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26th March
2015
PAKENHAM SPRINGS NEWSLETTER
Springers
Phone: (03) 5945 7400
Fax: (03) 59 45 7455
[email protected]
www.pakenhamsprings.vic.edu.au
PO Box 819, Pakenham 3810
HOLIDAYS ARE HERE
Gosh, it feels like the term had just begun, and now
we are facing the holidays!
Perhaps the old saying, time flies when you’re
having fun is the reason why this term seems to
have flown by!
It has been lovely to see our 160 Prep students
settle into school life with relative ease (though I
know there have been a few tired little souls). We
also welcomed some new teachers to the school
and they have worked very hard getting to know
your children and also the processes and practices
that make Pakenham Springs Primary an
internationally renowned school.
Certainly we have had a very busy term with Meet
and Greet sessions, Family fun night, Fairy Tale
parades, District sports events, Grade 6 buddy
breakfast, Special Lunch day, Parent Information
programs, Easter raffle, and to finish the term the
Fluoro fun run.
We have congratulated our student leaders and our
school council representatives, with many a proud
student wearing their leadership badges around the
school. We have also welcome our new school
council members and
thanked our retiring
members for their service over the past years.
We have celebrated student learning through our
Springers awards and it gives me great pleasure to
hand these out at assembly and get to know the
great learning that has taken place.
I have had the pleasure of learning along side the
staff with our Professional Learning program taking
place each week from 3.30—5.00. The work of
Robert Mazarno and the Art and Science of
Teaching is well researched and our Region has
become interested in the research with Regional
Personal attending a conference on the subject
recently. It was also really inspiring to hear Colin
Sloper speak about the journey of Pakenham
Springs Primary at a recent Principal network
meeting.
So, I guess it is reasonable to acknowledge
with such a busy term behind us, many of
students will be tired and ready for a break.
sure they will be excited about Easter and
chance of a visit from the Easter Bunny.
that
our
I'm
the
I would like to take the opportunity to remind
parents that (unfortunately) holidays also bring
many potentially tragic scenarios.
Please ensure that your children are always
supervised around water, so many children drown
when unnecessary. It does not take long for a
child to drown, the thought that “I’ll only be gone
for a couple of minutes” is not worth the cost of a
life.
We have also had a small number of “near misses”
where quite young students coming to and leaving
from school unsupervised, have dashed across
roads, or not used the crossings or lights.
Teachers have been talking with students about
pedestrian safety, but please reiterate this at
home.
Make sure your children are wearing helmets when
riding bikes and scooters. In fact many accidents
received at emergency are now scooter accidents
and many are children hit by reversing cars. As
children are small and fast it is difficult to spot them
as you reverse out of the driveway.
Finally, have a very happy Easter and enjoy the
holidays together.
I
have
had
a
wonderful term at
Pakenham Springs
and
am
looking
forward to working
with you all in Term
2.
Vicki Miles
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
NOTICES DISTRIBUTED
COMING EVENTS
The following notices have been distributed over
the last fortnight. If you missed them copies are
available from the school office or the school’s
web site: www. pakenhamsprings.vic.edu.au
The following events are scheduled for the next few
weeks. Make sure you are aware of the ones which
are applicable to you.
Junior School
12/03/15
12/03/15
19/03/15
19/03/15
Letter to Parents—JS Cotterell
Parent/Teacher interview
information—JS Cotterell
Nursery Rhyme Parade—
Reminder
Home Reading Program
J28 Movie Permission—Matilda
Middle School
19/03/15
Home Reading Program
17/03/15
Senior School
10/03/15
12/03/15
19/03/15
20/03/15
20/03/15
Whole School
11/03/15
11/03/15
17/03/15
19/03/15
23/03/15
24/03/15
24/03/15
24/03/15
25/03/15
Other
17/03/15
20/03/15
Year 6 Buddy Breakfast—Yr 6
Casey Cardinia Soccer
Tournament—Select Yr 6
students
Winter Interschool Sport—Year 6
End of Term Celebration—Year 5
End of Term Celebration—Year 6
Parent Forum—Anger
Management
Easter Raffle—Reminder
Parent Forum—Anger
Management—Reminder
Last Day of Term—Fluoro Fun
Run Schedule
Parent Teacher interviews
End of Term—Early Dismissal
Time
Focus on Learning—Open
Afternoon Reminder
Fluoro Fun Run Reminder
Entertainment Books Fundraiser
SRC Representatives Badge
Presentation
“Honk” Open Rehearsal
Performers Permission form—
Select students
Friday 27th March:

