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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 14
October 22nd 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
Have you ever heard of an ant mill? This is something that has been observed when a group of army ants, which are blind, are separated from the main group and start to follow each other. They form a circle, sometimes hundreds of metres in circumference, and continuously walk round and round following the one in front of them. They do this until they die of exhaustion. Have you ever driven through a country area, seen a herd of sheep and one gets spooked and starts running and the rest of the herd just follow? Then there’s the story of the scientists who were exploring the behaviour of chimpanzees in a laboratory setting. They put five chimpanzees in a room. In the middle of the room was a ladder and at the top of the ladder was a platform with some bananas. When a chimp started to climb the ladder to get to the bananas, they would be instantly be squirted with a high pressure hose. After a while, the chimps learned that you don’t climb the ladder. The researchers swapped one of the chimps with a new chimp. When the new chimp attempted to climb the ladder, the other chimps would remonstrate and prevent him from climbing the ladder until he eventually gave up. A second new chimp was brought into the room replacing another one of the original ones. He too copped the treatment whenever he tried to scale the ladder. Scientists continued to swap chimps until eventually there were five ‘new’ chimps in the room who had never been squirted by the cannon. None of the new chimpanzees would even attempt to climb the ladder and none of them actually knew why. We like to think that us humans are on a higher plane than animals and insects but how many times have you come across people who do what they are doing simply because they have always done it, not once considering that there might be an alternative? That’s it. That’s my column. School Photos
Following the easing of restrictions, school photography has been granted access within the current 2nd Step and following Covid19 Guidelines. 
To Newsletter or not to Newsletter?
We are currently reviewing our school newsletter. A few years ago, we moved away from a paper newsletter to the current online version which can be accessed via Compass. In ‘normal’ times we send out the newsletter each week, but during the remote learning period the newsletter was put on hold and communication between school and families was mostly done via alerts on Compass. We have found Compass alerts work better because they are immediate, simple to generate and easily accessible. All teachers have the ability to post a message on Compass without having to go through a range of other people to have the note posted. The current newsletter sometimes include community notices too which we can also include via Compass. We haven’t done a lot of this up to this point, but that’s easy to change. If you have any thoughts on whether we should continue to produce a weekly newsletter, please let me know via email: [email protected] Pick up & Drop off zone
It has come to our attention today, after multiple complaints from parents, that some families are not accessing the pick-up and drop off zone in a safe way. Today we have seen parents parked in the pick-up zone and refusing to move when asked to by other parents. This is extremely unsafe for our students. When families did eventually move their cars, they exited right from the area, which is illegal and unsafe. If your child is not waiting for you when you arrive at the pick-up zone, you are not to leave your car and wait for them or park in this area. You must exit the area by turning left, go around the block and return to the queue of cars doing the right thing. We would also ask parents when you collect your child from the school grounds, that you make a quick exit and not utilise the play equipment or wait around the school grounds. We thank all those families who are picking up their children in a safe way and following the safety rules. Melissa Ly
Friendship Day
We have organized to celebrate Friendship day next Tuesday 27th October. At lunch time, our wellbeing leaders will be giving out snap lock bags with the materials required for students to make their own friendship bracelets at home, or as an activity in class. Snap lock bags will be pre-prepared, due to the situation we’re in with covid. Students will line up at the appropriate year level on the day, and basically just grab a bag (they’ll have 3 options to choose from) Parent Opinion Survey
WE WANT OUR PARENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK! Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst all parents. It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, student engagement and experiences of remote and flexible learning. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. A random sample of parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year, the Parent Opinion Survey will be conducted from now until Friday 13th November. The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek. Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information. Maths Club
Foundation to Grade 2 students are invited to join Maths Club this Tuesday, October 27th. The Maths Captains (Amine & Lachlan) will be running the session in the 5/6 area, during the first half of lunch. This week’s challenge will be working with unfix materials. Here is a look at what the Grades 3 – 6’s worked on, as part of the MAB challenge this week.
2021 Classes – Parent Input
Often during this time of year the school begins to get questions about how class lists for the next school year are developed. Basically, we begin working on this early in Term 4. The following criteria are considered as the staff creates a recommendation to the principal for class composition that includes: students with special learning styles and needs
Here are the steps to the process:
Book Club
To celebrate Book Week, the Foundation students were invited to come to school dressed up as their favourite book character. The students had a Foundation costume parade and then had lunch with their Grade 6 buddies. We had so much fun, have a look at some of our wonderful costumes.
Lunchtime Activities Program
Our Lunchtime Activities Program has recommenced for Term 4. See below for the table of activities that are available for all students. 
