Oak Park Primary School
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The Oak Leaf

Address: Willett Avenue, Oak Park VIC 3046
T:(03) 9306 9182 E: oak.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Issue 18
June 23th 2022
Oak Park Primary School will work collaboratively to provide a stimulating, safe and challenging learning environment that promotes resilient, innovative thinkers.
Calendar of Events​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
  • ​June 24th - Last day of Term 2 (2pm Dismissal)
  • July 11th - First day of Term 3
  • August 12th - Curriculum Day
  • September 14th & 15th - School Concert - All students to attend both nights
NAIDOC Celebration Day
On Monday, Oak Park Primary School held our NAIDOC Week Celebration Day. NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate and recognise the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The students had the opportunity to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and celebrate the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.

Gabby and Lily from 6J, Elliott from 6D and Elliott and Ollie from FH did a great job at assembly explaining NAIDOC Week and sharing an Acknowledgement of Country.

After lunch, the students rotated through different activities including:
  1. Listening to the Wurundjeri creation story Bunjil the Eagle and creating a feather for a whole school artwork
  2. Learning about the importance of storytelling by listening to the Dreaming story Tiddalick the Frog and creating a Tiddalick chatterbox
  3. Trying out bushfoods by making a lemon myrtle tea to share in a yarning circle
  4. Playing traditional Indigenous games from across Australia

Thank you to Aunty Kellie Hunter and Jon Belling for your guidance in forming our activities and to the Indigenous Education CoP for planning the day. Well done to all staff and students for making it such a fun educational day.
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Principal's Column
Professional Practice Days – Term 3 and Term 4.
You may be aware that the Victorian Government Schools Agreement is currently before the Fair Work Commission. This agreement outlines the working conditions for staff working in government schools. If approved by the commission, the agreement states that teachers will be entitled to 2 further professional practice days in 2022, 2 professional practice days in 2023 and one professional practice day in 2024 and beyond.

For Semester 2, 2022 (Term 3&4) the Department of Education and Training has provided schools with the option to hold each teacher’s allocated professional practice day on the same day for all staff. Students will therefore not be required to attend school on these Professional Practice Days.

This arrangement is to enable the most effective and efficient use of this day and responds to the lack of Casual Replacement Teachers (CRTs) available at present.

At present we have not scheduled these days, but will inform you as early as possible and work to have our after hours school care available on the days to support families.
 
Child safety and Wellbeing Policies at Oak Park
Oak Park is committed to providing a child safe and child friendly environment, where students are safe and feel safe. 

Our child safety and wellbeing policies have recently been updated to align with the expansion of the Child Safe standards. This included attendance at two recent online workshops by Lauren Heard and myself, and consultation with our Parent Education SubCommittee and School Council. Thanks to everyone that has contributed to the process of updating policies; your feedback, insights and proofreading skills are most appreciated.

To outline the measures and strategies we have in place to support, promote and maintain the safety and wellbeing of our students, the updated policies are will be online shortly on our school website noted as ‘2022’.
  • Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
  • Child Safety Code of Conduct
  • Child Safe Standards Risk Register
  • Child safety Responding and Reporting Obligations Policy and Procedure
  • Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy
  • Bullying Prevention Policy
  • Volunteers Policy
  • Digital Learning Policy
 
As valuable partners in promoting and maintaining child safety and wellbeing at Oak Park we welcome and encourage your community feedback. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions in relation to our updated child safe policies and practices, please contact me via email.
 
End of Term 2 Reminder – June 24th 2:00 pm
The last day of Term 2 is Friday 24th July. Please be aware that students will be dismissed earlier than usual, at 2:00pm. There will be an assembly at 1:30 pm in the Gymnasium to finish off the term. School will resume on Monday 11th July for the start of Term 3.

Kind regards,
Michael Gill
Principal
Foundation News
SPECIAL PERSONS AFTERNOON TEA
On Tuesday the 14th of June, the Foundation students held a Special Person’s Afternoon Tea. Each student invited one special person in their life to come into our classrooms and enjoy some delicious food. It was lovely to meet parents, aunties, uncles and grandparents across all three grades. Thank you to everybody who took time out of their day to come and share this special afternoon with us. 
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FIRE RESCUE VICTORIA VISIT
Over the last two weeks, the Foundation students have been lucky enough to receive two visits from Fire Rescue Victoria Station 7. What made these visits particularly special was that May from FA’s Dad, David, was actually one of the visiting fire fighters!

We learnt all about safe meeting places, the difference between a good fire and a bad fire, how to crawl low in smoke and what number to call in an emergency – 000.

