RESPECT OPTIMISM COMMITMENT COMPASSION HONESTY

22nd Oct, 2014

Term 4, Issue 3 A reminder that the school newsletter can always be accessed from our website at

www.buninyongps.vic.edu.au

School Assemblies

24 October 3 - 6 Assembly

31 October Whole School Assembly

7 November SHOW DAY - NO SCHOOL

14 November P - 2 Assembly

21 November 3 - 6 Assembly

28 November Whole School Assembly

5 December P - 2 Assembly

12 December 3 - 6 Assembly

19 December Whole School Assembly

DATES TO REMEMBER

22 October Pre-Schooler Program

23 October PLP Meeting 2:30pm

24 October Story of Buninyong STEM Program Pre-Schooler Program

Grade 2 Gymnastics

29 October Pre-Schooler Program

Prep Swimming

31 October Pre-Schooler Program Grade 1 Donegans Farm STEM Program

Grade 2 Gymnastics

4 November P-2 Sports

Grade 5 Sovereign Hill

5 November Pre-Schooler Program Prep Swimming

Grade 5 Sovereign Hill

7 November SHOW DAY - NO SCHOOL

12 November Prep Swimming

13 November World Kindness Day

14 November Pre-Schooler Program Kanga 8’s Cricket

Scotsburn P-2 Sleepover

17 November School Council

19 November Prep Swimming

20 November BYOD Parent Training Session 6-8pm

21 November Japanese Theme Day

The Story of Buninyong

On Friday 24th October please come and support our

Story of Buninyong Performance. This will be held in

the gymnasium starting at 6.00pm. There will also be a

BBQ available for you to buy a quick and easy tea.

“Tiddalick the Frog” The Story of Buninyong is the

end product of an innovative

school program exploring

local history.

Friday’s performance of “Tiddalick the Frog” is the end

product of an innovative Grade 4 Learning Focus. This

story looks at how cooperation and sharing is essential

to a harmonious life and portrays what happens when

this delicate balance is disrupted. Friday's

performance features a greedy Frog - Tiddalick, and

the animal totem groups of the Eel, Wombat, Wallaby,

Yabby & the Magpie.

This story is held together by Steven Skilbeck’ s

amazing songs and music and the school band and

choir bring it all to like. This story incorporates many

performance elements - living sculptures, narration,

mime, group dynamics, dance, singing, chorus work,

acting and most importantly...fun. I hope you enjoy

Friday’s show. I am very proud of all the students who

will take to the ‘stage’ Friday night. My congratulations

to all involved in the original production, I hope many

memories are made.

Miranda Donald, Director

RESPECT OPTIMISM COMMITMENT COMPASSION HONESTY

Have you downloaded the NEW Buninyong Primary School app yet?

Know that your child is going to be away or unwell and don’t want to wait until 8:30 to call the office? Use the ‘Student Absence Form’ in the app! Then you can let us know the absence when you’re ready.

To download the app, simply scan the QR code that applies to your device with a QR reader below or search for Buninyong Primary School in either of the app stores.

Please note that if you wish to download the

app onto an iPad you will need to make sure

that you search iPhone apps and not just

iPad apps.

ENROLMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR

Just a reminder to parents to get 2015 prep enrolments in as soon as possible. We are in the process of working out how many classes to run and need to know numbers as soon as possible. On the opposite side of things, it’s also important parents let us know if their children (from any year level) won’t be with us next year.

START DATES FOR 2015

Some of you will be wondering about start dates for next year and we are now in a position to

confirm that 1-6 students will start on Friday, January 30th and preps will start on the following

Monday, February 2nd

. Arrangements will be made for some of the preps to come in for individ-

ual testing on January 30th. Remaining preps will undertake that testing on one of the Wednes-

days they have off during February.

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Some of last weeks ABC Kids and Enviroment

winners Amazing Buninyong Child

Our winners for this week are:

PEB Milla Vermeend & Andrew Gittins

PNP Arlen Pallett

PRS Ellie Bence

PNS Hunter Aspland

SCOT NH

Quinn Moore

1CA Masyn Jarvis & Rowan Hollingworth

1JB Will Molesworth & Bella Mahar

1SM Riley Tatt & Abigail Kent

1HM Ryley Verdoorn

2PG Ebonie Gallagher-Smith

2NJ Isabella Pearce

2MM Jackson Tatt

2JO Emily Micallef

SCOT SO

Alex Young-Harvey

3HA Jed Medwell & Luka Phillips

3DS Harley Bisognin-Kerr & Ebony Pye

3PW Jordan Frantz & Otis Watson

4SD Aleisha Gillespie

4WH Hamish Sainsbury

4JT Fionn Somers

5JG Lani Wallace

5KG Casey Gordijn

5BM Daisy Rogers

5JS Jack Karslake

6JT Tiana Pearce

6VS Indy Sheridan

SCOT CM

Campbell Palmer

Mia Renyolds PNS

Mia found a five dollar note in the yard last term and kindly took it straight to the office.

