High Gain Primary School

Port Fairy Consolidated School has been recognised by ACARA (Australian Curriculum & Assessment Reporting Authority) as one of

the highest performing schools in the state in terms of student improvement in reading and numeracy.

There are over 1500 primary schools in Victoria (State & Catholic) and today it was revealed that our school was amongst the top 42

schools in the State. A great achievement!

This places PFCS in the top 3% of schools in Victoria.

Well done to everybody in our school community!

(Please see ‘The Age’ newspaper website for more details.)

Stop Press!

Port Fairy

Consolidated School

acknowledged as a

High Achieving

School!!!

Thursday 5th March 2015 The guiding principle for Port Fairy Consolidated School is to provide a high quality

education for all students and an opportunity for all students to grow to their full potential – creatively, socially, physically and intellectually.

Our children are our future and we are honoured to be a partner in a child’s journey through life.

Tuesday – Veg. Curry & Rice

Thursday – Mini Frittata & Salad

Principal’s Award – Jordyn Fiddy

For showing outstanding persistence with a challenging task.

00C – Lauchlan Edwards

For showing determination and persistence in all his schoolwork. Keep up the great

work Lauchlan!!

00W – Alexa-Jade Parnell

For always having such a positive attitude to everything at school.

1/2D – Francisco Cognian

For great work in Maths using place value.

1/2A – Emily Edwards

For always doing her personal best and approaching everything with a smile.

1/2T – Oscar Hughes

For his improved effort and attitude towards all class activities, well done Oscar!

3/4B – Charlie Cooper

For writing an informative, warm and welcoming letter to our Folk Festival visitors.

3/4H – Bridget Carbury

For showing an efficient work ethic and using class time effectively.

4/5M – Tenae Mounsey

For being a great classroom leader and setting a fabulous example to her peers.

5/6D – Oscar Reaburn

Terrific persistence with his stilt walking through maintaining a positive attitude

5/6M – Caitlyn Gilmore

Wonderful determination and persistence to make sure she completes all her

work.

A SAFE SCHOOL - I HAVE A RIGHT TO A SAFE SCHOOL AND A RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP KEEP IT SAFE

PRINCIPAL’S COLUMN- FOLKIE CONCERT

Tomorrow all of our students will be walking down to the stadium at Southcombe Park to watch the ‘Folk

Festival Schools’ Concert’. All parents and friends are most welcome to join us (begins at 1pm).

FOLK FESTIVAL WHOLE SCHOOL PERFORMANCE

Thanks to all of our families who supported our ‘Folk Festival Whole School Performance‘ held last Tuesday

night. It was a wonderful event with many memorable moments. Many thanks once again to the ‘Connellan

Family’ for cooking the meal and to our ‘Parents and Friends’ for their coordination. Thanks also to our guest

performers, Terry Cole and Phil Melgaard, who worked with all of our students, to Maree Stewart for her

performers’ coordination and to the Port Fairy Folk Festival committee for their ongoing support of our school.

FOLK FESTIVAL

As mentioned in previous newsletters we will be operating our regular ‘School Accommodation, Bed and

Breakfast’ fundraiser over the Folk Festival long weekend and we’d appreciate lots of support from our school

community! Rosters still have a few gaps! Every year it is a challenge to get enough volunteers and we would

greatly appreciate any help that you can give. PLEASE SUPPORT US!

DISTRICT SWIMMING SPORTS

Good luck to our school swimming team, who will represent our PFCS at the district swimming sports in Portland

on Friday. They have trained very hard and I thank them all for their commitment and support of our school.

Well done!

NEW GARDEN

Please take the time to come and visit our new garden near the pirate ship. Thanks to Tracey Gray for her

coordination of this project and to Ben McKenzie for his time and expertise. Thanks also to the students from

Brauer Secondary College who came across and assisted with the planting. A great effort!

