PRINCIPAL’S REPORT PARENT &FRIENDS

ASSOCIATION (PFA)

Thank you to those parents who

sent back their PFA registration

forms following last week’s

newsletter. They

can be returned at

any time and do

not obligate you in

any way. With our

PFA elections due

in early December, may I remind you

that it is a condition of election to an

office bearer position and/or voting

at these elections, that you are

registered prior to the annual

elections.

SCHOOL SPECIALISATION

PROGRAM

Our state government has called for

expressions of interest from

Victorian government primary and

secondary schools to apply for

one-off Specialisation Grants worth

$100,000 each. Over the next two

years the Victorian Government will

provide $2.5 million for a total of 25

one-off grants to government

schools to specialise in a field of their

choice; such as languages, maths,

science, robotics, multimedia,

fashion, design or horticulture.

These grants will be very difficult to

obtain – 25 over two years with

potentially 2000 plus government

schools vying for them.

Nevertheless, we will be submitting

an application – drawing on our

extensive radio broadcasting/audio

e-learning/LEEP/multimedia/

international school partnerships

programs under the banner of

“Digital Broadcasting”. As well as

applying for one of these grants, this

enables us to sharpen our focus on

what we are currently doing in the

area of digital learning and move

ahead in an area that is only going to

become more and more important in

the future.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

QUESTIONS (FAQ’s)

Q. Will we again be having a qualified

security officer attending

our school disco next

week?

A.Yes – this has proven to

be both popular and

valuable in the past and

we see no reason why we

would not continue with the

practice.

QUOTABLE QUOTE

‘The difference between doing and

achieving is a highwire balancing act

from which the occasional fall is not a

disaster.’

HENRY GROSSEK

NEWSLETTER N0.31 20TH OCTOBER 2011

DIARY DATES Friday 21st October 5/6 Interschool Summer Sport

Tuesday 25th October Gr 6 Family Life Program

Wednesday 26th October Singapore Supper Night 7pm

Friday 28th October Halloween Disco

5/6 Interschool Summer Sport

Saturday 5th November PFA Shopping Tour

Wednesday 23rd November Prep Myuna Farm Excursion

Monday 28th November Prep Polly/Pete’s Day Show

NOTICES DUE BACK BY

Thursday 20th October Shopping Tour

Friday 21st October 5/6 Outdoor Education & Water Safety Program

Thursday 27th October Halloween Disco Thursday 10th November Grade 6 Graduation Bear/Soccer

Friday 18th November Prep Myuna Farm Excursion

Wednesday 30th November Prep Polly/Pete’s Day Show

SCHOOL AWARDS

Congratulations to the following students who received awards over the last week:

Jai PM Chelsea PL

Ashley PC

Phillip PC

Chloe PW

Dylan PL

Cooper PC

Joey PW

Jordy PL

CANTEEN IS CLOSED ON TUESDAYS

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) 2012

and School Start Bonus (SSB)

Applications for the 2012 Education Maintenance Allowance and School Start Bonus are now available

from the school office.

If you have a child under 16, and hold a valid Health Care Card, Pension Card or be a foster parent you

may be eligible to receive the EMA. Your Health Care / Pension Card must be valid on the 1st February

2012. The 2012 allowance of $235 is split evenly between the parent and the school and is paid in two

instalments, one in March and one in August.

The School Start Bonus is provided to assist low-income families with the costs associated with their child

starting Prep or Year 7. If you hold a valid Health Care Card, Pension Card or be a foster parent, and have

a child starting Prep at Berwick Lodge in 2012 you may be eligible to receive this one-off $300 payment.

Closing Date: Parents/Guardians with Prep children commencing in 2012 need to lodge a School Start

Bonus form before Thursday 15th December 2011.

Education Maintenance Allowance applications must be lodged at Berwick Lodge before 29th February

2012.

Please see the school office for application forms or if you have any queries.

eSMART

Our school has recently registered

to take part in eSmart, a

framework to manage cybersafety

and wellbeing. eSmart will help

teachers, students and the whole

school community embrace the

benefits of technology and reduce

our exposure to cyberspace risks

such as cyber bullying, identity

theft and accessing or sending

inappropriate images or content.

