Welcome back to term 3. I hope you all enjoyed a restful break and took some time to re-charge the batteries and stayed away from the winter chills! This term promises to be another great ten weeks of fun and learning at WHPS! Please be reminded of our whole school concert this term on Wednesday 6th September. Also in week 3 (3st July – 4th August) we will be conducting a Fun Maths Week at school. This will culminate in a Maths Night on Thursday 3rd August at 6pm! We ask all parents to come along with their children and enjoy some maths fun!! Yep – maths can be FUN! Next week you will receive a newsletter from your child’s teachers. These team newsletters will outline the term ahead with key dates and curriculum foci. Please check the term dates attached to the newsletter to keep you informed of a busy term ahead! Bunnings BBQ – WE NEED YOU Saturday 29th July – can you spare an hour or two of your time?!?! Please see attached to the newsletter the notice that was sent home this week. Please let us know of you can donate in any way!! Entertainment book In coming weeks you will receive an entertainment book from the school. It is totally optional whether you choose to purchase and keep this book. Alternatively, simply return it to the school at no cost. These books are loaded with free and discounted opportunities that will see you recoup your $70 rapidly. All vouchers and discounts run for the financial year, hence expiring on June 30th, 2018. Further details coming home soon. Student Lead Conferences In keeping with our motto ‘Strive for the Heights’ we have our student lead conferences coming up in week 4 (7th – 11th August). This will provide an opportunity for students to reflect upon their first semester of learning and to share with parents their successes in achieving their individual learning goals. In coming weeks you will receive a notification regarding the booking process for these conferences. I hope you can all make this important part of your child’s learning journey. Compass Please keep checking in on your family’s personal Compass page as there are often new events being posted regularly. P-2 Music this semester As a fantastic addition to our specialist program this semester our Prep-2 students will be enjoying music classes as a further exploration of the Arts. Year 3-6 students will continue their weekly art classes along with their instrumental music classes.

Watsonia Heights Primary School 61 Henry Street, Greensborough 3088 (03) 94354617 www.watsoniaheightsps.vic.gov.au Email- watsonia.heights.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

LINKLETTER PRINCIPAL – MICHAEL KENT

ISSUE 12 DATED – 21tst July 2017 – Week 1 Term 3

OHS holiday program As you are aware we recently held a holiday program at WHPS. This proved to be very successful and we will be hosting one again at the end of term 3. However, for this program to be sustainable into the future we are obliged to have a certain number of participants. Therefore if you need care over the holiday break please consider using this great program. Special thanks to Filiz, Debbie and Vicky for making this (and our OHSC program) such a success. We are lucky to have you working with our students! Sustainability Unfortunately due to the inclement weather this week we have had to re-schedule a number of pre-planned local walks activities. Thank-you for the parents whom attended and for your flexibility with date changes etc.. also a big thanks to the staff team who have had to make running alterations to planning and logistics throughout the week to ensure that our students didn’t miss out on the wonderful learning opportunities. Woolworths earn and learn is back! Starting this week you can collect earn and learn stickers from any Woolworths store and submit these at our local Greensborough store or simply drop them in the box located in the school’s front office. Your contribution will support the school to obtain valuable resources for our students. Canteen Manager Congratulations to Kate Fisher who was successful in her re-application for the canteen manager’s position. Kate’s contract had ceased and was therefore required to go through our selection processes. Great to have you back on board Kate. WHPS writing program As you are aware all students in Years 1-6 are involved in our ‘VCOP – Big Write’ writing program. As an integral part of this program students are required to have conversations with people at home around a weekly topic focus. These conversations allow students to articulate their thoughts, gain other perspectives and prepare for their writing session back at school. This is based on the notion that: “if you can’t say it, you can’t write it” We need to encourage the development of language and listening skills to develop student’s writing abilities. Your child will come home with a new topic each week. This will inform you of the genre of writing and the topic. We ask that you talk to your child about this topic to help them with the content of their writing the following day. To help you get the most out of their BIG TALK homework, we suggest that you:

Encourage as many family members as possible to be involved in BIG Talk homework (not just the adults!!!)

