DANDENONG SOUTH PRIMARY SCHOOL

52 Kirkham Road, Dandenong South Phone: 9792 3726

THIS NEWSLETTER IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE BELOW:

School Website: www.dandenong-south-ps.vic.edu.au

(Use this website to access SENTRAL’s Parent Portal)

Email address: dandenong.south.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

Principal: Mrs Leonie Fitzgerald

Assistant Principal: Mrs Angela Savaglio

Assistant Principal: Mrs Moniba Ehsan

Term 1 – Week 9 Issue 4: 28 March 2019

Principals Report

As this term draws to a close we are able to look back on a very busy time where a lot of learning has taken

place. All of the year levels have been involved in excursion/incursions relating to the curriculum and the

work in the classrooms reflects lots of student engagement.

On Thursday, 14th March, we celebrated Harmony Day with a range of activities. These celebrations are

always a great opportunity for the school community to come together to share and celebrate our many

cultures. There was a Harmony Day parade, activities in the classrooms and a morning tea for parents and

staff.

On Tuesday 26th March we had our first School Council Meeting with the new members for 2019,

Chithrika Senanayake, Xhensila Osmani, Zeba Ahmad Ahmadi. They join Rina Main and Amanie Zeini

as the current parent and community members. Ms Moniba Ehsan joins Ms Angela Savaglio as the new

DET representative. Ms Rina Main was elected School Council President at this meeting.

Our Year 5/6 students are currently having a wonderful time at Camp Doxa. They were all very excited when they left the school on Wednesday and we are looking forward to hearing about their experiences while at the Camp.

Next term will commence with a very short week. We commence on Tuesday 23rd April, ANZAC Day

will be on Thursday 25th April and Friday 26 April will be a Pupil Free day. The teachers and ES staff will

be involved in professional learning related to Mathematics.

From Monday 29th April until Friday 7th June, students in Years 4 – 6 will take part in the Attitudes to

School Survey. This is an annual survey of student voice that provides information to support student

engagement, school improvement and planning in schools. If you have any questions please contact the

school.

Have a great week and a wonderful holiday break.

Leonie Fitzgerald

Principal

Dandenong South Primary School has a holistic approach to learning where the academic, physical, so-

cial, and emotional needs of all children are fostered through the school’s values of:

Resilience - Empathy - Challenge - Respect

PUPIL FREE DAYS SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Commence on Friday 5th April at

2.30pm and school returns on

TUESDAY 23rd APRIL at 9.00am.

ANZAC DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY

THURSDAY 25TH APRIL

CURRICULUM DAY

FRIDAY 26TH APRIL

Calendar Dates to remember

Tuesday April 2nd Year 1 Arts Centre Excursion

Thursday 25 April Friday 26th April

Public Holiday & Pupil Free Day—No School

Administration Information

DSPS Student Values Awards

Talha FC EMPATHY

Lerita 3/4F EMPATHY

Saliha 3/4H EMPATHY

Nawid 5/6C EMPATHY

Ali 5/6D EMPATHY

Zeba 2D EMPATHY

Elias 1B RESPECT

Adel 1D RESPECT

Rayhaan 2C RESPECT

Abip 5/6B RESPECT

Inis 5/6E RESPECT

Sitayesh 5/6F RESPECT

Nazanin 5/6G RESPECT

Sadia 3/4G RESPECT

Sienna FB CHALLENGE

Parsa 1A CHALLENGE

Amila 2A CHALLENGE

Ali 2D CHALLENGE

Husain 3/4D CHALLENGE

Mustafa 3/4G CHALLENGE

Rydvi 1D CHALLENGE

Jasmine 5/6E CHALLENGE

Safah FD RESILIENCE

Parent Payment Charges for

2019 are due by

Friday 1st March.

Our preferred method of

payment is BPAY or EFTPOS.

Your family BPAY code is

available from the office and

also appears on your family

statement that has been

emailed to your nominated

email account. We request

that you do keep your con-

tact details up to date at all

times. To save you time in

calling or visiting the

office ,you may make per-

sonal changes through your

Sentral Portal and this will

prompt a message for the

office to your update details.

FREE DRESS DAY - LAST DAY OF TERM - FRIDAY 5th APRIL

1000 Guru Fundraiser

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The Student Representative Council have organised a fundraising event to help a school in Indonesia as part of a project organised by 1000 Guru (translated: 1000 Teachers). 1000 Guru is a non-profit organisation created by a group of Indonesian volunteers who organ-ise teachers to visit rural places in Indonesia and have them teach at the local schools. Our own Miss Wanke was lucky enough to be one of the volunteers during the last school holidays.

Some schools in rural Indonesia are in poor condition and need help purchasing basic amenities such as chairs.

To help raise the funds for one particular school we are asking for a gold coin donation for your child to wear free dress on Friday 5th April.

Thank you,

Atefa Sahil & Lenon Medini

SRC Presidents

EAL Arts Centre Melbourne excursion

On Friday March 22nd, the EAL students enjoyed an excursion to the Arts Centre Melbourne. We

watched a puppetry production of ‘Picasso and His Dog’.

After enjoying the play we had a sun-filled lunch on the steps of Hamer Hall.

We then had a great time making music at The Channel.

It was a great day and a great cultural experience .

EAL Teachers

Elaine Parry, Sandra Connerty & Michelle Bolin

Working with Children Check

At Dandenong South Primary School, we greatly value the participation of par-

ents and family members in the classroom and at activities such as sporting

events and excursions. We are also a Child Safe School, in line with Ministerial

Order 870, which was introduced in 2016. The Child Safe Standards aim to

minimise and reduce the risk of child abuse to all children at school and in the

community.

