NEWSLETTER N0.23

DIARY DATES

Monday 15th August J-Rock Performance

Tuesday 16th August Canteen Special Lunch day

Wednesday 31st August Grade 6 - CERES Community

Environment Park

Thursday 1st September Grade 5 - CERES Community

Environment Park

Father‘s Day Stall

Monday 22nd September 5/6 Hooptime

Wednesday 21st September Clover Cottage Dinner

11TH AUGUST 2011

NOTICES DUE BACK BY

Friday 12th August 3/4 Camp Rumbug

Permission Forms

Monday 22nd August Grade 5/6 - CERES

Community Environment Park

Fridasy 26th August Father‘s Day Stall

Monday 29th August 3/4 Camp Balance

Thursday 14th September Clover Cottage

Dinner

Wednesday 17th September 5/6 Hooptime

BERWICK LODGE PRIMARY SCHOOL Phone: 9707 1766 Fax: 9796 2198

E-mail: berwick.lodge.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

Visit our Websites : http:// www.berwicklodgeps.vic.edu.au,

Camp Australia/Out of School Hours Care: 9769 8251

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT SINGAPORE TRIP

Everyone on the trip is having a great

time. With the aid of modern

technology we are keeping in regular

contact via skyping. In fact, a highlight

at Monday evening‘s school council

meeting was the ten minutes we

spent chatting with the teachers

while watching them on our plasma

screen. The children were having a

wonderful time in the

pool and all was well.

Earlier this week I

received a courtesy

call from our regional

office - acknowledging

our school on our inaugural student

visit to Singapore, in addition to

enquiring to see if all was well. Our

team returns on Saturday evening

and they should all hopefully be

refreshed by Monday morning.

GROSSEK’S VIEW

For the past 12 years I write a

regular column for Themes

Educational magazines on topics of

my choosing. I do enjoy this activity

for a variety of reasons. My current

article was written with concerns I

have over Disability & Impairments

program funding that I believe exists

within our education system. It was

suggested that I provide you with a

copy via our newsletter as it may be

of interest to you.

Short changing our disabled

students

One topic of constant discussion

amongst many of my colleagues is

that of funding inadequacies for our

disabled students in regular schools.

It is a hot topic and rightly so. Over

my long involvement in state

education I have witnessed many fine

improvements to our education

system. Adequately meeting the

needs of our disabled students is,

sadly, not one of them in my opinion.

Back in the 1970‘s when the move to

better integrate disabled students in

non-special setting schools had

significant traction, a government

report warned that it would be

costly. That it has proven to be, and

in more ways than one. Disturbingly,

decades later, many principals are

exasperated at what they see as an

increasingly harsh model used for

assessing the level of Disabilities and

Impairments (D&I) funding allocated

to students with disabilities.

Currently, the consequence of such

concern is being played out in

Victorian Courts as a number of

parents are suing the State of

Victoria for allegedly not providing

an adequate level of resources to

meet their children‘s special

educational needs. For obvious legal

reasons no comment on those cases

can be made. Nonetheless, it is a sad

indictment of the overall state of

affairs that such action is being taken

in the 21st Century.

How has it got to such a state? Two

core reasons stand out – parents

exercising their right to enrol their

disabled children in regular schools

coupled with state governments

anxious to balance their books.

Crucially, the right of parents to

enrol disabled children in regular

schools presumes that regular

schools will receive an appropriate

level of funding to meet the individual

learning needs of these children. On

the face of it, our existing highly

sophisticated D&I assessment

procedures appear to meet this

presumption. There is certainly no

lack of evidence required to

substantiate additional funding being

allocated to the individual children.

Quite the contrary! Principals and

parents will if anything, complain

about information overload – the

metaphorical number of hoops

through which schools must jump to

secure funding is exasperating.

Canteen Closed on Tuesdays

Continued...

Montaya PW

Kane PL

Samudra PW

Saritha PM

Natalia PL

Lilly PM

SCHOOL

AWARDS Congratulations to the following students who received awards over

the last week:

COMING ATTRACTIONS!

“The Lodgie Awards” Grade 5/6 FILM FESTIVAL

Monday 19th September 2011

Daffodil Day Friday 26th August

2011

This year Daffodil Day is celebrating 25

years in Australia. During the month of

August we will be selling merchandise to

raise much needed funds for cancer

research, support and prevention.

The daffodil is an international symbol of

hope for people who have been affected by cancer including

patients, family, carers and friends.

If you would like to purchase any daffodil merchandise please

go to the office. There is a variety of items to choose from

including badges, key rings, pens, bears and even footballs!

They range from $5 - $30.

Daffodil Day is a day for all of us to give hope for a brighter,

cancer-free future, so with your help we can make a

difference.

