Week 3, Term 1

CAMPS, SPORTS & EXCURSIONS FUND (CSEF)

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors, excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works and sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership. All are part of a healthy curriculum.

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips,camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

CSEF payments cannot be used towards voluntary school charges, nor towards books, stationery, school uniforms, before/after school care, music lessons, etc.

The annual CSEF amount per student is $150 for primary school students.

HOW TO APPLY

New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form.

If you received CSEF funds at your child's school in 2024, you do not need to complete an application form in 2025 unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

You only need to complete a new application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

• NEW STUDENT ENROLMENTS; your child has started or changed schools this year.

• CHANGED FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES, such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or NEW SIBLINGS commencing at the school this year.

We cannot apply for the CSEF on your behalf - check with the school office if you are unsure.

Applications must be received by Friday 28th March, 2025

SCHOOL START BONUS

The Victorian Government delivered the School Saving Bonus (SSB) late last year – a one-off support of $400 for eligible government school students from Foundation to Year 12 in 2025.  The SSB helps families cover the cost of uniforms, excursions and activities.  Most families have now received their SSB code(s).

All SSB funds are initially allocated to Uniforms but, if you would like to use some/all of your SSB for school activities, you must reallocate it using the SSB online portal.  This will then be reflected on your Family Statement.
If you DO NOT REALLOCATE $ then, unfortunately, you will be unable to use it for school activities.  Please make sure you access the online portal to complete transactions as soon as possible (the school CANNOT do this for you).

The Department of Education has established a dedicated contact phone line to support the SSB so if you need help, please call 1800 338 663, between 8:30am and 4:30pm on weekdays.

 THANK YOU to Lauren Bieber, who has offered to be the Chief FUNRaiser for 2025!  Please support Lauren in all our endeavours for activities and fundraising for our great school!  We will hold a Funraisers meeting at school in the next couple of weeks.  We will share the date with all parents - everyone is welcome!  It will be a great meeting to discuss our plans for how we plan to spend the hard-earned Fete money.  We also have a FunRaisers WhatsApp group - please let me or Lauren know if you would like to be added to that.  

 Term One is all about students and teachers getting settled into their new classes, building relationships with each other and beginning to establish a trusting, supportive classroom culture. One of the ways we do this at CNPS, is by using the ‘Play is the Way’ social and emotional learning program.  

‘Play is the Way’ incorporates the use of physically interactive games which your child might refer to as ‘Wilson games’, after the founder of the program, Wilson McCaskill; these games include reflective discussions around developing skills such as self-regulation, empathy, independence and collaboration. Students will be playing ‘Wilson games’ all through the year as part of their Wellbeing program.  

Another essential element of ‘Play is the Way’ are the five ‘Life Raft’ guiding concepts; 

• Treat others as you would like them to treat you (The Golden Rule) 

• Be brave – participate to progress 

• Pursue your personal best no matter who you work with 

• Have reasons for things you say and do 

• It takes great strength to be sensible. 

During the first half of this term, classroom wellbeing programs will centre around introducing/deepening understandings of these concepts; this is done in various ways including with aligned ‘Wilson’ games, sharing books with these themes, reflective discussions and writing/drawing activities.  

 Hello from the Prep Rooms! 

This week in Literacy, we met Milo Monkey’s friends ‘Ally Alligator’ and ‘Peter Penguin’. We learnt their sounds ‘a’ and ‘p’ and have been practising the correct formation when writing these letters, both capital and lower case. 

As part our big question we have continued learning about rhyming and new nursery rhymes, including ‘Jack Be Nimble’, Little Jack Horner’ and ‘Little Miss Muffet’. 

In Maths, we explored time through learning the days of the day, matching pictures to morning, afternoon and night and sequencing daily events. After reading the book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ we made our own caterpillars by ordering the days of the week and matching what was eaten each day. You can come and see them displayed in the classrooms! 

This week we have also focused on learning our first school value ‘The Golden Rule- Treat others as you would like them to treat you’. We are learning to make strong choices and follow our class agreements. A highlight of our week has been sharing our ‘All About Me’ bags and learning more about each other! 

Next week in Literacy, we will meet two more characters that Milo invites to his surprise birthday party and will further explore rhyming words and nursery rhymes. In Maths, we will continue learning about time and sequencing daily classroom routines.  

Have a lovely weekend,  

 Nicole and Miss Else 

Hello from the Golden Wattle building! This week we have started our spelling groups, with students being split into four groups. The Grade 1 students have been split into two groups, working with either Wendy or Laura, while the Grade 2 students are wither working with Claire or Owen, our literacy enhancement teacher. 