All parents, care givers and family members, who wish to assist their child in

the classroom and attend excursions or sporting events, including the swim-

ming program, must hold a valid Working With Children Check (WWCC) and

must sign the School’s Code of Conduct before they attend.

Working With Children Checks are free for volunteers! Australia Post will take your photo at no charge!

Applications can be obtained by visiting the following website: http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/ Please see your child’s teacher or Sub School Leader if you require any assis-

tance with you application for a WWCC.

The School’s Code of Conduct is available at the front office; please see Mrs

Turner or Mrs Higlett if you require a copy.

You will find documents regarding our continued commitment to a zero toler-

ance for child abuse on our school

website. http://www.dandenong-

south-ps.vic.edu.au/quick-links/school -

documents/

The City of Greater Dandenong’s Sustainability Festival is returning to Dan-denong Market Sunday 7 April for its 6th year in a row.

This free event is a rewarding, fun-filled day with live performances, activities, music and displays for all ages! Families can expect to receive tips on how to save money and the planet, easy ways to cut waste and turn trash into treasure, healthy cooking demonstrations and how to grow your own edible garden.

Enjoy some live music and kids performances, pedal power your way to a free smoothie or follow Dr Popoff through a caravan of guts to discover what is mak-ing Gutzy’s tummy so sore.

Ride your bike and get it pimped out for free! Each person who rides to the Festi-val will receive a free bike service and full bike pimping.

Head home inspired to take action with simple tips and free give-aways after a fun and exciting day.

The event will also feature:

Free face painting and children’s activities

Free pedal powered smoothies

Sustainable product stalls

Free take-home veggie plantings

Live performances and music

Cooking demonstrations

Experts on hand including sustainability specialists and Council’s environmental staff

For more information please contact Sustainability Officer Chamomilla Hill on 8571 1000.

Location: Dandenong Market, the Terrace and surrounding car park, Corner Clow and Cleeland Streets, Dandenong

This event is part of What’s on – Autumn.

For more information visit greaterdandenong.com/whatsonautumn

The City of Greater Dandenong is proud to be a City of Celebration.

DANDENONG HIGH SCHOOL

School Tours Friday 29th March

For more information and to book a tour

contact the school on

9792 0561

Harmony Day Parade Thursday 14th March 2019

Our schools are committed to ensuring students from all backgrounds feel safe and connected at school and are able to achieve their best.

This information sheet provides examples of what racist bullying can look like and practical steps you can take to work with your child’s school to address it.

Racist bullying can be:

Physical, verbal or emotional

Online via mobile phones, email, social

media and games.

Frequently making casual, offensive

comments

Making jokes that use racial and/or

religious stereotypes

Offensive graffiti

Ridiculing, tormenting, threatening or

making fun of physical attributes (such

as skin colour, hair or facial features),

customs, religion, food, accents,

language, cultural or religious dress or

music, or migration history

Making comments that imply that a

person is not “Australian”

Refusing to socialise, work or co-

operate with others because they are

from a different cultural background

Making judgements about a person’s

ability or values based on their accent,

language or cultural background.

Page 1 Advice Sheets: Addressing Racist Bullying | © 2019 | Department of Education and Training | Andrew Fuller

Racist bullying can have long-term neg-ative effects on physical and mental health, as well as school attendance and educational outcomes

1.

Racist bullying can also negatively affect students who witness the bullying. Even if they are the friend of the bully, they can feel insecure and unprotected.

Working with your child’s school Schools want all students to feel safe and in-cluded. Schools do not tolerate any form of bullying and take all forms of bullying serious-ly.

Schools must have a bullying prevention policy that states that any form bullying is unaccepta-ble. You should find the policy on the school website, or you can ask your child’s teacher or the front office for a copy.

If your child experiences racist bullying, it is important that the school knows what is hap-pening so they can support your child and ad-dress the bullying. Some steps you could take include:

Making an appointment with your child’s

teacher or another relevant staff member.

Your child’s Year Level Coordinator or the Stu-

dent Wellbeing Coordinator/Primary Welfare

Officer are often good points of contact. You

could also talk to an Assistant Principal.

Asking the school to organise a professional

interpreter for you if required.

Bringing in a support person when meeting

with the school.

Explaining why you have asked for the meet-

ing and ask for the school’s commitment to

ensure that the bullying stops.

Sharing details of the incident/s your child has

experienced and the impact it has had on

them.

Agreeing to a timeframe for the school to re-

spond to the incident/s.

Allowing the agreed amount of time after the

meeting for the school to respond to the bully-

ing. Often the staff investigating the report will

need to talk to a range of people, including

other staff and students. This may take some

time and doesn’t mean the school isn’t taking

your concern seriously.

Helping your child work out what to do if

the bullying happens again. This may

involve a plan to tell a teacher or see

someone from the Wellbeing team. You

can also talk to them about how they

can respond to or avoid the bully and be

supported by their friends.

• Talking to the school even if your child

does not want you to – racist bullying is

a serious issue and your child’s school

will want to support you and your child

to feel safe and welcome.

• Seeking support for yourself, if need-

ed. Parentline is a phone service for

parents and carers of children from birth

to 18 years old, and offers confidential

and anonymous counselling and sup-

port. They can be contacted on 13 22

89.

If the bullying continues, you may wish to talk to the principal.

If you’re still not satisfied with the school’s response, contact your closest regional office and ask to speak to the Community Liaison Officer in your area. They will help register your com-plaint and explain how the Department will consider it. Allow time for the region-al office staff to speak with the principal and anyone else involved. If the issue is complex it could take more than 20 school days to resolve.

Resources and supports There is more information and re-

sources about bullying on the Depart-

ment of Education and Training website.

See: Bully Stoppers

If you want more information about what

to do if your child is experiencing bully-

ing, this page may be helpful: Bullying.

No Way! – How parents and carers

can respond