End of term celebration day

Fluoro Fun Run

Students dismissed at 2.30pm

TERM TWO COMMENCES MONDAY 13TH APRIL
Monday 13th April

Years 3/5/6 assembly at 2.15pm in the gym
Tuesday 14th April

Year 1 and Year 2 assembly at 2.15pm in the
gym
Wednesday 15th April

Prep and Year 4 assembly at 2.15pm in the gym
Monday 20th April

Years 3/5/6 assembly at 2.15pm in the gym
Tuesday 21st April

Year 1 and Year 2 assembly at 2.15pm in the
gym
Wednesday 22nd April

Prep and Year 4 assembly at 2.15pm in the gym
Thursday 23rd April

Parent Teacher interviews
Friday 24th April

Winter Competition Interschool Sports
Term dates 2015
Term 1—29th January to 27th March
Term 2—13th April to 26th June
Term 3—13th July to 18th September
Term 4—5th October to 18th December
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
The smallest act of kindness is worth more than
the grandest intentions.
PAGE 2
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
STUDENT LEADERSHIP
Congratulations to our Student Representative Council members
for 2015.
Student Councillors received their student leadership badges at
Assembly on Monday. It was lovely to see so many parents also at
Assembly to help celebrate this achievement.
SCHOOL COUNCIL
While we are celebrating leadership within
the Pakenham Springs Community, I would
also like to congratulate:
Belinda Williamson
Michael Whiting
Kristine Thoonen
Amy Rewell
Classes
Representative
Deputy
Yr 3 Godfrey
Holly Falkingham
Lathea Lacunes/
as new members to the School Council this
year.
Yr 3 Hains
Hayley Percy
Tahlia Croxson
Corey Becker
Thankyou
Donna Braden
Sarah Godfrey
Yr 3 Mason
Georgia Kingsley
Olivia Ancilleri
Yr 3 Bucknell
Grace Groves
Jemma Kendall
Yr 3 Rook
Senitha Wanniarachchi Charlie Heyden
Yr 3 Breadon
Ava Scott
Ella Wallis
Yr 4 Windley
Paige Butler
Jake Robinson
Yr 4 Forster
Madison Murrell
Charlotte Taufa
Yr 4 Delport
Charlize Justus
Chloe Serdzeff
Yr 4 Garrow
Riley Swallow
Hayley Letts
Yr 4 Cramer
Layla Rose McCrimmon Chelsea Bell
Yr 4 Jager
Logan Fox
Alice Taylor
Yr 5 Sinacola
Elina Cole
Nickhil Kumar
Yr 5 Rewell
Corey Smerdon
Nakita Cahir
Yr 5 Millichap
Tayla Ferguson
Tylah Burn
Yr 5 Gunaratna
Karla Saunders
Taisha Batty
Yr 5 Dierickx
Tom Brennan
Liam McLemman
YEAR SIX STUDENT WELLBEING FOCUS TEAM LEADERS
Hannah Torregosa
Jasmina Mates
Riley Wade
Benjamin Hubble
Shanae Sykes
Darcie Page
SRC Morning Tea
Thanks to:
Courtney Sinacola for
leading the students in
2015
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
for deciding to renominate for yet another
term on Council.
Thankyou to our retiring councillors:
Allan Shillam
Jodie Tamblyn
and in particular Simone Wade who has
held a council membership for 6 years!
The current School Council is as follows:
Parent Representatives:
Donna Braden ( President)
Kristine Thoonen (Vice president)
Michael Whiting
Scott Kendall
Jude Faliszewski
Tania Campanelli
Stephanie Herring
Debbie Shillam
Belinda Williamson
DET membership:
Amy Rewell
Renee Cottrell
Sarah Godfrey
Parents are welcome to attend School
Council Meetings as observers. Meetings
begin at 7.30pm and are held in the Staffroom.
School Council Meeting Dates are as
follows:
Meeting 3:
Meeting 4:
Meeting 5:
Meeting 6:
Meeting 7:
Meeting 8:
Meeting 9:
Tuesday 12th May
Tuesday 9thth June
Tuesday 11th August
Tuesday 8th September
Tuesday 13th October
Tuesday 17th November
Tuesday 8th December
PAGE 3
PREP AND YEAR 1 NEWS
YEAR 2 AND YEAR 3 NEWS
What a wonderful day was had by all of our
Prep students on Wednesday with our
nursery rhyme parade. Congratulations to
all of our parents and other family members
who showed some very creative flair in
making some amazing costumes!!
Another fortnight has flown by and it is hard
to believe that a quarter of the school year
has already passed.
It was wonderful to see so many family
members coming along to celebrate this
event with all of our Preppies. A big thank
you also to ‘DJ’ Mr Barkley for playing our
music and Mrs Miles who captured some
wonderful photos of the event. Well done to
our Prep teachers on organising a fantastic
event to celebrate the great learning of the
Prep students throughout the first term.
It was wonderful to see so many parents
also attending our Open Afternoon
yesterday afternoon. One of the key ways
parents can support their children in their
education is by showing a positive attitude
towards education. By attending afternoons
like last night, you are showing your child
that you value their education, so thank
you!! The classes have been working hard
together with their teachers in developing
their Learning Plans. This will be something
they continue to refer back on throughout
the year to ensure they always demonstrate
positive learning behaviours in their class.
Although the holidays are a time to relax
and enjoy some family time, we encourage
our families to find time to read with your
child and keep those learning habits ticking
over during the break.
I wish all of our Junior School students and
their families a safe and relaxing holiday.
