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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 4
February 20th 2020 |
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
There’s a line in the movie ‘Stand By Me’ that goes, ‘I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve.’ And for me, I think that’s true except I was eleven when I met Steve in my Grade 6 year. Steve was a pretty unique kid. I’d never met anyone before or since who was so interested in learning, so curious about everything and so brilliant at so many things. He knew everything, thought differently and helped me to grow in so many ways. We became inseparable. We were always out and about either riding our bikes for miles and miles, or down the creek exploring or just bouncing ideas, questions and thoughts off each other. Steve made rings from brass nuts that were amazing; he would file the thread off and polish them and they looked as good as any you’d buy in a jewellery shop. He was into electronics and science and could play football and cricket better than any of us. I was never really sure why we became friends but I know I made him laugh. We were friends for only about a year or so, but he had such a profound influence on me and my life that I found myself drawing on the experiences we shared for the next almost 50 years. We went on to secondary school together, but schools being the way they were in those days, we were separated and so we just didn’t see each other as much. I always thought that maybe he thought it was time for a new challenge, to learn something a bit different and time to find a new friend and so we just drifted apart. After a couple of years he changed schools and that was the last I heard of him for many years. But I often thought about Steve and the things we did. A long time afterwards I met a guy who had also known Steve and he told me that Steve had passed away. That hit me hard at the time and I was quite affected by the news and the memories became even a little more meaningful. But just a few years ago, I came across Steve accidentally on Facebook and he was very much alive. I contacted him and we met and had a glass of wine. He told me about his memories and it was funny how we had different recollections of some of the things we did. He too remembered incidents very fondly but it was clear that we had both changed a lot. Of course we had changed! It was such a long time ago and so many other influences had come into our lives. When I think about Steve, I wonder about the kids at school and the friendships they form. Will they remember them years from now? What sorts of influences are their friends having on them and how will they be shaped by them? I think one of the hardest things for a parent is knowing that as your kids get older, there will be other people, other influences in the lives of your children and the best that you can hope for is that you have helped to instil strong values that they can hang on to when navigating all that. Good luck! School Fees, Extras and Contributions 2020
Thanks to all our parents who’ve paid their fees for 2020. Please click here for information and for payment. We would appreciate these fees being paid as soon as possible as they support the school in providing resources for the students. The Oak Park Primary School Parent Payment Policy is located on our website if you wish to review. Annette D'Elia Business Manager School Banking
Our students are able to start banking with the Bendigo Bank Strathmore. It’s a great opportunity for the students to start learning about saving money. Banking is collected on a Tuesday . Please pop into the Strathmore branch of the Bendigo Bank to collect a form. Staff Car Park
Good morning families, We would like to remind parents NOT to walk with their children through the staff car park. Please also advise your child that this is a dangerous practice and students must walk into school via the paths. There are many families walking through the car park particularly at the end of the day, and with many cars reversing and leaving at this time, it's an accident waiting to happen. Please take care and chat to your children about the correct way to walk into school. Thanks very much. Reminder for the safety of our students Please do not drop off your children in any unauthorised areas and please use our school crossings. Japanese News
Madoka’s Insight… I have enjoyed my time here so far at Oak Park. The school seems quite peaceful, the students are active and have a lot of energy and they have enjoyed talking to me. They often say “Konnichiwa” when they see me. A little bit about me… I am a second year university student at Dōshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts, studying English Literature. I live in Kyoto and enjoy shopping, catching up with friends and going to watch movies. I played basketball when I was younger and I can also play the piano. The reasons I came to Australia to experience life here are; to improve my English, learn how to teach Japanese, and I also enjoy spending time with children. 2019 JLTAV Events Poster Competition Students studying Japanese in primary and secondary schools are invited to design a poster to be used on the front cover of the 2020 JLTAV Annual Conference book for conference delegates and the front cover of the 2020 Year 12 Morning book. Students are encouraged to be creative and to design a cover which reflects the Japanese language or Japanese culture. This is broad to enable students to be creative. For example students might like to design a cover in manga style. Students are able to submit a digital or hand drawn cover design. Please note that students are not able to use images that are already copyright (e.g. Hello Kitty etc.). No words are required on the poster. Audience: Teachers attending the 2020 JLTAV Conference and students/teachers attending the 2020 Year 12 Morning Size: A4 size (portrait size only) Rules:
