Lots of things happening this term, so please put them in your calendar!

Thanks Kasey and Mai for amazing grass clearance this week!

Prep 2023 Transition Dates

Do you know a family who has made a tree change? Remind them they can do their bit for sustainability by sending their kids to their local school, reducing their carbon footprint and building strong community connections for their children! Do you have a new neighbour? Let them know to come and look at our wonderful school.

22nd November 9-11:30am 29th November 9-11:30am

6th December 9-11:30am 13th December 9-2:30pm

WELLBEING NEWS

By Linda Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator

LIFE EDUCATION SESSION REMINDER MONEY DUE THIS FRIDAY

Dear Parents/Carers

Life Education will be visiting our school on Monday. Students will be participating in programs that address many of the components and objectives within the Victorian Health and Physical Education Curriculum. Below is an outline of the program each year level will be participating in. The cost is $16.00 per child.

Life Education Programs:

Prep-2 Harolds Friendship

3/4 BCYBERWISE

5/6 ON THE CASE

Please see attachment for more information about the Life Education Modules and to register for a parent session.

School Uniforms

School Council is reviewing our Uniform Policy at our November meeting. We are asking our school community to think about whether we have school uniform.

Do we make it compulsory, optional, tops but free choice bottoms or not at all?

We have had lots of responses but would like to hear from everyone! This decision is a big one and we need everyone to contribute.

Please complete our online survey to let us know what you think. Responses close 26 October

Severe Weather Event Feedback

We had 24 responses to our survey regarding communication during the severe weather event. 96% of respondents thought our communication was adequate and timely. 4% thought it was adequate but not timely.

Please take care over coming days and make sure your family has a safety plan in place that everyone understands!

Before and After School Care with Mikaela

Mikaela is going on maternity leave from the 21/12/2022 until June 2023. At the moment we are working to find a replacement person. We are currently gauging interest for 2023. If you are interested in accessing Before & After School Care in 2023 , can you please contact Mikaela via email at educarefdc@outlook.com as soon as possible.

Patsy's afternoon sessions on Tuesday and Thursday remain unchanged, but you are asked to contact Patsy to let her know your 2023 needs.

What's happening in the P-1-2 class?

Over the past couple of weeks in the P-2 classroom, we have been continuing to view and enjoy a range of text types together and wonder about why the Author created them. We have continued to observe our environment and students are becoming more curious about the changes that we can see. Students had an interesting discussion on Tuesday where they pooled their knowledge about the seasons and what they know about how water changes and moves around our environment. They also had conversations around what is natural and what is made. This sparked some wonderings about things that are made from natural materials. This is something we will explore further over the coming weeks. In numeracy sessions, we have been learning about fractions. Students have participated in many hands on activities where they have had opportunities to both demonstrate and explain their thinking. In PE sessions, students are showing increased confidence in the skills involved in tennis. It has been wonderful to see them demonstrating great community spirit through their participation and their encouragement and support of one another.

We also had Connecting Country come to the school for their last visit. The students were very engaged in discussions and a game of bingo about native birds.

What's happening in the 3-4 class?

Yummy muesli bars

This was the recipe we used in the 3-4 room (easy to make plastic wrapper free muesli bars...)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup brown sugar

50g butter

3 cups untoasted muesli or rolled oats

1 cup sultanas (or substitute with other dried fruit- we used cranberries and apricots)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line the base and long sides of a 19 x 29cm slice pan.

Step 2: Combine the honey , sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until butter melts and sugar dissolves.

Step 3: Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly.

Step 4: Remove from heat. Combine the muesli , sultanas , sunflower seeds , pumpkin seeds and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Step 5: Pour over the hot syrup and stir to combine.

Step 6: Spoon into pan and press gently with the back of a spoon.

Step 7: Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Remove from oven and set aside in the pan to cool completely. Cut into 5cm x 9cm rectangles to serve.

What's happening in the 5-6 class?

Urban camp!

COVID-19 Update for schools

COVID-19 isolation requirements have changed

The Victorian Government has announced the end of the Pandemic Declaration and associated Pandemic Orders.

The following settings, based on advice from the Department of Health, apply from 11.59pm Wednesday 12 October 2022.

It is strongly recommended that students:

• who test positive to COVID-19 stay home and isolate for 5 days

• should not attend school after 5 days if still symptomatic

• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school

• advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result

Where students become symptomatic at school they should:

• be collected by their parents/carers

• undergo testing for COVID-19

Reporting positive COVID-19 test results

The Department of Health recommends that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 should inform those with whom they have recently been in contact, including their workplace, schools and household.

Parents and carers will therefore be asked to continue to report positive student COVID-19 cases using the VicED COVID Tool.

COVID-19 vaccination changes

The current mandatory vaccination requirement for staff and visitors, contractors and volunteers working in schools no longer applies.

COVID-19 vaccination, including booster doses, continues to be strongly recommended for all school staff.

Face masks

Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.

The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home.

Additionally, the Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19, for at least 7 days after a positive test, when they need to leave home.