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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 01
February 2nd 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
Smooth Start to 2023! Welcome back to a new school year! It was great to see students start the year positively. Our new Foundation students were really resilient on their first official day of school, I only witnessed tears from a few parents and no students during the staggered start on Tuesday. Thank you to the Parents and Friends Association for the ‘Tea and Tears’ welcome event and the Foundation team for their preparedness for Day 1. Technology Acceptable Use Agreements – Please read, discuss and return. Shortly our Technology Acceptable Use Agreements will be printed and sent home for every student. Once they are returned to classrooms teachers will begin to introduce technology into their lesson planning. We complete this process every year to ensure students and parents understand the importance of using technology safely and purposely at home and school. Please ensure you read the agreement closely with your child to ensure they understand what apps should and shouldn’t be on their iPad and monitor the contents of camera rolls and messages. We appreciate your support to ensure student iPads come to school charged, in sturdy cases and with appropriate content, ready to support learning in the classroom. Specialist Programs – Science and Japanese commence. We’re really excited to commence the additional specialist subjects for 2023! Stephanie Lambiris steps into the Science role with great excitement and Natalie Smith joins us to lead Japanese. Both Science and Japanese will operate as semester-long subjects, while Physical Education, Performing Arts and Visual Art will operate year-long for all students. Great to have 5 different specialist opportunities for students across the year and provide curriculum-driven variety and excitement for our students. In Semester 1, our Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 students will begin with Science and the Year 3-6 students will learn Japanese. We look forward to updates and further information in upcoming newsletters from Nat and Steph. Gaga Ball - completed and ready for launch
The Gaga Ball pit project has been completed! The fundraising for the Gaga Ball Pit from student efforts, the school musical and the Parents and Friends Association has allowed us to design and complete the entire project including the rubber matting for added safety.
A really ambitious student idea, I’m proud of the dedication and commitment to the design and fundraising. Our School Captains and Year 6 fundraising leaders have worked with a landscape architect to design the area and arena. We’re aiming to open the space next week, after communicating the rules and student schedule for the space. We look forward to working with our School Captains and Student Representative Council to develop the major fundraising goal for 2023. Kind regards, Michael Gill Principal Dogs Connect
Zoe update Zoe, our school wellbeing dog will be starting back at school on Wednesday 15th Feb (Week 4). She has grown a lot over the holidays, not just in size, but also in cheekiness! She has learnt some new tricks, loves going for walks and will do anything for her favourite treat – chicken! We need to remember the 3 Expectations when Zoe is back on-site. She gets very excited when around people because she loves attention. By ignoring Zoe as she approaches and speaking to the person and not her, she soon realises she will only get attention once she’s calm and relaxed. By making eye contact with Zoe and saying her name, she gets over excited and distracted. She doesn’t display the behaviour we want to see when she’s in the classroom while in this state. This will take a long time for both her and the community to learn, but we will get there! :)
Interschool Sports
Assembly Schedule - Term 1
Meet the Teacher Interviews
Bookings can now be made for our 'Meet the Teacher' evening on Wednesday 22nd February (Week 5) via the COMPASS app. These are different to regular parent/teacher interviews as the discussion will centre around exchanging information concerning your child including such aspects as medical, social or emotional issues. It is also a window of opportunity for you to get to know the teacher better. Please be aware that the time allocation for these meetings is only 10 minutes. Interviews will be on-site, in your child’s classroom. Specialist teachers will be available in the library if you would like to meet with them. Please note: If your child has had the classroom teacher before and you do not feel an interview is necessary, there is no need to book a time. Foundation parents do not need to book a time as they are meeting the classroom teacher during their scheduled EOI interview. Parent Hacks
This year we are creating a new space in the newsletter for parents to share their top tips which have made school life easier! Please send in your favourite schooling tips to Fran at [email protected] Parent Hack Number 1 At the start of every term I give my child a purse filled with $15 of one dollar coins. That way I know I’m not scrambling for coins on Zooper Dooper day or gold coin donation events. If I don’t have coins I go to the local laundrette and trade my notes for coins. It’s a small thing that has made a big difference! 
