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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 12
May 6th 2021 |
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
This week in my visits to the classrooms I have been asking the children the following questions:
Next week the Yr 3 and 5 children will take part in NAPLAN. We wish the children well. We do not want children to feel anxious at this time, so we ask that parents keep routines and not fuss over these days. Calm families will support children to be calm on these days. A separate letter will be sent home via Compass to all children participating in NAPLAN. Yesterday the Foundation students hosted many mums and family friends in preparation for Mother’s Day. It was a lovely afternoon with treats, cards and singing. The highlight was the children singing It’s a Beautiful World to their special person, there were quite a few misty eyes in the room by the end. Congratulations to the Foundation Team and the children on a beautiful celebration.
This morning I had the pleasure of visiting the Mother’s Day stall which was set up in front of the multipurpose room in the glorious morning sunshine. So many mums are going to be spoilt this Sunday as the gifts on offer are amazing. Well done to the PFA.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mums, grandmothers and special friends.
Loren Peavey Acting Principal 
Oak Park Primary School Enrolments 2022
Oak Park Primary is accepting enrolments for 2022. If you know of families within the local area who are wanting to enrol their child at our school, please ask them to call the office on 9306-9182, or email Fran on [email protected]. If you already have a child attending our school, and would like to enrol a sibling, we ask that you complete an enrolment form as soon as possible. For those families who do not already have a child here, to check your local school zone, please go to www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au Each year we have many families on our waitlist who are outside our school zone, so we do appreciate enrolments being confirmed as early as we can. Thank you Specialist Corner News
Welcome to The Specialist Corner. We have created this section in the newsletter to keep the community informed of the great learning happening in the Specialist classrooms. We hope you enjoy the weekly updates. DOJO Certificates: Congratulations to Kyle Richardson from 6HL who also received a Top 5 DOJO certificate. Well done 😊 Sustainability:
3/4 YARRA VALLEY WATER INCURSION On Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th April, the 3/4 classes had a visit from Adrian and his friends Welly, Wade, Wavy and Washy to talk about the importance of using water wisely. This fits perfectly with the term’s focus, and was an enjoyable and informative experience for everyone. We did puzzles, wrote catchy slogans and got some great exercise in amongst the learning activities (see photos). Some important tips we picked up were…
‘GREEN TEAM’ WATERWATCH EVENT At lunchtime on Wednesday 28th April, thirteen members of the ‘Green Team’ began a series of events at the Moonee Ponds Creek. Led by WaterWatch facilitator; Julia Cirrillo, students learnt how to test for water salinity, turbidity (how murky or clear the water is) and pH levels, as well as temperature and other measures. The students had a great time, were really enthusiastic and managed to lunchtime walk down to and back up from the creek really well. On top of this, we were able to contribute to important water monitoring information for the creek, with our results being recorded for WaterWatch and Melbourne Water. We found that the local creek had the highest rating in terms of clarity (great news!), had a reasonable pH level for supporting aquatic life (good news) but very high salinity levels (bad news), so hopefully our findings help to go towards working on the future health of the creek. Next week; more water testing! In future weeks we will be assessing creek health based on water bug presence, conducting a frog census and a litter audit. These are great free activites made possible by Julia Cirrillo and Waterwatch, with Alex English from Moreland Council also helping out. Check out the photo below of students listening carefully as Julia explains how to conduct the testing. 
LIZARD LOUNGE
A couple of years ago students came up with a plan to improve opportunities for local animals to have a great environment to live in at our school. This has included tree plantings, bird nesting boxes, bird baths and now a ‘Lizard Lounge’! Our resident handyperson; Raph, has done a super job constructing an area for our reptilian school pets (blue tongue lizards and turtles) to spend some time with students in a safe enclosure. The enclosure will include sunning rocks, trees for shade and a recessed pond for the lizards to drink from and the turtles to swim around in. This is a great addition to our provisions for our pets and will provide students for years to come with opportunities to interact with our pets. It is located next to the STACS room and I encourage everyone to have a look if you get the chance. GOLDBERG MACHINES The 5/6’s will be creating Goldberg Machines as part of their work this term (if you’re not sure what these are, search YouTube for ‘The Swish Machine’ or ‘Pass The Salt’, or just play the game ‘Mouse Trap’). We will be constructing these in the second half of term but encourage you to save anything that might be useful for our constructions including cardboard tubes, empty tissue boxes, marbles, dominoes, small pulleys or any items that you may think could spark a bit of Rube Goldberg style imagination. If you have anything to bring along please send them along to me in the STACS (Sustainability) room and I will store them for our building later in the term. P.E. (Physical Education):
On Friday last week, the OPPS cricket team travelled to Hadfield to take on St. Thomas More in the GDPSSA Grand Final. We were lucky enough to have some great competition and it was clear that everyone was a bit nervous. However, with such lovely weather and a warm reception from STM, nerves quicky turned to joy once the first ball was delivered. At the end of the game, we were lucky to get the win! Final scores were OP- 260 def. STM 214. Thank you to all the parents who helped out on the day, and congratulations to the boys- a terrific effort!
