Our final market of the 2020 to 2021 summer season took place on Sunday May 16th. This was a very successful conclusion to a very successful but challenging market season. We have been fully booked for the whole season. As a result the market has raised more than $20,000 to support the school’s well-being program. This is an awesome effort.

The challenges associated with running the market within the many COVID restrictions have been immense. I must acknowledge the time and effort put in by Jac Absolom our market coordinator. She has worked through all the new regulations, managed bookings and been ever present throughout the markets each month.

I must also acknowledge the support of the school councilors and their families who have a been part of the market team. They have made sure that the site is numbered, bins are in place, signs are displayed and then been present from 6.30 a.m. to check in the stall holders.

Finally I would like to thank Wendy and Peter Drayton who have retired as market stallholders after 32 years. They have been stalwart supporters of our market since the late 1980s when the school first started the Drysdale market.

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Many thanks to the children and teachers involved with this year’s NAPLAN tests. The children applied themselves to completing the tests to the best of their abilities.

We will receive the outcomes in August and provide these to children and families once they have arrived. There are some inevitable disruptions, such as changes of classroom, to the normal operations of school. I am grateful to everyone affected for their understanding.

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Our third pupil free day is being held on Wednesday 2nd June. Please note that the school will be closed to students on this day. The staff will be continuing the learning started earlier this term to deepen our understanding of teaching children to write. It has been great to see so many classes introduce the ideas from the first day’s training into their teaching and learning.

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The area around the school is very busy before and after schools with traffic and pedestrians. This is always a challenging and potentially unsafe mix. To ensure everyone arrives in school safely, please can I remind all members of our community that adults and children should use the Supervised Crossings to cross Clifton Springs Road and Carolanne Drive.

Please do not enter the school through either of the staff car parks on Clifton Springs Road. There are two pedestrian entrances at the front of the school.

 

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The Education Department’s policy is that children are not permitted to use certain devices during the school day – 8.50 a.m. to 3.40 p.m. This includes mobile phones and smart watches with the capacity to send messages.

Any devices that are brought to school should be handed to the school office where they will be stored for collection again at the end of the day. Thank you for your understanding.

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School attendance is extremely important. Drysdale PS and our community value education and really want to see your child here every day.

Research shows that even missing one day a week can have a big impact on the overall success of your child’s education.

If you have any concerns or need any support in getting your child to school each day please call the school office and ask to speak to Nicole Alonso, Kate Wojcik or Phil Dunlop-Moore to set up a plan and strategies to support you and your child.

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Our Debating Team is participating in the first round of the Geelong School’s Debating Competition tomorrow afternoon.

The team is made up of a number of very passionate Year 6 students who have been working hard under the expert tutelage of Mrs Irvine over a number of lunchtimes.

They have been given an extremely relevant topic, ‘That we should ban social media for people under the age of 18’  and will be on the affirmative side.

For this round, Isabella, Grace and Heidi have been selected as speakers, while Ava will chair the debate and Tahlia will be the timekeeper.

We wish the entire team the best of luck in their very first attempt at interschool debating.

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We have just passed the half way mark of the term. Boy is it flying along. Teachers are busy assessing students to track their progress and write reports at the moment, but classes are settled and working hard as always.

Last Friday was RDA for some of our students. It is great to see their confidence growing, this week venturing out into the paddocks to practise their skills on a longer ride. After working with the horses, they were very hungry and the students had a great time feeding them grass back at the stables.

It was amazing to see some students learning from each other in Year 5/6 this week. Flynn and Heidi worked together on adding improper fractions. Heidi and Flynn showed great mathematical skills and understanding.

The dulcet tones of ‘Baby Shark’ were played out by some very clever Year 5 students in Performing Arts this week! The xylophones sure received a work out and the song was playing in my head all day.

It is important to remember that if your child is ill or has contracted an infectious disease, such as Hand, Foot, Mouth or Chicken Pox, that you please call the school office as soon as possible. There are a number of families that these diseases can impact in a very big way, so in knowing when they are occurring in our school community means we can help support those families and inform them of any outbreaks.

Last Thursday the Year 2 and Year 3 students attended a puppet show presented by Camp Quality. It was highly engaging and enjoyed by both students and staff alike. In our school community we have a number of students that are impacted by cancer, so this puppet show was to help them and their peers in understanding this disease more. If your child attended and you would like to talk more about it, please contact your child’s class teacher or Kate.