On their second visit, the fire fighters let students spray the hose and climb inside the truck. We couldn’t believe how far the hose could reach! Cahill from FM said the day was “amazing and great!”.

Thank you to David and the other fire fighters from FRV Station 7. We loved having you visit us at Oak Park Primary School! 
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Grade 3/4 News
Throughout Term 2, Grade 3 /4 students have been exploring what connects us to our history. We have studied significant symbols, celebrations and traditions in both Australian and international cultures. On Friday 17th June, the students invited their parents to visit the Grade 3/4 classrooms for an Inquiry exhibition showcasing some of the wonderful work they created including:
  • Information Reports on a culture, tradition or celebration of their choice that students independently researched facts about.
  • A story about their identity at school that students created using indigenous storytelling symbols.
 Thank you to the parents that attended our exhibition! 
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​The meaning behind my story is students at the school leaving to go on their own paths but their friends support them the whole way. The kangaroo prints mean the friends helping achieve our goals. The sun signs are people’s footprints. The kangaroo tracks are the friends helping them the whole way. The meeting area in the middle is the school.
 
Grace 3/4H
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My story is when I am with my family we are strong, we tackle challenges, we achieve our goals like we are snakes slithering around challenges. When I leave home and get back in the dark, I am ready to take on new challenges that come my way the next day. The trees show me growing taller, faster and stronger. The meeting place is my school, the water represents me flowing through hard work.
 
Alessandro 3/4H
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The meaning behind my story is friendship and the power of friendship. The symbols show my friends and the boomerangs are the hard times that we have been through but we pierced through them with spears. The meeting place is our school and the flowers represent us improving.
 
Mac 3/4H
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The big people are Sally and Michael caring for the school. The main thing is the meeting place and the lakes, the lakes represent the adventures this school has gone through. The people around the meeting place are the kids and in the meeting place are three circles. Each of the circles represent a place in the school. The meaning of my piece is caring for others and coming together.
 
Mary 3/4H
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Curtis 3/4W
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Josh W 3/4W
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Claudia 3/4W
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Jesse 3/4P
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Arlo 3/4P
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Ricky & Ruby 3/4T
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Hazal 3/4T
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Ivy & Indie D 3/4T
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Luke 3/4S
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Lucy 3/4S
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Tiana 3/4S
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Sheree 3/4S
Grade 5/6 News
Inquiry Expo Extravaganza
Get ready! We are excited for you to experience our Inquiry Expo Extravaganza!

Where: 5/6 Building
When: Friday, 24th June
What time: 9-10 a.m. 


Please join us as the students showcase a collection of masterpieces, including artwork, mosaics, and a variety of written genres, about how we impact our environment, natural disasters and how we can manage them.

We look forward to seeing you there!
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Oak Park Primary Soccer News
THANK YOU ANITA!
Many thanks to Anita for getting the schools soccer team into the semi finals.  You have done a whole lot to  support us and give us tips as well as feedback.  We’ve had a lot of fun playing soccer this term and we wouldn’t have made it this far without a great coach like you.
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Physical Education
Our Girls & Mixed netball teams had their games rained out and were unable to complete their grand finals last week. This week we will conclude our match ups against arch rivals St. Francis this Thursday. It has been great to see the students practicing their skills and tactics during each lunchtime in the leadup to the big day! The whole community wishes you good luck for your special day.

 In other news, students in grades F-6 have begun to focus on our athletics unit of work in PE. Each class is focusing on the word “Technique” and how it applies to track and field events. Students are using ipads to help analyse footage from practice sessions and identifying areas where they can refine their technique for particular skills. This week we have been focusing on high jump and long jump technique.
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Thanks!
 Liam
NBL Clinic
We still have plenty of spots available for the NBL clinic incursion tomorrow, Friday 24th June. 
If your child is keen to join and you haven't informed me, there is still time to do so! 
Just email me at Liam.Sutawan@education.vic.gov.au and I'll add your child to the list.

Kind regards,
Liam
Performing Arts
Lion King Jnr- Cast announcement
 
Today students from Grade 5/6 will find out who receives a main role in our production of the Lion King Jnr! It is an exciting moment for those who receive roles!
Twelve teachers have been involved in the audition process, following a rubric (point system) while watching auditions and all auditions were filmed to ensure multiple teachers could have input in the process. There were many factors to consider and the teachers have done an excellent job deciding the cast.
Our aim for this production is to ensure we have given the maximum number of roles; the cast is completely doubled to ensure that as many students as possible receive a role.
If you child does not receive a role, please support them by encouraging them to practise resilience and continue to put their names down for future roles/experiences. It may be a wonderful opportunity to discuss options for drama classes outside of school if your child feels passionately about drama.
 
