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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 38
December 5th 2019 |
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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2020
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Principal's Column
If you are ever in, or around, the school at the end of lunchtime or recess, you’ll hear The Beatles being played over our PA system to let students know playtime is over and if they need a drink, or the toilet, they should go straight away. The music plays for two minutes and the Beatles are perfect for playing before the bell because most of their songs only go for about two minutes. I have asked students to give me some of their music to play before the bell but I am yet to get anyone to donate a CD. Which is fine, because The Beatles are great and I think I am responsible for introducing a whole new generation to them! I even heard some of our students singing ‘Yellow Submarine’ when they came to drop something off at the office recently. I heard a podcast the other day of an interview with Sir Ken Robinson. I have written about Sir Ken before – suffice to say he is one of the world’s great educationalists and a huge advocate for the teaching of creativity in schools. Having grown up in Liverpool, Sir Ken is a Beatles fan too. He said that the ‘Garage Band’ app that most of us have on our phones or iPads has a greater capability than the Abbey Road studios had when The Beatles were making their recordings. The tools that we have at our disposal these days are truly amazing. And I wonder if the Beatles would’ve been better had they had the tools that we have now? Sir Ken made the point though, that it was partly because of the technical limitations that the Beatles faced, that they were so great. They couldn’t simply push a button to produce the sound they were looking for, they had to actually create the sound themselves. And then work out the best ways that a musical pattern would work – a computer wasn’t going to do that for them; it was a creative process. I think the same can be applied when we are working with kids. We have great tools at our disposal but it is very important for kids to have many opportunities to creatively work their way through problems and find their own solutions. Rather than simply having an app that does it for them. BUSY! We are well and truly in the grips of an extremely busy time of the year. At school, there are many scheduled events and happenings crammed into the last few weeks of term. Also of course, many of us have a number of family, and other, commitments which we must attend at this time of the year. It all makes for a fun, but very hectic time! As adults, we can become even more tired than usual but children are probably most affected. Teachers often notice this tiredness having a huge impact in the classroom at this time of the year. I attended a seminar some time ago at which child psyc hologist Andrew Fuller, was the presenter. Andrew spoke in detail about the importance of getting enough sleep – for everyone. Children of about 9 years of age, for example, need a minimum 10 hours sleep each night. This figure only very slightly decreases as children get older. I know it is difficult sometimes, but we ask that you please try to ensure that your child is sufficiently rested and ready to start school each and every day. LOST PROPERTY Our Lost Property cupboard is always overflowing but it seems to reach ‘plague proportions’ at this time of the year! Please check regularly as items do often turn up eventually. Whilst on the subject of Lost Property, parents will from time to time notice that their children will come home with a school hat that doesn’t belong to them. For some reason, hats seem to be ‘fair game’ and are not always returned to their rightful owner. The attitude sometimes appears to be ‘Well I lost my hat, so I’ll scribble out the name of the owner of this one and keep it’. Children need to become responsible for their belongings. Part of this is that articles that don’t belong to them should be returned. Please support this by always returning articles when you know your child is not the rightful owner. Oak Park Family Carols Night
Tonight is the Family Carols Night. The kids have been rehearsing songs, the teachers have their tongs and aprons ready to BBQ, and we will have cold drinks and zooper doopers for sale, to help you cool down. We have lots of stalls, so bring some change and you might be able to get some Christmas shopping done. Carols are from 6:30pm-7:30pm, but the stalls and BBQ will be ready from 5.45pm. If you don't want to buy a sausage or burger, BYO picnic. It's going to be warm and outdoors, so bring a picnic rug, sunscreen and a hat. If all the children are good, they'll be in for a real treat when Santa arrives 
Request for Volunteers for Carols Night
The PFA will be selling zooper doopers and cold drinks on Carols night. We still need volunteers to assist with this, so if you can spare any time between 5:15 and 7.45 on December 5, please email Jen at [email protected]. Your support would be greatly appreciated. PFA Uniform Swap Meet
On Thursday 5th of December 2019 starting at 5.45pm at the Carols Night we will be holding our Uniform Swap Meet. This will give families at school an opportunity to bring in any uniforms (clean and good condition) that are no longer used and swap them for other sizes available. Being after hours this is a great opportunity for all families to come and swap their children’s uniforms. DETAILS: Swap meet will be Thursday 5th of December at 5.45pm during the Family Carols Night. For more detail click here PFA Donation Request for Christmas Raffle The PFA will be running a Christmas raffle on Carols night on December 5th. If you have anything that you can donate towards raffle prices, please bring it to the school office by Wednesday December 4. Thanks for your support. PFA |
