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YWPS Newsletter

Greetings From the Principal

“Gunfire echoed through the village. Angry voices surrounded her. Clutching her mother’s hand, Ziba ran on and on through the night, far away from the madness until there was only darkness and quiet”, from ‘Ziba came on a boat’, by Liz Loftouse.

Why did the author choose ‘gunfire’ as the first word of this sentence? Because she wanted the reader to focus on it, feel it and hear it. Why did she put a full stop after ‘village’? Because she wanted the reader to stop there and think about what the words meant.If we took ‘Clutching her mother’s hand’ away from the sentence, how does this impact on the meaning of the sentence?These are just three of the many questions about this excerpt that teachers explored with Associate Professor Misty Andoniou on Tuesday’s curriculum day. Misty provoked us to think about how we teach writing and how we can improve our students’ writing by using good pieces of literature as an exemplar. We teach reading using ‘mentor texts’ so we are now beginning to look at identifying mentor or exemplar texts for writing. We have an extensive collection of beautiful books in our collection and I know that teachers are already raiding the shelves to select exemplars to use with their class.

Yarraville OvalMaribrynong City Council (MCC) decided not to close the oval for the two weeks as previously advertised. Hooray! This was a relief for us but we are still having ongoing restrictions to the oval. Your children may have talked to you about this. After many years of regular access, we are being directed to specific days and times that we are allowed to use the oval through the week. This is placing enormous pressure on our ability to provide a safe play space during the recess and lunch breaks, particularly on Mondays (no access at all) and Fridays (access only for the recess break). Friday morning sport for the Year 5-6 students is severely jeopardised as there is not enough space for our students to train without the oval.School Council and I are communicating with MCC to resolve this urgent issue through developing a user agreement. For a school of this size to operate a comprehensive PE program and to provide a safe and stimulating play space during the recess and lunch breaks, it is essential that we have access to the Yarraville Oval.However, it appears that MCC grounds maintenance and sporting clubs are prioritised above community use of this public space. It would be VERY helpful if you can contact your local MCC councillor and let them know of this issue.

International Women’s Day – Balance for BetterInternational Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the achievements of women past, present and future. With this

Important Dates11th Mar • Labour Day (no school)

20th Mar • Wacky Walkathon (9.30-10.30)5th Apr • Term 1 Ends 2.30pm

23rd Apr • Term 2 Starts

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special day happening tomorrow, I want to acknowledge all of the extraordinary women and girls in our community – daughters, mothers, sisters, aunties, and grandmothers. It is an exciting time to be female, with a renewed focus throughout Australia and internationally on equity and creating a more gender-balanced world. I hope you will celebrate the day in some way with your YWPS daughters – watch an AFLW match or other sport played by women; visit an exhibition or listen to music created by women; there are so many ways to open up and deepen pathways for girls to reach their potential. Support them and encourage them to be the next groundbreakers out there in the wide world.

Working with Children Checks (WWCC)It is a legal requirement for all school volunteers who are involved in child related activity to have a current WWCC card. Child related activity involves direct contact such as excursions, classroom support, and helping with events such as gift and food stalls. Although parents are exempt when volunteering in an activity in which their child normally participates, I highly recommend all parents gain a WWCC card – you never know when you may feel that urge to help out on an excursion or hearing children read in the classroom. Parents without a card will not be able to assist in activities that pose a higher risk, such as those that involve close contact, eg. taking a group of kids to the toilet on an excursion. This is the exact kind of support teachers need on excursions so please apply for the WWCC card, it will help us immensely.

How do I get a Working With Children Check card?

It’s an online process and it’s FREE.Go to www.workingwithchildrencheck.gov.au and follow the steps. You will need to fill out the online form and go to a post office to have your photo taken.

When you fill out the form please write in the school name and address 30 Powell Street, Yarraville, as this means we will be sent a copy for our file. Otherwise we will need to make a photocopy of your card at the office. We must keep a register of ALL volunteers.

All volunteers need to report to the office and sign in, and when finished, sign out.Once you have your card you will need to always wear it on a lanyard at school when volunteering. This helps us to know who is authorised to be in the school at any time. If you don’t have a lanyard we can provide you with one.

We are transitioning to this new procedure so to give parents time we plan to have all school volunteers registered and wearing cards by the start of term 2.

Warm Regards,Karen

MISTY ADONIOU WRITING IS NOT TALK ON PAPER STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

On Tuesday, we were privileged to have Misty Adoniou, Associate Professor of Language, Literacy and TESOL, University of Canberra, work with our staff. Our teachers came away feeling incredibly inspired and motivated to implement some of Misty’s key messages…

Ø Writing is not talk on paper- it’s much more complex than that! Let’s discover how to unlock the author’s intentions Ø Reading and analysing quality literature allows children to increase their reservoir of vocabulary and grammatical techniques Ø Writers hold the power to choose words and phrases that can influence what the reader sees and how the reader feels

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WACKY WALKATHON2019Wednesday, March 20th

Start collecting your

sponsorship money NOW!All sponsorship money raised by

students will go towards supporting our Wellbeing programs

at YWPS, including lunchtime clubs.

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PE/Sport NewsOn Friday 1st March YWPS competed in the Spotswood/Yarraville Swim Carnival. Everyone did extremely well and we are very proud to announce that YWPS won. Well done to St Augustine's for winning the BoN Shield. Lots of people came out with ribbons and smiles on their faces. Dervla and Harvey won the District Championship races. Thanks to Re and Tegan for organising the event and helping out. Special thanks to Chris for coaching us. 27 of our 34 swimmers are going to the Division Carnival on 19th March.Jemima Kinkade and Jesse Falloon - Captains.

From The OfficeFeesA reminder that your school fees need to be paid in full by the end of this term. If you would like to arrange a payment plan (to pay in installments), please contact our Business Manager, Chris Johnstone on 9314-7714 or by email: Johnstone.chris.c@edumail.vic.gov.auCSEFIf you have a healthcare card, you might be eligible for extra government funding: $125 per child to help with Camps, Sports and Excursion payments. Please contact the office.Lost PropertyAs always the Lost Property boxes are spilling over with goods! Please encourage your children to look after their things – and please assist by naming all their items.

EVENTS@ Yarraville West

PS

WACKY CUPCAKEsThursday 20th March 2019, 3pm until sold out.To coincide with the Wacky Walkathon there will be two stalls selling in the middle area and senior area from 3pm.

All cupcakes $2 (some vegan and gluten free options).

WE NEED BAKERS - Can you bake a batch (or two) of Wacky themed cakes to bring to the ART ROOM before 2.30pm on the day? Email: ywpsevents@gmail.com

We never have too many!

Get involved in organising your child’s class party.A great way to get to know the families in your child’s class and have some fun. Watch out for more information soon.

Enjoy!

EVENTS committeeTrivia Night Planning GroupTuesday 12th March, from 7pmPlanning is about to get underway for this fabulous event. Come and be part of the action. 7pm in the YWPS Staff Room

Events Committee MeetingTuesday 26th March, from 7pmHave your say, lend a hand and be part of the fun. Any level of involvement is welcome.

The next meeting is 7–8pm on the 26th of March in the school staff room. See you there!

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ywpsevents@gmail.com

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