Specialist
Performing Arts Welcome to 2023! Performing Arts is an excellent opportunity for students to establish positive relationships with new friends, play games to promote team building and creatively express themselves. As always, students will be participating in singing, dancing and drama. New parents- Last year was our concert year, the Lion King Jnr was such an amazing production and the students learnt so much from the experience. Concerts are held every two years. This year students will perform drama and dances with their grades and show class performances to other grades or at assemblies. Students will be introduced to new dance styles and dance skills and focus on drama through literature. Older students will have the opportunity to participate in more formal performances, the two main experiences being Tournament of the Minds and Wakkakiri Dance competition. More information will be given at a later date. If you have any questions regarding Performing Arts, or if there are new parents in the school who have expertise in this area please don’t hesitate to email me. I would love to hear from you! Melanie [email protected] Physical Education Hello and welcome back to school! The Physical Education program at Oak Park is a safe learning environment where students are tasked with movement challenges, experimenting with strategies and working cooperatively in the hope that each student becomes a life-long participant in physical activity. In Term 1, students will focus on summer sports. This includes sports such as cricket, softball, tennis and all of the Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) associated with these sports- including throwing, catching, striking, running, dodging and more! Students in Junior Years (F-2) have a broad focus on FMS and are learning to fine-tune their technique across a range of skills. We will being with throwing, catching, running and striking. Students in Grades 3-4 will begin to challenge themselves in more game-based learning scenarios with a major focus on technique, communication and strategy. Students in Grades 5-6 will have the opportunity to represent our school in interschool competition which will be held each Friday morning. The sports on offer this term include cricket, softball and bat tennis. Other sports include tennis and fun Friday (tennis and fun Friday are not involved in interschool competition). If you have any questions regarding PE, or if there are new parents in the school who wish to get involved with the sport program please do not hesitate to reach out to me! Liam Sutawan Visual Arts Welcome back for another creative and inspiring year in Visual Arts at OPPS! I am looking forward to working with all students to get their imaginations fired up to create some outstanding artworks. A big thank you to the community for providing such positive feedback about the Aboriginal Bottle Top Mural that was installed near the Library at the end of the school year in 2022. Below is an outline of what each year level will be focussing on in the Art Room during Term 1 2023. Visual Arts - Foundation Students will be introduced to concepts such as drawing and tracing using a variety of mediums. Students will also learn about Primary and Secondary colours and will be introduced to the colour wheel. Tracing around shapes, hands and arms will assist in developing the students’ fine motor skills. The Foundation students will also learn how to draw people by adding features such as hair, eyebrows, hands fingers etc. The significance of Harmony Day will be observed and artworks created using recycled materials. Visual Arts – Grade 1/2 Students will create artworks using complimentary colours as well as secondary colours using a variety of visual arts mediums. Ruler use will be a focus to assist students with accurately using these drawing tools. Dr Seuss’ birthday will be acknowledge and the students will learn how to draw a version of the Cat in the Hat. Harmony day will be acknowledged and some jewellery made from recycled bottle tops. Students will also experiment with creating some emojis using their own design elements as well as recreating some of the classic emojis of today. Visual Arts – Grade 3/4 Students will create artworks using cardboard to make a stencil type design called collagraphs. These stencils are similar to a rubbing template where the students apply paper over their design and create a rubbing using grey lead, crayons or dry pastels. Students will also learn about the Day of the Dead celebrated widely in Mexico. This day is to remember relatives that have passed and the “Sugar Skull” can be observed by the thousands with many detailed and intricate designs being used. Students will learn how to draw a basic skull and then decorate with their own stylised designs. Harmony Day will be acknowledge and an artwork created. Finally a piece of artwork using a repeated word (radial balance design) will be created which gives the illusion of a geometric pattern when first viewed. Visual Arts – Grade 5/6 Students will create a multimedia artwork that shows all of the things that interest the student or things they like to do. Students will use a photograph of themselves on a painted background, then draw and/or print the items appearing to be bursting from their heads into the upper half of the page. Students will also observe geometry used in Islamic tile art (repeated geometry). Students will create their own version using media of their choice. Harmony day will be observed and the students will create a “Peace Dove” design using 4 different background techniques. The students will use a variety of mediums to create their artworks this term and will be encouraged to share these with the class using a camera and TV along with feedback prompts to assist with presenting their artwork. A note for new parents to the school Art smocks are not required to be brought in from home. The art room has a supply of smocks that students can use. However, if you would like to send an art smock to school with your child(ren), you are more than welcome to do so (smocks from home would need to be stored in your child’s classroom). David Flint Visual Arts Teacher Japanese I am excited to be able to be part of the Japanese Language Program at OPPS this year. The Japanese Language program will focus on both language and culture. The aim will be for students to develop knowledge and skills in communicating in Japanese, as well as understanding the links between culture and language. The program will focus on language used for everyday communication including greetings, family, food and counting. Students will be given lots of opportunities for verbal practice and interaction with peers. We will explore Japanese culture and learn language associated with the students interests in these areas such as traditions, sport and art. Students will also be introduced to the 3 writing systems, hiragana, katakana and kanji and begin to practice writing numbers and common characters/words. If you have any questions regarding the Japanese Language Program please don’t hesitate to contact me. Natalie Smith Science Hello! I’m Stephanie the specialist science teacher and I am very excited to be welcoming the junior school to the science room this term. Science for the junior school will be all about curiosity and making sense of the living world through observation and firsthand experiences. Students will be introduced to basic scientific skills and attitudes. We will be exploring the natural world around us, with a particular focus on living creatures - their physical appearance, life cycle, survival needs and special habitats. Students will be encouraged to make discoveries, build connections as well as learn how to pose and respond to questions, and make simple predictions. If you have any questions about the science program, please feel free to get in touch at any time. Stephanie Grade 5/6 Newsletter
Community News
Kelly Sports
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Australian Girls Choir Open Day
Look no further than the Australian Girls Choir (AGC) because we encourage, challenge and inspire girls as they learn to sing, dance and perform. School aged girls are invited to come along to our Open Day on Saturday February 18 to try our fun and inclusive classes and learn more about being part of the AGC! Please visit our website to register to attend our free Open Day: https://ausgirlschoir.com.au/joinagc
Ace Tennis School
Glenroy Heighbourhood House
Glenroy Neighbourhood House works in partnership with many local organisations to ensure strong outcomes for our community. We also prioritise delivering a range pre-accredited, social, health and wellbeing programs. Please check out our brand new website with our offerings that may be of interest to local families. https://gnh.org.au/classes-and-courses Of particular note, families where parents would like to improve their written and spoken language so they can support their children with their learning and homework , our English for Parent’s + Homework Club will be of interest. 
Baseball
The Saints
School Contacts
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