A very honest act!

RESPECT OPTIMISM COMMITMENT COMPASSION HONESTY

Canteen & Qkr: Are you using the “Qkr app” for canteen lunches yet? Imagine, no more lunches left at home or in the car! No lost or forgotten money! No rushing around in the morning looking for paper bags and coins! Download the app today - it’s free. Check out the school website for more info. See Tara in the canteen or contact on 5341 3799 or 0417 540 095

Day/Date 9:00-11:00 11:30-2:00

October Wednesday 22

Tracey Coats Help needed from 9:00

Help needed at 11:30

Sara Gardiner

Monday 27 Help needed at 9am

Jenny Edmunds

Kathryn Pegg Help at 1:00

Wednesday 29

Jenny Ward Alison Richardson Help needed from 10:00

Help needed from 11:30

NOVEMBER Monday 3

Narelle Smith Tracey McGregor

Help needed from 11:30 !!

Wednesday 5 Mandy Hynes Shane Pearce Help needed from 10:00

Emma Custance Kathryn Pegg Help needed from 12:00

PRE-SCHOOLER PROGRAM

Last week was the first of the 4 weeks that our

Pre-Schooler Program will run. We have 88

students enrolled, which is great because that

means we will have the vast majority of our preps

start next year feeling very comfortable in the

school environment.

If enrolling your child in the program has slipped

your mind, it’s not too late. Simply give the ladies

in the office a call to enrol your child for the

remaining

3 weeks of

the

program.

“Environment Warrior” Award

Here are this week’s Environment Award winners. It’s worth $5 to be spent at the canteen anytime! Congratulations! Jack Coats 3DS, Andrew Campbell 4JT, Kirra Ward 5JG, Bridget Angee 6AC, Mitchell Warner Scotsburn

RESPECT OPTIMISM COMMITMENT COMPASSION HONESTY

Changes to the Education Maintenance Allowance and

Schoolkids Bonus Payments

The final payment for the 2014 EMA was made in August 2014. From 1 January 2015, the government will provide extra financial support directly to Victoria’s neediest schools instead of providing the Education Maintenance Allowance directly to parents. Parents will not be able to apply for the Education Maintenance Allowance in 2015. The money will be allocated to eligible schools through schools’ core operational funding mechanism, with the neediest schools receiving the most funding. Not all schools will be receiving funding in 2015 – and Buninyong Primary School falls into this category and consequently will not receive any extra funding. The end of the EMA direct payments to parents will not affect any other payment you may be receiving such as the Schoolkids Bonus, which is provided directly to eligible parents to assist with education costs. However, Legislation has passed to end the Schoolkids Bonus payments. The Schoolkids Bonus will continue until the end of 2016. This will allow families time to adjust to the change. The last instalment will be paid in July 2016.

An income test will also apply to the Schoolkids Bonus starting on 1 January 2015. The Schoolkids Bonus is available to families and carers who have a child in primary or secondary study and receive one of the following payments in respect of that child:

Family Tax Benefit Part A

Youth Allowance

Disability Support Pension

ABSTUDY Living Allowance

Carer Payment

Parenting Payment

Special Benefit

Veterans’ Children Education Scheme

Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme

Reference: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/parents/financial/Pages/ema.aspx If you require any further information, please contact me at Buninyong PS on either a Tuesday or Thursday. Peta Gillespie Relief Business Manager

RESPECT OPTIMISM COMMITMENT COMPASSION HONESTY

SCOTSBURN NEWS

students took some time to connect up the cords and conductors, but once arranged, had a great time playing. We learned a lot about conductors, insulators, how to make and use play doh and most importantly, how to work as a valuable member of a group. We arrived home about 4pm from a brilliant day at Quantum. Special thanks to David Simmonds, Kim, Ms Morris and Mr O’Loughlin for coming along on the day.

