LAURIMAR LINK Armidale Rd, Doreen 3754 P: 9717 7100 F: 9717 7199 Email: [email protected] PRINCIPAL’S COMMENT Laurimar Link Term 4 Newsletter # 17 Thursday 23rd October 2014 Calendar of Events 27th October Year 4 Edendale Farm China Exchange 28th October Well I don't know where to start. What a simply outstanding educational adventure. This trip had everything that I was hoping for and so much more. The people of China were a credit to their country; Warm, welcoming, friendly, proud and genuine. Our 10 year 5/6 students were absolutely amazing. Rosie Milne and myself could not have asked for anything more. They embraced this opportunity like no other and delivered on behalf of our school and we all should be so proud of their efforts, attitude and application. Our children were totally immersed in Chinese Education for 9 days up at 6.30am and through to about 9.30pm each day. The closing ceremony to farewell our Australian Delegation will be entrenched in our memories forever. It was simply remarkable. Not one piece of rubbish to be seen in the school in 9 days. Not one bit of graffiti in the city. So many lessons for all of us back home to learn about respect and pride for your country. Sight seeing opportunities of this incredible land were memorable. Lessons in education of how children rate the importance of education was clearly evident. The family home stay experience for our students created some memories that will never be forgotten. In summary, Rosie Milne is simply a star. Not many people could go away for 16 days and have the coping mechanisms to care for 10 students to this level. An Incredible effort. Thankyou to our parents who have been supportive, appreciative, encouraging and so positive all the way through. Well done mums, dads, brothers and sisters! To our students, you all simply amazed me with your A grade attitude and have made the entire school and wider community so proud. You have all pioneered something very special that will be forever etched in our schools history. Congratulations to you all!! For myself personally, to sit down at an official signing ceremony to become a sister school partner with Jinling Primary School in Nanjing is one of the highlights of my career and sets up many, many more opportunities for our students moving forward. A special thank you to Madam Lin and Madam Sun. Special thanks also to Gabrielle Leigh president of the Victorian Principals Association, Aileen Hall whom pioneered these opportunities and was an inspiring leader on this exchange, Rebecca Vosper for the administration and all of the ladies in our office for the incredible time they invested. A huge team effort! Thank you for everyone's support in allowing this to be possible. Ride to school Day 29th October Prep Information Night 30th October Walk-a-thon 31st October 1st Step into Prep Session 3rd November Student Free Day 4th November Melbourne Cup Day 6th November Ipad Information Evening 7th November Year 1 Smart Start Excusion 11th November Remembrance Day 12th November Year 3 incursion Parent helpers session # 1 13th November Year 2 sleepover Year 1 scienceworks excursion Year 3 incursion Spring Challenge Congratulations to all students who performed in the Spring Championships which was held in Geelong over the weekend. An Incredible amount of planning and practice goes on behind the scenes to prepare the boys and girls and on the back of the 5/6 a China trip it was lovely to see the Chinese lantern dance take out first prize. Congratulations to Ms Carruthers and Miss Dugdale and the team of helpers and to all the boys and girls for your efforts. Parent Opinion Survey On behalf of all our staff, many thanks to those families who were selected to take part in our 2014 Parent Opinion Survey. It is great to see so many people feeling so positive about our school and showing a great level of appreciation. Let's all continue to celebrate the wonderful work of our students and the incredible opportunities on offer in our educational institution. Remembrance Day Ceremony Our newly constructed War Memorial is almost complete and will be in readiness for a moving Remembrance Day Ceremony and Official opening on November 11th at 7pm. All members of our school and wider community are warmly welcome and I encourage ALL families to be present on the night. Laurimar Primary School is the first school in Australia to unveil a memorial of its type endorsed by the RSL. I look forward to seeing everyone there on the evening. Final 2014 Working Bee Many thanks to the dedicated and passionate students, parents and teachers that turned out to last night’s twilight working bee. Beautiful conditions