress). Hinamatsuri dolls can range from simple folded dolls to expensive ornate dolls.After learning about the festival we all had a great time making our own folded odairisama and ohinasama dolls to take home or display in our classroom. The students did a fantastic job following the origami instructions and loved trying the different types of dolls. Natalie Visual Arts
Grade 5/6 Students created “Identity Portraits” that show some of the things that are of interest to them personally. They created backgrounds of their own choice using watercolour or acrylic paint, then glued a photo of themselves over the background. The next step in this process was to print and draw items of interest and glue them in a collage arrangement showing some overlapping of the items. The students were highly engaged in creating their portraits and it was wonderful to see the conversations that took place when sharing their interests. This activity was very helpful in introducing students to each other at the start of the year, as not all students had been in the same grade before. Some students had been in grades with the same students in the past, however they had little idea of the interests of one another. These are only a few of the artworks created. There are more of these artworks on display in the Art Room windows. Please swing by and take a look! 
David Flint
Visual Arts Teacher Library Book
A Moreland Library Book has been returned to the school library in error. If you have returned “The Pigeon has to go to school” please call in and collect it from the library to return to Moreland Library. Parent Hacks
REMINDER: We’d love to get your parent hacks to share with our community. Please forward to Fran at frances.macdonough@education.vic.gov.au Year 6-7 Transition
Local Secondary Colleges are now advertising their Open Days, Information Nights and School Tours. We suggest that families make the most of these availabilities. Please go to www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au to check if you are within their school zone. Information regarding the Application for Year 7 will be sent to all Year 6 families during Term 2, along with FAQ’s and Application timeline. Should you require any information once this is received, please don’t hesitate to contact Fran at frances.macdonough@education.vic.gov.au AITKEN COLLEGE will be holding a Secondary Admissions Information session for families on 22nd March via Zoom. This will be open for students who are now in Grades 3-5, as enrolments at Private and Catholic Colleges are open for the years 2025, 2026 and ahead.
COBURG HIGH SCHOOL have an Open Day on the 26th April for prospective Year 7/2024 families.
Please see attached flyer 
ESSENDON KEILOR COLLEGE have an Open Day on 28th March for prospective Year 7/2024 families.
ROSEHILL SECONDARY COLLEGE have an Open Day on Thursday 4th May from 9.15am – 2.15pm.
Open Evening Tuesday 9th May. Tours 4-6pm, Principals address 6.45pm. Guided Tours are available on Tuesdays at 9.30am. Bookings are essential. 
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