CONGRATULATIONS

Our school extends congratulations and good luck to Benji Hawkins, Riley Edwards and Finn Sheppard-Wright

who have been selected in the ‘South West Football District’, under twelve squad. The boys will compete in an

upcoming soccer tournament in Bendigo. We look forward to their feedback. Well done!

NEW STAFF

On Wednesday, Warrnambool College student, Sam Carter began his training work as an Education Support

worker. Initially Sam will be working with Mrs McLaren’s homeroom but his duties will be extended later in the

year. We welcome Sam and look forward to his time with us.

HOUSE ATHLETIC SPORTS

Congratulations once again to all of our champion students who received their medals at last Monday’s

assembly. Thanks to Deanne Elliot for organising the medallions and to Karen Argent and Brendan Dowd for

their work behind the scenes.

HOMEROOM REPS INFORMATION

Our ‘Homeroom Reps’ for this year are: Prep C: Ebony Perrin (0407355686), Prep W: Kristy Sanderson

(0431522760), 1/2A: Jaqui King (0408377570), 1/2D: Lisa Payne (0417392500) & Linda McPherson

(0409165252), 1/2T: Claire Hynes (0422239988), 3/4B: Dominique Quirke (0458300458) & Cathy Connellan

(0458074804), 3/4H: Max Kelly (0409350719), 4/5M: Jane Condon (0448965071) & Vicki Mounsey

(0418751848), 5/6D: Brooke Green (0427797928)and 5/6M: Jill Gibson (0429134519). We would appreciate it if

all families could make an effort to contact their Homeroom Reps by way of introductions and offers of support!

At our first meeting for 2015 Lisa Payne, Vicki Mounsey and Ebony Perrin volunteered to be our ‘Parents and

Friends’ executive team. Our meetings will be held on the fourth Wednesday of each term, at 9:10am, in the

meeting room at school. Everybody welcome! Next meeting: Wednesday, May 6.

STUDENT LEADERS’ CONGRESS

Last Friday I attended the ‘Student Leaders’ Congress’ at Deakin University, Warrnambool, with our 2015

student leaders. This event was initiated last year and it provided a great opportunity for our young leaders in

this district, to come together to develop their leadership skills. The keynote speaker at the congress was Simon

Breakspear who gave a very inspiring address.

Simon is an international leader in the learning field and well worth a search on the internet. I would like to

take this opportunity to once again thank our student leaders who represented our school with great style

and professionalism. Well done! Our student leadership team will now concentrate their efforts on support

for our local environment and community.

STORIES OF THE SEA

Don’t forget to get your copy of ‘Stories of the Sea’ (available from our main office). The ‘Stories of the Sea’ booklet, was created, as part of the 2014 Ex Libris Port Fairy Book Fair Festival of Words, to record stories of living near the sea. The project was generously funded by grants from the South West Community Foundation, the Isobel and David Jones Family Foundation and the Gwen & Edna Jones Foundation. Our school, as well as individuals and other local community groups, contributed stories and photographs to the publication. Copies of the booklet are available for purchase for $10 each. The following students had their writing published in the booklet; Tenae Mounsey, Johanna Robinson, Shona Martin, Lexie Finnigan, James Ebery, Maddie Lee, Maddie Green, Nina Fitzsimmons, Michael Dwyer, Ascha Peterson and Ashby Hoey and Finn Sheppard-Wright. COAST SURVEYS SUPPORT Please consider completing a ‘Threatened Coastline Community Survey’. The surveys and coastal area displays are located at the main office. AACE 2015

Last week our ‘AACE Program’ for 2015 got underway. The AACE Program (Advanced Academically

Customised Enrichment) aims to meet the needs of our students who have been identified at the gifted and

talented end of the educational spectrum. This program targets the highest performing students at each year

level as evidenced by their assessment results and completed work. This year the program is facilitated by

Mrs Tracey Gray and the students who have been selected will meet as a group for two hours every Friday.

