Well done to all our 5/6 Girls that went off to the District Soccer last week, it was a great result with the girls winning and getting to the next level, see Mr Kennedy’s report for all the details.

I am looking forward to the Athletics Day this Thursday and hopefully the weather stays fine. Big thanks to Shane, Paul, Morgan, Tara for coming along on Sunday to mark up the oval.

This week we say goodbye to Hayden our IT technician, Hayden has done a great job keeping the school up and running technology wise and we will miss him around the school. Good luck Hayden with your next endeavour!

Glen

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NAPLAN results for students were released this week and will be sent home later in the week. I’m writing to inform you of some changes to this year’s reporting. These are changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar and punctuation but the results will now be presented in 4 proficiency levels:
These are:
· exceeding
· strong
· developing
· needs additional support.

This change will give schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against new proficiency levels.
Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child.

Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning.

When we provide you with your results, you will also receive information about what the new proficiency levels mean.
As ever, you’re welcome to speak to me, or your child’s teacher with any questions about these changes.

Glen

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We are aware that there are some issues between senior students online, mainly through social media platforms. Social media can be a great way to keep in touch with friends and it’s important to make sure your experience is fun and positive.

Here are some tips to help keep it positive.

1. Choose how and when you chat
Group chats are a good way to talk with close friends but being available 24/7 can be stressful.
• Take a break from the conversation by muting notifications on WhatsApp or choosing one of the privacy settings on Snapchat.
• Change your status and location on WhatsApp to private, so your friends don’t always know what you’re doing and expect you to chat.

2. Think about the impact your story might have
Sharing online is a great way to express yourself but posting personal or confronting content can hurt you and others.
• Think about who will see your story and whether they will respect your post – especially if it contains personal information, like how you are feeling. You can change your settings to close friends only on Instagram for example, to control who sees the information.
• When you live stream and share content like an Instagram Reel, work out what you might do if people respond in a negative way. Consider what could happen if the content is reposted.
• If you think your content might upset or hurt other people, warn them and suggest they scroll past it.
• If you are worried your post might hurt others, show it to a trusted person before you share it and see what they think.

3. Choose what appears in your feed
Scrolling through YouTube or Tik Tok can be a great way to relieve stress and even learn new skills, but some material could make you feel uncomfortable.
• Be aware of the type of content that might upset you. For example, most apps and social media sites ban content glorifying eating disorders, self-harm and suicide.
• Limit the amount of distressing content that you see. You can hide content on Snapchat or flag videos as not interested on Tik Tok to stop stories appearing in your feed.
• Use The eSafety Guide to help you block or report users. You can use the mute feature on Instagram or select unfollow on Tik Tok to stop users you don’t like coming up in your feed.

4. Keep it positive
Use the resources on social networks to help you and others maintain a healthy state of mind.
• Look out for safety and wellbeing tips. Tik Tok tips offers technical and mental health advice for staying safe and Snapchat provides wellbeing support.
• Check how much time you spend looking at negative news or ‘doomscrolling’. Try swapping your news time for more positive content instead.
• Check-in with your friends and send a direct message to them if they seem upset. Follow the advice on the R U OK? website to start the chat.

For advice on how to report abuse please see: https://www.esafety.gov.au/report

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It is an exciting week as we finalise preparations for our Whole School Athletics Day this Thursday.

A group of superstar parents and staff spent Sunday morning marking out the track on our oval, fluffing up the sand in the long jump pit and cutting back the overgrown grass on our asphalt track. On Monday morning there were already kids practising their racing skills on the freshly painted track!

After last year’s event, so many community members said that it was their favourite school event for the year. To have all the students, from Prep to Year 6, actively involved in fun events all in the same place made for such a wonderful atmosphere. Be sure that you come along and join in the fun!

Keep an eye out for Kylie’s special Aths Day lunches in the Canteen and don’t forget to grab a coffee and snack while you are watching.

Finally, we are still on the lookout for some more parent volunteers to help with the day. Each event is overseen by a staff member with a parent/s simply assisting. We have even broken the day up into shifts to allow those with limited availability to be able to help out. Thank you to those who have already put their names forwardm but we still need a lot more to join them.

To volunteer, please visit https://forms.gle/R87yz1TsHcuMnSJHA

Please see read more for a timetable for the day.

Read more…

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Our Parents & Friends Group are excited to be holding a Routleys Pie Drive fundraiser!

DPS will receive 25% back off each pie pack ordered.

Orders close today at Wednesday 9th August at 12pm.