We look forward to seeing you all back
refreshed for an action packed Term 2.
Here’s hoping the Easter Bunny comes to
you all!!!
Nathan Jagoe
PAGE 4
The holiday break provides us all with the
perfect opportunity to reflect on our impact
on learning. For me I ask myself, have I
supported the
teachers enough, have I
modelled a love of learning to my students.
As parents we can
reflect on the ways we
support our children at home with reading,
time set aside for homework and positive
interactions about the school day.
As this term comes to an end I would like to
say
a
HUGE
thankyou to all
parents for the
support you give
the school and
towards
your
child's
learning
progress.
Year 3 develop their learning WALT and WILF
Our open
afternoons are an open
invitation and each term will have a specific
focus and purpose behind it. I truly hope you
have gained an insight from yesterday’s
Term 1 ‘Learning Plan’
focus’
and enjoyed
yourself greatly.
Please remember to
book
your
parentteacher
interviews
over the
holidays and
remember
that
our
support staff in ICT,
Indonesian, PE, Visual
Arts and Performing Developing a plan for
Arts are also available Narrative Writing
to meet.
Jane King
IMPORTANT DATES:
Parent Teacher Interview bookings open until 22nd of
April (book in early)
First Day of Term Two 13th April, 2015
Year Level Assemblies Mon—Wed first week back
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
YEAR 4, YEAR 5 AND
YEAR 6 NEWS
HEALTHY FOOD IDEAS
FOR THE LUNCHBOX
I would like to congratulate all of our
students on their efforts towards a
wonderful start to the year. The first term
is always extremely busy, trying to settle
into new routines, classmates, teachers,
guidelines, and learn the essential skills
of a new year level.
Thank you for the positive feedback regarding the
inclusion of a recipe in the last Newsletter. It was
lovely to get feedback about the newsletter. Here’s a
few more ideas I've come across. I hope they help.
Our Open Afternoon on Wednesday
25th March was a celebration of all that
had been achieved throughout Term
One, where the students presented their
Learning Plan for the year to parents. It
was fantastic to see all who attended
this event, supporting your child.
Although our students are quite excited
about the upcoming holiday break, there
is also excitement throughout the school
about our ‘Fluoro Fun Run’ on Friday,
the last day of term. The support has
been overwhelming towards the number
of people who have donated money
towards this event; we are extremely
grateful and hope the students enjoy
participating in what is planned to be a
very enjoyable end to the term.
FRUIT WANDS
1/2 seedless watermelon, peeled, cut into 1cm-thick
slices
1/2 honeydew melon, seeded, peeled, cut into 1cmthick slices
1/2 rockmelon, seeded, peeled, cut into 1cm-thick
slices
Cut with a cookie cutter or use your imagination.
Place on Bamboo Skewers
APRICOT MUESLI BALLS
I would like to thank all parents for their
support towards their child’s learning
throughout Term 1 and look forward to
working with you all again in Term 2.
Ingredients
I wish you a happy and safe break.
Best wishes,
John Barkley
2 cups toasted muesli
1 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup honey
60g butter, melted
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1. Place muesli, apricots, honey and warm, melted
butter in a food processor. Process for 2 to 3 minutes
or until well combined.
2. Place coconut in a shallow dish. Roll tablespoons
of muesli mixture into balls. Coat balls in coconut.
Set aside to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 5
PREP NURSERY RHYME PARADE
What an amazingly energetic and spectacular event our Prep Nursery Rhyme Parade last week was! It was
so inspiring to see the many creative costumes that appeared in the morning. We certainly have a very
creative and dedicated parent community!
It was also very humbling to see so many parents, grandparents, aunty’s and uncles there to support the little
ones as they showed us all their beautiful outfits.
Many thanks to the Prep teachers for organising the event and to the parents for supporting it. To Mr Jagoe,
thanks for your tremendous MC’ing and the dazzling spider costume and to Mr Barkley for assisting with the
PA and the delivery of the songs
I took many photos on the day and they will be displayed shortly. If you would like any of the photos of your
child I will arrange to have the files emailed to you.
I'm sorry I can’t get them all into the Newsletter because the children looked so amazing, but here are a few to
give you an idea.
PAGE 6
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
Congratulations
What a fun event
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 7
IMPORTANT
INFORMATION
USEFUL
INFORMATION
Student Safety—Crossing Roads
It has, unfortunately, come to my attention that we
have experienced a number of “near misses” with
young, unaccompanied students crossing the road
on the way to school or on the way home.