They will be encouraged to self-direct their learning with the support of Tracey and the other students in the

program. This year the students in Years 4, 5 & 6 will participate in terms one and two and the students in

Years Prep, 1, 2 & 3 will participate in terms three and four.

FAMILY NUMERACY PROBLEM

Don’t forget to ‘have a go’ at our weekly ‘Numeracy Problem’ in today’s newsletter. Thanks to Mr Twycross

for organising this.

BUS TRAVELLER AWARD

This year we will be recognising our best bus travellers with a weekly award. This award will be nominated by

Mr Matt Hoey and it will be given to those students who contribute to the safety, comfort and well-being of

their fellow passengers. Congratulations to Emily Edwards who received this award at last Monday’s

assembly. Well done Emily!

HEALTHY LUNCH AWARD

Each week we recognise a student with good food for lunch that is packed in a way that reduces our rubbish.

Each of these students receives a free lunch from our school café as a prize. The winner for this week, as

announced at Monday’s assembly was Maisie Conquest. Congratulations Maisie!

PLEASE REMEMBER

‘We aim for every child to be the best that they can be – without exception!’

‘MY DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN’ Regards, Mark

School Council Elections 2015

Up to Friday 27th February, 81 votes had been received for the School Council Election 2015. Eight of

the votes received were informal. The remaining votes were counted on Monday 2nd March, with

the following candidates being successful in obtaining a School Council position:

Judi Fitzgerald Adison Cognian Seona Dance

Tracy O’Connell Dominique Quirke

Congratulations to these parents who will be attending their first School Council meeting on

Wednesday 18th March 2015.

Upcoming Events

Every Tuesday

Walking School Bus

from Elizabeth Street,

followed by Breakfast

Club in the Café .

Every Thursday

Walking School Bus

from Elizabeth Street,

followed by Breakfast

Club in the Café.

Friday 6th March

DirectWear Uniform

Shop 8.30 – 9.30am.

District Swimming

Sports

Folkie Concert

Monday 9th March

Labour Day Holiday

Thursday 12th March

District Tennis Sports

Friday 13th March

Regional Swimming

Sports

Tuesday 17th March

Finance Meeting

Wednesday 18th March

Moyne Athletics

School Council

Meeting and AGM

Friday 20th March

Regional Tennis

Tuesday 24th March

School Photos

Tuesday 24th&

Wednesday 25th March

5/6 Dinners

Thursday 26th March

District Athletic Sports

Friday 27th March

Last Day of Term One

Dismissal at 2.30pm.

May 12th, 13th & 14th

NAPLAN Testing

Friday May 15th

School Cross Country

Friday May 22nd

Moyne Cross Country

Homeroom Happenings

Prep’s – This week in Literacy we have been learning the work

'like' and the letter 'L'. In Numeracy we have been making our

own subtilizing cards to keep in our reader folders so we can play

lots of maths games at home. We hope everyone enjoys the

long weekend, see you all on Tuesday.

1/2’s - In Reading, we are learning about making connections

(text to self, text to text, text to word), to help us understand what

we are reading. In Writing, we are writing and drawing places of

interest for the B&B school guests. In Maths we are focusing on

place value and understanding about 100’s, 10’s and 1’s.

3/4’s – We are now entrenched behind enemy lines and the

Generals are commanding us to use our ‘addition strategies’ to

improve our counting skills. While we read, we are making

connections with the secret documents that have been

discovered in our quest for answers; we must use prior

knowledge and link it with books we have read, as well as

experiences with the ever-changing world. Reinforcements have

been called upon and we are now in the process of writing to

our Folkie-going visitors by welcoming them for their stay. Over

and out.

4/5M – In 4/5 we have been very busy with Folk Festival

Rehearsal. It was great to see so many children and parents at

our roast roll and performance evening.

We have been busy writing to our guests and hopefully will be

able to share some replies with you next week. WE are

continuing to look at text features and have learned a great

deal about history in this process. We are discussing ANZACs and

Gallipolli also.

