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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 16
May 31st 2024 |
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
Term 2 Events:
Term 3 Events:
Term 4 Events:
Principal's Column
Congratulations to Denise, 50 Years of teaching! We are thrilled to congratulate Denise Anderson on an extraordinary milestone: 50 years of dedicated service in public education. Recently, Denise was honoured at a gala event by Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, celebrating her remarkable achievement. To further commend her amazing career, our staff hosted a special lunch event this week in her honour. Denise's commitment and passion for education have inspired countless students and colleagues throughout the years. We are incredibly proud to have her as part of our school community. Congratulations, Denise, on this well-deserved recognition and thank you for your unwavering dedication to education! Curriculum Day Focus – Differentiation in Problem Solving This Friday our teaching staff are learning more about differentiation (supporting and extending students within the same lesson) within problem solving maths lessons. Our dedicated staff will spend the day engaged in professional learning, aimed at enhancing our problem-solving instruction and making it more relevant and engaging for our students. Key areas of focus include: Developing Real-Life Problems: We explored ways to create problems connected to students' real-life experiences to boost their engagement and motivation. Using Concrete Materials for Differentiation: We discussed how concrete materials can support differentiated learning, ensuring all students can access the curriculum effectively. Extension Prompts for Able Students: We worked on quickly planning extension prompts to further challenge our high-ability students, ensuring they are continually motivated and stretched. Effective Enabling Prompts: We focused on designing enabling prompts that act as stepping stones, helping students access and understand the main problem. We emphasized the importance of ensuring these prompts lead back to the main task. We believe these strategies will greatly enhance our problem-solving curriculum, making it more engaging and supportive for all students. Thank you for your continued support as we strive to provide the best learning experiences for our students. Kind regards, Michael Gill Principal |
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ENROLMENT & TRANSITION INFORMATION
School Tours
School Tours for prospective 2025 families are happening on the following dates, starting at 10am. 7th June & 21st June. We ask parents to register to attend a school tour by calling the school on 9306-9182. 
2025 Enrolments
2025 Enrolments are now open. Please call the school on 9306-9182 or email [email protected] for enrolment information. For new families to the school, please check your designated neighbourhood school at www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au Should you reside outside the school zone you are welcome to complete an ‘Application for Enrolment’ to be placed on our waitlist. Year 6-7 Transition
Oak Park Primary School will advise families of the outcome of their Application via letter after the 17th July. WHOLE SCHOOL
WHAT'S COMING UP
Assembly Timetable
School Concert
SEWING/PROPS helpers needed!
It’s time to start organising for the school concert and we are looking for crafty parents to help! Please email Melanie [email protected] with your skill set and the amount of time you can give. Let me know if you are free over the school holidays to work on a project. Sewers- you will need your own sewing machine, but also hand sewers are needed. We have costumes of various skill levels from beginners to advanced sewers. Crafters- get your glue gun ready, we have head pieces and props to paint and decorate. Props- If you have experience in this area or you’re interested in getting involved please contact us. T-shirt printing- anyone have a t-shirt printing business? Wood work- if you have a jigsaw in your garage and can cut some wood pieces please let the school know. VANS/UTES needed! At various times next term we may need help to pick up or deliver items. We will also need help taking props to the Clocktower on Monday 16th September and returning items to school after the shows. Thank you! GOOD NEWS STORY
Congratulations to our wonderful Foundation teacher Lauren and her husband Adam for their beautiful wedding on the weekend. We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness together!
P.F.A News
PFA News: Student Disco, Friday 14 June
Dear Families, The Student Disco is back! The disco will be held in the school gym on Friday 14 June with tunes courtesy of DJ Joe from Weddings Parties Anything. Entry is $5 per student and there will be two sessions of dancing: Foundation to Grade 2 5.30–7 pm Grades 3 to 6 7.30–9 pm Don’t forget to BYO water bottle, labelled with your name. Senior students should wear white or neon to enjoy the glow! The PFA will need parent volunteers to help set up (5–5.30 pm) and for each session (times as above). If you are able to help out, please email [email protected] indicating which session you are available. Look forward to seeing you there! Pyjama Day at Oak Park - Next Tuesday, June 4th
Save the Date
The PFA will be running a Trivia Night on Saturday 7th September. More information will be coming, but please save the date, mark it in your calendars now. I’m sure it will be a fun night. Student-led Conferences
On Wednesday 26th June 2024, we have our student-led conferences. They take place after you have received your child’s Semester 1 report and are an opportunity for you and your child to meet with the classroom teacher. Why are they called student-let conferences? The students will lead the start of the conference, showcasing their learning from Semester 1. Students in the junior grades, up to Grade 3/4, will be using the Seesaw app to show their learning journey across a range of curriculum areas. Students in 5/6 will be using Google Classroom to present their learning. Will I get a chance to talk with my child’s teacher about how they are going? Yes. Once your child has shared/presented their learning, you will have an opportunity to discuss their progress with the teacher. Be mindful that your child will be present, so please keep the conversation focused on celebrating their achievements and what their future goals may be. Students will walk away feeling much better if you focus on their strengths rather that their weaknesses. How long does the conference go for? The conference goes for 15 mins. The student component will go for around 5-7mins and you will have the remaining time to talk with the classroom teacher. Can I speak with the specialist teachers? Yes, the specialist teachers will not be taking bookings, but they will be sitting in the library, and you can drop in and visit them. You do not need to meet with the specialist teachers, but they will be available if you have any questions. How do I book a time with the classroom teacher? Bookings will be made available via the Compass app from Monday 3rd June 2024. If you have trouble booking, please contact the office. We will not be booking times for parents, but we are always happy to help ensure you can use the booking function on the app. Lunchtime Clubs
Lunchtime clubs are in full swing, and it has been great to see students enjoying the different activities in their break time. Please see the updated timetable below. 
