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The very big week
Well it was with a big breath out that we wound up the week starting May 10th with a welter of events. The first of these was NAPLAN which ran from Tuesday–Thursday and involved our Grade 3 & 5 students.
I would like to commend our students for the work they put in over the week, their positive mindset and their approach to each other. Our teachers too for their professionalism in the way that they conducted the tests and creating a calm and supportive environment for the students. Finally, thanks to Adrienne Dudley, our Assistant Principal, for doing all of the organisational work around the program.
The second event from last week was the tree planting along 'The Banks' on the western boundary of the school. Our schedule had to be reviewed on Thursday as a brisk southerly and some heavy drizzle descended on Robinhood Road with a vengeance.
Anyhow, we showed customary resilience, saddled up for another go and got some plants into the ground. The planting will serve a few purposes – reintroducing more indigenous species into the area (which helps the whole ecosystem) – making the site a lot more aesthetically pleasing –and maintaining the soil integrity of the bank. The other thing that programs like this do is to give our families a direct and tangible link to the school. It would be a nice thing to visit the place in twenty years time and say “ I planted that!” Thanks to Michael, Carly and the Environment team for their work , time, effort and passion.
Finally it was my first School Council meeting at Ivanhoe East. My key takeaways from the meeting were;
-School Council is very well run and has sound processes that will ensure that the School is governed effectively
-the Councillors have a genuine commitment to improving the outcomes for students at our school
- there is an appetite to re-engage the community during 2021.
The School Council is also continuing a Community Engagement sub-committee in 2021. At their first meeting they will be articulating their brief. When that is done I’ll put the roles of all the sub-committees in future bulletins.
Follow On from last week
Last week I gave a bit of information about long working memory and retrieval. The working memory can be a little bit problematic under certain circumstances. This is true not only for students but for people in general. I’m sure we can all relate experiences where we have had so much information going in that we don’t feel on top of our games. The following circumstances can lead to that sense of overload;
- too much information
- information that is too related or unrelated (confusion and segmentation)
- combining too many things in a sequence
- Underestimating the demands of creative endeavours ( thinking of new things takes up lots of brain space)
- The more instructions that need to be carried, the greater the cognitive load(even if they are well intentioned)
- Choices are good, too many choices are bad.
There are a number of things that teachers can do to minimise the risk of working memory overload.
Delivering information so that it is connected to prior knowledge. At IEPS teaching sequences are really important so that what the students learn today needs to be connected to what was learnt yesterday. Our teachers tend to plan in 3-5 week blocks which is a very effective way to develop this sense of connectedness between concepts.
Chunking using mnemonics or regular patterns. Recognising and continuing patterns is a huge part of Maths and Music. It is also a large part of Literacy as students learn the common patterns that exist in sound and symbol combinations. In the world of Literacy this is referred to as phonological awareness and it's one of the ways that students learn to read.
Provide information in both a visual and auditory framework. Through our classrooms this is very apparent in a number of ways. Teachers often use visual cues and instructions together when introducing new content. They also have prompts and scaffolds around the room in graphic form, lists, and text instructions. This means that students have access to a variety of sources of instruction or support. In every classroom there is also a rundown of the things that are to be covered during the day. All these things help young learners free up their working memory so that they can focus on new learning.
Next week we will provide some information about our Smiling Minds program.
Brett Millott.
WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECKS
- valid for 5 years
- transferable between volunteer organisations
- free of charge for volunteers, but cannot be used for paid employment.
You can apply online using this link:
http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/home/applications/
When you have received your card, please bring it to the office so that we can make a copy and inform the class teacher.
With the cold weather and flu season upon us, please ensure that your child has warm clothing for the school day.
We have been advised that the East Ivanhoe Pre School has recently been hit with several viruses and infectious diseases (conjunctivitis and Hand Foot and Mouth) as well as gastro.
If your child is unwell, please keep them at home so as to prevent the spread of germs to many other students and staff.
If your child uses an asthma puffer and spacer, please also ensure that those items are at school for them to use when required.
Enrolments for Prep in 2022 are now open and we are taking bookings for School Tours for prospective parents on Thursday mornings at 10:00am. You may either collect an enrolment form at the office or download from the link below if you have a child commencing in Prep in 2022. Do not hesitate to book a tour for a Thursday morning, even if you already have a child at IEPS.
