TOORA PRIMARY SCHOOL

TOORA PRIMARY SCHOOL 5 Harriet Street TOORA, 3962 Ph: (03) 5686 2283 / Fax: (03) 5686 2451 Email: toora.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Website: www.tooraps.vic.edu.au Issue Thursday 16th February, 2017 2017 CALENDAR BELL TIMES 9:00am School starts 12:20pm 1:00pm Lunch 3:20pm Dismissal 11:00am - 11:20 Recess 2:00pm 2:15pm Recess FEBRUARY 17th Whole School AFL Clinic at Foster 17th School Parents very welcome 21st 22th NO Prep Students 22th Program Year 1-6 22th MARC Library visit 24th Out of Uniform Day Gold Coin donation 24th School Parents very welcome 25th Foster & District Show 26th Program Year 1-6 28th MARCH 01st Preps come to school every day from now on 01st Program Prep - 6 08th Program Prep - 6 10th Working Bee & Sausage Sizzle dinner 2:00 6:00pm 12th Toora Annual Pear Party 13th Labour Day Public Holiday 15th Final session Prep - 6 31st End of Term 1 2:20pm dismissal APRIL 18th School resumes Term 2 25th ANZAC Day public Holiday 26th Tentative date for Major Fundraiser PRINCIPAL NEWS Next week is an important time for Toora Primary as we will be having our Priority Review. This is the process where the school community, teachers, leaders and the Department look at the previous four-year plan and reflect on whether or not the school achieved what it set out to achieve in the current strategic plan. After that we all work on what we want to achieve over the next four years, and put things into place that will prevent a continuance of the difficult years you ve all endured lately. The reviewer will be Sharon Adams from the Southern Victorian Regional Office and we will also have input from Shane Wainwright who is our district Senior Education Improvement Leader (SEIL) also known as my boss a Demi-God really as my actual boss is Malcolm Turnbull, but he will be busy next week and can t make it. Four days of next week will be set aside for the review panel to look around the school, talk with the kids, talk with parents, talk with school councillors, talk with the teachers, watch lessons being taught and attend staff meetings. There will be times when parent forums will be available and these times should be made known very shortly. Since I ve just arrived on the scene, I know very little of the problems this community has faced. Having said that, however, I consider myself to be solutions orientated and already I believe we re moving into a period of like-minded progress toward a better place. Students are generally kind to each other and respectful which indicates that all those measures initiated last year have born fruit. Work has started in regard to building students oral literacy skills and despite losing a teacher we re still able to cater for diverse ability groups. Our school is well resourced and well supported by the school community and the wider community. Once we get past this period of scrutiny and conversation next week, we ll be able to write our strategic plan and use it as a guide to inform our practice. This is the turning point and tomorrow is a new day. Mr T. REMINDER: All visitors to the school MUST sign in at the office before entering the classroom area. Bus travellers must have a note handed to either the office or Bus Duty teacher or a note in the communication book if they are not travelling home on the bus. Bus Students are Supervised from 8:15am until 3:50pm. All other students are supervised between 8:45am - 3:30pm. NEW ARRIVALS Congratulations to Glenn & Rachel on the arrival of Pippa Jae Wiggins on Wednesday 15th February at 11:14pm Congratulations to Shaun & Ali on the arrival of Aysha Eleanor Wogan-Browne on Wednesday 15th February at 9:00pm

3 6 CLASSROOM NEWS Welcome back everybody! It is a gift to be surrounded by such a joyful and enthusiastic bunch of young learners. Our 3 6 class has adapted well to the changes of having two teachers in the room and the flexible learning environments at Toora Primary are providing excellent spaces for a range of differentiated learning activities. Thank you to our volunteer readers Fran and Bev who are able to regularly commit time to helping with reading. It is dearly appreciated by staff and students alike. One of our first activities was to write a letter to Aaron Tanner and the family who are based in Melbourne during the treatment for Aaron s cancer. With some skype sessions planned in future, maintaining contact is important for all of us and we are kept abreast of the changes. Alana Reid has joined as the New Gary ; our School Chaplain. With a background in Music and Performing Arts she had been quick in spread her abundant energy and enthusiasm. She has been facilitating some drama activities, which have been a great benefit to students. Some parents may have noted the we are not using the Sounds Waves program for our spelling and grammar activities. Mr Tinker has introduced A Sound Way which is an intensive 10 week phonic based reading and spelling program which we are running in conjunction with other literacy activities. If you have any questions, fell free to call. Parents will also note the Reading Success Passports which were sent home last week. Please read with and record your child s reading. Guidelines recommend 20min per night without television in the background. These will also function as a communication book if required. I will review these on Wednesdays. Brett Whittle