This week the Grade 1 students were introduced to the codes ay, ai, eigh and ey which all make the long ‘a’ sound. The Grade 2 students have been learning about the FSZL gang and when to double the letters f, s, z and l at the end of a word. 

In Literacy we have been revising nouns and introducing verbs (action words). We have read a range of beautiful books linked to our Big Question ‘What is the power of stories?’ Some of these books include the Aesop fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi and Ceremony by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing. We also wrote a class Acknowledgement of Country after thinking about all the things we are grateful for living on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. This also led into our STEAM Challenge where we read the local indigenous story Tarrengower and Lalgambook, and students worked in small groups to create their own feuding volcanoes and made them erupt! 

In Maths we’ve built upon our knowledge of tally marks, and started to represent data using picture graphs. We’ve also spent time interpreting the data and answering questions. 

Our Play is the Way focus this week has been on ‘Being Brave: Participating to Progress’. We have been playing the game ‘Islands’ which seems to be a class favourite, and is a game that involves everyone looking out for each other in order to be successful. We also thought about times in our lives where we’ve had to be brave and the positive outcomes as a result. 

Next week, we are looking forward to starting our take-home reader program. Thank you to the parents who have offered to come in and listen to students read. If you would like to do so, please get in contact with your child’s class teacher. 

We hope you have a wonderful weekend, 

 Wendy, Laura, Claire, Sarah and Andrew 

This week, our class has continued reading The Last Bear, the story of a young girl named April who forms an unlikely bond with a lone polar bear on a remote Arctic island. Inspired by the novel, we have expanded our learning to include fascinating facts about polar bears, deepening our understanding of their habitat, behaviours, and the challenges they face. We will use this research to create our own Persuasive writing piece in the coming weeks.  

For our Big Question time we have begun to explore the question “What can we learn from Stories” and making connections between the stories of other extinct animals, such as the Thylacine, so what threatens the polar bears.  We have also created our own Acknowledgements of Country, focusing on statements that have meaning for our own students while also learning to demonstrate respect appropriately for the Djarra people and the land on which we learn.  

In Mathematics, we have been working with Cartesian planes, plotting points and delving into negative numbers. We have used the Cartesian plane to help us calculate subtraction sums resulting in a negative integer and created shapes by plotting points and then joining them. We have also been finishing off our symmetry faces ready for our classroom displays.   

Our students this week were given the opportunity to run for House Captains (Grade 6) or Student Representative Council (Grade 5). Many students demonstrated courage, independence and skill in preparing a speech and performing it in front of the class. We are quite proud of our budding young public speakers! Results will be announced soon.  

Swimming has continued as we get ready for our carnival this coming Monday the 17th. Thanks to Carly and the swimming teachers for getting us so organised! Please contact your class teacher if you can help on the day.  

Bec, Nicci, Ben, Carly, Jay and Mr Higgins

 Swimming Lessons Grade 3-6 Outdoor Pool 

We’ve got one more lesson next Friday 21 March with our water safety rotations. 

Thank you to our CNPS parent, Kahu, who has volunteered to assist our swimming classes in the water as she gains her swim teaching qualification. Thank you to our swim teaching team of Toni, Liz and Carly. Finally, thank you to our classroom teachers and our team of parent helpers for supporting this valuable program. 

House Swimming Carnival Gr3-6 Outdoor Pool 

Our House Swimming Carnival will be held for all students in Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 on Monday 17th February. Please arrive at school on time, as classes will depart promptly after the 9am bell. Events will allow everyone to participate and include; 50m competitive strokes (for the 10/11/12/13yo age-groups only which will be the pathway to the Division Swimming Event in Bendigo on Friday 28th February), width distance strokes and novelty team events for all age groups. Students can wear their house colours on the day. New students have been allocated a house (check with your class teacher or Carly PE if you’re unsure). Permission for this event has been completed with the swimming lesson permission. Thank you to the parents and carers who have offered to help. Your class teacher will confirm this with you. If there are parents willing to assist Carly at the pool at 9:00 to set up or be our photographer on the day, please contact Carly at carly.mcginniskin@education.vic.gov.au 

 Date: Monday17th February 

Time: 9:00-1:30 

Grades: 3, 4, 5, 6 

Venue: Castlemaine Outdoor Pool 

Transport: Walking 

Castlemaine Gift at Camp Reserve 

This event will take place on Sunday 23rd February. Juniors aged 5 – 13 can participate by turning up before 10:00 on the day. See attached flyers on the Community Noticeboard. I will put some flyer ‘tickets’ on the table outside the office which admit one adult free with one child (also free) participating in the Junior Section. 