Art:
Indigenous Bottle Top Mural As a combined Sustainability and Visual Arts project, students have been volunteering one lunchtime per week to assist with the creation of an Indigenous bottle top mural. It has been pleasing to see so many students wanting to be involved in contributing, and result it is coming along beautifully! David (Visual Arts teacher) and John (Sustainability teacher) are extremely excited about the progress being made each week and look forward to the unveiling of the mural later in the year. We have a plentiful amount of bottle tops to complete this project, so no more a required at this stage. A big thank you to everyone that donated! 
Performing Arts:
Concert Theme Revealed! This year our school concert will be based on the Olympic Games! Grade 5 and 6 classes have been busy putting forward their ideas for songs, dance music and script ideas. With the Olympics being held in Tokyo it is the perfect opportunity for the school to incorporate some Japanese culture into our school concert. Rehearsals will begin in a few weeks. The students can’t wait to begin! 
School Photos
School Photos will be taken on Monday 24th May. We would ask that all students wear the correct school uniform 
HATS
For weeks 1 and 2 of Term 2, students are still required to wear hats when outside. The UV levels are still high in Melbourne until the end of April. Sometimes students say to teachers outside, "it's not even sunny today!" It's important to understand that the sun isn't always a good indication of dangerous UV levels. Sometimes the temperature can be quite low, but have extremely high UV levels. Anything 3 and above is classed as a 'moderate.' Sun protection is recommended for levels 3 and above. Lost Property
I am sure that most parents/guardians would be shocked to see the photos of our lost property! Not only are there many expensive Bomber jackets and other uniform pieces, but the number of lunch containers and drink bottles are rising rapidly. These are quality items and would cost a lot of money to replace. We’d love parents to make their way to the Tiger Turf area before/after school to see if any of the items are their childs. We just don’t have the space to continue to keep these items, so they will have to be disposed of if not claimed.
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PFA NEWS
Sausage Sizzle This year we have been lucky enough to score a date for a sausage sizzle at Bunnings Coburg on Sunday 30 May. This is a great fundraising opportunity for the school, and the PFA needs your help! You can help out in a few ways: Donate a gold coin on Friday 14 May – give students a gold coin to bring into the classroom for collection or bring it along to assembly on that day. Your donation will go towards the purchase of supplies for the barbecue, enabling us to maximise the funds raised on barbecue day! Offer two hours (or more!) of your time by signing up for a shift on 30 May. Please email [email protected] indicating the time you are able to help. If any families have business contacts (for example, butchers or bakers) that would allow us to purchase items at a discounted rate, please let us know by emailing the address above. Mother’s Day Stall Also, just a reminder that our fabulous Mother’s Day stall is on today and Friday. There will lots of interesting gifts available at a range of prices. So don’t forget to send some money and a bag along with your child, so they can spoil mum/grandma. Thank you in advance for your support!
Book Fair
Year 6-7 Secondary College Transition Timeline
PENOLA CATHOLIC COLLEGE: ATTN GRADE 5 PARENTS:
Penola Catholic College is accepting enrolments for 2023 COBURG HIGH SCHOOL: Parents are invited to visit Coburg High School to learn more about the school. For more information including dates & times of school tours please visit www.coburg.vic.gov.au or call 93531700. Open evening Thursday 6th May 2021 Please note many Secondary Colleges are zoned and no longer have the Seal or Accelerated Program, which means you must reside within their zone to attend the school. |
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School Contacts
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