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Compass Updates
Compass have introduced new functionality which will allow parents/guardians to streamline their child’s events and excursions:
2020 Enrolments
If you have a child already attending OPPS and you will be enrolling a sibling for 2020 Foundation, we ask that an enrolment form is completed as soon as possible. Please email or call into the Office to get an enrolment form. School Banking
We would love to see more students utilising the school banking. Our school banking is done through the Bendigo Bank Strathmore and is such a great initiative to get students saving up throughout their Primary School years. Forms can be collected from the Office, or you can go direct to the Bendigo Bank to complete a form. Banking is collected on Tuesdays each week. Great to see our regular students building up their savings Parent Helpers afternoon tea – We want to thank you
A reminder that next Monday at 2.00pm we will be holding our annual thank you for all the parents who have assisted in classrooms, on excursions etc throughout the year. Foundation - Pyjama Breakfast
On Friday 29th November, the Foundation students celebrate a fabulous year in Foundation with a ‘Pyjama Breakfast’ at school! Students were invited to come to school in their pyjamas and have breakfast in their classrooms. Students were served a variety of tasty breakfast foods/drinks including pancakes with maple syrup, toast with vegemite and jam, fruit and juice. The Foundation teachers would like to say a HUGE thank you to all our parent volunteers who very kindly cooked and served our breakfast on the morning. We wouldn’t have been able to have such a wonderful morning without all you support!
1/2 Team
Olden School Day As part of our Inquiry topic 'Then and Now' we will be having an 'Olden School Day' on Wednesday 11th December. On the day we will be giving the students experiences of how schools were then and the classroom will be set up to resemble one from the past. Activities will include learning by rote, writing on blackboards, marching into school, knitting, games from the past etc. We would like students to come dressed like they would've in the early days. We also encourage you to send them to school with a typical lunch that would've been brought to school then. (e.g sandwich, fruit, homemade goodies and no prepackaged foods.) Student Wellbeing Program and Wellbeing Leaders – Aged Care Program
Oak Park Primary School is excited to be continuing our Wellbeing program in 2020, with Hilltop Aged Care facility and also a new connection we have with Colton Close in Glenroy. Our 2020 Year 4 students will have the opportunity to be part of the Aged care program and students will be selected through an expression of interest application form. These forms have been sent home and are due back to me by no later than 12th December. Our 2020 Foundation students will be part of an intergenerational program, focused around music and dance with the elderly. Other special events will include 100 Days of Prep, special events and also having the elderly residents listen to students read here at our school. Our wellbeing leaders will play a big part in supporting this program. The Wellbeing program seeks to enrich and expand positive life experiences and help your children become comfortable with our aging population and bring cheer to those who are isolated and lonely. Students have brainstormed a range of activities that we could be involved in while working with the aged care. One of them includes developing a life story that enables the elderly patients to share or perhaps learn about their past history with our students. I’d like to take this opportunity to also congratulate our 2020 Wellbeing leaders. We have a total of 11 wellbeing leaders for 2020. All applicants completed a leadership application form and were selected in consultation with other staff members:-
If there are any queries regarding the program, please feel free to contact me: [email protected] Maria Giordano Student Wellbeing Officer CASEA Program Update - Week 7
Week Seven of the CASEA Program focuses on Negotiation and Cooperation. The group aims to help children develop skills in negotiating so that they learn to choose solutions where both their own and other people’s needs are met. This session continues to focus on the importance of sharing, turn-taking, cooperation, and friendly behaviours. Children will also have time to prepare for their group performance which marks the end of the group the next week. All children in Grades Prep to Three will participate in classroom activities that focus on how to cooperate and negotiate solutions that meet everyone’s needs. Helping your child be a confident and involved learner When you encourage and support your child to be a curious and active learner, your child experiences learning as fun and rewarding. They learn to love learning! And that’s the key to becoming a confident and involved learner. Confident and involved learners enjoy exploring and experimenting. They meet challenges and take risks. They learn that it’s okay to fail and that they can get help when they need it. As they get older they realise that working with others sometimes gets better results than doing things alone! A confident and involved learner persists. The child who can’t do a somersault at first, but tries again and again until they succeed has learned the importance of not giving up. They are more likely to face their next challenge with confidence. And if they can’t do a somersault, they learn that it’s okay to not be able to do it. They can always try again later. Confident and involved