Switch off the TV! Try to ensure this is dedicated talking and listening time.

When giving your opinion, use ‘because’ to explain why you think what you do.

Ask others around the table to give their opinions, using ‘because’ also.

Ask your child his/her opinion and have them use ‘because’ to explain their reasons.

Link to the past and future – talk about things you remember from when you were a child and how they differ now, and … project forward to how things may be different in the future.

DON’T WRITE ANYTHING DOWN! Not only are we improving oral language, but we are also improving memory links. VCOP VCOP is focused teaching of: V = Vocabulary Teaches a wide range of WOW words (ambitious vocabulary) C = Connectives Teaches a wide range of words and phrases for connecting thoughts, ideas, sentences, etc. O = Openers Teaches a wide range of ways of opening sentences, including sequencing words, linking words and phrases P = Punctuation Teaches a wide range of punctuation, including power punctuation Trivia Night Looking for a fun night out with parents and friends of WHPS? Well here’s your chance! Lock in Saturday 19th August as this major social event is a load of fun for everyone involved. More details to come!

Chocolate drive As you will know we are running our annual chocolate drive. Please keep selling your chocolates and return all monies and/or unused chocolates to the office. This fundraiser concludes on July 29th. Values based WHPS has a strong sense of values that are encouraged every day. Our PATHS program fosters a positive mindset. It develops children’s interpersonal skills and improves their awareness of emotions and behavioral choices. Our school values of: Success, Teamwork, Respect, Individuality, Visionary and Effort (forming the acronym STRIVE) are embedded across the school. I would like to unpack these to provide some insight into daily life at WHPS. Success, Teamwork, Respect, Individuality, Visionary, Effort Effort The last of our ‘acronymed’ values at WHPS is E for effort! This is a hugely important value as it empowers and engenders an ongoing attribute to Strive through sustained effort. Research has shown the impact and significance of acknowledging, supporting, rewarding and expecting effort in learning. In fact, a less ‘capable’ student will out perform a more ‘capable’ student over time if their effort levels are more significant. A student whom relaxes and presumes their abilities will take them where they wish to be, will inevitably fall short of their potential. Fostering a focus on effort will ensure a life long learning trait (and work ethic) that will help students to achieve. At WHPS we have an ongoing focus on effort. Students are recognised and acknowledged for their levels of effort. Fostering the right attitude to learning and to tasks is of high importance at school. This attitude toward sustained effort allows our students to produce amazing things. Self improvement is the goal for us at WHPS and there is nothing better than seeing the joy and pride on a child’s face when they work hard to achieve something new – and DO IT! Additional to individual effort, we see and applaud team efforts at WHPS on a daily basis. This may be a sporting team, it may be a small group in a classroom, it may be a student praising another in the school yard for their efforts, it may be the whole school coming together to support our school fete! These efforts are equally important to the WHPS culture. These collective efforts are a significant part of building and sustaining our school community. Your efforts can contribute to this in many ways in and around our great school. Similarly, as parents, you can foster the value of effort in your children. Working hard to achieve something should be admired and respected in all children. Any successful person will invariably reflect on one of the main reasons for their success being hard work or sustained effort. Have a goal and work towards it. RMIT research WHPS has been participating in a research project with RMIT that is designed to investigate the impact of discipline based literacies in year 5 and 6 students. Doctoral candidate, Lynn Bury has been interviewing staff, and myself, around the use and impact of discipline based literacies. This is interesting work and there is a lot of research into the cognitive impact of increasing students literacy skills in various subject areas and indeed, across subject areas. Primarily, our focus has been on investigating the literary skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) with a particular focus on our Discovery Learning program (STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). This week I sent home permissions for students and parents of year 5/6 in the hope that Lynn may be able to interview some parents and students around this topic. For those interested students/parents in year 5/6, please return these permissions to your class teacher asap. Parent Survey The Parent Opinion Survey is completed annually by the Department of Education and Training and is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents at every school in Victoria. This year, about 30 per cent of parents will be invited to participate. All responses to the survey are anonymous. The survey helps our school gain an understanding of how you view our school climate, student engagement, and relationships. A random sample of parents will be notified and asked to complete the survey between August 7th – 25th. If you receive a survey request, I would appreciate if you can take some time to complete it. The survey takes around 15 minutes to complete.