Please note-
Students who are offered a role will bring home a note that needs to be signed tonight so they can receive the script. We need to ensure your child has the time outside of school to learn lines and practise songs with someone at home, at school they will rehearse during 2-3 lunchtime during term 3 so it’s important that your child understands the time commitment.
 
We wish all the students’ luck and can’t wait to announce the cast at recess today!
Visual Arts
Grade 5 and 6 students have been learning about shading techniques over a series of lessons during Term 3. Many of the students have made wonderful advances in their ability to be able to use shading in their drawings. Below is an example of shading spheres showing a light source created by a handful of students in Grade 5 and 6 over the journey.
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Year 6-7 Transition    
​On Wednesday 20th July Parents/Carers will be notified in writing of their childs Year 7 placement offer for the 2023 school year.  The letter will also include a Placement Acceptance Slip for parents/carers completion, which will need to be returned to school by Wednesday 10th August.
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Should your residence not be in the zone of the school you have applied for, and that school is strictly zoned, you may need to go through an appeal process.   This notification will include a rationale for any non-placement if applicable.  If this occurs and your child is not placed at their preference schools, your Application will be sent to the designated Neighbourhood school.
 Wednesday 20th July
Oak Park Primary will notify parents/carers of year 6 students, of their childs year 7 placement offer for 2023 school year.
​Friday 29th July
Closing date for parents/carers to lodge a written non-placement appeal with their preferred secondary schools.
Home Reading Books
If your child selects home reading books from either of the orange, pink, yellow, blue, green or red book boxes, could you please ensure your child returns these before Friday 24th June? This will enable teachers to sort through the book boxes and prioritise levels of books that need to be replaced. If you require additional reading material content over the school holidays, your child will have access to Engage Literacy website (see Yellow Home Reading diary for details) or try visiting your local library. We hope students who select books from either purple, black or black/pink are enjoying reading some of the new books that have been recently purchased. 

Kind regards,
Amy Devlin and Sheryl Hamilton
PFA News
Dear Families, 

This week is your last chance to clean out your cupboards to donate your old shoes for recycling! Drop them off in the tub at the front office at school (beside the stick insect cage) by this Friday 24 June.
We are accepting:
  • Athletic lifestyle shoes
  • Runners/sneakers/trainers
  • Any sports branded shoes
  • Thongs and slides
  • Golf shoes
  • Football boots 
Thank you for your support of another great cause!
​Jen, Bianca and Eugenie
on behalf of the PFA
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Casual Clothes Day
Great news!   To celebrate the end of term, we are making tomorrow a Casual Clothes Day! Make sure you bring a gold coin donation to help raise money to go towards funding our school camps. Feel free to dress how you like but make sure to wear clothes appropriate for the weather - beanies, scarves, leg warmers, mittens.

From the Fundraising Team
Ada, Ava and Rahni
Lost Property
Please visit the Lost Property area before the end of term to pick up misplaced jumpers, water bottles and lunchbox containers. These containers are currently on top of the Lost Property cupboard.

Please label your child’s items as it makes it so much easier for them to be returned.
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Thank you!
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Chess Club
Please find attached form for Term 3 Chess.  Chess is run by Grant Szuveges in the Multi Purpose room every Wednesday first half of lunch time.  If you would like your child to earn how to play with a FIDE Master, please complete the form and make payment into the Oak Park primary School Bank account.
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Team Kids - Oak Park Primary School Winter Flyer
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Community News
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School Contacts
​Principal
Michael Gill
Michael.Gill@education.vic.gov.au​​
Office Manager
Fran MacDonough
Frances.Macdonough@education.vic.gov.au ​
Business Manager
Brinley Keep
Brinley.Keep@education.vic.gov.au
​​PFA President
​Eugenie Baulch
​​4721-PFAOPPS@schools.vic.edu.au
​School Council President ​​
​​Jo Pleban​​
​​Jo.Pleban@education.vic.gov.au
​​​OSHC Coordinator
​Julie Andrews
​​oshc.oak.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au
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Copyright ©2023 Oak Park Primary School - Creating The Future together
  • Home
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    • Annual Implementation Plan & Strategic Plan
    • Annual Report
  • Curriculum
    • Literacy
    • Mathematics
    • Inquiry
    • Performing Arts
    • Physical Education
    • Japanese
    • Visual Arts
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  • Students
    • Foundation Transition
    • Foundation
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    • Helpful Links
    • Music Program
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    • Respectful Relationships
    • School Wide Positive Behaviours
    • TeamKids
  • School Virtual Tours
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