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: [email protected]
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