Yallambie Park visit Next week we will welcome on of the kinder groups from Yallambie Park Pre-School to enjoy a ‘morning @school’. This will provide a fun and engaging school experience for the children as they look ahead to commencing school in 2018. Special thanks to Ally and Angela for hosting the group! A New Club Meet the new club that has emerged at WHPS. The ONE GLOVE RUBBISH SOCIETY has been born from some of our wonderful year 3/4 students. These one gloved bandits have been spotted in around our school picking up papers and making our school grounds sparkle! It is a shame that there is even a need for students to pick up after others. However, the impact of these students in being proactive is fantastic!

Values for Life Incursion 25th July Prep – 2: The Great Mates seminar & curriculum discusses the importance of a healthy community and, more specifically, friendships that contribute to this. The seminar is designed to equip students with tools required to initiate, create and maintain good friendships that are caring, empathic, trusting and enable students to be confident with who they are. Through a range of interactive games, personal stories, music, and multimedia, we explore what makes a good friendship and practical ways in which students can implement this in their school and everyday life. Key concepts covered in the session: The following are messages we want students to learn through the seminar:

Everybody needs a group of people that accept them and help them feel like they belong and are valued

I know what a good friendship is

I know that a good friendship is a two-way relationship that requires empathy

It's okay for me and others to think, look and act differently

There are simple, achievable things I can do to create and maintain healthy friendships

I know my values are important because they determine how I treat others and myself Essential Learning Standards The Values for Life program presents a student learning program that intertwines elements of all three strands of VELS with the key focus on the following dimensions:

Building social relationships and working in teams (Interpersonal Development domain), plus

Listening, viewing and responding (Communication)

Values for Life Incursion 25th July Years 3-6: The Cyber Savvy seminar and curriculum is designed to introduce the influence of ICT (information and communications technology) and the media to students. The usage of computers, mobile devices and other technology is a significant influence on our life and has many positive and negative elements to it including cyber-bullying, lack of social bonding, isolation and a sedentary lifestyle. The seminar demonstrates these elements and encourages students to be aware of this influence and be able to use technology that enables them to be cyber-safe, to be responsible and have a healthy participation in the online as well as offline world. Through a range of interactive games, music, and multimedia, the seminar encourages students to think about their own character, values and talents and the influence they have in their friendship groups, classroom, school and beyond. In addition to this student seminar, a complimentary teacher resource manual & curriculum is provided that can be implemented & modified by the school to extend the learning outcomes in the classroom over several weeks. Key concepts covered in the session:

Development of communication through history

The ways people interact and communicate through ICT

Potential negative effects of ICT on ourselves in both our physical and mental health

Responsibilities associated with the use of ICT

The media can be a big influence, is commercially driven and is not always real

Our self-worth – i.e. what we are (e.g. our skills or what we look like) is different to who we are (our character and values)

Factors in helping us to be resilient – a core set of values that can remind us what is important despite our influences and circumstances

The Values for Life program presents a student learning program that intertwines elements of all three strands of VELS with the key focus on the following dimensions: Building social relationships and working in teams (Interpersonal Development domain), plus Listening, viewing and responding (Communication) Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead. Warmest regards, Michael

Across the Ap’s Desk:

Welcome back to what has been a very busy start to Term 3! Our school has been a hive of activity across

the first week with our students being exposed to some awesome learning experiences.

Sustainability Unit:

There is a strong focus on sustainability as part of our students learning this term and a number of our 1/2

classes have had the opportunity to partake in walking excursions to the Cascades to explore the differences

between natural and man made environments after negotiating weather related delays.