greeted us to target various areas around the school and I'm sure as you enter the grounds you will appreciate the quality work that has been completed. Thank you to all involved for getting in and getting your hands dirty to make a difference. If you missed out you will have to get on board in 2015. Night at the races The big night is less than 3 weeks away. Back by popular demand, our school 'Night at the Races' will be held on Saturday 15th November here in our school gymnasium. Would be great to see as many parents and staff in attendance for what is always a wonderful evening. Plenty of races, games, dancing and fun activities have been arranged for the evening. Come dressed to impress in your favourite race attire. The evening kicks off at 7pm with Race 1 at 7.40pm. Get a table of family and friends organised and have a fun filled night. Please make an effort to support YOUR school. Tickets can be purchased from the office or online via our munch monitors system for $20. See you all on the night. Many, many thanks must go to our stalwart parents, Anna Howe and Amanda Moad for the planning and preparation that goes into this memorable evening. Much appreciated ladies!! Bully Stoppers— Speak up against Cyberbullying Students achieve their best at school in safe and supportive environments, where they are free from bullying and disruptive behaviour. We put a big emphasis on making sure we provide a great environment for our students – one that promotes tolerance, is inclusive, harmonious and free from bullying. An environment where all students feel safe and have a great sense of belonging. We can work towards this goal through education in the classroom, intervention in the playground and a focus on promoting positive behaviours including adhering to our 'Hands Off Policy'. However, with the rise of social media, bullying now occurs online, as well as in person. Cyberbullying is just as harmful as face-to-face bullying, and it can occur at any time of the day. Cyberbullying is an increasing issue in the wider community – and the best way to tackle it is for schools, students and parents to work in partnership. Laurimar Primary School is committed to supporting the Victorian Government’s Bully Stoppers campaign – which has just launched a new series of tools and resources for parents and students to best support students in preventing cyberbullying. At Laurimar PS, we cannot stress enough how important it is to never allow your child to take an iPad/ electronic device into their bedroom unsupervised and online in a wifi setting. Limit the amount of time your child spends on the iPad at home. These resources, called Bully Stoppers: Speak Up Against Cyberbullying, are available on the Bully Stoppers website, at www.education.vic.gov.au/bullystoppers - visit the site to find out more and tackle this ever growing problem together or come into the office to speak to me more about this. Thanks to all for a positive first 3 weeks of term and I look forward to seeing everyone around our wonderful school. BEST WISHES Jason McBean, Principal ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S COMMENT Term 4 is flying along…. Our students are already engaged in some great programs this term. Our Preps had a Fairy Tale Fiasco incursion to launch their unit on stories from around the world. We have the Year 1 Disco to look forward to, the Year 2 sleepover and lots of other great activities. It was great to see so many people at our working bee last night and to see the students involved in getting the Cenotaph finished, ready for its official opening in a few weeks. We will be running two parent helper sessions on November 7 and 14 from 2:30pm-3:30pm. Any parents who want to help in the classroom in 2015 and have not yet completed the parent helpers course are encouraged to attend. Anyone wishing to help in the classroom must have completed this course. After months of hard work, it was very exciting to see our Leader in Me banner put up near the OHSC building. The Leader in Me tree represents the three areas of personal growth from dependence to interdependence and the habits of that underpin these. You will be able to read many of our student’s philosophies about leadership and success. We are still looking for parents to join our Policy and Planning Committee. This is a great way to have input into the development of policies in the school and to gain a better understanding about some of the operational and organisational aspects of the school. The committee meets two Wednesdays a term from 4:45 until 6pm. If you are interested in joining our committee, please come and speak with me. Natasha Biddick Assistant