Welcome to 2014!!

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back to school!

It has been a great week, albeit short and the kids have already embarked upon some fantastic learning.
Our focus this week has been on getting used to the neighbourhood and navigating the expectations and spaces.  Each space has particular uses and the kids are becoming very familiar with where they need to go in order to explore their ideas through different exciting ways.
Some of you know that there is a bit of a secret task happening in the Art Studio which we cannot tell you about. But there are some amazing projects coming out of small groups made up of both year fours and year threes.  It is simply fantastic to see the kids collaborating and working together.

Also .. WE LOVE PARENTS!

Seeking Parent involvement for literacy activities and beyond. As our new year unfolds we are plotting an engaging and meaningful literacy program.
We are looking for parents and family members to get involved in small and bigger ways to support student learning.

Do you have any time to spare?
Regularly or as a one off?

You are not required to be an expert and you will be supported and directed. Perhaps you have a field of expertise that we could draw on?

Please email or come and say hello to the Literacy team - Alexandra (neighbourhood 2) Mary/Janette or Nic (neighbourhood 1).

Looking forward to a great year!
The 3/4 team:
Keith, Tomo, Alexandra, Nic, Mary and Janette.

Celebration of great work!

Throughout the Gold Rush inquiry all the children have been involved in many amazing projects!

Freya and Teisha have been working on a story book called "Mike the Miner" which they developed from their learning in the inquiry.

Please enjoy!

 

Well done Teisha and Freya!

Winding down the year ...

Tomorrow and next week the children in the 3-4 neighbourhoods will be starting to perform or present their learning on the gold field inquiry. Children have been engaging in a variety of projects including drama, model making, film, digital and board-game construction, story book writing and illustration.

Our intention is to end the year in a low key manner where the sharing of these creations is based more on informal feedback from peers and teachers than on a final formal performance. Parents are very welcome to be part of this process and to come in whenever it suits tomorrow and next week to join in the learning process as a source of support and feedback.  If your child is involved in a drama performance we can arrange for ‘special viewings’ of these when required. This doesn’t have to be pre-planned.

Dress up day tomorrow (Friday 13^th December) is a voluntary activity and it is designed to be a bit of fun for the children.

We would also like to dispel any belief in our community that children watch videos for the final week. This has never been the practice in our neighbourhood. Learning continues until the final day when we may put on a video only in order to pack away furniture in the afternoon so that the neighbourhood is prepared for the cleaners.

We would like to extend a big thank you to our parent community, some who were able to make it to the parent afternoon tea, for all your support this year. As a team we have greatly enjoyed working together and alongside your children. Our goal for 2014 is to look at how we can develop greater connections with our parent community so we welcome any ideas on this.

To anyone leaving our community this year we wish you all the best in the future and to those remaining with us we look forward to seeing you all again in the new year.

3/4 Assembly on Tuesday!

On the morning of Tuesday the 26th of November the 3/4 neighbourhood is presenting the school assembly.

One of the things we are showing is our 1850's based song "Look Out Below!" by Charles Thatcher.

The children have been practicing and they are sounding great!

We ask that everyone could dress up as in a costume from the Victorian Goldfields for the assembly (please don't stress, something the symbolises the era is fine!).

Also, the following week we will be having a dress up day where everyone will remain in character all day long. 

Please help your child organise their costume.

Thanks!

Here's some inspiration...

"Look Out Below!" by Charles Thatcher

For our Victorian Gold Rush Inquiry we have been looking at (well, listening to) Charles Thatcher's amazing song from the time - Look Out Below.

It was written about the life of a digger.

We have been learning it this last couple of weeks.

Here's the song:

And the lyrics:

A young man left his native shores,
for trade was bad at home.
To seek his fortune in this land,
he crossed the briny foam.

And when he went to Ballarat,
it put him in a glow,
to hear the sound of the windlass
and cry "Look Out Below!".

Amongst the rest he took his chance,
his luck at first was vile,
but still he resolved to persevere,
and at length he made his pile.

So says he, "I'll take my passage
and home again I'll go,
and I’ll say farewell to the windlass
and the cry, "Look Out Below!".

Arrived in London once again,
his gold he freely spent.
And into every gaiety
and dissipation went.

But pleasure, if prolonged too much,
oft causes pain you know,
and he missed the sound of the windlass
and the cry, "Look Out Below!".

So he started for this land again
with a charming little wife.
And he finds there's nothing comes up to
a jolly digger's life.

Ask him if he'll go back again,
he'll quickly answer, "No",
for he loves the sound of the windlass
and the cry, "Look Out Below!".

Student Profiles Template

Here is a template for the Student template which you can download and use to guide you in how the profile is written and laid out. The guideline is as follows.

1. Office WORD document

2. A4 portrait

3. Insert 2 photos 

4. Insert text ( Arial 10 pt, single spacing)

The template is for guidelines only and there is no need to submit student profiles in this format.

Any questions, please speak to Tomo or Rita.

profile pro forma

Student Profiles - Revised

In order to further promote a sense of belonging among students and teachers at Princes Hill, we are introducing the development of student profiles. We are seeking to understand what has contributed to your child becoming the person your child is today?

Each child from Prep to Year 5 is asked to write their autobiography with the support of their parents.

Please ensure that the autobiographical information provided is suitable for sharing with the all the members of the neighbourhood. The teachers will read the published profiles to get to know the many aspects of their students and the students may share them with each other. The first step in helping students learn is to get a clear picture of who they are, both as a group and as individuals. The children will update this profile each year.

The children from Year 3 to Year 5 will upload the student profile template on to their laptops and are asked to complete their autobiographies with their families by the end of November. This activity will be included in your child’s learning agreement.

An autobiography includes information such as name, when you were born, where were you born, your parents name, background, languages spoken at home, interests and hobbies, trips, special events, possible aspirations.

The children in Years 3, 4, 5 who are not part of the laptop program and the Prep to Year 1 children are asked to write their autobiographies with their parents in a word document: font Tahoma, size 10, about half a page [up to 500 words]. Please email it to the school (princes.hill.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au) or your child’s home teacher by the end of November. It will be copied and pasted into the student profile template which has been specially designed.