Dear Parents and Carers
We have had another busy start to the term and it is hard to believe that we are at the end of Week 4 already. I continue to visit classes and talk to children about their learning goals and the importance of knowing what it is that they are working towards learning and succeeding at. Mr Ranford and staff have been focussing on a growth mindset and the power of ‘yet’ in our Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) lessons. We talk to students about a growth vs a fixed mindset and what that means. Put very simply a fixed mindset is ‘I’m either good at it or I’m not” whereas a growth mindset is ’I can learn to do anything I want’.
Yet is a powerful three letter word and when related to a growth mindset, according to Carol Dweck (Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential, 2006) we are all on a learning journey, and that just because you haven’t accomplished a task yet, does not mean that you cannot or should not try and certainly that you should not give up. We are passionate about teaching our children to keep trying and that you’ll reach your goal because that is the power of yet!
Illness
Please be mindful of the effect on others when sending children to school who are unwell. We ask that students who are unwell are kept at home until they are well enough to attend. We continue to focus on best practice in our attention to hygiene by reminding children of the following:
- washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, or using hand sanitiser, when entering school, and at regular intervals throughout the day
- particularly before and after eating, and after going to the toilet
- covering coughs and sneezes with ones’ elbow or a tissue
- placing used tissues straight into the bin
- avoiding touching one’s eyes, nose and mouth
- not sharing food or drink.
National Primary Principal’s Day
I was greeted with a surprise assembly last Friday morning to celebrate National Primary Principal’s Day. The whole school managed to keep it a secret from me and used a ‘made up accident’ to get me to the Undercover Area. I was greeted with a song from the Junior and Senior Choirs, a beautiful banner from the kindies and pre-primaries and cards with beautiful messages from every class. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of our students – you made my day!!
Year 5/6 Room 9 Assembly
We were treated to an amazingly clever assembly item from the students from Room 9 – they welcomed us to their “Average Olympics”. We were entertained with some very clever stunts and some even funnier dress-ups. The highlight was when we crossed to the real Tokyo Olympics to hear from Will H’s mum, Sabrina. Sabrina showed us how the pictures that we see on our screens at home were created at the Water Polo competition in Tokyo.
Year 1/2 Room 3 Assembly
Room 3’s assembly about the seven continents of the world was fantastic. They shared so many interesting and engaging facts about each continent. It was great to see the range of outfits for each continent, including some amazing traditional pieces. I don’t know how they memorised all those facts. The seven continents song was sung with great enthusiasm and I’m sure it got stuck in many heads. Well done Room 3.
The student councillors demonstrated how far their public speaking skills have come and they shared many of the exciting things that have happened and are about to happen in the coming weeks. To name a few we have Science Week, Book Week, Massed Choir rehearsals and our faction carnival coming up. Congratulations to all the students who received merit awards.
13 August Parent Assembly Award Winners
| ROOM | YEAR | |
| ECE1 | Pre Primary | Makenna |
| ECE3 | Pre Primary | |
| Rm 1 | Year 1 | Emma |
| Rm 2 | Year 1 | Tyler |
| Rm 3 | Year 1/2 | Towa |
| Rm 4 | Year 2 | George |
| Rm 5 | Year 2 | Sloane |
| Rm 6 | Year 3 | Mae |
| Rm 7 | Year 4 | Daniel |
| Rm 8 | Year 5 | Sienna W |
| Rm 9 | Year 5/6 | Lucca |
| Rm 10 | Year 5/6 | Max |
| Rm 11 | Year 3 | Sumaiya |
| Rm 12 | Year 3/4 | Aubrey |
Mr Rhys Thurston
Year 3/4 Teacher
Re-Cyc-Ology Nest Box Workshop
On Friday 30th July, East Victoria Park Primary School proudly hosted an environmental nest-box building workshop with ‘The Re-Cyc-Ology Project’, which is run by local environmental biologist, Simon Cherriman and environmental educator Danielle Crichton
Selected students were involved in the construction of nest-boxes that were then installed in the school grounds. These nest-boxes are built with certain target species in mind, such as the Red-capped Parrot, Australian Ringneck, Brush-tailed Phascogale, Striated Pardalote, microbat species, Common Brushtail Possum and our threatened black cockatoo species. The school community is encouraged to take ownership of these boxes and watch for activity and make notes in a shared journal.
Feel free to look at ‘The Re-Cyc-Ology’s’ website for more information or find them on instagram or facebook.
Martha Walters
Science Specialist Teacher