Bendigo Braves Basketball Home Game Experience for Grade 5/6 

We have an opportunity to participate in the Bendigo Braves Basketball Schools Cup at the Bendigo Braves NBL1 match on Sunday 6th April (please note that this date was incorrect last week and is the first weekend of the school holidays). Our school selects 10 students from Grade 5/6 to compete against other schools using the fundamental skills of basketball, rather than a match. Selected students would need their families to arrange their own transport to and supervision at this event. You will also receive a ticket for you and your student to the game. If you are interested in this opportunity (and not committed to school holiday plans), please contact carly.mcginniskin@education.vic.gov.au 

Hockey Clinics in PE 

Hockey Victoria are visiting Castlemaine this term for their annual roadshows. Our school was successful in securing hockey clinics for our PE classes on Thursday 20th February. Please note that this day was allocated to us and these clinics will be run during the PE class program and that only five classes can participate on this day. However, if you’re interested in your child having an opportunity to experience hockey, Hockey Victoria are also supporting a Hookin2Hockey program for 5-12 year olds, commencing on Saturday 22nd February 9:00-10:00 at the Wesley Hill courts for six weeks during Term 1. Please see the flyer on the Community Noticeboard below for more information and how to register. 

‘Territory’ Style Sport Clinics in PE 

Along with the above-mentioned hockey clinics, AFL Central Victoria will provide a day of footy clinics in PE on Tuesday 25th February. The Bendigo Braves will also visit our school for two sessions of clinics on Friday 7th March. Not all classes can access all clinics as these sporting organisations can only allocate limited time to each school.  

These clinics will tie-in with the Grade 3-6 PE program which is focussed on ‘territory’ style sports this term ahead of their District Sport Day on Friday 28th March. In PE we are experiencing different ‘territory’ style sports such as Ultimate Frisbee, Netball, Basketball, Soccer, Football, Hockey and Lacrosse, all of which have similar strategies and tactics that are transferrable across the different sports. 

 We would like to wish Nico and her family a safe and adventurous trip to Japan, as they head off for a couple of weeks.  Thank you to Mikaela for running the Food Garden sessions in Nico's absence.  Louise's class will be the first group to start a 3-week Food Garden block next Tuesday.

Prep E

Jade B - for the kind and caring way you helped your classmates find books in the Library.

Arlo M - for the fantastic way you come to school each day, having a go at everything and trying your hardest.

Prep N

Jovi C - for the brave and confident way you shared your "All about Me" bag.

Vallie C - for the kind and caring way you support your classmates in the classroom.

1/2 L

Torben E - the joy on your face as we listen to stories is priceless!

Emellia M - for the courage you showed in being willing to talk about a problem and find a solution

1/2 CS

Oona D - for the passion and detail you put into presenting your work.

Xavier B - for the confident way you presented your "All About Me" bag.

1/2 WA

Miles S - for your thoughtful contribution to our class Acknowledgement of Country.

Dot M - for your enthusiasm and fair play during our Wilson game, "Islands".

3/4 PS

Lola H - for the outstanding way you included details in your narrative writing.

Tait E - for your passion when helping your team during games.

3/4 L

Freddie A - for taking great pride in the presentation of your learning tasks.

Poppy R - for displaying such strong leadership skills when teaching a small group to make roses.

3/4 S

Rider M - for bravely stepping out of your comfort zone when presenting your SRC speech.

Bexley B - for your excellent use of onomatopoeias in your narrative.

3/4 H

Stella O - for using your initiative to get things done.  Thank you!

Eddie C - for your insightful contributions during Literacy.

5/6 H

Jet M - for the kind and thoughtful way you have supported your buddy.

Bailey B - for your commitment to improving your reading.

5/6 J

Lucy H - for supporting a classmate.

Thomas C - for working hard to improve your handwriting and correcting your own mistakes.

5/6 BC

Elke H - for sharing your amazing memory technique and ability to remember stories during BQT!

Ada T - for the way you helped a classmate catch up on their Maths work.

5/6 BN

Max C - for the skill and effort you put into your symmetry face drawing, for an outstanding result.

Harriet N - for the quiet and thoughtful way you strategise in our Wilson games to help the class.

Indonesian

Louis R - for following instructions very clearly and being a great listener.  Bagus!

Performing Arts

Quinlyn N - for your courage and enthusiasm in Drama.  Your energy brought your character to life!

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