8 March 2017 Term 1

Twilight Fair

School Council Congratulations to our new and returning School Councillors who are; Liesl with children in Grades 5 and 6, Tara with a child in Foundation, Vince also with a child in Foundation and Katherine with children in Grade 3 and Foundation.

Student Leadership Last week we had a special assembly to present the 2017 School Leadership Team to the school with their badges being presented by Dee Rhyll. Congratulations to all of you and we look forward to seeing you all as excellent leaders.

School Captains: Maneesha and Ethan Vice School Captains: Xaige and Emily Junior School Council Leaders: Sara and Silana Hollows House Captains: Dante and Julia Cowan House Captains: Sonia and Amber Wood House Captains: Ella and Madeline Dunlop House Captains: Stephen and Cha Environment Captains: Mei and Tahlia Environment Team: Anthony, James, Lucy, Alexia, Jay and Abhinav

Case Study of Whitehorse Primary By Melbourne University Recently we received a copy of a case study conducted by the University of Melbourne about the work the staff and leadership at Whitehorse Primary School have been doing around teaching writing through UMNoS (University of Melbourne Network of Schools). The learning and skill outcomes have been exceptional at Whitehorse Primary. This is highlighted in student results and reflected in the case study. The case study highlights the extraordinary skill of the staff and the leadership team and is been used as a model within the department and beyond. We are now being approached for training and advice by a number of other schools including private and government schools which is testimony the great success of our school in writing and beyond. If you would like to hear more about why Whitehorse Primary is a successful school and how education is changing come to the 'The Changing Face of Education' information evening on Tuesday 28 March at 7:00pm.

Kerry Wood

DATES TO REMEMBER: FROM THE PRINCIPAL …...

March

23 Grade 6 to Mullauna Secondary College -

Creative Writing & Maths Workshop

24 ‘An Evening in the Garden’

Celebrating 10 Years of Stephanie Alexander

Kitchen Garden Program

26 Working Bee

28 ‘Changing Face of Education’ Information

Night

30 House Athletics Grades 3 - 6

31 Grade 6 to Mullauna Secondary College -

Sports Day

Please note changes of date for

‘An Evening in the Garden’

House Athletics

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

An Evening in the Garden Please note that the new date for the celebration of the ten-year anniversary of our Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program will be Friday 24 March. Come along and join us for an evening of food, wine and music. Your RSVP and Platter orders must be returned to school by Friday 17 March. House Athletics We have also moved the date of our Grade 3 to 6 Athletics carnival. It will now be held on Thursday 30 March. Students have been practising for their events during Sport and PE times. More details of the day will be sent home to parents later this week. Divisional Swimming On Monday Sara L competed in the Divisional Swimming Competition. Sara swam very well to come third in the Girls 12/13 50m Backstroke. Unfortunately she will not go onto the next level but we congratulate her on an excellent swim. Lunchtime Clubs We have lunch time clubs operating at the moment, offering students alternative activities during our lunch breaks. Our current clubs are Sport Club and Drama Club on Mondays; Chess Club on Tuesdays and Lego Club on Thursdays. Students are encouraged to come along and try one of these activities.

Start of Year Consent Forms Again I would just like to remind parents that if you have not already completed the online start of year consent forms in Compass we ask that you do so before the end of this week. If you are having trouble completing the forms online please contact our office for assistance. Working Bee We are planning a Working Bee for Sunday 26 March. There are a number of small jobs that need to be completed around the school buildings. We’ll start at 9.00am and should be finished by 1.00pm. We are offering a sausage sizzle lunch for those attending. Traffic and Parking Around School We are still hearing reports from parents about a number of issues related to traffic and parking around the school. The School Council has a sub-committee exploring what options are available to the school to help alleviate some of these problems.

If parents observe incidents around our school that they consider to be dangerous we would encourage them to notify the Whitehorse City Council of their concerns. The council’s phone number is 9262 6333.

Paul Tantram

Whitehorse Primary School’s District Swimming Team.

DISCOVER CHINESE CULTURE

Come and join our showcase on Chinese Cultural on 20 March between 9:00am and 10:00am

Come see our students from Grades 1 to 3 song performances. Students from Grades 3 - 5 will present their posters of famous Chinese landmarks and places of interests. You will get to learn Chinese places with us!

Want to learn Chinese tea pouring ceremony? Let our Grade 6 students show you how they would prepare Chinese tea. Last but not least, you do not want to miss out short lion dance performance that will be performed by our Grades 6 students.