AUGUST

3rd Victorian Netball Championships

15th Prep Open Orientation Session

16TH Grade 5/6 Reach Program

25th Whole School Production Rehearsal

28th 7pm Whole School Production

29th School Council Meeting

30th Prep Seaweed Sally Incursion

SEPTEMBER

4th Mordialloc District Athletics Carnival

12th Prep Open Orientation Session

20th Grade 3 Task Works Excursion

21st Grade 4 Task Works Excursion

22nd 2.30pm END OF TERM 3

OCTOBER

9TH TERM 4 BEGINS

Edition 7 – Thursday 3rd August 2017

Principal’s Report Our Vision Statement There is a prosperous path for every child. Each journey is theirs to lead. There is a place in which every child can shine. Our Mission Statement Identify the talent, develop the confidence and create the leader. Our Attitude Gratitude: Be thankful for what we have. Empathy: Practice random acts of kindness. Mindfulness: Keep in the present moment. Our Habits

1. Be proactive (I’m in charge)

2. Begin with the end in mind (have a plan)

3. Put first things first (work before play)

4. Think win-win (everyone can win)

5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood

(listen before you talk)

6. Synergise (together is better)

7. Sharpen the saw (balance feels best)

Our Motto Always Moving Forward FAREWELL

There is a universal truth that we all have to face whether

we want to or not; everything eventually ends. As much

as I feel excited about the future of our two schools (Le

Page and Parktone), I have always disliked endings. The

last day of summer, the final chapter of a great book,

parting ways with the greatest principal I have ever

worked with, but endings are inevitable. Leaves fall, you

close the book, we say farewell. Last Friday was one of

those days for all of us.

IMPORTANT DATES

Thursday 3RD August 2017

NATIONAL PLANT A TREE DAY

We welcomed Mark Drefus' donation for

National Tree Day on Friday and it was

particularly fitting that Leslie (2nd from right)

was present alongside our students to receive

the plant. Leslie not only sent her daughter to

our school and has a granddaughter at our

school, but Leslie is also responsible for the

beautiful gardens that she keeps all around the

school as pictured below. Thanks for the plant

Mark. Thanks Leslie for the ongoing dedication

and care you give to Parktone!

We said farewell to our principal, our visionary, the

kind and compassionate man we have come to

know.

But George has been working the past 10 years

on building something special. A gift of sorts.

Something he leaves with us all, that is, a culture.

A culture that binds us

together. A culture that

George will forever

be the symbolic creator of.

Here are a few pics from

the farewell on Friday.

Thursday 3RD August 2017

Kind Regards, Caleb Peterson Acting Principal

CAPITAL WORKS UPDATE

Last week we had another productive meeting

with our architects, Baldasso Cortese and

specialist staff as further work was done on

interior design and materials. Everything is on

track with the project timeline. Another one or

two meetings like this over the coming fortnight

and we will nearly be ready for the building

tender!

STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES

As I meandered from room to room I thoroughly

enjoyed observing the many students who sat down

with trepidation and rose with pride as they presented

their achievements, and in doing so fully realised the

wonderful progress they have made, and that their

teachers and parents especially, are proud of. I am

grateful to the parents who took the time to come

along in support of their child's progress. I am grateful

for the teachers' efforts leading up to and during the

conferences, and I am grateful for our students'

attitudes toward learning and all the achievements

they were able to display as a result.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PARENTAL FEEDBACK

We are conducting a survey to gather some feedback

on how we are going as a school. The Parent Opinion

Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department

of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a

sample of randomly selected parents at each school.

It is designed to assist our school in gaining an

understanding of parents’ perception of school climate,

student engagement and relationships with our parent

community. We use the survey results to help inform

and direct future school planning and improvement

strategies.

The survey will be conducted online by ORIMA

Research Pty Ltd and only takes 15 minutes to

complete. The survey can be accessed via desktop

computer, laptop, tablet or mobile at any convenient

time within the fieldwork period from Monday 7th

August to Sunday 27th August.

