Newsletter Edition 16 Wednesday October 31st, 2012

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Principal’s Report

Our Mission

Identify the talent, develop the confidence and

create the leader.

50 Years Celebration

On Thursday October 18th we celebrated the

school’s 50th year. The event was a tremendous

success. Past students and teachers returned to

share their fond memories of their time at

Parktone Primary School. The parents who

organised the event worked for many months in

preparation. Thank you to every person who

contributed. Student bands and soloist performers

from our school and Parkdale Secondary College

entertained the crowds from start to finish. The

memorabilia organised by Tracy Martindale was a

focal point for everyone. In particular, it was

warming to see emotion in the eyes of past

students. We met swimming legends Nicole

Livingstone and Linley Frame, who both enrolled

in 1977, and had the pleasure of meeting

surgeons, architects, artists and people from all

walks of life. It was inspirational to chat with past

students and to hear how they recalled their time

at primary school with such enthusiasm. An article

will be featured in next week’s Leader.

Swimming

The 2012 program finished today. The children

really looked forward to their swimming lessons

over the past weeks. Although the program is

about water safety it is also a chance for the

children to enjoy a new experience together and to

have fun. Thank you to the parents who came

along to support the staff and children.

Life Education

This week the children are participating in the Life

Education program. This annual activity focusses

on healthy living and is a component of the

schools Drug Education program.

Outstanding School Fees

The end of the year is upon us and it would be

appreciated if all outstanding fees were finalised

as soon as possible.

Walk-a-thon

This Friday November 2nd

we are conducting our

annual walk-a-thon. The children are encouraged

to wear the costume of an inspirational character.

It is always a fun event and the funds will be used

to purchase take-home books for the children.

Bunnings BBQ

Thank you to the parents who gave of their time

and energy to serve a very hungry Bunnings

crowd last Saturday. $2,800 was raised which will

be used to purchase take-home books for the

children as well.

Film Festival

All the films have been completed and we are now

waiting with anticipation for the Film Festival, to be

held on Wednesday November 21st. A notice will

be sent home this week detailing how tickets and

movie DVDs can be purchased. Concert DVDs will

also be available for purchase and the details will

be included in the same notice. The funds raised

from ticket and DVD purchases will cover the

Village Cinema hire costs and subsidise the salary

of our producer and director. It will be a fun night.

Prep Refurbishment

The Prep Centre continues to take shape in

preparation for our 2013 cohort. Walls are now

defining classroom spaces and new carpet will be

laid in three weeks. On Monday November 26th the

Centre will be ready for the pre-school children’s

final half-day transition program. I want to thank

Lachlan Smale and Erin Dunne, who ‘secretly’

painted the Centre, during their annual leave.

They are much loved and respected, and

proactive members of our school community.

New Website

The website is still being updated some

construction is still occurring. Thank you for being

patient.

Quote of the Week

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Viktor E. Frankl

Together we make an amazing community!

George Danson

Principal

IMPORTANT DATES

2012

NOVEMBER

1st

& 2nd

Life Ed

5

th

Spring Racing

Activities Day Dress in

Theme

6th Cup Day Public

Holiday

7th

PCG 7.30pm

9

th

Walkathon 9.30am

12

th

K-P Transition 2.15pm

13

th

Finance 6.30pm

School Council 7.00pm

16th

Tutti Frutti

Show P-1

11.30 – 12.00

21st Film Festival

Village Cinema 7.00pm

21

st – 23

rd

G.A.T.E.WAYS

26th

K-P Transition

9.30-12.30pm Prep 2013 Information

6.30-7.30pm

Parktone Community Group News Hi everyone, On Thursday 18

th October, our school shone! We estimate

300 people attended Parktone’s 50 year anniversary celebrations and what a fantastic night they had. At times, the hallway where the memorabilia was held was wall to wall full of people! Many thanks to everyone who purchased a raffle ticket on the night. We were able to raise a further $200 for the school to go towards the purchase of new take home readers and we made some families very happy with their prizes! There were many, many people involved in the organisation of the night and we are extremely grateful for your contribution. On Sunday just gone, Parktone families got into the spirit of the warmer weather and rocked it at the Bunnings Mentone cooking up the BBQ! It was an amazing day (tiring, yes!) and all up, after expenses, we raised just under $2,800 for the school. This is almost $1,000 more than last year! This money will enable the staff to update the entire collection of take home readers for the children. We have the most amazing families at Parktone – thank you so much! Next Friday 9