Thank you for your support

Jo Zammit

At the end of the very time-consuming and detailed process of applying for D&I funding, hopes are often high, only

to be dashed when the verdict is delivered. This has a quite far reaching impact on all concerned – ranging from

anger to disillusionment to frustration and even rage. More often than not the practical consequences are played

out in too many classrooms as teachers struggle to juggle their time and resources across all students. No one

wins in that situation.

Our new state government would do well to reframe what appears to be an approach to D&I funding of one

starting with a given bucket of money to one of ascertaining the level of need first, and then finding the right size of

bucket.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ’s)

Q. Under what circumstances should I approve my child repeating a grade?

A.Exceptional circumstances only! Unless you have a high degree of certainty that your child will benefit

academically or socially from repeating a grade, then don‘t do it. There are potential social/emotional costs for

children repeating a grade and these must be taken into account when making a decision on having your child

repeat a grade. I advise parents who are considering such an option for their child to speak with their child‘s class

teacher and also one of our principal class members before making the decision.

QUOTABLE QUOTE

If you want to sound more humble than you really are then try – I’m the first to acknowledge that I’m not perfect!

HENRY GROSSEK

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT CONTINUED…

SINGAPORE TRIP

Last Saturday we said goodbye to

our students and teachers as they

embarked on their journey to

Singapore. They arrived safely and

are having wonderful time

attending festivals and celebrating

special cultural days and events

with their

hosts. The

weather has

been about

32 degrees

every day and

the children

have had a great time experiencing

a different education system at the

Tampanese School. We hear the

swimming pool at the hotel is

getting a good workout at the end

of each day too!

We have been very fortunate to

be in contact with them several

times this week (including a special

visit during our School Council

Meeting on Monday night) via a

Skype video call.

They arrive back home this

Saturday and we can‘t wait to hear

all about their wonderful stories

and looking at their photos and

video footage when they return.

HEAD LICE

The following information

regarding Head Lice came through

via email this week, and with a

number of outbreaks in our school

over the week I thought parents

might like to take this opportunity

to have a look at the following

website.

Headlice101.com

This site is an online community

where parents and schools can

seek out information about Head

Lice and discuss ways to best

prevent and treat them. Head

Lice 101 will be a space to ask

questions and share your

advice on how to best stop the

spread of Head Lice through our

schools.

Stop by the Blog

to see what they

have to say or

head over to

NitChat to get

talking to other

community members.

NUDE FUDE AWARDS

Over the past few weeks as a

part of our Environmental /

Sustainability Through line the

Prep students have been

participating in Nude Food

Day on Fridays. Due to the

overwhelming success of the

initiative they have invited the

rest of the school to take part

in the challenge. National

Nude Food Day is Wednesday

19th October 2011however

our students have taken up

the challenge this term to

make a difference at our

school.

Nude Food Day is a fantastic

opportunity to teach children

about their impact on the

environment and their health.

With positive messages of

‗Healthy Body, Healthy Planet‘,

we want our students to be

empowered to choose

healthy, rubbish free food for

their lunches.

This week we would like to

congratulate Miss Tan and the

students in Grade 5T for

winning this week‘s Nude Food

Award for the least amount of

classroom

rubbish. Keep

up the great

work kids, let‘s

see if the BLPS

staff can win

next week‘s award!

For more information, facts and

interactive activities visit the

following website

http://www.nudefoodday.com.au/

TRACEYE RAPINETT

ASS I STANT PR INCIPALS ’ REPORT

HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER?

Please ensure you let the school office know if you have changed address or updated mobile phones with new numbers.

This information alleviates stressful situations on students when they are ill and we cannot contact parents

Thank You Thank you to all the wonderful students and staff who took the time to record “Get Well”

messages for Leida and Marnie’s DVD. Your messages were so encouraging and

beautiful and left me quite emotional. It has been the best medication that I

have been given! Thank you especially to the two girls for taking the initiative to

create the DVD, Mrs Smethurst and Mrs Pope, Selma, Sarah, Nithiya and the

Mehr family for seeing to the DVDs personal and safe delivery.

Trish Luke

Enrolments for 2012 are now being accepted! Enrolment forms are available from the school office. Original birth certificates and immunisation certificates need to be sighted by the office at the time of enrolment.

2011 Premier’s Reading Challenge

Congratulations to all students participating in this year‘s challenge. It is great to see so many

enthusiastic readers eagerly borrowing books from the recommended booklists.

Don‘t forget to let your teachers know when you have completed a book so it can be verified on the

Premier‘s Reading Challenge website by a coordinator. All books must be entered online and verified by Friday

16th September 2011.

Congratulations to the following students who have completed the 2011 Premier’s Reading

Challenge.

Eden F 6N

Chloe H 6N

Happy Reading! Bernadette Kelly

Visual Arts

THANK YOU ! THANK YOU ! THANK YOU!