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I 1 2 3 6 7 8 9 10 13 14 15 16 17 Footy Clinic - Foster No Assembly 20 PRIORITY REVIEW WEEK 21 Breakfast Club 22 23 24 Out of Uniform Day Gold coin donation 27 1st Instalment Parent Payment $50 due 28 School CENSUS Day Breakfast Club M A R C H 2 0 1 7 M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I Preps come to school everyday.. 1 2 3 PFA lunch order 6 7 Breakfast Club 8 9 10 Working Bee From 2:00pm FREE Sausage Sizzle dinner 13 LABOUR DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY 14 PFA Mtg 6:00pm at Emma Hughes home. 20 21 Breakfast Club 15 22 16 PFA BBQ in Toora 23 17 PFA lunch order 24 27 28 Breakfast Club 29 30 Pie Warmer Lunch 31 PFA lunch order Last Day Term 1 2:20pm dismissal

PAINT THE TOWN PURPLE FOR SOUTH GIPPSLAND RELAY FOR LIFE On FRIDAY 24th February Toora Primary School will be supporting the South Gippsland Relay For Life by participating in the "Paint the Town Purple" fundraiser. Students, staff and school community are asked to bring a gold coin donation and wear something purple this could be a t-shirt, skirt, shorts, a dress, a scarf or even a purple hat. (If students do not own anything purple, they may wear something yellow instead). Our families attending School Assembly at 3:00pm are also encouraged to take part and wear purple... a donation container will be available at assembly for donations. A portion of the proceeds raised by the South Gippsland Relay for Life will be donated to Aaron Tanner s GO FUND ME account Foster Show (25th February) and Toora Pear party (12th March) Student entries and Artwork are well underway. VIEW OUR NEWSLETTER ONLINE Our newsletter can be viewed online on our website at any time as well as via a link on our FaceBook page. www.tooraps.vic.edu.au LIKE us on Facebook: TooraPrimarySchool

PFA NEWS Many thanks to all that attended the PFA Annual General Meeting last night. It was great to see so many parents. We are looking forward to a very productive fun filled 2017. Our Committee for 2017: President: Nigel Plowright Secretary: Emma Hughes Treasurer: Shannon Roelink General Committee - Tara Hollier, Kerry Duroux, Michelle Bacon, Alex Berry, Shannon Roelink, Bek Van Egmond, Bec Shanks PFA Facebook updates: Emma Hughes, Alex Berry, and Bec Van Egmond Any parents or friends are welcome to attend the meetings which will be held monthly. The next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday 14 th March at 6pm at 13 Stanley Street Toora (Emma s House). Children welcome, BYO plate to share. Canteen - PFA will be continuing to run the school lunches. If you would like to help or have some feedback, please contact Nigel or Emma. All suggestions welcome. Toora Foodworks BBQ - we will be having another BBQ at the Foodworks monthly market in March. This will be on the Thursday 16 th March. We need at least 3-4 parent volunteers. This is a great community and promotional event for our school. If you are available to help please let Emma know. Pear Party On Sunday 12 th March the annual Pear Party event is on at the Toora Orchard. It s a great community event and very family friendly. PFA will be having a small stand selling pizzas. If you are available to help please see Nigel Plowright. If you have any ideas for any family or fundraising events don t hesitate in attending a meeting or talking to our PFA members. Here s to a great 2017 school year Regards Emma Hughes PIE WARMER LUNCH DAY Every Thursday Commencing Thursday 23rd February (next week) Feel free to drop into the Administration foyer to view the notice board for Parents & Friends Association and find out what's coming up, how you can help, and for important dates and times. This is an optional lunch alternative every Thursday where you can bring along any food able to be wrapped in foil and heated: Wrap it in aluminium foil and write your child s name on it. It will be placed in the pie warmer at school in the morning and be hot by 12:20pm, ready for lunch.