Camp Quality followed up and provided resources for any eligible children wanting to sign up with Camp Quality. Any child aged 0-15 who is a patient or is impacted by a sibling, parent/guardian with cancer can be eligible for free programs.

They can follow the family sign up link: https://www.campquality.org.au/how-we-help/register-your-family

Otherwise, the Family Program Coordinator Sam would be more than happy to assist with any queries:
Sam Bertrand
Family Program Coordinator
P: (03) 8535 2836
E: sbertrand@campquality.org.au

Please see read more for photos

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We have been lucky enough to be allocated a spot at Bunnings Leopold to run a sausage sizzle fundraiser for the school!

This is happening this Sunday May 30th between 8:30am-4:00pm.

Thank you to all those staff and parents who have volunteered to come along and support the school.

There are still a few spots remaining in the hour slots of 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30. If you can spare an hour on this day, please contact Nicole Alonso via the school email – drysdale.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Partners are welcome. Children under 18 are not as per Bunnings protocols.

It is a great opportunity to raise funds for our school.

Even if you can’t volunteer on the day, we would still love to see you and the family come to Bunnings for a sausage!

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Congratulations to Charlotte from Year 5 for her success in the Storyfest Writing Competition.

Platform Arts and Central Geelong Marketing teamed up for the third iteration of Storyfest, which was open to all residents of the Greater Geelong region aged 8 – 26.

Entries were judged by Rochelle Smith, Director of the Word for Word Festival, Olivia Shying, journalist at the Geelong Advertiser and Rachel Morley, Media & Communications Coordinator at Platform.

Charlotte was judged the winner of the 9-12 Years category for her story, ‘Kookaburra Clare.’

It is wonderful to see our students achieving success in such a wide variety of areas, from writing to martial arts, athletics, drama, horse riding and everything in between. Charlotte is yet another example of Drysdale PS students impressing us with their success.

Click read more to view Charlotte’s award-winning story.

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Every Victorian child should have access to the world of learning opportunities that exist beyond the classroom. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) helps ensure that no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. It is part of making Victoria the Education State and the Government’s commitment to breaking the link between a student’s background and their outcomes.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

Please find the CSEF form attached to print out and hand to the school office, you can also find a copy in the resources tab on the sentral parents portal. Please note these are due back by the end of Term 2.

csef-application-form

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This Wednesday the 26th of May is ‘National Sorry Day’. Students will be learning about the significance of this day in classrooms.

In 2008, then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued an apology in Parliament to all Indigenous Australians who were affected by government policy. This apology was received with an outpouring of emotion from many people. It is hoped with educating our youth that events like this will never occur again.

I would also like to take a moment to congratulate Jack and Manson along with Will and Harley who have been incredibly impressive in delivering our ‘Acknowledgment of Country’ at assemblies each Friday. The way the boys have stepped up to this task has been quite brilliant. Well done boys!

We also have plans for a small Indigenous garden in our school. Stay tuned to find out more about that project.

Mr Burnie

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The Year 5s and 6s have been busy training in their chosen winter sport in readiness for the upcoming Winter Lightning Premiership which is next Friday 4th of June.

For many students, this is one of the highlights of the year as they get the opportunity to represent our school in Football, Soccer, and Netball against the other schools from the Connewarre District.

Parents are welcome to come along to support the school at the following venues.

Netball – Shell Road Reserve, Ocean Grove
Soccer – Shell Road Reserve, Ocean Grove
Football – South Barwon Reserve, Belmont

We wish all of the students the best of luck!

Note – parent/guardian permission and payment are due before 31 May. Please check the Sentral App or Parent Portal for details.

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There is a special canteen lunch available to all students Tuesday, 8th June, order forms are going home with students this week.

Orders can be made online via quickcliq.com.au  or handed into the canteen no later then Monday, 31st May. Please note that normal canteen items are NOT available on this day.

Please find a copy of the order form

2021 Term 2 Special Canteen Order

 

 

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A big thanks to everyone who has brought in items for our GAWS donations drive. I am sure your donations will help make a number of animals a little happier as they wait for their forever home.

This past week we have been focusing on pets, in connection to our GAWS project, and the children have enjoyed engaging in a wide range of different activities. This week we are shifting our focus to the approaching winter, with fun activities such as beaded snowflakes, making fake snow, building 3D snowmen and doing some snowflake water colour paintings.

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