Thursday, 21st November 2013 KEY DATES: November 27 Last day for Bendigo School Banking Indra Visit - Preps Healthy Lunch Day - Preps Indra Visit - Preps Christmas Service 9.15am -10.45am 28 29 December 2 - 13 Swimming 5 Carols Night - 5pm 9 Special Sushi Lunch 11 Creative Music Concert 4.15pm 12 Creative Music Concert 4.15pm 16 Last Day for Canteen 17 Parent Helper Morning Tea 18 Year 6 Graduation 19 Taskworks Excursion - Year 6 20 Term 4 Dismissal 1.30pm January 2014 (new) 23 Uniform Shop open 9.30am - 11.00am 2014 Contributions payments 9.30am-11.00am 28 Curriculum Day 29 First day Term 1 - Grades 1 - 6 - 9.00am 30 Preps commence 9.00am - 12.30pm 31 Preps attend 9.00am - 12.30pm _______________________________________ FROM THE PRINCIPAL It’s a bit confronting isn’t it, when you have a notice in front of you saying, ‘Christmas Raffle’ – where did that year go? I was also greeted by a child this week who asked me with such enthusiasm if I had the Christmas AP on my phone, I clearly looked confused and was promptly told about an app that you can put on your phone that will tell you how many days, hours and minutes till Christmas…..hmmm not sure I want to know. Well I suppose we can’t put our head in the sand, so here goes. We do have a Christmas raffle again this year, which will be drawn at our carols night on the 5th December. You will have received a set of 10 raffle tickets priced at $1 each and there are some great prizes to be won. All money and stubs need to be returned to the office by Friday 29th November, so good luck!! Please pop in your calendar the school carols’ night. It is a lovely opportunity to get together as a community and celebrate not only the festive session, but also the end of the school year. A sausage sizzle will be operating on the night; so come along, have a meal with us and join in the festive singing and great company. Last Friday evening the Year 6s ran their Graduation Disco. It was so well attended and it was a terrific night. The kids clearly enjoyed themselves and I think it was clear message that night TERM 4 WEEK 7 time discos are certainly the way to go. Funds raised will go a long way to helping fund the Year 6 Graduation activities, which is always such a highlight for the students. On Tuesday we had our second Prep transition session, once again all went smoothly and the little ones are clearly feeling quite comfortable after all their sessions of story time and spending so much time at school already. Transition for the rest of the school will be starting very soon. We are working hard on getting the classes for 2014 organised and there will be two extra classes next year as our numbers have increased significantly. We have recently employed two new teachers to take those grades and we were absolutely thrilled with the calibre of applicants this year, which made our decision very difficult. Jennifer Tran and Tahnee Ramsey are the two successful applicants and you will get a chance to meet them over the next few weeks when we run our whole school transition sessions. As I have already let you know, we will be starting the building works where we will be joining the two new portables together and building a gallery and decking area. We are currently have plans drawn up and tenders let and are hoping to start by the end of the year. With Christmas and New Year it may be difficult to have this space complete by the beginning of the 2014 school year so the four grades affected could be operating out of different spaces until the building is complete. We will try and keep this time to a minimum, however we are blessed with having some excellent learning and teaching spaces around the school that we will be able to use for this purpose in the short term. We will keep you posted as to how this will play out. Yesterday the Year 6s went on the annual ‘Walk to the G’, this is our fundraiser for the important charity ‘State School Relief’. This charity provides school clothing for families who are struggling to afford the basics. Each walker needed to raise $25 to be eligible to walk to the MCG. The remaining students had a mini walkathon back here at school and it was great to see the all the children united in a common goal to raise money for a worthy charity. Our intensive swimming program is coming up in the next few weeks starting on the 2nd December. This is clearly disappointing for some who would like to start the program earlier and have already turned up in their bathers ready to go – very cute! If you haven’t yet completed the payments for the swimming program please see Margaret in the office. Margaret is currently very busy giving out 2014 book packs as families pay their school fees. So when you are able, your child’s books are ready and waiting for you in the office. Well that’s all from me for this week. Have a great weekend with your family. Talk soon. Glenda Schubert Principal DEECD and Orchard Grove P.S. do not endorse the products or services of any private advertiser. No responsibility is accepted by DEECD for accuracy of information contained in advertisements or claims made by them. PARENTS’ CLUB Metal to Metal The last day you can dump your metal rubbish is Monday 25th November by 4pm, as the bin is being collected on Tuesday 26th November. The products that are able to go into the bin are: Stainless steel & Brass Copper & Aluminium Car & car parts Sinks Clothes lines Lawn mowers Steel beams White goods Computer towers Car batteries Electrical cables Hot water systems Taps, pipes & plumbing Colour bond fencing Guttering & tools