19th March 2020

Dear Parents I understand that this is a very stressful time for children, parents and staff. We will continue to update you as we are updated. We are taking our direction from the Department of Education. The advice of the Chief Health Officer remains at present that our schools should stay open, except in the case of a confirmed case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 Cases The school has no known cases or contacts with known cases at present, but we continue to monitor this situation. SCHOOL COUNCIL The School Council AGM was conducted on Tuesday evening, followed by the first meeting of the new School Council. Again, welcome to Geoff Hayes (new parent member) and to Trent Asquith (new DET rep).

Congratulations to our new School Council Office Bearers;

School Council President: Dennis Duvall School Council Vice President: Mark Rogers School Council Treasurer: Sorin Ardeleanu School Council Minute Taker: Sandra McGregor Committee members: Kylie Phillips, Geoff Hayes, Aaron Gillett, Lisa Strong, Debby Chiang, Trent Asquith (DET), Andrew Thomas (DET) I look forward to working with you all over the coming year. CHESS LESSONS CONTINUE VIA SKYPE This week our Chess students experienced their Chess lesson via Skype- on the big screen. It was a very effective way of delivering the chess coaching and the students really enjoyed the new approach. FAMILIES CHOOSING TO KEEP THEIR CHILDREN AT HOME We have provided families with information and links to online learning, by way of our Year Level Blogs, Edmodo and Compass posts, for students who are well but being kept away from school. The school is not able to provide families with hard copy work. The current advice from the Department is that students should be at school. Where possible they should use online educational resources.

Principal’s Message

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What’s On…...

March 24th Year 2 Healthy Living Incursion 27th Dismissal 2.30pm Office closes at 3.00pm END OF TERM 1

April 14th First day of Term 2 May 4th-6th Unfortunately the Year 4 Camp will be postponed

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19th March 2020 pinewood-ps.vic.edu.au

LEARNING CONTINUITY- at home Learning continuity is very important to your child’s development. Pinewood Primary School staff remain committed to helping create an exceptional learning experience, exploring many options to support the learning continuity for students at home. If you choose to keep your child at home we advise that you use the following programs to support your child’s learning:

LITERACY

Reading Eggs & Reading Eggspress

NUMERACY

Mathletics tasks In the event of a school closure, a student accessible site will be used as an additional resource in all year levels for online learning at home. Step by step instructions and links will be provided to parents/guardians in regards to uploaded work and this will be supported by teachers during this time. Further information regarding the process will be communicated to families should a school closure occur.

EARTH HOUR Between 12pm and 1:00pm on Friday, the 27th of March, Pinewood Primary school will be switching off all nonessential electronic devices, lighting and heating/air conditioning for one hour as we join in the national environmental initiative, School Earth Hour. This campaign aims to draw attention to the small changes each of us can make which can have a large impact on the environment. We encourage members of our school community to join us in switching off and participating in Earth Hour.

EASTER HOLIDAY WORKS The school will undergo the annual electrical tagging program during the school holidays.

REMINDER: A reminder that the school closes at 2.30pm on Friday 27 March. Please make arrangements with OSHClub for their After School Care Program if you are unable to collect children at 2.30pm. We are not able to look after students in the office area after 2.45pm and will be closing the school early.

Karen Jenkin Principal

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19th March 2020 pinewood-ps.vic.edu.au

Bonjour, Pinewood Primary School community. This week I want to share with you some useful websites and apps that can help your children practise their French at home. 1. Languages Online is a free website offered by the Department of Education

and it also works as a free app suitable for students in the Years 3-6. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/french/french.htm 2 Duo Kids is a free app suitable for the years Preps-6. 3. Tiny Cards is another free app that complements Duo Kids and can be used by Preps-Year 6. 4. Our school is a subscriber to Languagenut, a learning platform that works as a website as well as an app. It is suitable for the Years 2-6, therefore all of our students in those year levels have an individual login and password. Your children can use their details to login at home. This week they were given their take home login cards. The app is free to download from the app store but your children will need to enter their login details in order to complete the fun learning activities. If you need another copy, please contact me or the classroom teachers. This is the website: https://www.languagenut.com/en-au/ Hoping that your children will enjoy practising their French, Meilleures voeux, Madame Vinga

THANK YOU TO

EVERYONE WHO RESPONDED

UNFORTUATELY WE HAVE DECIDED TO

CANCEL THIS EVENT

Unfortunately, the

Commonwealth Bank has

suspended school

banking until Term 2

at this stage!

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19th March 2020 pinewood-ps.vic.edu.au

Parent Club Annual

General Meeting POSTPONED!

The Parents Club Committee, made up of

parents wanting to have a more active role

within the school, meets once a month and our

Annual General Meeting. If you would like to

become more involved or find out more about

the Club please come along to our AGM.

Everyone is welcome so we encourage you to

come along!

Easter Raffle

The Easter Hamper Raffle tickets have been sent home with your child/ren.

Please return by 9am Monday 23rd March.

The raffle will be drawn on a date to be confirmed.

Please ensure a NAME, NUMBER & GRADE are

written clearly on the ticket stubs.

OSHClub News Good NEWS all parents……….

Easter Holiday Vacation Care is happening! Bookings are open for the Easter School Holidays at PINEWOOD OSHCLUB. We have had to change the program due to unavoidable circumstances. We will not be organising any incursion or excursions this vacation due to safety reasons. Please contact us for further details on our program. We have planned special activities each day to keep your child/children engaged and active throughout the day. To place a booking you are required to log into your account or contact us on 0409 906462/ pinewood@oshclub.com.au. Our Program as follows 30th March – Mystical Magic 06th April – Easter Eggstravaganza 31st March – Wheels Day 07th April – Little Athletics 01st April – Messy Day 08th April - A blast of Fun 02nd April – A Day in the Green 09th April – Mini Chef 03rd April – Music and Movement 10th April – Public Holiday Reminders to all parents- We kindly request all parents to avoid entering our OSHClub rooms (areas) unless necessary and encourage you to contact us through our phone. The parents' tables with Ipads will be organised just outside of each room and there will be a staff member to assist you. Also, we ask that you continue to reinforce to your child/ren the importance of washing hands thoroughly after using the bathroom and before eating. Thanks, Pinewood Primary School OSHClub Team