Approximately 30 per cent of parents will be invited to

participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the

survey are anonymous.

The survey results will be reported back to our school

at the end of September. Last year we used the

results to change the way we report from a once per

semester summary report to an ongoing system of

reporting key assessment tasks on Compass.

Parent Opinion Survey 2017

WE WANT OUR PARENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent

Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training

that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents at each school.

It is designed to assist our school in gaining an understanding of parents’ perception of school

climate, student engagement and relationships with our parent community. Our school will

use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement

strategies.

The survey will be conducted online by ORIMA Research Pty Ltd and only takes 15 minutes

to complete. The survey can be accessed via desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile at

any convenient time within the fieldwork period from Monday 7th August to Sunday 27th

August.

Approximately 30 per cent of parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All

responses to the survey are anonymous.

The online survey is available in English, Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (Hakha) and Hindi.

Survey language guides will be provided in a range of languages including Albanian, Bengali, Burmese, Cantonese, Dari, Filipino, Greek, Gujarati, Indonesian, Japanese, Karen, Khmer, Korean, Macedonian, Malayalam, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Turkish or Urdu.

The survey results will be reported back to our school at the end of September.

For further information, please speak to you child’s teacher or visit: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pages/performs

urveyparent.aspx

The Year 1 and 2 students have been enjoying

learning about money. They all loved visiting

Belinda in the canteen for one of our maths

experiences.

Shining A Light on... Rex Asker, 5S

The Year 5 & 6 teachers would like to shine a light on Rex and say a huge thank you for all the effort that he has put into helping his peers with Science this term. Over the holidays Rex was busy making two working lighthouse models to share with the 5/6 cohort as an example of the KAT that they will be completing this term in Physics. Rex has also put in his own time at home to create circuit boards that he has used to give demonstrations to our classes, showcasing his excellent leadership skills. Thank you Rex for being a true leader in Science - We're all so grateful for your hard work!

Congratulations to our top 5 Jump Rope for Heart fundraisers so far: Ionie Leahy Olivia Firth Lotte Byrne Arthur Toovey Ruby Allen

So far Parktone has raised $2007, which is an outstanding effort after just two weeks of fundraising! Keep up the great work! Our 'Jump Off' day will be on Friday 8th September (week 8). So get your skipping ropes and start skipping!! Miss Slykhuis

A warm and friendly welcome from the Parktone Community to our new staff

New staff We would like to welcome some new friendly faces to the Parktone team who have already made a fantastic start to the Term. We have Alistair Feary in Grade 1F and Ann-Marie McCann in Grade 5/6M. Kylie Forbes and Vicky Fantini have joined our ES team. Please make them feel welcome if you see them around the school. Grade 5/6 PLT Leader Appointment Congratulations to Brett Sargeant one of our amazing Grade 6 teachers who will be taking on the role of Acting Grade 5/6 PLT Leader for the remainder of the year. Brett is a wonderful asset to our school and we are looking forward to him joining our school Leadership team as Sophie Peterson commences her maternity leave.

Alistair Feary – 1F

Ann-Marie McCann – 5/6 M

Kylie Forbes - ES Vicky Fantini - ES

Brett Sargeant – 5/6 PLT Leader

The Beacon Team would like to thank everybody in the Parktone community for their generous contributions towards our last term fundraiser. There was an

overwhelming amount of items donated, which will make a huge difference to a lot of families.

The Beacon Team would like to especially thank Scarlett Fraser (3GA) and her mother Sascha for bringing this deserving charity to our attention, and also for

devoting precious and extended hours to dropping off the donations to the charity.

Keep an eye out on Compass and at the Beacon Team display for this terms fundraiser.

Thanks again, The Beacon Team

Healthy Happy Me!

It’s nearly spring so…….. Spring: citrus fruits, leafy green veg, asparagus, capsicums.