To the wonderful parents Monique M, Sharon B, Michelle M, Mr McLeod, and Kate N, who helped

with the Mosaic grouting on Monday 8th August 2011.

We could not have done it without you!!

Jo Zammit/ Julie McLeod

Visual Arts Teachers

Junior School Council News...

Dear Parents,

As part of our fundraising efforts for our Sponsor

Children, Pheear and Oshdi, we have registered

with Pauls Collect a Cap. Each specially marked

milk bottle cap donated earns our School 10c.

We are hoping to raise as much money as possible

to enable us to help Pheear, Oshdi and their

communities in Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

The money we raise helps their community to

provide education and school supplies, training in

farming skills, medical check-ups and supplies,

building materials for new classrooms and clean,

safe drinking water.

The caps can be placed in the marked collection bin

outside Mrs Cusack‘s office.

Thank you for your support Vanessa Stevens and Lianne Morgan

On behalf of the Junior School Council

WHAT IS ORGANISATION? Things to Say to Communicate “Setting Goals”

―I can see that you are

intent on achieving your

goal.‖

―You see, setting goals

helps you do your

best.‖

―How does it feel to

have achieved your

goals?‖

―I can see that you wish

to achieve your goals

for this lesson. This

takes discipline and organisation.‖

You seem very committed today to achieve your

goal.‖

―Without goals, it‘s harder to do our best.‖

―I think you can see that luck is not involved in

achieving your goals.‖

SCHOOL COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Welcome everyone to my School Council President‘s Report.

SCHOOL COUNCILLOR PROFILES

This week I would like to introduce Michelle Sarjeant, one of our parent representatives and Carolyn Mehr, also a parent

representative and new to our School Council this year.

Michelle Sarjeant: I live in Narre Warren South and was recommended to enrol my son into Berwick Lodge Primary

School even though this meant travelling. The school has a high and valued reputation, and has helped us out in many ways.

With that in mind I wanted to contribute and volunteer my time to the school, in order to be able to give something back.

As such I was part of the PFA for 18 months, and then went onto be part of the school council. I worked for 7 years before

having our son, and come from a marketing/sales background. I enjoy being a member of the school council and learning

more about what the school does for our children and their development..

Carolyn Mehr: I'm the mother of Yasmin in Grade 3 and Leida in Grade 6. I've been married to Ahmad for almost 13 years

and have lived in Berwick for about 8 years. My husband is from Afghanistan so we experience quite a culturally diverse and

interesting life. My previous work experience was in retail management and I was Store Manager of 3 Freedom Furniture

stores before leaving for a complete change in career. I left to enter the 'rag trade 'and learnt the trade of fabric cutting from

my father. Later my husband and I started our own business cutting clothes for high fashion designers along with school

uniforms. We work from home so not having to deal with traffic each day is worth its weight in gold. The work is always

varied and challenging. Having our own business allows me to be a little flexible with hours so I am able to attend many

school events and be involved where possible in the school community. My greatest achievement in my life has been my two

beautiful daughters. Mr Grossek may argue the highest point in my life was cutting the suit that Nathan Buckley wore when

he won the Brownlow Medal in 2003. I have really enjoyed my first 6 months on School Council. It has given me a greater

appreciation and respect for how much work actually goes on out of the classroom to provide our kids with the high level of

education they have available to them at Berwick Lodge Primary School.

MOSAIC PROJECTS

As many of you may have seen, this year we have commenced a number of new mosaic projects to complement the ―You

Can Do It‖ mosaic that was completed by our Grade 5 & 6 team last year. This year our Grade 1 and 2‘s completed a

mosaic mural on the wall outside the art room and our Grade 3 and 4‘s have nearly completed the music themed mosaic

(designed by our own Art Captain—Sophie Tran) on the wall outside the Performing Arts Room. These areas now look

fantastic and are a wonderful addition to our school. Special thanks must go to our wonderful art teachers, Julie McLeod and

Jo Zammit and our fabulous artist in resident, Helen Harman who have guided and assisted our students in these works.

J-ROCK

Wishing all our students, teachers and extra special helpers the best of luck next Monday 15th August 2011 as they compete

against 10 other schools at Hisense Arena, in the J-Rock competition. I know you are all going to be great.

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly via the school office or you can email me on norton.jodie.j@edumail.vic.gov.au

Jodie Norton School Council President

SCHOOL COUNCIL DIRECTORY

President: Jodie Norton Principal: Henry Grossek

Vice-President: Michelle Sarjeant DEECD Members: Lynne Brenner

Minute Secretary: Lois Smethurst Sue Naismith

Correspondence Sec.: Michael Tabone

Parent Members: Prashad Sujenthiran PFA Co-Optee: Samantha Cline

Craig Benedick

Carolyn Mehr

Lesley Lees

Contact Details: Phone: 9707 1766 Fax: 9796 2198

Email: norton.jodie.j@edumail.vic.gov.au

Parents & Friends Association

NEXT MEETING: Thursday 1st September 2011 at 1.30pm in Room 16. Everyone is welcome, including toddlers. The PFA welcomes anyone wanting to join the fun and help

make a difference.