WE have been working on our Toolbox maths and this week

have looked at formal addition. We are showing all of the

processes to show our understanding.

Have a great long weekend everyone.

5/6’s - 5/6s have looked at formal addition in maths,

persuasive text in writing and reciprocal reading whilst

researching the development of World War 1. 5/6s enjoyed the

Tuesday evening Folkie performance and it was great to see so

many of our students attend the night. We look forward to visiting

the Folkie site tomorrow for another great performance.

Fresh Fruit Friday – Friday 6th March

(Cancelled this week due to Folkie.)

Student name, class and day of order –

Student/s Class Tuesday Thursday

Café Lunches for next week are:

Tuesday – Veg. Curry & Rice

Thursday – Mini Frittata & Salad Orders can be placed at the office up until 9am on the day at a cost of $5 per child, which includes a

piece of fruit at snack time and a delicious home made meal, with a treat at lunchtime.

Show & Tell .. with Dean Dwyer The best advice I ever received was…. When I was at Ballarat University, one of the older Physical Education lecturers often said, :”You only get one chance at it (life) make the most of it." Also, “Rest is for the dead.” Whilst this might seem a bit extreme, the message behind the statements are to basically while you are able to, try to make the most out of all the opportunities that come your way. The most important things I take into the classroom every day are… “This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, in its place is something that you have left behind…… let it be something good.” Anonymous Like the advice above, I try to instil into my students that we should try and get the best out of each day!! The most important lesson I’ve been taught by my students is… Students are very forgiving and move on very quickly and not to hold grudges. The most memorable moment in my teaching career was… I continue to have many memorable moments.. The times where you see the reaction of students when they “Get It!” Their faces light up and the energy they give is amazing. This is what teaching is all about. If I had a magic wand I would… Like most people, end world poverty and war. But on a community level, (and lots of people in Port Fairy do this) have people help out where they can, especially with their children’s interests, such as education and sporting clubs.

Our wonderful Medallion winners!

Physical Education

Congratulations to Tenae Mounsey and Mitchell Sholl for making it through to the Divisions in

Tennis to represent the Moyne next Thursday in Warrnambool. Good Luck!! Well done to Eren

and Zoe for their great efforts and sportsmanship on the day. Harrison was outstanding as

‘Our Number One’ ball boy!

Our swimmers will be travelling to Portland for the South West Swimming Championships

tomorrow. Thank you to all the parents who have been assisting with their training on Tuesday

mornings. Your assistance was invaluable…

Next, the Moyne Athletic Carnival will be held on Wednesday March 18th at Brauerander. The

students qualified and were selected to competete from the results of our School House

Athletics Sports. PFCS are coordinating this event this year. We will need parent/family

volunteers to be able to run this day. Jill Gibson is overseeing the Café and I will be

organising the event. We WILL NEED help to run the

Café

Discus and High Jump events (11:00 to 12:30)

(There will be no Track events when the Field is on.)

Timekeeping/Marshalling/Result recording

We will have a gathering next Wednesday in the library after school to discuss roles people

could volunteer to fulfil. If you can’t make this time and would like to help out on the day in

some way then leave your name at the office or come and see me.

… Thanks, Deanne Elliott

Areas 1 & 2 posters from the Our Threatened Coastline Exhibition are now on display in the school

office until 16 March when the exhibition ends. Please take pick up the surveys and have your say. What's most important to you about these parts of East Beach? Is it a beach to play on, or somewhere nice to walk? Do you like watching the dunes eroding, or are you concerned about the old tip sites? Tell us about it and we will make sure that your voice is heard.

For more information visit the Port Fairy Coastal Group website at www.pfcg.org.au or try our Facebook page.

A Meal, A Song, A Beat & A Dance

A fantastic night was enjoyed last Tuesday!