THIS WEEKEND… Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival (23 Feb 2020) Presented by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Melbourne and the Japanese Society of Melbourne, this annual event is one of the largest Japanese festivals held in Victoria. There will be food stalls and other activity stalls around Federation Square, and various traditional performances and demonstrations of Japanese culture will be held on the stage throughout the day. When: Sunday 23 February 2020 11:30am – 5:30pm Where: Federation Square Corner of Swanston & Flinders Streets, Melbourne Cost: Free For more information please feel free to come and see me. Melissa Ly Japanese Language Teacher Japanese News
Language Assistant We are very lucky to be one of the selected schools here in Victoria to host a language assistant. From next week we have a university student named Madoka who will be helping us in Japanese classes for a month. Please be sure to give her a nice Oak Park welcome while she is here. 2019 JLTAV Events Poster Competition Students studying Japanese in primary and secondary schools are invited to design a poster to be used on the front cover of the 2020 JLTAV Annual Conference book for conference delegates and the front cover of the 2020 Year 12 Morning book. Students are encouraged to be creative and to design a cover which reflects the Japanese language or Japanese culture. This is broad to enable students to be creative. For example students might like to design a cover in manga style. Students are able to submit a digital or hand drawn cover design. Please note that students are not able to use images that are already copyright (e.g. Hello Kitty etc.). No words are required on the poster. Audience: Teachers attending the 2020 JLTAV Conference and students/teachers attending the 2020 Year 12 Morning Size: A4 size (portrait size only) Rules:
Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival (23 Feb 2020) Presented by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Melbourne and the Japanese Society of Melbourne, this annual event is one of the largest Japanese festivals held in Victoria. There will be food stalls and other activity stalls around Federation Square, and various traditional performances and demonstrations of Japanese culture will be held on the stage throughout the day. When: Sunday 23 February 2020 11:30am – 5:30pm Where: Federation Square Corner of Swanston & Flinders Streets, Melbourne Cost: Free For more information please feel free to come and see me. Melissa Ly Japanese Language Teacher Chess Club
Please click here for a printable copy of the Chess Club form. 
Lunch Orders
School Lunch Orders have started Thursday is lunch order day, but please ensure your child brings the actual lunch order to school on Wednesdays. They are to place their order into their classroom tub Wednesday mornings. No late orders can be accepted and orders are not to be given directly to the café. PFA
Have you ever thought of joining the Oak Park Primary School PFA? We think you'd be amazing! The PFA (Parents and Friends Association) is basically a group of parents who organize and run some fabulous fundraising and community events at OPPS. These events not only raise funds for our school, but also strongly contribute to the incredible community culture that OPPS is known for. There is no pressure to attend meetings, and any assistance/skill you can offer, even from the comfort of your own home, would be greatly appreciated. Our AGM is coming up on Tuesday Feb 25th at 7.30pm in the staff room. We'd love it if you could come along. We'll also have a few executive PFA positions available for nomination on the night, and would love to see some new faces. Email the PFA secretary Nicole at [email protected] if you're interested or for further info. Thanks for reading and hope to see you at our AGM! Walking School Bus
Book Club
Another fantastic response to Book Club! Thank you to everyone who placed an order in Issue 1. As a result, the school now has $400 TO PURCHASE NEW BOOKS FOR THE Library. Orders have arrived at school and will be distributed to students on Friday. Thanks again for your support |
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Sustainability News
MURAL – THE BEGINNING
As you may be aware, a collaboration between Visual Arts and Sustainability has led to us designing a mural to be made of bottle tops that pays respect to the traditional custodians of the land; the Wurundjeri people. Last Thursday we began with a small but enthusiastic band of students who traced out the mural on board (see photo below). The next step is to paint the background before the bottle tops are attached to complete the mural. It is anticipated that this will take many weeks and thousands of bottle caps and so we ask that if you are able to share any of these with us that you drop them off in the bin in the foyer, set aside for this purpose. Black, white, clear, red, yellow and orange are all very important colours for this particular mural and are those most required, but other colours are also helpful. David Flint and I will keep you updated with its progress. MAKING US EVEN MORE SUSTAINABLE We are always trying things to reduce our waste that goes to landfill and we have recently begun attaching these food scrap buckets to our bins in the yard. Students are encouraged to place food scraps in these buckets instead of landfill bins. The buckets will then be collected and the contents either fed to our chickens or composted, which will allow us to reduce our need for outside food sources, reduce landfill and create great soil for growing new crops. Students are responsible for collecting these each day and sorting them accordingly.
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Lunchtime Activities
The following activities are available for students each lunchtime. 
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Community News
School Contacts
PLEASE NOTE NEW EMAIL FOR OUR O.S.H.C. PROGRAM
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