Funded by the Victorian

Government, eSmart is an

initiative of the Alannah and

Madeline Foundation, a national

charity committed to protecting

children from violence.

Our work towards achieving

eSmart status will involve the

whole school community – for

example, we will be integrating

cybersafety into our wellbeing

policies, establishing clear

procedures to deal with incidents,

and delivering curriculum around

the smart, safe and responsible use

of technology.

We are currently establishing an

eSmart committee to be led by

Debbie Cusack and Jodie Norton

(School Council President).

Debbie and Jodie will be attending

their first briefing next week. We

will regularly update you on our

progress through our newsletter.

More information is also available

at www.esmart.org.au

SHOPPER INCENTIVE

PROGRAMS

The Coles Sports for Schools and

Woolworths Earn

and Learn

programs are now

over. We will

continue to

collect tokens and receipts to add

to our tallies up until tomorrow

(Friday 21st October). Thank you

to all families who have again

provided wonderful support to the

school through the collection of

these tokens and receipts. Thanks

also to the PFA for their assistance

with collection and collation. We

look forward to reporting the

results of these programs to our

families.

VACATION CARE

PROGRAM

During Term 3 the YMCA notified

our School Council that as of the

conclusion of the Term 3 holiday

break they would

cease to operate

their vacation care

service at Berwick

Lodge Primary

School. This

decision followed a

review of YMCA

Victoria OSHC programs in the

Casey Region and the intention to

centralise their school holiday

programs. As of the January 2012

school holidays the YMCA will

operate their service for this area

at Berwick Leisure Centre.

Our School Council are keen to

maintain a school holiday service

for our families and other families

in the area on our site. Therefore,

we are liaising with Camp

Australia, our current OSHC

provider to establish a vacation

care program at Berwick Lodge.

We will keep families informed

regarding our progress with these

arrangements. At this stage we

are quite confident that Camp

Australia will take up this

opportunity.

VICTORIA WALKS TO

SCHOOL AND NATIONAL

NUDE FOOD DAY

Yesterday our school celebrated

both the Victoria Walks to School

and National Nude Food Day with

a whole school walk and lunch.

The children paired up with their

buddies to take a walk around the

school environment (a great lead

up to the PFA Walkathon

fundraiser on Tuesday 8th

November 2011). This was

followed by a buddy lunch. The

children enjoyed their walk in the

sunshine and the opportunity to

interact with their buddies.

Congratulations to the following

children who won prizes in our

school’s Victoria Walks to School

Colouring Competition: Samudra

PW, Meg 1C, Chloe 2F, Shenae

3M, Katya 4S, Edward 5T and

Hannah 6N.

STUDENT HEALTH

We have been made aware of a

number of cases of chicken pox in

the junior area of the school. The

exclusion requirements for

chicken pox are that the child be

excluded until fully recovered or

for at least five days after the

eruption of spots

first appear. Other

contacts do not

need to be excluded

unless they suffer an

immune deficiency. We have

included a flyer with this

newsletter with additional

information for families.

LYNNE BRENNER AND

DEBBIE CUSACK

ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS’ REPORT

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.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

This year all Grades 3 to 6 children will be participating in the Fantastic Fridays Program in Term 4. This program

will run on Friday afternoons (2:30pm to 3:30pm) starting from Week 3 and will run for approximately 6 weeks. It

is an elective program where students will be mixed with their peers to learn a variety of different subjects outside

the normal curriculum areas of Literacy and Numeracy. The elective programs on offer are:

Gymnastics

Lego

Cooking

Art / Craft/Scrapbooking

Woodwork

Sport

Photography

Playing Musical Instruments

Science and Technology

We have a number of teachers allocated to the various programs but are asking our school community for some

support. If you have any expertise in any of the following areas and would like to participate in the

program we would greatly appreciate your time and experience. These activities require different

materials and resources and we would greatly appreciate any donations to support our Fantastic

Fridays Program. These could include-construction materials such as wood, screws, wheels, art

supplies, foam cups etc.