Roof sheeting Pots & Pans Soft drink cans Christmas Carols - Thursday 5th December - Sausage Sizzle Thank you to all the people who have returned their forms. We still have quite a few time spots that need filling, so if you are able to help it would be much appreciated. Christmas Raffle Raffle tickets went home last week, and the winners will be drawn on Carols Night at around 6pm. Prizes are listed on the tickets and photos of these great prizes are in the main foyer, atrium and the prep and grade 3 areas. Tickets and money need to be returned by 29th November. Market Night - May 2014 In order to run this night we need 20 stalls, so if you or anyone you know would be interested in holding a stall please contact Nicky on 0419 561 046. Bronwyn McIlroy Coordinator NEWSLETTER ROSTER Wednesday, 27th November Sally Payne Joanne Lamb SICK BAY ROSTER Friday, 22nd November Sarah Wilson - 4JL     PAYMENTS DUE AT THE OFFICE Swimming - 3rd instalment - $35.00 due 22nd Nov 2014 Contributions - payment in full due 13th December or 1st instalment - $125.00 due 22nd November Christmas Raffle Tickets - due 29th November 2014 Year 6 Camp - $100 deposit due 13th December UNIFORM SHOP Last uniform orders for 2013 will be filled on Tuesday, 26th November. Out of stock orders have been placed and we expect delivery in the first week of December. Uniform shop will open on Thursday 23rd January 2014 between 9.30am and 11.00am. LIBRARY STOCKTAKE This is our final week for borrowing books from our Library. I would like all parents and students to return their library books by Friday, November 29th as we will be commencing our annual stock take the following Monday. OGPS DISCO Thank you to all the students who came and danced the night away at the OGPS disco. The disco was a huge success and we raised a good amount of money to help out with Year 6 graduation expenses. Hopefully it is even bigger and better next year! Level 4 Team PRINCIPAL AWARDS Sean, Isaac - PK Ryan - 3/4W George, Kevin - PN James - 4CM Alannah - 1JM Kayla, Erin - 5/6B Tim - 1JS Jacob - 5/6D Joel, Sienna - 1SL Lachlan - 5/6H Tom, Jochem, Caelan, Tess, Penelope, Lily - 3DJ Hamish - 3KT SPANISH CORNER Language Assistant Orchard Grove has been successful in its application for a Spanish Language Assistant next year. This is a program funded and run by the Department of Education. Raquel is from Barcelona and is a qualified translator/interpreter. She will be assisting at Orchard Grove two days a week and Berwick Primary School the other two days. She will be here in Australia for a year and will provide an excellent opportunity for our students to learn more about Spanish language and culture. We look forward to planning exciting projects together. CANTEEN Well, the end of term and the school year are fast approaching, along with the wonderful spirit of Christmas, making us all very busy and rushed to attend as many Christmas parties as possible. So, to add to all the craziness I’d like to invite all the wonderful canteen volunteers to attend a dinner/drinks night at “Groove Train” (Burwood One) on Wednesday 11th December at 7.30pm. I am so grateful to you all for volunteering your time and it will be a treat to sit, eat, drink and relax with you all. If you’d like to check out the Groove Train menu/prices please see their website. Please RSVP by Wednesday 3rd December, to my mobile 0407 853 812 or write your name on the notice board at the canteen. Looking forward to seeing you on the night. Just a reminder there will be no hot food offered with lunch orders from Monday 2nd December. The last day of canteen will be Monday 16th December. Sophie OSH CLUB The children have been quite happy to get outside this week at OSH Club! As we have had quite a few rainy days of late we have been confined to inside - but fortunately we have been able to use the PAC room to play a variety of ball games which the children have enjoyed. We have also been able to AASC this week, and all of the children enjoyed playing relays and a variety of sports games. Christmas is around the corner, and we are beginning to get some activities going to accommodate this. The children have been all very consumed with making God’s eyes, and we have been decorating our room with them. The kids have done an excellent job of this. Owing to continued requests we have almost run out of wool! We hope you are getting ready for the big Christmas surge that will be incoming soon! Matt, Koz and all OSHC staff. CHRISTMAS HAMPERS We are collecting items of food for distribution to needy families via the Wesley Mission. If you are able to contribute to these hampers, it would be very much appreciated. Please ensure that we receive food items which have not reached the ‘use by’ date. Collection point is at the office. Thanking you in anticipation of a generous response. Margaret Gill (Social Service Coordinator) Gingerbread House Wow your friends and family with your very own hand made gingerbread house. Avenue Neighbourhood House at 87 Eley Rd. Blackburn South, is conducting a hands on session where your tutor will make a house during the class, and with the tutors instruction you will make a gingerbread box, giving you the opportunity to practise piping and icing skills so that you can go home and make your own house. At the end of the class you will have witnessed how to make a gingerbread house and you will take home a gingerbread box decorated and wrapped ready to give as a gift or put on your Christmas table. Conducted on Saturday 30th November. Further details and bookings on 9808 2000.