Capital Works Grant
Each year, the Department of Education opens up applications for grants for various capital works across schools. This year we will be submitting an application to refresh the oval with synthetic turf. Our aim is to provide a welcoming and vibrant play space for our students. While real grass is lovely, the chance to create a level field with line markings that can easily be used year round is one that we must investigate. Put simply, the price tag of close to $500,000 of a new synthetic turfed oval is out of reach for our school. The grant application process takes 6 months before we find our if we have been successful, so fingers crossed for good news in December!
Junior School Council
Our JSC is busy in looking to spend the fundraising monies from the Colour Run and Election Day Sausage Sizzle and Cake Stall. They are looking at sourcing some semi-portable soccer goals so we can create two fields of play, reducing congestion and improving safety. They are also looking at other playground improvements and will present their ideas next term.
Your child may have come home talking about some visitors to the classroom over the last fortnight. Mrs Roberts and myself have been conducting observations across the general and specialist classrooms, as we begin to build a culture of classroom observations and learning walks for our staff. We've been pleased with what we have seen so far!
Curriculum Day September 19th
Get your planning in early as we are announcing a Curriculum Day for Friday, September 19th. This is also the last day of Term 3 so holidays can begin a little earlier for some. Staff will spend the day with a professional development focus on our implementation of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model, while the afternoon will be available to help discharge owed time in lieu for staff following the extended hours of Parent Teacher Conversations the week before (September 8th-11th).
Some playground issues....
Some of your children may have come home from school recently talking about a "funeral" at school. Some may have come home with a flyer promoting it. If you did either see or hear about such an event, I can imagine that it may have caused your child (and indeed yourself) some concern about what exactly is going on at school! I will try to explain as best I can from what we have unearthed (literally).
It would appear that a "squishee", one of those soft squeezy toys owned by a Year 3 student had developed a hole. Due to the hole, some of the internal "goo" was being released and a group of friends decided that the toy was "dead" and they should conduct a funeral. For reasons that remain unclear, a flyer was created at home and printed in multiple copies promoting this "funeral". The images contained, whilst cartoony, were not ones we like to see in school. These flyers were handed out at playtime promoting the event, and through both the flyers and word of mouth the story took on a life of its own which may or may not have reached your child's ears. A teacher on yard duty was able to collect a number of the flyers at the end of lunch and speak to a number of students.
It would appear that it was not the intention of these students to disturb or upset any students, they thought it was a fun thing to do. However, we do understand that talk of funerals could be very upsetting for students, particularly those that may have recently experienced a loss close to their family. At this stage we are unsure how many students may have encountered this story, nor how many may have been negatively impacted by it. If your child has been and you feel they need some form of additional support please let us know.
For the majority of students, this is a story they won't have had any knowledge of which is great. We just wanted to provide you with some backstory.
Have a good weekend,