Please see Traceye Rapinett for information or details about the program.

1/2 CSIRO VISIT

On Wednesday 19th October, Grade 2Z went to the CSIRO (Commonwealth, Scientific and Industrial Research

Organisation) Incursion in the Afterschool Care Building with Sean. He was really nice. We got sorted into groups

of three. We did three experiments which were: Experiment Number 1 with powder, a balloon and vinegar.

Experiment Number 2 was with a heat pack where you had to crack a metal coin and it would explode in the heat

pack. Experiment Number 3 where we had to put a tablet in two cups (hot and cold) and it would explode.

After that, we had to go. Our favourite bit was the experiment with the heat pack.

Written by Tayla and Georgie

On Wednesday the 19th of October, after recess, Grade 2Z went to the Afterschool Care Building for the CSIRO Incursion.

The person that hosted it was Sean. He taught us about Solids, Liquids and Gases and then placed us into groups of three. We

got given numbers 1-3 and did three experiments. In the first experiment we had a balloon and a bottle. The bottle had

vinegar and the balloon had bi-carb soda in it. When we tipped the bi-carb soda in the vinegar, the balloon blew up.

The second experiment was with a heat pack full of water and a coin like thing that made it hot. We made it hot by clicking

the coin then it felt like sand in the heat pack. Experiment three was a cup of hot and cold water and two tablets. We

dropped one of the tablets in each cup and the hot water dissolved faster.

Our favourite experiment was experiment one.

Written by Lincoln and Zach

On Wednesday 19th October, 2Z went to the Afterschool School Care Building for the CSIRO Incursion. CSIRO stands for

Commonwealth, Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. In the Afterschool Care Building there was a guy called Sean.

Our favourite part was when we got a heat pad and we had to break a coin inside it. When the coin was broken the heat pad

would get very hot and very white.

Written by Alannah and Jacinta

Grade 2Z went to a CSIRO Incursion in the Afterschool Care Building with Sean. We learnt that CSIRO stands for

Commonwealth, Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Sean told us that a liquid can change into a solid. When we

did the third experiment, there were two cups, one was cold water and one was hot water. We had to drop a tablet in both

and our group predicted the hot water would win and it did!

This was our favourite experiment because it was cool when the tablets were racing.

Written by Xander and Lachlan

On Wednesday 19th October, Grade 2Z went to the Afterschool Care Building for the CSIRO Incursion with

Sean. CSIRO stands for Commonwealth, Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. It was funny when Sean

spilt the water trying to show us what a liquid looked like! When Sean did an experiment, he had a heat bag with

a metal coin inside it. He cracked the coin and it exploded inside the heat bag!

Written by Brodie and Luke

Phys Ed News

Wow! Week 1 was an amazing week for Berwick Lodge sports teams and

athletes. Firstly we had eight athletes chosen to represent our district at the

Casey North divisional athletics trials. Congratulations must go to all students

who participated, and special recognition goes to Stephanie K (5C) in discus and

Jake M(5T) in long jump who both qualified to represent Casey North at the

Regional athletics trials. Thanks to Maria Mitreski for

her vital help on the day and good luck to Jake and

Steph, the school community is behind you.

Secondly, Berwick Lodge had three teams playing in the Hooptime regional

finals. Tuesday 11th October 2011 the 5/6 girls team play extremely well all day

and advance to the final, where they were beaten by a fired up Malvern team. It

was a great effort from the girls to make it that far after qualifying with a wild

card. A big thank you to Joanne Lotherington and Kim Caldow for all of their

help with the team.

On Thursday 13th October 2011 it was the grade 3/4 All-Star Boys and Girls competing in their regional

finals. The girls battled hard all day despite being massively undersized in most games.

Their determination was a sight to behold. A big thank you to Michelle Sorraghan and

Suzanne Weiland for coaching and scoring the girls’ games.

The boys had a very successful day and ended up going down by 1 point in a tight grand

final. Fortunately, they were deservedly awarded the wild card to progress through to

the state finals, held on Monday 28th November 2011 at Dandenong. Good Luck boys!