Kambrya College
We have reinforced the necessity of pedestrian
safety at school, however would like to encourage
parents to think very carefully about letting younger
students travel to and from school without
supervision.
Younger students find it difficult to see cars and due
to their physical development also find it hard to
judge speed and distance even if they see cars
approaching.
Younger students are also very impulsive and are
distracted easily. So please talk to your children
about road safety. Use the crossings and the traffic
lights and concentrate around the roads. More
importantly, parents please consider the dangers of
young students walking unsupervised to school,
none of us wishes to ever face a tragedy of one our
students being hit by a car. Unfortunately this has
almost occurred already this year!
Student Dress Code
Parents are reminded that Pakenham Springs
has a very clear and well defined Student Dress
Code. All parents are aware of this Code through
the information that is issued to parents on their
enrolment at the school and regularly updated
through articles such as this in the newsletter.
Each year we start with great enthusiasm and
energy to ensure that all our students comply with
this Dress Code. Parents are particularly vigilant
at the start of the year, but as with all things, as
we begin to get busy, things “disappear” off the
horizon.
Please remind your children that the wearing of nail
polish and make-up is not allowed at school.
We will ask students to remove either, if found with
nail polish or make up on at school.
It would also be greatly appreciated if parents
could continue to reinforce this message
regarding nail polish, makeup and also drawing on
themselves with biro and texta. This will ensure that
valuable learning time is not wasted having to remind
students that make-up, nail polish and drawings on
their skin are not acceptable at school.
We appreciate your support in this matter.
PAGE 8
General Information
Evening
Tuesday 21st April
6:30pm - 7:45pm
All parents and students are invited to attend to
find out about what Kambrya College has to offer
Year 7 Specialised
Programs
Information Evening
Thursday 23rd April
6:30pm - 7:45pm
All parents and students wishing to find out more about
our Specialised Year 7 Programs are encouraged to attend
SEAL (Select Entry Accelerated Learning)
ADP (Athlete Development Program)
KKMC (Kambrya Kitchen Master Class)
AMP (Accelerated Music Program)
Accelerated Program
WANTED
Do you have an unused
acoustic guitar that needs a
loving home?
We are looking for some kind
people to donate acoustic
guitars for a new project we
have been invited to participate
in.
If you have a guitar you’d be happy to donate, we will
love and care for it and give you front row tickets to
our first concert!
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
Year 2
WATER INCURSION
National Day of Action
against bullying & violence
A representative from South East Water
visited our Year 2 students as part of our
study on how we use Earth’s Natural
Resources. This was an interactive session,
where students got to dress up and act out
parts
of
the
natural
water
cycle.
Last Friday we celebrated the National Day of
Action against Bullying and violence. The event
was supported through our registration to the
Bullying No way website which has many resources
to help teachers, students and parents.
Our sun, evaporation, condensation,
precipitation and collection participants were
very convincing in acting out their parts!
The Year 2 students also heard about our
Urban Water Cycle and the things we can
do to make sure we treat our most precious
resource properly. We know to turn taps off
when we are brushing our teeth and to wash
the car (or dog!) with a bucket of water
rather than the hose.
Students have been using their newly
learned knowledge in the classroom –
completing experiments including making
rain gauges and making ‘water cycles in a
bag’. When it’s raining outside we also have
a lot of students commenting that it is ‘now
precipitating’!! Maybe we have some
budding meteorologists on our hands!
A big thankyou to the Year 2 teachers for
organising such an interactive incursion for
the
students.
http://bullyingnoway.gov.au/
The students participated in a number of class
events throughout the week including:
JS Luff and MS Breadon had buddies today. We
watched a claymation video showing an example of
bullying. We also talked about ways to be a "helpful
bystander". The kids then decorated an antibullying flag with ideas in their buddy pairs.
Many classes explored some of the video
messages and discussed some of the possible
solutions.
Ms Nguyen’s class explored the Allen's
Adventures" video (on the Bullying No Way
website) as part of our Wellbeing hour this week.
It's a great starting point for a class discussion
about being inclusive and how to treat those who
are different (linking it back to "Gabby Getalong").
In M16 we will be looking into the important