When lodging the enrolment form, we are also required to sight the original birth certificate and current immunisation history statement, which we will take a photocopy of for school entry requirements.
VICTORIAN PREMIERS' READING CHALLENGE
Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge
The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and Ivanhoe East Primary is excited to be participating.
The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 17 September 2021.
All children in Children in Prep and Year 1 will ‘experience’ the 30 books with their teachers and will automatically be enrolled. Children from Years 2 to Year 6 are invited to participate and will be challenged to read 15 books.
All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers.
If you would like your child in Years 2 to 6 to be enrolled in the challenge, please email me to express your interest and I will enrol your child.
Happy Reading!
Amanda Dwyer
amanda.dwyer@education.vic.gov.au
Mothers’ & Special Persons’ Day thank you
A huge thank you to Sandra Aylett-Sloan for project managing the Mothers’ and Special Persons days stalls once again this year. There were additional logistics in fitting it around the Grade 6 Camp, and thank you so much to all the volunteer helpers on both the Monday and Friday. I hope everyone enjoyed receiving their gifts from the stall!
AGM and call for committee member roles
On Wednesday 26 May we will be holding the AGM for the PTFA and all roles will be up for nomination and agreement. Due to my changed work and personal commitments I will not be re-nominating for PTFA President for 2021.
The meeting will be held in the Bendigo Bank room at 7.00pm
This is a perfect opportunity for parents in the younger year levels to get involved in the PTFA. Over a number of years there have been co-presidents and this works really well and spreads the load. If you would like to talk to me about what is involved please contact me at hmcbain00@gmail.com or call me on 0407670963 and we can catch up.
There are other roles on the committee also, including secretary, treasurer, class rep co-ordinator and general committee member roles. All new members are welcome.
Thanks and have a great week
Helen McBain
Roster
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Help needed |
Thu 20 May |
Maria Smirnios |
11:30am - 1:45pm |
9:30-11:30am |
Fri 21 May |
Rebecca Paterson Vi Le Lilian Smith |
9:00am-11:30am 9:30am - 1:45pm 11:30am- 1:45pm |
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Mon 24 May |
Karen Tyers-Craig Lesley Adamson |
10:00am - 11:30am 11:30am-1:45pm |
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Tue 25 May
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9:30am - 11:30am 11:30am - 2:00pm |
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Wed 26 May |
Linda Beard Carly Simmance |
10:15am - 11:30am 11:30am - 2:00pm |
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Thu 27 May PIE DAY |
Emily Furlong Linda Kastanja |
10:15am-11:30am 11:00am - 2:00pm |
11:00am-2:00pm |
Fri 28 May
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Sarah Cuthbertson Narelle Findling |
9:00am-2:00pm 9:00am-2:00pm |
“We are so lucky to have Sonia! Please help her out & our canteen, the best in Melbourne. It’s loads of fun and my daughter loves to see me at lunch time!” Caty S (2D)
Term 2 Roster
We invite you to have a look at our new online roster! We cannot do this without you. Please choose anytime that is free and fill in your name.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IsdRGt5rmeRorq0G-Rh3KbnO7L_DAXXQKDF7DRbJAQc/edit?usp=sharing
Pie Day – Thursday 27 May
Volunteers & Hygiene
Please sign in at the front office upon arrival.
We will be practising social distancing in the canteen. No more than 2 volunteers will be in the canteen at any one time. All surfaces will be sanitised regularly and hand sanitiser is available for your use.
Sonia - Canteen Manager
Phone: 03 94992171
Email: canteen@ivanhoeeastps.vic.edu.au
PB | Saskia |
PH | Rose |
PK | Kiaan |
PS | Aliya |
1C | Caleb |
1E | Charlie M |
1S | Phoenix P |
1T | Miaa N |
2A | Archer |
2D | Ruby |
3G | Elijah and Tom |
3L | Julian and Ricky |
4C | Joanna X |
4G |
Chloe and Zara V
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4L | Ares and Will |
5AP | Samuel |
5F | Nigella |
5P | Angus |
6P | Sienna E |
LOTE |
Jasmine S (2Z)
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NOTICEBOARD