2ND HAND UNIFORM SHOP: Our next 2nd hand uniform shop will be open in the school canteen on Tuesday 30th August 2011 from 2.30pm until 3.15pm. We would like to thank all those families who have donated as they have assisted other families in our community.

PFA CAFÉ: Is open on Thursday afternoon‘s from 2.45pm in Room 16. If you arrive at school early to

get a car park close by, or you want to come and keep warm, please come and visit us and enjoy a hot drink for a gold coin donation.

Current events

FATHERS DAY STALL: Thursday 1st September 2011 Forms were sent home last Friday for our Fathers Day Stall. There will be a wide variety of gifts to chose from

including mugs, photo frames and games, for that special Dad, Grandad or Great Grandad. All forms must be returned by Friday 26th August 2011. If you have a few hours to spare, please fill in the Parent Helper slip at the bottom of the form. We appreciate your assistance in setting up and running the stall.

PIE & SLICE DRIVE:

The PFA are holding a Pie & Slice Drive this term with our pies and slices being supplied by Emerald Bakery. There will be a variety of savoury and sweet pies and also some yummy slices. Order forms

will be sent home this week. Remember to ask family and friends for their much appreciated support of our school.

Upcoming Events CLOVER COTTAGE: Wednesday 21st September 2011.

Clover Cottage information forms will be sent home shortly. To assist us on this night, we are still looking for assistance with donations and prizes. If you work for a company that would be willing to donate a product or gift voucher, we would love to hear from you. Any company who donates will receive promotion for their

business in our newsletter. Please contact Sarah via email if you can assist.

DRIVE IN MOVIE NIGHT: In December we will be holding another fun filled Drive In Movie Night at Akoonah Park. This is a great opportunity to advertise and promote your

business. If you work for, or own a company that would like to advertise, please contact Sarah via email.

NeWS

SCHOOL PROMOTIONS: Remember to keep collecting your Woolworths Earn and Learn

Receipts, Coles Sports for Schools Vouchers and Pauls Collect-A-Caps. Boxes for each promotion can be found at the office or send them through your classroom so you can earn house points

too !

THANKS again for your continued support.

We are trying to do things to make our school community stronger.

Advertisements published by the school are accepted in good faith and should not be regarded as an endorsement of any product or service.

Parents and members of the school community are advised to investigate any service or product to determine its suitability to meet their family's needs prior to accessing it.

BUSINESS ADVERTISING

COMMUNITY NEWS

TAX RETURNS SELVEY TAXATION SERVICES

Individual & Business Returns

14 Day Refund

Partnerships, Companies & Trusts

Taxation & Business Advice

BAS & GST Advice

Discounts for Couples, Students & Pensioners

Investment Properties

REGISTERED TAX AGENT

Over 20 years experience

Contact Wayne on 0412 714 421 or

email: seltaxer@gmail.com

FOR SALE Hills 4 Station swing set, including riding horse, slide and

baby set. Cost: $160.00

Porta Cot Playpen - as new $60.00

Cubby house furniture (all timber) includes table and

chairs, oven, stove, etc $80.00

Please phone 0408 588 449

FOR SALE

German Shephard Pure Bred Pups

Fully vaccinated

Vet checked

5 Females and 3 Males

Black/Tan/Sable

Call: Okie on 0401 660 022

CRYSTAL CLEANING

SERVICES P/L

For all your carpet/upholstery and

general cleaning needs

Special Offer 3 rooms/3 seats

Professionally steamed cleaned for $77.00 incl.

GST Free deodorising Free stain treat-

ing

Other services: Vacate clean-up/ready for sale

For bookings & enquiries contact

Steve 0411 752 279

$1.00 from each booking goes back to BLPS.

Plus $1.00 to Royal Children's Hospital

BOOK NOW!

Do you know a Salesian College past pupil or are one your-

self?

Why not get in contact with your old class mates and book

your tickets for the

2011 Salesian College

Past Pupils Annual Reunion & Hall of

Fame Dinner!

Friday 26 August 2011

The International of Brighton – Georgian Room

81 Bay Street Brighton VIC 3186

$80p.p canapés + drinks (excl. spirits) + 3 Course Dinner

RSVP 12 August 2011 – Partners + Families all welcome!

For bookings call (03) 9807 2644 or visit http://

www.salesianchad.vic.edu.au/past_pupils.html

We hope to see you there!