EarthEd

Last week the Grade 4-6 students from Scotsburn Campus attended another fantastic EarthEd excursion for their topic, ‘Beneath Our Feet’. We started off at the Mt Clear EarthEd facility where we met our leader, Murray, and used microscopes to learn loads about soil and how it is grouped and labelled. We even brought some of our own soil from home (or a special place) to look at and investigate. We looked at the alkalinity and air components of the soil samples. After a quick snack, we carried on to classification of rocks and our budding geologists were able to place the mystery box rocks in order of their hardness as well as identify what type of rock it was. The group learned about the difference between rocks and minerals and were able to work out what item was made from particular rocks and minerals. After our time at the centre, we made our way up to Mount Buninyong to look at the crater and climbed the tower to learn about the volcanic activity and lava flow in our area. An excellent day was had by all and a fantastic extension to the activities we are doing in class.

Buninyong Primary School App Don’t forget to download this great new App. Simply scan the QR code on your child’s classroom door or search for the App in the App store.

Reminders for week starting October 13th Cooking helper – Sharon Gardening helper – Marg Lunch order drop off and pick up – Cassia

(Continued on page 7)

Parent meeting There will be a parent meeting on Wednesday 29th (8am) and Thursday 30th October (3.45pm). We are providing these two options for you to choose from to ensure that as many parents as possible can attend. At the meeting we will finalise our plans for the end of the year and also discuss the parent opinion survey results.

Pre-Schooler Program Last week we had our 1st Pre-Schooler Program day. The kinder kids had a wonderful time. We look forward to them coming back again this week.

Congratulations Mia Last week, Mia Lepair competed in the Greater Western Region Athletics competition at Llanberis. She ran a great race and won the 1500m. She has now made it through to State level which will be held in Melbourne next Monday. Congratulations Mia and good luck next week.

P-1 Musical item Well done to our prep/1 class who last week

performed at assembly. You did a brilliant job and

sounded great!

Quantum Excursion Last week the Grade 3-6 students visited Quantum to participate in the ‘Makey Makey’ Science Program. After an early start, we arrived at Quantum in Melbourne and got straight to work making play doh from scratch. The students looked great in their lab coats and were even allowed to take their play doh home! We learned how to determine if an object was in insulator or a conductor using the ‘Makey Makey’ kits. Our next activity was to use our play doh and a small circuit

board to play music. This was amazing! Our final activity required the use of a computer, the circuit board and various conductors to play Mario Brothers. The

RESPECT OPTIMISM COMMITMENT COMPASSION HONESTY

Important Dates & Extra-Curricular Events Pre-Schooler Program - Wed15th, 22nd &

29th October and 5th November

24th Oct - Gr 4 Story of Buninyong Performance

29th Oct - Fact or Fiction Science Performance (Grades 2-6)

31st Oct - Donegans Farm (Grade P-1)

4th November - P-2 Sports Day

4th & 5th Nov - Sovereign Hill School Experience (Grade 5)

14th Nov - Sleepover (Grades P-2)

Day for Daniel On the 31

st October at Friday’s

assembly the School Leaders will be addressing the importance of our students knowing how to Recognise, React and Report situations to keep them safe.

As the theme is Red, students please come in full school uniform.

In class the students will learn an appropriate age lesson on child safety.

The Student Wellbeing team also encourages you as the parents and guardians to read the Daniel Morcombe site below and use this information as conversation starters especially around stranger danger, cyber safety and road safety at home and with the wider community.

http://www.dayfordaniel.com.au/

Many thanks

Student Wellbeing Team 2014

Congratulations

Congratulations to Jayva Goriss-Dazeley who has been selected to represent Victoria in the Australian Futsal Association National Titles, Sydney 2015.

Jayva has also completed a successful season as goalkeeper for the Ballarat Red Devils Under 12s team in the National Premier League.

LOCKDOWN

The lockdown drill went very well on Tuesday. Everyone was very calm, all doors were locked and all staff rang the office and all children were accounted for. All staff had prepared the students for the practice and obviously a lot of parents did as well. One thing that was highlighted was that we need to remind everyone that if you are bringing your child to school after the morning bell to start the day you must sign your child in at the office.

RESPECT OPTIMISM COMMITMENT COMPASSION HONESTY

BUNINYONG GOOD LIFE FESTIVAL

Each year we are invited to take part in the Buninyong Good Life Festival and it’s only natural that we support the event given our school is an important element within the broader Buninyong Community. This year we are going to contribute again by running a dunk tank. To make this possible we need 16-18 parents and staff members to run the event in half hour shifts between 11am and 3pm. If you would be willing to help out on the day, please let us know by contact the ladies in the office. Luckily we always have more than enough grade 6 volunteers and a few staff to go in the tank, so you don’t have to worry about that side of things.

A big thankyou to Miranda and Andrew

Donald for again making their dunk tank

available for us to use.