Thank you to Kayla Foster for doing a great job coaching the boys and to Shaun Connel

and Andrea Hellyer for their assistance on the day.

School Name OSHC Coordinator: Dorien Erasmus

Welcome to all the new faces – hope you already feel part of the BLOSHC family! We are looking forward to the warmer weather for outside play and lots of fun activities to keep our creative little minds busy.

Parents, please remember to CANCEL your child if you know he/she will not be attending ASC. Save on Care

You can save 50% or more on Before and After School Care fees with the non-means tested Child Care Rebate. Almost all families are eligible. And remember – permanent bookings are cheaper than casual bookings. To find out more call Customer Service Team on 1300 105 343 Monday to Friday.

Visit our website to register www.campaustralia.com.au. Once registered you can make bookings and cancellations, view your statements and manage your details anytime of the day online.

Before school care: 6:45am – 8:45am After school care: 3.30pm – 6.30pm

Star of the week: Aishlene 5H: For being a super helper. Thank you, Aishlene!

WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK Islands

AFTER

SCHOOL CARE

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

Hawaii Puerto Rico Bali Fiji Madagascar

Parents & Friends Association NEXT MEETING: Thursday 3rd November 2011 at 1.30pm in Room 16.

Everyone is welcome, including toddlers.

2ND HAND UNIFORM SHOP: Our next 2nd hand uniform shop will be open in the school

canteen on Tuesday 25th October 2011 from 2.30pm until 3.15pm.

PFA CAFÉ: Is open on Thursday afternoon’s from 2.45pm in Room 16, next to

the grade two portables. As the weather gets warmer we will be providing cold

drinks, for a gold coin donation. So don’t wait outside your child’s classroom in the

heat, come in and grab a cool drink. We will still have tea & coffee available so

make sure you drop in for a chat.

SHOP TILL YOU DROP!

SHOPPING TOUR - Saturday 5th November 2011

Christmas is only 2 months away!! This is the perfect opportunity to start, continue or finish

this important shopping. We will be visiting a toy warehouse, manchester,

homewares, adultand children’s clothing, sports clothing and foot wear.

There will be a variety of presents available for everyone on your Christmas list.

Morning tea and a 2 course lunch will be provided.

Payment and forms are due back by Thursday 20th October 2011.

UPCOMING EVENTS

HALLOWEEN DISCO - Friday 28th October 2011: This Term we will be having a

Halloween Themed Disco in the Gym. Prizes will be awarded for the scariest

costume. Games will be played and lots of spooky fun to be enjoyed. Payment and

forms are due back on Thursday 27th October 2011. If parents can offer any

assistance on the night, it would be greatly appreciated.

Walk-A-Thon - Tuesday 8th November 2011: Get your walking shoes ready everyone!! We

are having our annual Walk-A-Thon on Tuesday 8th November 2011. There will be two separate

courses for the junior and the senior classes. Prizes will be awarded for the best fund raising

class and individuals. Notices will be sent home next week. Money raised will go directly to the

school.

SUPERMARKET VOUCHERS: A huge thank you for everyone’s efforts in collecting the

Coles and Safeway vouchers. There is only a short time left to return your dockets to school.

This was a great opportunity for our school to obtain much needed sports equipment and

classroom resources. Please have all your vouchers returned to school by Friday 21st October

2011.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Yarra Valley Railway’s

Halloween Ghost Train

Friday 28th & Saturday 29th October 2011

Take the Ghost Train if you Dare

Ghost Train Rides $25 or $22 conc./child Fri - 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm

Sat - 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, 11pm.

Children U12 at parent’s discretion. Not recommended for U5 yo

BBQ, Snacks, & hot & cold drinks available.

See us on Facebook YVR Ghost Train

For Bookings email : reservations@yvr.com.au Or Contact Dan O’Connor 0417 554 573

St Andrew’s Uniting Church

105 High St, Berwick, 3806 (Enter off the Service Road)

Pre-loved

BOOK SALE

Saturday 12th November 2011

8:30am - 1:30pm

BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS Lots of categories of pre-loved books

Andy’s Café OPEN