qualities in friendships, we will explore some of the
videos that other students have created, discuss
and brain storm qualities to build a class tree.
Miss Bradford’s class used the bucket filler book
and an activity related to the book.
All the students, teachers and many parents were
given a wristband to show our support in standing
up to bullying and violence in our society.
Thankyou for supporting us on the National Day of
action.
“I would rather be a little
nobody, then to be a evil
somebody.”
― Abraham Lincoln
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 9
STUDENT WELLBEING
Social skills that
promote friendship
Children who are good at making and keeping friends
use positive social skills. Parents, carers and school
staff help children learn positive social skills by
guiding them as young children, being positive
examples for children to follow, and providing
opportunities for play where children can practise their
skills. Key social skills that help with friendships
include cooperation, communication, empathy,
emotional control and
responsibility.
All children go through friendship conflicts.
Even usually popular children experience rejection
sometimes. When this happens children’s confidence
may be affected. They may blame themselves or
others.
Provide children with opportunities
to play with peers
Children gain experience and learn important social
skills from playing with friends. For children who are
still learning how to get along, it can be helpful to plan
what to do before having a friend over for a play date.
This could involve deciding whether to share all of
their toys or only some, or encouraging them to think
about what games the other child would like to play
when they arrive.
Teach positive social skills
Observe your child to work out the negative social
behaviours your child uses too often and the positive
social behaviours they could use more.
Little things like smiles, looking at the person,
knowing names and using a confident, friendly voice
can make a big difference when making friends.
Being able to better control negative emotions and
paying attention to the needs and wants of others are
Beliefs about the reasons for the friendship conflicts
also very important.
they experience affect the ways that children react.
Teach one behaviour or social skill at a time and
Some kinds of thinking are more
make sure the child is able to do
helpful than others for managing
All children go through
it before introducing another skill.
the conflicts children have with
friendship conflicts. Even usually
Show your child what to do. You
friends. The following example
popular children experience
may act out the situation and
shows different possible reactions
even demonstrate what to say.
rejection sometimes.
to being refused when a child has
Take turns ‘acting’ until your child
asked to join in a game with others.
can demonstrate what to do.
Key points for supporting
children’s friendship skills
Parents, carers and school staff have important roles
to play in helping children develop friendships. They
set examples for children to follow through the ways
they manage relationships. They can also act as
coaches for children, teaching them helpful social
skills and talking through friendship issues to help
with solving problems.
As they learn how to manage social situations, having
opportunities to talk about friendships with parents,
carers and school staff helps children feel supported
and develops their communication skills.
PAGE 10
Don’t be too serious. Make it a fun experience.
Be a coach
Coaching is critical for helping children use new skills
in real-life situations. Coaching involves prompting,
reminding and encouraging (but not nagging!)
children to use the skills they have learned. Coach
your child to practise positive social skills in everyday
situations with family members and friends. Support
children’s learning by giving positive feedback and
praise.
Help children solve friendship conflicts
Talking problems through with a supportive adult
helps children to think about what happens, how they
feel about it and what to do next. Thinking things
through like this helps to build more mature social
skills.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
STUDENT WELLBEING
What is bullying?
Bullying involves deliberately and repeatedly
attempting to hurt, scare or exclude someone. It can
include hitting, pushing, name calling, or taking
someone’s belongings.
Bullying can also be more indirect, for example,
deliberately leaving someone out of games, spreading
rumours about them, or sending them nasty
messages.
Cyber-bullying involves using mobile phones and the
internet to bully others. The main purpose of the
bullying is to have power over someone else.
Bullying is a mental health concern because it
causes distress and can lead to loneliness, anxiety
and depression. Bullying can also affect children’s
concentration and lower their achievement at school.
When children have been bullied they may:

not want to go to school

be unusually quiet or secretive

not have friends

seem over-sensitive or weepy

have angry outbursts.
You may notice that their property has been damaged
or is missing.
Responding to bullying
It is very important to let children know that bullying
is not okay and that they should report it when it does
occur. Schools set standards for appropriate
behaviour and safety. They also have guidelines for
reporting and responding to bullying when it occurs.
The consequences for bullying should address what
has happened and help to ensure it will not happen
again.
It is very important for the bully to understand how his
or her behaviour has affected the other person and to
be clear not to repeat that behaviour.
To help prevent bullying, children can be taught how
to be respectful and caring towards others. Children
who bully may appear confident but often lack skills
for building positive friendships.
How parents and carers can
help
If your child is being bullied:






listen and provide support to your child
try to understand what has been happening,
how often and how long
encourage social skills, like being assertive,
to tell the bully to stop and to seek help
support your child to think through different
ways they could deal with the problem
talk with your child’s teacher and ask for help
keep talking with the school until your child
feels safe.
If your child tells you about bullying he has
seen or heard at school:


encourage your child to stand up for the child
who is being bullied
encourage your child to report what he or she
has seen or heard to school staff.
If your child is doing the bullying:






make sure your child knows the bullying
behaviour is inappropriate and why
try to understand the reasons why your child
has behaved in this way and look for ways to
address problems
encourage perspective-taking (eg “How
would you feel if…?”)
help your child think of alternative paths of
action.
To help prevent cyber-bullying: supervise
children’s use of electronic devices.
teach children about ways of keeping safe
when using the internet and mobile phones.
Learning to be more assertive can help those who are
bullied to stand up for themselves. Learning the skills
of assertiveness can also help those who bully find
ways to communicate their wants, needs and opinions
without becoming aggressive.
Both those who are bullied, and those who do the
bullying, will benefit from learning effective social and
emotional skills.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 11
The learning adventures of the
Outstanding Owls of M32
Wow have we been a busy little learning community in M32. The first weeks of the term
we focused on setting our routines, getting to know each other and coming together as a
learning community. Now we are settled into more structured learning.
In our Reading we have been learning to find the Main idea of a text and to find facts and
details to support our thinking. We have learnt that details often give us the 5 W’s (Who,
What, Where, When and Why).
A major focus for us has been revising odds and evens, using a whole range of
strategies. We have grouped them, discovered that even numbers always have a partner
and odd numbers ‘always have one left over without someone to play with’.
We have explored adding odd and even numbers together to understand what the
answer will always be i.e. always odd, or always even.
In addition to this we are learning to read, write, and show numbers up to 10,000. We are
learning about place value and what digits mean in numbers.
We now understand that the 9 in 8,923 is worth 900, and that the 9 in 2,609 is worth 9. We
are learning to expand numbers into their parts, so we can easily understand the value of
the digit as well as represent the number in drawings.
PAGE 12
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
The learning adventures of the Outstanding Owls in
M32 continued
In Writing, until now, we have been focusing on planning and writing narratives. The characters
that have ‘peopled’ our class developed story are Squirrel Knight, Princess Sassy and the
Evil Squirrel Catcher. Our class story has an unusual twist in that Squirrel Knight is kidnapped
and is rescued by the talented and inventive Princess Sassy. A skill is modelled and then
practiced independently. Following this, the class then works on a piece of writing of their choice
while I conference with individual students. After this, we have Authors chair, where a student
reads aloud a piece they are working on, and receives feedback from the class ‘Editors’. They
can seek feedback on adding details, whether their piece makes sense, flows well etc. The
Author takes on, or leaves, this feedback and in re-writing makes the appropriate changes.
The plan is that we will each publish several books throughout the year.
We are beginning to work on persuasive arguments, so your
child may begin practicing their skills on you. We are learning
about using emotive language and using false facts as
starters. We have begun to plan arguments we might use to
convince someone to come across to our point of view,
whether it be that everyone should have purple hair, or that
cats are better than dogs. We are moving on to more complex
and less concrete ideas, such as “Who is your hero? Why is
this person your hero, why should they be my hero too?”, or
“What rule or law would you change if you had the chance?
This is to help prepare then for the quite challenging questions
that may be asked of them in the NAPLAN writing task.
A portion of our class written
Narrative in the drafting
stage on the whiteboard.
Here are some thoughts about our writing sessions:
I like that I can chose what I want to write- Taiya
I like that I can choose my own stuff to write—Nikola
I like it because it helps me get ideas in my head quickly
—Daisy
I like that we are writing a whole class book together– Gabby
I like that we are learning to edit our writing better– Jayden
I like that we can practise stuff we have worked on from the
board– Cody
I like that I get a picture in my head when we do Authors
chair– Kelsey
I get to make my own story about Squirrel Knight– Zoe
I like when it is free writing time I can write what I want and it
helps me get ideas out of my head– Bronwyn
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
The Characters of
Squirrel
Knight,
Princess Sassy, and
Evil Squirrel Catcher
who we have been
writing our class
narrative about.
PAGE 13
Junior School
King
Year 1
Each newsletter we will
highlight what a class from the
school has been learning.
This edition students from
Junior School King report on
what they have been learning
about so far over the term.
In J13 we have been
learning how things change when we heat or cool them, so we made
some toast, some jelly and some popcorn.
When we made the toast we put white, soft bread into
the toaster and then it was heated it became hard and
brown.
When we made the jelly, we had to pour boiling hot
water onto jelly crystals. Mrs King did that part so we
didn’t burn ourselves. Then we had to stir it to dissolve the
jelly crystals. Finally we had to pour it into plastic cups and
cool it in the fridge so it went hard again.
We also made some delicious popcorn. It was fun to
watch it pop. The popcorn machine heated the popping
corn and this made them pop, change colour and get
bigger.
It was fun and delicious to eat the toast, the jelly and the
popcorn.
We linked our inquiry unit to our writing so we got to write recounts
and procedural texts about the cooking we did. We also learnt a lot
about adjectives because we had to describe how the things
changed. We had to say how the popcorn looked, smelled and
tasted.
We have done a lot of work in writing sentences too and we have
learnt that they need to be about something and make sense. They
also need to have a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the
end. Here are some sentences we wrote about popcorn:
Riley – It tasted hot.
Kayla – The popping corn went pop, pop, pop.
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PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
Dakota – It tasted delicious.
Maggie – It was yummy.
Charlie – It looked good and it was white.
Ellie – It started off like a little seed.
Jasmine – It smelt nice.
Jayden – It was fantastic.
Jordan – The popcorn was warm.
Joshua – It started off cold and then went hot.
Sarim – It started off orange and then turned to white.
Coby – It was popping in the machine.
Wut – It went pop, pop, pop and then started coming out of the
machine.
James – The popcorn was delicious.
Hannah – I think it was really yum.
Ben – Popcorn pops.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 15
Senior School
Ryan
Year 6
Each newsletter we will
highlight what a class from the
school has been learning.
This edition students from
Senior School Ryan report on
what they have been learning
about so far over the term.
On Friday the 20th of March, S33 took part in
‘Bullying NO WAY! National day of action.’ As
part of the day students needed to participate
in activities about anti-bullying to earn a
wristband.
http://bullyingnoway.gov.au/
We did an activity that looked
at how glitter and gossip are
similar. Just like gossip the
glitter sticks with you and
continues to spread!
We looked at how we want to
be remembered and created a
at
THINK
poster—looking
‘thinking’ before we speak to
one another.
OUR THOUGHTS ON BULLYING …
Ivy: Treat people how you would like to be treated.
Ruby: Everyone can have different opinions.
Rianna : It’s okay to be different.
Jasmina: Accept everyone.
Khailyb: If someone’s getting bullied stand up for
them!
Chris: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say
anything at all.
Riley: Think before you do.
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PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
Senior School
Ryan
Year 6
CHEMICAL CHANGE
This term we have been learning about
‘chemical change’. Students have been
participating in a variety of experiments
observing reversible and irreversible
changes.
FIZZ WHIZ EXPERIMENT
WALT