th November the PCG will be holding an

Afternoon Tea. We are asking the families of the Grade 2 children to provide the snacks for the event. Please bring along a plate of nibbles. If you have any questions regarding the afternoon tea, please call Peta Stubbs on 0423 095 677 or Brooke Hannaford on 0413 988 147. The next PCG meeting will be held on Wednesday 7

th

November at 7.30pm in the staff room. During this meeting we will be discussing fundraising and social event ideas for 2013. If you have a great idea that will either engage the school community, or raise much needed funds for the school, then please join us! All Parktone families are welcome! Regards from the PCG team

Happy Birthday to those children who will be celebrating their birthday over the next fortnight:-

Chloe H 3rd November

Camryn S 6th November

Mabel P 6th November

Thomas J 8th November

Max P 8th November

Shayln P 12th November

Holly B 12th November

PE Program

The PE program in term 4 has been abuzz with cricket. And thanks to the Parkdale Cricket Club we have a fantastic new pitch to practice our bowling on! Aside from providing opportunities for our students to learn how to play cricket in a fun and friendly environment, their senior players sacrificed an entire Sunday to restore our pitch to its former glory. Howzat! To coincide with this cricket focus, we had a Super clinic for the lower grades run by the Parkdale Cricket Club along with Cricket Victoria last Friday, which was fantastic, the preps and Grade One’s had a ball! Also on Friday, the upper grades were given a clinic on the Milo T20 Blast Cup, to get them ready for their tournament days, the first of which was last Wednesday. The 3/4’s had a brilliant day at Dendy Park Reserve, playing some excellent cricket and learning many tips from the expert Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia representatives who conducted the day. The Grade 5/6 day will be on November 14

th, please

remember to return your permission forms and $10 promptly. Our students embodied Habit 6: Synergise, and were a pleasure to be associated with. Special thanks to Ms Commins, Ms O’Donoghue, Nadine and Lisa for helping to organise the day, and Mr Dang and Mrs Poulter for helping with coaching. Kerryn Mitchell PE teacher.

INVITATION TO ATTEND CHRISTMAS

CELEBRATION

All Parktone parents and families are kindly invited to attend the annual R.E. Christmas Celebration to be held this year at St Aidan’s Church, on Friday 7

th

December 2012 at 10.00am. As in past years, we invite children to kindly bring along gifts (either pre-loved or new) to place under the Christmas tree. These gifts will be delivered to a suitable organization for distribution to underprivileged children. The giving is voluntary. If you agree, please wrap the gifts securely as they will be handled a fair amount and please label them clearly with age and gender (e.g. Boy or Girl and Age) It is a pleasure and privilege to teach your children. Thank you for entrusting this task to us. Our prayer is that they enjoy and benefit from R.E. We wish Mr George Danson and all the staff and families of Parktone, a blessed and happy Christmas and New Year. God Bless Mrs Ruki Joseph Mrs Alison McFadden Mrs June Bryant

There is more to Australia than Vegemite and Barbecues!

Bring a piece of the world into your home by becoming a volunteer host family to an exchange student from Italy, Canada, Finland or Brazil in January. Visit New Places – Revisit Old Favourites! Hosting a student encourages families to see Australia through the eyes of an exchange student. Invite a motivated teenage student into your home for a term, semester or year and gain a new family member and friend for life. Become a WEP Host Family – It’s Easy! Simply submit your host family application and choose your student. Before you know it you’ll be communicating with your new family member while everything else is organised by WEP! FIND OUT MORE! Contact Sylvia Kelly at WEP today for a FREE information pack. Phone: 1300 884 733 Web: www.wep.org.au Email: info@wep.org.au World Education Program (WEP) Australia is an Australian, not-for-profit student exchange organisation, determined to make a difference by helping young people of different cultures gain insight and understanding about other ways of life and world views.