2021 Foundation Transition
Maths Club is back!
Grades 3 – 6 students are invited to join Maths Club this Tuesday, October 20th. The Maths Captains (Amine & Lachlan) will be running the session in the 5/6 area, during the first half of lunch. This week’s challenge will be working with MAB materials. See you there! Art News
OPPS Kids Art Works Fundraiser 2020 It’s time to get the students’ creativity flowing to create some awesome artworks for the PFA Kids Art Works Fundraiser. All students in the school will be creating a piece of art that will be able to be printed on greeting cards, calendars, diaries, sketch books or mousepads. These items can be purchased by filling in and emailing an order form, which will be available on Compass shortly, to the PFA email address: [email protected] The theme for this year is “Free Expression” where the students are able to create a 2D picture or design of their own choice, using a variety of mediums to do so. The students will create their artwork during two Art classes, and will then need to take them home to finish them off (or just to let parents view their work) and return them to the Art Room by Friday October 30. This is a school fundraising event and has been quite successful in the past. Funds raised through participating in this initiative are used to assist in providing a quality educational experience for all students at the school. Any questions regarding this fundraising event can be directed by email to Eugenie Baulch [email protected] or David Flint (Visual Arts Teacher) [email protected] Thanks again for supporting Oak Park Primary School. 
Wellbeing
We’ve had a very smooth start to the school term, with all our students settling into their classrooms seamlessly. We are all feeling very encouraged and confident that everyone has felt very welcomed back to school, and it’s been great to see the smiles on student, parent and staff faces. The teachers have very much enjoyed re-connecting with their classes and parents. A BIG THANK YOU to our wellbeing leaders for doing an amazing job for supporting our students’ transition back to school on Monday morning. Everyone at Oak Park Primary School can’t believe that it has been that long since we’ve all been back to face to face teaching and learning. We have been able to achieve a whole new learning environment within such a short time frame! We recognize that learning is important, but there is also a bigger purpose this term- health! EVERYONE’S health and wellbeing. Student wellbeing If you have concerns over your child’s mental health please do not hesitate to contact me on 9306 9182 and I can put you in touch with different agencies in our community. Here is some useful information on improving mental health:
Your health and wellbeing is just as important to look after as your child’s. All of our parents at Oak Park Primary are doing a fantastic job, with many of you having experienced juggling Remote Learning and working from home yourself. Remember to be kind to yourselves! Here are some resources and links for you to explore:
Maria Giordano Assistant Principal CSEF Changes for 2020
Eligibility (If you have already received CSEF at the beginning of the year, you will not receive another CSEF payment) The final eligibility date for CSEF in 2020 has been extended from 14 April until 5 October 2020. Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. The normal special consideration arrangements continue in addition. Payments will be made at 50 per cent of the standard per student rates for families eligible between 15 April and 5 October 2020. Process changes The attached application form must be submitted via the Oak Park Primary School email, [email protected] by 31st October, 2020. CSEF usage is normally restricted to camps, sports and excursions activities. As there is limited opportunity to undertake these activities this year, it was announced in term 2 that CSEF could be used to pay for voluntary school charges, books and stationery. It may not be used for school uniforms, before/after school care, music lessons, formals/graduations or compulsory fees. Please click here for a printable copy of the application form. 
Students with Asthma
Grass pollen season occurs between October and December. Parents are reminded of an increased risk of seasonal asthma, hay fever and epidemic thunderstorm asthma during this time. Epidemic thunderstorm asthma events are triggered by an uncommon combination of high grass pollen levels and a certain type of thunderstorm, resulting in large numbers of people developing asthma symptoms over a short period of time. People with a history of asthma, undiagnosed asthma or hay fever are at an increased risk of epidemic thunderstorm asthma during this time. Having both hay fever and asthma that are poorly managed increases the risk further. More than ever before, this year it’s important for staff and students to manage any hay fever or asthma symptoms, as these conditions can produce symptoms that are similar to coronavirus (COVID-19) such as runny nose, cough or shortness of breath. The best way to reduce and prevent symptoms of asthma or hay fever and reduce unnecessary absences from school is to follow an up-to-date asthma action plan or hay fever treatment plan. Admin staff will be checking all students Asthma Plans and Ventolin expiry dates this week. If you are contacted by us advising that your childs medication is out of date, we would appreciate a prompt return of in date medication. If your childs Asthma plan has changed this year, we would ask that you supply an updated Action Plan signed by your childs Doctor. This is extremely important as many students require Ventolin or similar whilst at school. Community News
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School Contacts - Please take note of new email address
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