Prep C and Prep G also had an exciting opportunity to walk to Streeton Primary School to discover more

about their sustainability programs and give thought to how we can do more at our school to promote

sustainable practices such as composting. Other Prep to year 2 classes will be visiting next week. The

teachers reported that the students got a lot out of this experience and I’m sure it will lay the foundation for

some powerful learning in the weeks ahead.

Ozobots are Go!

I also had the opportunity to explore some of the interesting and fun learning going on in Discovery

Learning this week. Miss Trethowan and the 5/6 teachers were working with students on programmable

mini robots called Ozobots. The students were creating paths for the robots to follow and controlling their

movements through the use of different colours that the robot would read and respond to. Robotics and

programming are becoming a larger part of our lives and it is great that our students are being given

opportunities to increase their knowledge in such an engaging manner.

With our whole school Great Mates student wellbeing incursion on Tuesday, the 3/4’s Latrobe Wildlife

Sanctuary excursion next Thursday, Concert preparations and our Maths Week and Science Week activities

coming up, the rich learning experiences will continue thick and fast in the coming weeks!

Sports:

You will remember at the end of last term that we were celebrating the efforts of Lachlan Galletly who had

made it all the way through to Victorian Cross Country Championships. This race took place yesterday,

where Lachlan competed against approximately 90 of the strongest runners in Victoria for his age group. In

wet and miserable conditions including taking a tumble towards the start of the race, Lachlan did a fantastic

job to finish 57th. We congratulate Lachlan on this amazing performance and look forward to watching his

running performances in the years ahead.

Mixed Netball Team:

You may also remember at the end of last term our Mixed Netball Team were crowned District Champions.

This has entitled them to compete in the divisional finals series. This will take place on Tuesday the 1st of

August and will involve an early arrival to school. Details will be provided to participants in the coming

days. We wish this team all the best for their final.

Athletics Day 3-6:

Our WHPS Athletics Day is fast approaching on Tuesday the 8th of August with a back up day of the 22nd of

August. This will be an opportunity for all our years 3-6 students to compete in a range of athletic events in

their age groups. To ease the congestion of the day some events may be completed in the weeks prior at

school. Our students have started their Friday morning practice sessions in preparation. Students will be

encouraged to compete in their school house colours on the day. As always we appreciate the assistance of

any parents / guardians with a current Working with Children Check that are able help out on the day.

Anyone in a position to do so is asked to make contact with me via email in the lead up to the event. Further

details will follow through Compass and newsletters in the weeks ahead.

Have a great week,

Tony

ryan.anthony.j@edumail.vic.gov.au

PATHS program – Providing Alternative Thinking Strategies

UNDERSTANDING PEER RELATIONSHIPS

Peer groups become increasingly important in middle childhood, being rivalled only by the family as the

child’s major area of influence. The importance of the peer group derives from the sheer amount of time that

children aged 5-12 year spend with their peers and the unique learning experience that peer groups provide.

As children become more mature in their relations with their peers, they begin to expect a number of things

from them.

Children aged 5-12 years expect more from a friend including loyalty, reciprocal support and

understanding, shared intimacy and common interests.

They start to form networks of friends (peer groups); in so doing coordinating their allegiance towards a

friend with their functioning within a peer group.

They learn to adhere to the norms of the peer group, including norms about interaction with members of

the opposite sex.

Trust and reciprocity are the lessons of close relationships, while cooperation, coordination of activities and

adherence to rules and norms are the primary lessons of peer groups. Both close friendships and acceptance

by peer groups are related to feelings of self worth and connectedness in children so it is important that

students learn social skills, that they learn to coordinate friendships and to participate effectively in group

involvement. The introduction of the P.A.TH.S. program gives our classes the structure to discuss and

understand the development of peer groups, allows the opportunity to students to practice the social skills

needed to successfully participate in a group and provides the framework for setting rules so they can

successfully operate within the boundaries of our behaviour policy.