Principal DANCE TEAM SUCCESS ENRICHMENT PROGRAM POETRY COMPETITION This year the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards celebrated the 30th year of their national children’s poetry competition. The Laurimar Enrichment extension groups submitted some of their poetry. Our celebrated entrants were: Sarah W Amy W Cody S Madison S Emmerson C Jordan C Mikayla S Zane S Ben P Angelina P Kyle D Mackenzie K Adam N Sarah M Nick M Grace M Charlotte F Olivia A Vaida M Caitlin L Brayden L Luke J Keira G Alex F Kailey F Kyle D Hannah E Kalana E Makayla W Annabelle B Molly W Here is a poem submitted by Amy W Changing of the Seasons Summer was hot it made the forest plant life near none, The sun grew hot and made it very humid, the animals sweltered under the sun. and more than anything the forest needed fluid. Autumn was cold and awash with a breeze, and the trees began to bare, little woodland creatures hid so they didn't freeze, for the canopy was stiff and cold and now the creatures were left without care. Winter was more so colder then last season, no creature came out, for the weather was merciless and sought no reason, and nothing travelled during the season for they were afraid to venture out. Spring came at last with rich vibrant life, the forest was abundant, and little was a strife, and the animals weren't reluctant, to get the plants they needed while they grew. And again the seasons changed, But even though they repeated the experiences always ranged. MATHS OLYMPIAD This year 49 Laurimar Primary School students competed in the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads. This involved five rounds of five mathematical problems. Here’s an example of an Olympiad Question I have exactly ten coins whose total value is $1. If three of the coins are 20c, what are the remaining coins? Our Olympians were: Aiden I Owen S Nathan B Samuel C Sarah J Vaida M Hana D Chris H Kiana M Hannah M Jamie H Jake G Cooper S Zane G Kai M Tom S Joel M Luke C Jacob A Bradley M Jason B Bailey W Ky C Wade S Oliver W Nikolas E Hayden V Alexis G Malone P Calizta J Luc G Jason J Samuel P Tyler C Levi S Bailey F Ryan P Nikola W Gus M Ethan S Blake N Jacqueline S Bayley W Josh H Brady S Regan M Ryan N Nicholas M Savannah B Olympiad Answer: You need seven coins to make 40c. So the answer is one 10c and six 5c coins. Mel McLellan, Enrichment Team STUDENT OF THE WEEK—13th October Prep A Elena V 4A Kiahla P Prep B Leila M 4B Jake G Prep C Jayden B 4C Ryan R Dylan W You Can Do It! Safura B Physical Education Maddison B Leader In Me Elise H Prep D Dylan Mc 4D Prep E Max D 4E Hayden P The Arts Eoin B Prep F Joshua Y 5A Isabelle Mc OSHC Jack B Prep G Emory W 5B Luke J Dylan W Milla R 5C Chinese Prep H 1A Spencer Mc 5D Caitlin L 1B Kade K 5E Hannah M 1C Jasmine S 6A Ryan P 6B Dylan K 1D 1E Cooper R 6C Jessica O 1F Kyan T 6D Blair P 1G Wesam O 1H Carter B 2A Alice Mc 2B Riley K 2C Shayla N 2D 2E Cameron W 2F Blake G 2G Kaitlyn A 2H Bari S 3A Charlotte K 3B Amy K 3C Aaron J 3D Samuel W 3E Zane Mc 3F Rebecca G 3G Ryan K Dear Parents/Guardians, Laurimar Primary School is involved in a competition to raise awareness of anaphylaxis. We are competing against other local schools to win first place, which is a $10,000 Educational Grant! In order to vote for LPS, simply type the following link into your internet browser, click the hand and then select Laurimar Primary School. http://www.anaphylaxis101.com.au/raise-your-hand/ Please ‘Raise Your Hand’ for anaphylactic awareness and support Laurimar Primary School. STUDENT OF THE WEEK—20th October Prep A Riley O 4A Amy Mc Prep B Izaiah C 4B Kyle D Prep C William A 4C Jack D You Can Do It! Physical Education Ashton L Leader In Me Prep D Macy T 4D Prep E Ashley F 4E Adam C The Arts Aiden G Prep F Charli N 5A Madilyne P OSHC Grace S Prep G Stephanie P 5B Candace R Darcy S Hailey J Cooper R 5C Chinese Prep H 1A Charlie P 5D Elly Mc 1B Zac W 5E Amber R 1C Amelie P 6A Brock Mc 1D Elise H 6B Rebekah B 1E Danni-Jorja J 6C 1F Eleanor T 6D 1G Cooper B 1H Damien S 2A Jack S 2B Sebastian C 2C Kasey C 2D Ella H 2E Jai F 2F Mariah G 2G Molly S 2H Ebony W 3A Max C 3B Emma L 3C Taliyah T 3D Mia F 3E Darishanaa A 3F Ethan D 3G Julia CA LAURIMAR LINK, 2014 Lize J LEARNING—PARTNERSHIPS—SUCCESS The ARTS @ LAURIMAR PRIMARY CANTEEN NEWS Recently Laurimar Primary School was entered into a competition with food for kids to win a grant for the school—we won! The warmer weather is now here which means the canteen is now coming into its busiest time of the year and we are need volunteers to help with window sales and packing lunch tubs from 12.45 to 2.00. If you can help please give us a call or drop in.