The Wellbeing Hub
The Wellbeing Hub has been particularly popular with our junior students wanting to come inside and draw. It has been so popular that the purpose of the Wellbeing Hub being a quiet space for students to retreat to if needed, is being lost and attracting too many students. We have now added an extra drawing club with Alex on a Wednesday and clarified the purpose of the Wellbeing Hub. Please see below. 
WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING
Lost Property
Our lost property cupboard outside the Grade 5/6 area is absolutely overflowing! There must be at least 50 bomber jackets in there! As parents know, these jackets are not a cheap piece of uniform, so to see so many there, most with no names, is extremely disappointing! If your child has lost their bomber jacket, please come and search through our lost property. As many do not have any names on them, we would also ask parents to please put your child's name on their uniform pieces, preferably not just on the tag. Any items still in lost property unnamed by the end of term, will be given away. SPECIALIST
Physical Education
Over the last couple of weeks, the grade 1 an 2 students have been learning about invasion games in PE. The focus of these lessons was to help develop the students’ understanding of basic attacking and defending ideas in sports such as footy, netball and basketball. The students had a blast practicing skills of throwing, catching and movement in space with the help of coach Zoe from Kelly Sports. As students enter grade 3, they will continue to further develop their understanding and execution of invasion game skills in increasingly challenging scenarios. 
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Science
In Science lessons this week our junior scientists have been participating in experiments to explore push and pull forces using simple machines. In our ‘Lever It!’ lesson Grade 1 and 2 students had a hands-on, shared experience of using levers to make objects move. Students discussed how to use a lever to make objects move without touching them and worked in teams to investigate how far a lever pushes a car when it is hit by balls of different mass rolling down a ramp. In our ‘Pulley Power’ lesson, students considered ways to lift an object, comparing lifting a heavy bucket with and without a simple pulley. 
In foundation classes students have been investigating toys that move, the ways in
which they move and the shapes that help them to move. Students have observed and described toys that move, made predictions, and identified the ways in which toys can move, and grouped them according to specific features of movement. 
Congratulations on all your hard work in Science lessons junior scientists!
Community News
PENOLA SAINTS
PUPPIES FOR SALE
One of our long-term CRTs, Melinda, has been hand-raising these two gorgeous Schnauzer-cross puppies that were rejected by their mother. They were born Sat 27th of April and will be six weeks old (and ready for their “forever home”) on Sat 8th of June. One is a boy with a black coat, the other is a girl with a beige coat. Ideally, it would be wonderful if they could stay together, since they have been ‘orphaned’ together. When they are five weeks old, they will have their first vaccination and be microchipped. If you are interested in buying one (at $800) or both (at $1200), you can contact Melinda & Andrew through this e-mail address [email protected] 
Here are the puppies’ parents – Lola is half Schnauzer, half Pug. Basil is full Schnauzer
Maisy is the full sister of the puppies and belongs to Melinda. She will be two years old in September and was from Lola & Basil’s first litter. She was born with the same coat colour as ‘Little Boy’, but is now silver.
Her coat does not shed. 
CODECAMP
Bookings are now being taken for the Winter school holidays for Codecamp. There is a special discount of $25 for Oak Park Primary students with the code SCHOOL25 
TEAM KIDS
WINTER HOLIDAYS TeamKids have another amazing Winter Holiday program planned! Come along and experience the TeamKids difference:
Head to http://downloads.teamkids.com.au/oak-park-primary.pdf to check out Oak Park Primary 's program + secure your spot today! Are you ready for the COOLEST event of the season? ❄️ It’ll be a winter WONDERLAND at TeamKids’ Winter Disco! Ready your dancing shoes and come along to show us your best dance moves 😀 Book NOW to join - www.teamkids.com.au 
SUSSEX NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE
10 Repairers available. Bring your gardening tools for repairs and sharpening! Heavy duty machine sewing, machine mending, darning, hand mending, general handy work, textile repairs ,locksmith, knife sharpening, jewellery repairs, bicycle repairs, mechanical repairs, electrical and sound equipment repairs. Please bring any spare parts you think may be necessary. Not sure it can be fixed, bring it down for us to look at. No Bookings required, PAY AS YOU FEEL Also available on the day: - Project Pair Up container drop off - Reusable shopping bag drop off - Coffee capsule recycling collection point - Plastic bottle lids collection - Plastic bread tag collection - Container Deposit with Recycle4Change NEW! - Laptop collection with GleeGivers 
INTERSCHOOL CHESS TOURNAMENT
GS CHESS presents: ST ALBANS PRIMARY SCHOOL INTERSCHOOL CHESS TOURNAMENT Where: St Albans Primary School: 39 W Esplanade, St Albans, 3021 Please use the Kate Street entrance to the school. The tournament is in the gym. When: Wednesday June 12th, beginning at 9am, finishing at 2.45pm Entry fees: $33 (includes GST) per student. Entries close Wednesday June 5th. How to register: Payment is by bank transfer. Please include your child’s name and school. Bank details are as follows: GRANT J SZUVEGES BSB Number: 704191 Account Number: 18969 Entering the school on the day: Please use the Kate Street entrance to the school. The tournament is in the gym. Prizes: Medals for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in different age groups as well as medals for best schools. Lunch: Please bring lunch as you would when going to school. Enquiries: For more information, or if you have any further questions, please contact: Grant Szuveges (c/o GS Chess) Phone: 0401-925-075 Email: [email protected] School Contacts
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