FRIENDSHIPS To promote successful peer relationships, the P.A.TH.S. program assists students to develop critical thinking

to define “What is a friend?”, the qualities that a friend may demonstrate and the feeling that a student feels

when they have or don’t have a friend and making up with a friend when a problem has arisen in the

relationship. This discussion is important at this time in the social and emotional development of a student as

the forming of friendships and the acceptance that is felt by students at that age has an effect on their own

self image and performance. When discussions are held with students it is anticipated that students will

define a friend as someone we like, someone we like to talk to, someone we like to share jokes with, but

with further discussion and as the student develops, they may become more specific and define a friend as

someone who tries to be fair and who takes turns with us or someone who doesn’t try to make us do wrong

things that we don’t want to do. The P.A.TH.S. program encourages positive social interaction and assists

students in friendship making skills. The importance of positive body language, eye contact, tone of voice

are discussed. Students role play situations that may involve making friends and critically analyse the

manner in which they are presented. This may lead to discussions of how a student feels when they don’t

have friends or are rejected by others. The complement sessions that are held in classes assist students to

identify qualities in students that others may not have recognised and may lead to a friendship being formed.

The P.A.TH.S. program gives students the skills to resolving a conflict in a relationship by practicing

means-end thinking, generating a variety of solutions to a relationship that has broken down. With these

discussions students are able to identify that skills are needed to develop and maintain friendships.

Earn & Learn is Back

We’re thrilled to announce that the Woolworths Earn & Learn program is back for 2017. Now anyone can help schools earn amazing equipment by shopping at Woolworths from the 26th July.

Incredibly, last time over 16,000 schools and early learning centres participated in Earn & Learn, and earned nearly 450,000 pieces of individual equipment. This is your chance to help! See how easy it is and stick together with your local schools or early learning centres!

National Day of Action!

Earlier in Term 1 Watsonia Heights Primary School joined the nationwide movement to 'take a stand' by

participating in the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence (NDA) on Friday 17th March.

The NDA is an annual anti-bullying event for schools across Australia that encourages students to take

action against bullying and violence in their school, community and beyond. To further support this great

initiative, the grades 3-6 children participated in star weaving for the One Million Stars to End Violence

campaign. It took a while, and a lot of keen weavers, but eventually we finished all of the stars and sent

them off to Brisbane. Each of the stars will be displayed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. A big thank

you to all of the children who participated – they were not easy to make! A special mention goes to Lilly

Bishop, Scarlett Hall and Tanesha Lovett for helping Miss Clarke weave extra stars at lunch time almost

every day!

WHPS 2017 Important Calendar Dates

July 2017

Tuesday 25 – P-Gr 6 Values for Life Incursion – GP Room 9am-1:30pm

Wednesday 26th – Prep Play Date – 4-5pm

Thursday 27th – 3/4 Wildlife Excursion

Saturday 29th – Bunning’s BBQ – Eltham Bunning’s 8am-4pm – Can You Help?????

August 2017

Thursday 3rd – Maths Night – 6-7pm

Monday 7th – Friday 11th – Student Led Conferences

Tuesday 8th – House Athletics sports @ Willinda Park

Monday 14th – School Council Meeting

Thursday 17th - Gr 5/6’s Science Fair Activities – GP Room 9-11am

Saturday 19th – WHPS Trivia Night – GP Room 7-11pm

Friday 25th – Prep Play Date – 4-5pm

Tuesday 29th – Fathers Day Stall 9:30- 1:30pm

Thursday 31st – District Athletics @ Meadowglen International Athletics Track

September 2017

Wednesday 6th – School Concert

Wednesday 13th – Prep Play Date – 4-5pm

Monday 18th – School Council Meeting

Thursday 21st – Last Day of School for Students

Friday 22nd – Curriculum Day – NO SCHOOL today!

Don’t Forget School Banking every Tuesday

We’re excited to launch the Term 3 reward items for 2017 from our Future Savers range.

Smiley Emoji Keyring & Volt Handball