All orders will then be delivered to the school for collection on Thursday 10th August from 3pm – 4pm, outside the second-hand uniform shop.

To order simply click the link Pie Drive

Please ensure that you select DRYSDALE PRIMARY SCHOOL from the drop-down menu at checkout. All orders and payments will need to be made online.

 

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The canteen will be open for spectators this Thursday while Athletics is happening. Hot drinks, cold drinks, snacks and hot food available all day.  Keep on eye out on socials for some special athletics day lunch deals that will be available on the day.

 

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Our Term 3 student led conferences will be held on Monday 31st July and Tuesday 8th August. These conferences are an opportunity for students, parents and teachers to share the student’s learning and their goals from Term 2. Appointments will be for ten minutes.

Bookings are necessary and can be made through the Parent Portal under the interview tab. The booking system is open and will close Saturday 5th August at 5.00pm.

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Families of students in Year 6 have received their Year 7 placement letters, please fill in the acceptance form and return it to your students classroom teacher school by Friday 4th August.

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GO GREEN and National Schools Tree Day.
This Friday 28th July is National Schools Tree Day. We are celebrating this day by wearing a touch on GREEN with our school uniform and working on caring for the trees in our environment. We also have some fun and exciting activities planned for this day. Click on the link if you want to find out more about National Tree Day. treeday.planetark.org

Plastic Bread Bags
The Wondersoft Recycling Rewards competition is almost ending and we have collected enough bread bags for approximately $500 of sports equipment for our school. Please keep collecting all bread bags and bring them into the Enviro Hub clean and empty for our chance to win more. Remember we are also collecting plastic bottle caps, plastic bread tags and old batteries. Bring these items along to the Enviro Hub and place them in the correct recycling containers.

Nude Food
A huge thanks to all the families who have been bringing nude food to school regularly. Last week we had over 200 students that brought their food to school without plastic or paper packaging, which becomes waste in our school.
Also, a massive thanks to our sponsor ‘Bellarine Whole Foods’ who have been donating a voucher to our weekly lucky Nude Food winner. I know many families have enjoyed visiting the store and purchasing their food without the extra packaging. Please check out this local business if you haven’t already. bellarinewholefoods.com.au

Working Bee and BBQ for Term 2.
The date for this term’s working bee has been set. Sunday 27th August @ 9am. Please put this date in your calendars and we look forward to seeing you there.

Gardening Club
If we have any budding gardeners in the community that would like to assist our garden club on Friday at lunchtime, we would love to have your assistance. Ms Hoyne, Ms King and Ms Martin would love to have your help and expertise in this area. This can include parents or grandparents; you will just need to have working with children’s check and sign in at the office. With your support we can continue to offer great experience for our students here at school.

 

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Congratulations to our mighty Girls Soccer team who won the Bellarine Division Championships last week.

We are so proud of how much effort they have put into training and preparing for this tournament, giving up so many lunchtimes and dedicating their 5/6 Sport lessons to improving under the watchful eye of their supercoach, Mrs Dean.

They went through the tournament undefeated, and such was their defensive prowess, they weren’t even scored against. The grand final came down to a tense penalty shootout where our girls held their nerve to claim the title.

They have now qualified for the Western Metropolitan Region tournament in Caroline Springs on August 10. In doing so, they have created a little bit of school history as the first DPS soccer team to progress this far. We know they will continue to give their best effort and wish them the very best of luck.

Read more…

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As part of the High Abilities program, the VSSEC (Victorian Space Science Education Centre) are coming to work with students in Year 3,4,5 and 6 students next week.

They have offered to conduct a star gazing opportunity on the evening of Thursday 3rd August for students and families (weather permitting). There will be an information presentation first and then the chance to use their telescope to view some stars.

To best cater for this activity we are asking families to indicate their interest in attending the evening by messaging their child’s class teacher by Tuesday 1st August.

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Families of students who are attending the Middle and Senior years camps, final camp costs are now on Sentral.

Payments are to be made via Sentral only, families can choose to pay by instalments or in full. To pay by instalment just amend the amount in the payment, to the amount you want to pay, it will then take you to the card details screen. The amount must be amended before you get to the card details.

Families wishing to use their credit or Camp, Sports & Excursion Funds (CSEF) please advise the school office via email, drysdale.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Payments are due by:

Middle Years Cave Hill Creek – Friday 13th October

Senior Years Waratah Beach  – Friday 20th October

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For this week’s Theircare please see read more.

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