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now underway and Parktone Primary School is excited to be participating again this year. Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books. It’s not too late to sign up, if students are not already registered and would like to participate just let your teacher know and we will organise a personal login for you to start logging your books. The Challenge does not close until 8th September so there is still plenty of reading time. For more information visit www.education.vic.gov.au/prc Beverley Watson

A huge thank you to Mark Eddy from Hodges Real Estate for the

very generous donation which will go directly to the costumes for the

school production in Term 3.

SCHEMATIC PLANS

In 2017, Parktone Primary will begin the 3rd phase of a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device – Laptop) program. This program allows students to bring their own devices to school for educational use in

the classroom. The ICT philosophy at Parktone recognizes that in the digital age, and with rapid and continuous changes in the ways that people share, use, develop and communicate with ICT, young people need to be highly skilled in its use. To participate in a knowledge-based economy and to be empowered within a technologically sophisticated society now and into the future, students at Parktone Primary will be equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence to make ICT work for them at school and at home. Parktone Primary has prepared to meet the needs of all aspects of the program. Phase 1 of the program began at the end of last year with an upgrade to our wireless network capabilities and servers. Phase 2 involved meticulous research for selection of the ideal device for our teaching and learning needs. We timed the selection and purchase of 70 of the devices with the end of a lease program which will see 30 four-year-old computers replaced with the devices and provide our students, teachers and technicians an opportunity to test the full capabilities as well as discover any limitations to be overcome prior to commencement of the 3rd phase. The following timeline has been determined for the full implementation of phase 3

Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6

2017 Optional Required Highly Recommended

Optional

2018 Optional Required Required Highly Recommended

2019 Optional Required Required Required

The personal computing device that is brought to school must meet the specifications listed below in order to operate with our network: Operating system requirements: Windows 8 or higher Minimum screen size 11” 8 hour battery life Minimum 4gb RAM Physical connected keyboard (no wireless or Bluetooth) USB port

These are the same requirements expected of parents from Parkdale Secondary College. The device that Parktone Primary has sourced and purchased for our own use has superior specifications than the minimum required by Parkdale Secondary College. We are highly recommending the device (ACER SWITCH PRO 11) and future iterations of it as the preferred device for parents to purchase. We have sourced the device from Centre COM which is a company that has provided Parktone’s parents with a portal to purchase the device and streamline the process of purchasing, distribution through the school, software instillation by the school, warranty and repairs. At the moment Centre COM are prepared to offer to parents the same device that Parktone has purchased and is recommending, at the same prices that Parktone purchased 70 devices ($690 + GST), until stocks run out. It is anticipated the next version (2017 model) of the same laptop will cost between $850 and $900. The next version will be lighter and have a camera on both sides of the device. It is our vision to significantly increase the number of devices available to our Prep to Grade 2 students and for every grade 3 to 6 student to have their own digital learning tool. At the moment there are only 5 devices per class which limits the range of online resources and software packages that can be used. Each class only has access to the computer lab once per week and if a class requires every student to have access to a computer at any other time the teacher is required to organise a time with three other classes when they are not using their devices so the students can borrow them. By providing students with their own digital learning tools organisational limitations will be removed and our staff will have access to methods of teaching that not only engage learners but enhance the efficiency of learning. Imagine a class in which at the push of a button:

- a teacher is able to ‘push’ the content from their own screen to all students screens

- a student can ‘push’ what they have been working on to the interactive television for all

to see/edit/provide feedback

- a teacher can ask key questions and instead of getting just one answer via a ‘hand-up’,

every child’s thought/answer can be given and a teacher will receive instant and

sometimes graphed knowledge of what the students are understanding.

- Students can hear what they have written, say what they want to write and make real

time edits

- Students can create mini-films and take still shots to capture moments of learning,

thought and work they are proud of

- And so much more!

Our School Council has endorsed this program. Please direct any further queries to Caleb Peterson.