plan and conduct an investigation
of the factors that effect rate of
reactions.
WILF

Formulate questions for
investigation

Plan and set up an investigation

Observe, record and share results
VARIABLES

Temperature of the water

Type of liquid—milk or water

Amount of liquid

Consistency of tablet
PREDICTIONS & OBSERVATIONS

Change of Liquid—Oil
PREDICTION: The oil would slowly
dissolve the tablet because the oil is much
thicker than water.
OBSERVE: The oil did not dissolve the
tablet .

Change of Liquid—Milk
PREDICTION: The water would dissolve
the tablet quicker than the milk
OBSERVE: The milk took 3mins longer to
dissolve the tablet in the water.

Consistency of the tablet
PREDICT: The tablet would dissolve faster
if crushed.
OBSERVE: Our prediction was correct the
crushed tablet dissolved a lot quicker .
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 17
Mathemagic!
Dedicated to dominoes
While we are no way affiliated with Woolworths stores, I am aware of the latest
give a ways. So if we have dominoes in the community...lets put them to
some use mathematically
Playing Maths With Dominoes
Before children begin Year 1 it is expected that they will have a very good familiarity
with whole numbers from at least 0 to 20.
If your child can count from 0 to 20 that’s a great start. Ideally though we want them
to be able to recognise quantities representing each number, the numeral itself
and the number spelled out in letters.
From there it’s great to start developing counting on from any number (not just zero)
as well as developing some skills with addition and subtraction.
One of the best tools that covers so many of these scenarios is a simple pack of
dominoes.
Recognising Quantities and Subitising
Special points of
interest:

Dominoes is a game
that involves matching
the game pieces,
rectangular ’tiles’, on a
flat surface and each
domino tile has a number
of spots, or none at all, at
each end of the tile that
must be matched with
another of the same
number of spots.
The ability to recognise a quantity by looking at a grouping of dots is an important
skill that you and I have learned by playing games with dice and dominoes. In the
above image, matching the pink domino with the orange domino shows an ability to
recognise the number of dots on the matching sides.
The ability to look at a domino and state the number of dots on each half without
counting them is called subitising and is one of the curriculum areas that children
should be confident with before starting Year 1.
Get yourself a few packs of dominoes and simply sit with your child and explore the
dot patterns and the quantities as you each select a domino from the pack. These
are great because they’re colourful, tactile and if you have a pack of each, they will
last you through a few stages of your child’s development. At first your child may
need to count the dots, but with exposure they’ll be visually recognising the
quantities before long.
See and Say

Each student selects one domino and places it facedown in front of them.

The students then take turns to turn their domino face up and quickly say the
number of dots shown on each end.

“There are five dots on one end and four on the other.”

After each round, the dominos are mixed together and
redistributed for the students to repeat the activity.
Some websites with great Domino ideas
http://mathwire.com/strategies/matsdom.html
http://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/domino-facts
http://illuminations.nctm.org/lesson.aspx?id=372
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GWI0A9o_5E – for fun
PAGE 18

‘Dominoes’ is also
spelt ‘dominos’, while the
spots on the dominoes
are also known as ‘pips’,
and the game pieces,
called ’tiles’, are also
known as ‘bones’,
‘stones’, ‘cards’,
‘spinners’ and ‘tickets’.