learners continue to ask questions and explore their world: Why is the rain wet? Why is Chloe crying? Can a frog swim and jump? And they learn where to go to find answers. These basic questions can foster curiosities’ that form early maths and science concepts. How can I support my child to be an active and involved learner? You are your child’s first and most important teacher. Your child learns first through relationships with you and others in the family. The opportunities and experiences that you give your child are therefore critical. The questions you ask your child when they come home from school each day are really important. Ask them questions that enable them to talk to you about the learning experiences they have had at school. Including their successes and things that challenged them. You might consider asking the following questions to assist you to engage with your child’s learning:
Maria Giordano Next week: Saying Goodbye. Japanese News
Last Friday we had some year 7 students from Essendon Keilor College (EKC) visit our school. We had a fun day meeting new people and it was a great opportunity for students to see the use of learning another language with other people. We had an ‘Undoukai’ or Sports Festival like day with some sports activities and Japanese based games. Here are some students’ feedback from the day… Piya: “It was really fun because we got to work with older students and get to know them. Some of them were funny. I also really enjoyed the races”. Ruby: “I really enjoyed the sports activities as I thought they were fun. We had a 3-legged race, relays and I also enjoyed the ‘ball catch’ ice breaker activity”
Holiday Pet and Garden Care
The holidays are nearly upon us and as a result, I’m looking for people who would be willing to look after our school pets over the holidays. The procedures are generally very easy, but do need daily care, so would not suit those who are going away for more than a day or two. We are looking for carers for our blue tongue lizards, turtles, stick insects, fish and mealworms. If you think you would be able to help, even for a week or two, please email me to let me know of your interest. Also, it would be great to be able to keep some of our recent tree plantings alive through their first summer so they can thrive through next winter. If you think you can help by coming in and doing some watering every now and again that would also be super. Any questions, or if you’re keen to help, please email me ([email protected]). School Fees, Extras and Contributions 2020
Thanks to all our parents who’ve paid their fees for 2020. Please click here for the school fees for 2020. These fees support the school in providing resources for the students. Can you please organise payment of the fees before the 11th February, 2020. The Oak Park Primary School Parent Payment Policy is located on our website if you wish to review. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or wish to setup a payment plan. Annette D'Elia Business Manager |
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School Drop Offs and Pick Ups
IMPORTANT - The office receives a lot of feedback about observing un-safe picking up and setting down of our students. In the rush up to Christmas when we just seem to get busier each day, can we stress the importance of keeping your children / our students safe so that we all can celebrate the holiday break together. Compass Updates If you’re the parent of a Grade 6 student, it’s a good time to download Naplan and semester reports that you might require for your records. |
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The children were so excited on the way back from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, here are some comments from Students in 1C. Indi- “I liked when Willy Wonka gave Charlie the Chocolate Factory”. Ava- “My favourite was when Veruca salt got torn apart. I think they had a very soft toy that could ripped up”. Shardy- “I like when Mike TV got hurt in invisible maze”. Scarlett- “I like the glass elevator, it looked really cool and I like that it was clear”. Pippa- “I like the ending when all the streamers went everywhere”. Aryan- “I liked when Augustus gloop had an eating competition”. Curtis- “I liked when the tinsel came out of the ceiling”. Cooper- “I liked the part when squirrels danced with Veruca Salt”. Aiden- “I like when Augustus got sucked out of the chocolate water fall”. Ayla- “I liked when Charlie changed into his Willy Wonka costume at the end”. Faith- “I liked when Veruca Salt went into four pieces”.
Weekly Lost Property Quiz – who’s the mystery owner?
We’ve found an owner for one of our mystery pieces from the lost property box! The very special Nepal necklace belonged to Elaa’s Dad’s brother and was brought back from India and given to Ekaa. We still have a box full in the office. If you’ve lost something - bracelets, silver chains, reading glass or more, call by the office.
Christmas Countdown and a time for giving
Our school community loves giving and we have a couple of tubs in the entrance to the office for you to give some more. Tub 1 Our school community is collecting goods via a Reverse Advent Calendar for the Ascot Vale Little Free Pantry so if you have any items that you have as surplus in your pantry or want to grab an extra item while you’re at the supermarket, please just add them to the tub. 
Tub 2
We still have out Lost Dogs Home box in the entrance so if you’re in a ‘clean out’ mood, you can drop off old towels, sheets etc too. COMMUNITY NEWS
Jacana Football Club Call for Junior Players
Like football? A Friendly Atmosphere, team spirit, and exercise? Please get in touch: Phillip Di Biase 0406042576 
School Contacts
PLEASE NOTE NEW EMAIL FOR OUR O.S.H.C. PROGRAM
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