Port Fairy Consolidated School becomes a Bed & Breakfast over the Folk Festival

Weekend! This is one of our biggest fundraising activities, and requires input from each

family at the school.

We understand many families are unable to give time over the weekend. If this is

the case, a cash donation to assist the purchase of breakfast foods would be greatly

appreciated.

FOLKIE Bed & Breakfast roster (Please include a contact number)

SET UP & “BUMP OUT”

Curtain Set Up

Wednesday 4th March

5.30pm for 1-2 hours

Set Up

Friday 6th March

From 2pm on.

Clean Up

Monday 9th March

11am for 1-2 hours Jason Dargan Christine Neal

Paul Ross Alison & Fabian

Jane Condon

Sean Peterson

Linda McPherson

Camilla Moloney

Lots of Help Needed!!!

Margaret Bennett

Virginia van Engelen

Roz & Michael

Sam Love

Help Needed!

BREAKFAST – (at least two helpers required for each shift)

Saturday Sunday Monday

6.30 – 9.00am 6.30 – 9.00am 6.30 – 9.00am

Rachel Ross

Lisa Rice

Robert Gibson

Ivan Parrett

Mark Carbury

Jen Lang

Jacqui King

Teena Lawrance

7.30 – 9.00 7.30 – 9.00 7.30 – 9.00

Tracy & Eric Smith

Deirdre Hart

Jane Condon

Alison Zehir

Chris Hannon

Brooke Griffiths

Maggie Spillane C/- H Parrett

Lisa Graham

9.00 – 10.30 9.00 – 10.30 9.00 – 10.30

Josh & Jodie Hill

Melina Sobey

Tracy O’Connell

Rachel Sholl

Felicity Little

Odette McCall

SCHOOL SUPERVISION - (at least two helpers required for each shift)

Saturday Sunday

11am – 1.00pm 11am – 1.00pm

Paul Clift

Stuart Reeve

Ebony & Simon Perrin

Melina Sobey

1.00pm – 3.00pm 1.00pm – 3.00pm

Rachel Tolliday

Help Needed

Kristy & Brett Sanderson

Help Needed

3.00pm – 5.00pm 3.00pm – 5.00pm

Tracy O’Connell

Bev. Holcombe

Adison Cognian

Simon Doyle

Blue Light FUN RUN

5Km Run/Walk

Along Port Fairy Rail

Trail

28th March

Cost $5 U18. $7 Adult

$20 Family

9am Registrations –

Railway Place Port

Fairy

Race Starts 10am

Have you tried Scouting? Is your child athletic, or a bookworm? Adventurous

or shy? No matter what their interest or ability, Scouting

has something to offer them. We run a varied program

to suit all ages and ability. 1st Port Fairy Sea Scouts

currently have limited vacancies in all our sections.

Places are available for boys and girls aged 6-8 in Joey

Scouts, 8 – 10 in Cub Scouts and 10-15 in Scouts. If you

think your child would enjoy the variety of activities and

aventure that Scouting offers, call to arrange a FREE

trial. Please call Michelle on 0409 932 867 after 4pm.

Hearts in Harmony

Community Music

An exciting opportunity to

make music for all ages!

Led by Susie & Phil Splitter

and Jon Madin.

Saturday 14 March from

9.30am to 3.45pm at

Deakin University

Warrnambool. Adults $20,

U/12 $5, Family $25. For a

full description check out

the flyer on School Bag web

page.

Warrnambool District

Hockey Association is

running Hookin2Hockey

Starting - Wednesday 4th March -

until Wednesday 25th March

Start time - 4:00 pm

Location - Warrnambool District

Hockey Association64 Cramer Street

Warrnambool

Cost - $60 for kit (including stick, ball,

mouth-guard, shinguards and shirt)

or $30 for returning players

Contact Tomas Tait 0407820116 for

any additional details.

Please note - all players must wear a

mouth-guard and shinguard's before

using the ground.