Dominoes were first
documented in China
between 12 and 13
century AD, and in the
western world were
initially played in Italy in
the 1700s, and from there
it spread throughout
Europe.

Bone, ivory or
hardwood were the
original domino materials,
and some other materials
such as stone, metal,
ceramics and glass have
been used, but modern
dominoes are generally
made from plastic or
resins.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
Addition and Subtraction
Using dominoes is a great way to teach and practise addition and
subtraction with your child.
Let’s use this domino as an example. You can ask your child how many dots
each side has and then how many dots there are in total.
Alternatively you can cover up one side (let’s say the green side) and ask “If
there are 15 dots in total, how many more do I need?” with the answer being
4. Your child will first need to identify that there are 11 red dots, and then
they might use their fingers or another domino to count on how many more
dots they need to reach 15.
Domino War
Play just like the card game war, but flipping dominoes instead of cards.
Encourage the child to guess who has the higher number before naming the
number. You can both flip one domino, or you can flip two at a time adding
them together before comparing the total with the other player’s. You can
also incorporate subtraction into the game. Flip a single domino and subtract
the smaller side from the larger side before comparing the difference with
your opponent’s.
I’m thinking of a domino that….
Lay all (or a handful) of dominoes face up. Choose which one will be your
secret domino but don’t announce it out loud. Give clues such as “one side
of the domino has twice the number of dots as the other does” or “the
domino has a total number of dots less than 8″ or “one side of the domino
has an odd number of dots, the other has an even number.” For each clue,
encourage the child to remove all the dominoes that do not meet the criteria.
Then switch players and let the child think up enough clues for you to figure
out his or her secret number. The challenge of thinking up clues is a great
one.
Lonely Domino
Start with all the dominoes face up.
Choose one domino and announce that
it is lonely and wants to join up with one
or more dominoes whose number of dots
total up to eight. Once the child has
found an appropriate domino or pile of
dominoes, place them next to the first
domino and announce that the new
domino (or pile of dominoes) is lonely
and wants to find one or more friends with dots totaling up to twelve. Keep
naming off different numbers, occasionally repeating numbers so that the
child can see that there are more than one way to create the appropriate
number. Keep an eye on which dominos are left and which numbers can be
formed.
Four in a Row—Using Dominoes
You will need a set of 28 dominoes with all of the blanks removed (so there
are only 21 tiles left), some counters, and a 6 x 6 grid with products of
factors up to 6 x 6 marked randomly so that all squares of the grid have a
product.
Place the dominoes face down on the table. Players take turns choosing a
tile. The students then multiply the score of the two halves of the domino tile
and place the counter on the resulting product on the square grid. For
example, a double four-dot domino tile means 16 is covered; a two-dot and
five-dot tile means 10 is covered. The first student to connect four numbers
in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally wins.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
Special points
of interest:
European domino sets,
which generally differ
slightly to Chinese
dominoes, have 28 tiles,
but sets with up to 253
have been made, but are
rare and are more than
enough to suit eight
players.

The most common
sets of dominoes are
known as ‘double six’ or
‘double nine’, which have
28 and 55 tiles
respectively, with values
of zero to six and zero to
nine.

Dominoes are
played with two to eight
people, depending on
the quantity of tiles,
making it a great family
game, the aim of which
is to be the first to rid
your hand of all your
tiles, blocking your
opponents as you do so.

Dominoes have
often been used to
create what is known as
‘domino effects’ that are
lines, or many other
things such as spirals, of
dominoes standing on
their ends, that when
one is toppled over the
rest should follow in turn.

Chinese dominoes
were originally made to
represent all the possible
throws of two six-sided
dice, with some added
duplicates to make a set
of 32.

To this day, it is
uncertain whether the
game of dominoes
derived its name from
the word ‘domino’, that
once referred to the
black hood-like
accessory that priests
wore, or directly from the
word ‘dominus’, meaning
lord or master.
PAGE 19
SPRINGER’S DIRECTORY
PAGE 20
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
SPRINGER’S DIRECTORY
ADVERTISING IN
“SPRINGERS”
Springers accepts paid advertisements from
commercial
companies/enterprises.
Advertising charges are:
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1/2 A4 = $40.00 per edition
1/4 A4 = $30.00 per edition
1/8 A4 = $15.00 per edition
Springers is also happy to publish free
advertisements
from
local
non-profit
community groups.
For further details or to book advertising
space please contact Megan Humphrys on
59 457400.
Pakenham Springs nor the Department of
Education
and
Early
Childhood
Development does not endorse products
or services of any private advertisers or
sponsors and accepts no responsibility
for the accuracy of information contained
in advertisements or claims made by
them.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 21
SPRINGER’S DIRECTORY
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PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 23