Friday June 2nd-  Year 5-6 Winter Sports Gala Day

Tuesday 20th June - Parent-Teacher Interviews

Wednesday 21st June - Parent-Teacher Interviews

Thursday 22nd June - Grade 3 Excursion - Werribee Zoo

Friday 23rd June - School Assembly 9:15am

Friday 23rd June - End of term 2.30pm Early dismissal 

Friday 28th July - Prep 2024 Enrolments Due

Tuesday 15th August - School Council meeting 6:00pm

National Reconciliation Week – 27 May to 3 June – is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Students across the school have explored reconciliation this in different ways – from reading and discussing texts, to listening to the song, From Little Things Big Things Grow. Students have responded by creating artworks, writing stories and personal responses, like this one:

“We can’t change the past, but we can decide the future”.

Our students showed great sensitivity and strong desire for fairness and equity for indigenous Australians in their discussions and written pieces. I am proud of these future leaders and change makers.

        



King Regards,

Karen

We have had many staff and students absent with flu and COVID, along with the regular colds, coughs and sniffles.  We continue to struggle to replace all absent staff with relief teachers and are splitting up classes to ensure students are placed with known friends and teachers.  It looks like this situation will continue, as there is a shortage of relief teachers.

If we know your child’s teacher will be absent for an extended time, and we are unable to engage a relief teacher for the period, your child will be placed in another class until that teacher returns to work.  We will send you a Compass message so that you know that this is the case, with the contact details of the temporary teacher.

To help protect our school and the wider community, keep unwell students home, given the impacts of flu and colds on our school community.

To help reduce the spread of flu, colds and COVID-19, students are encouraged to;

* wash and sanitise their hands regularly

* avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands

* cover their nose and mouth when they cough or sneeze * get tested for COVID-19 if they feel unwell and follow the current Department of Health isolation requirements if a positive result is shown

* if unwell, stay at home until their symptoms pass.

Face masks are available in all schools and can be worn by any staff or students who wish to do so, including those who are medically at risk.

Vaccination remains the best protection against both COVID-19 and flu, and we encourage you to get your child vaccinated. Flu vaccinations can be booked through GPs and pharmacies, many of which can also provide COVID-19 vaccinations.

If your child does become sick while at school, please also ensure that we have correct emergency contact details for yourself. This is so we can get hold of you as quickly as possible.

Our new boundary fence is now completed and looks wonderful.  The black mesh and steel posts are hardly noticeable against the green of the oval.  The new tubular fence at the back of the prep classrooms makes the space look bigger and provides a pretty outlook to the grassy mounds.

The library courtyard project has begun, with the library awning demolished and the new temporary fencing installed.  With a run of good weather this makeover will be done in about 8 weeks.

Teachers only day on Friday 9^th of June. Teachers will be reviewing student assessments and writing student semester 1 reports. 

The OSHC Service offer an all day program on this day to meet the needs of families. 

To book, contact the service 2832-oshc@schools.vic.edu.au

Tuesday June 20^th 3:45pm – 5:45pm

Wednesday June 21^st 3:45pm – 6:45pm

Bookings with classroom teachers will go live from the afternoon of Friday June 2^nd and close at 9pm on Sunday June 19^th. Specialist teachers will be available on a walk-in basis.

More information including the parent teacher interview map, specialist availability and the booking guide will be available on Compass on Friday June 2^nd.

Here at Yarraville West Primary School, we use a revised version of our National Anthem in order to be inclusive of our First Nations People.

Please see below for the lyrics written by Judith Durham, Kutcha Edwards, Lou Bennett, Camilla Chance and Bill Hauritz.

Australians let us all be one with peace and harmony.

Our precious water, soil and sun

Grant life for you and me.

Our land abounds in nature’s gifts

To love, respect and share.

And honouring the Dreaming,

Advance Australia fair.

Australians let us stand as one,

Upon this sacred land.

A new day dawns, we’re moving on

To trust and understand.

Combine our ancient history

And cultures everywhere

To bond together for all time.

Advance Australia fair.

With joyful hearts then let us sing,

Advance Australia fair.

And when this special land of ours

Is in our children’s care.

From shore to shore, forever more,

Advance Australia Fair.

With joyful hearts then let us sing,

Advance Australia fair.

Every year on 26 May, National Sorry Day remembers and acknowledges the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities, who we now know as 'The Stolen Generations.’

The grade 3 students created a native hibiscus brooch on National Sorry Day. The five-petal native hibiscus symbolises the scattering of the Stolen Generations and their resilience. The Kimberley Stolen Generation Aboriginal Corporation members initially proposed the idea and it was later endorsed by the National Sorry Day Committee. This Stolen Generation flower was adopted because it is found widely across Australia and it is a survivor, able to grow throughout harsh climates across the country. Its purple colour denotes compassion.

  

We have started our Inquiry about First Nations People through an exploration of Sorry Day, which was on Friday 26^th May.

4SV and 4SS came together to make a memorable Sorry Day poster with 82 sticky notes of beautiful messages, pictures, and creative thoughts. The poster is in honour of all the kids that were part of the Stolen Generation. We thought that it was a very important topic and extremely unfair and devastating, so we made a big poster to get our message across. It is now displayed at the front office.

First Nations People have been here for more than 65 thousand years. Approximately 50,000 kids were taken from their families and parents and put in orphanages and white foster family homes.

Sorry Day is a day when we remember and acknowledge the Stolen Generation of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders from the mid-1800s to the early 1970s. Indigenous People were treated differently because of their skin colour, background, and cultural differences. May 26th is a day for people to reflect on how we can all grow and move forward together. The official Sorry was given in 2008 by Keven Rudd, on behalf of thousands of people. Australians of all kinds gathered around to watch. It was a day for commemorating and focusing on love and hope.

By Lola, Maya, Ned and Sadie

The Preps have been lucky enough to have both a Paramedic and the local Firefighters visit us this term. 

Yuko (paramedic) spoke to the Preps about what to do if there is an emergency and took them on a tour of the ambulance. They were able to check out some of the equipment and even got to see the red and blue lights in action. 

The Firefighters have been with us over two sessions where we have learnt about stop, drop and roll and safe meeting places during a fire. Every student had a go of squirting the hose with a firefighter!

The Firefighters had to attend a real life emergency, so left early. The Preps were lucky enough to watch them get into their gear, get the truck ready and set off with their lights and sirens! What an experience.

Congratulations to all the students that qualified and participated in the Maribyrnong Division Cross Country Championships on Wednesday at Brimbank Park - Angus, Carey, Delphi, Ava, Mabel, Blake, Rory, Sam, Leonie & Maia - they all ran a fantastic race.

Four students have qualified for the Western Metropolitan Region Championships to be held on Monday 19th June - Angus, Carey, Mabel & Leonie - We wish them the best of luck for their upcoming event.

Well done to all competitors on the day!

Simone & Brad