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CHPS

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Welcome to our Middle School Newsletter

Dear Parents and Students,

Semester 2 is upon us way too fast and it has been wonderful to see everyone again after the holidays. This term promises to be an exciting one with many fun activities and lots of learning ahead.

In the last week of Term 2, you should have received notices for the Dance Program and the House Athletics. These are also available through Compass. Thank you to those families who have already paid. Also, a reminder that camp payments are due throughout the term.

PARTNERSHIPS It was a valuable chance late last term to share your child’s learning in our three way conferences. We hope that it was a positive experience for you and your child. Good partnerships between students, teachers, and parents are vital to success and the key to working successfully together is effective and respectful communication between all parties. If there are ever any concerns, please let us know so that we can address the issue (academic or social) as soon as possible. You may choose to write a note, email or phone for an appointment. Please be aware that due to meeting commitments, we are not always available without notice. A message to arrange an appointment is necessary to avoid disappointment.

Parent support is always welcomed and encouraged. Please make sure you are aware of any important dates that are coming up, respond to any notices and read the newsletters each week and ensure that homework is being completed. Mathletics should still continue being a useful resource to use at home. Please encourage your child to continue working hard on developing automatic number facts and times tables. Play games that involve number, that require dice, dominoes or playing cards. Reading is always encouraged and a great way to involve yourself is to read what your child is reading. This allows for fantastic discussion as well as improving comprehension in your children. Remember that Reading Eggs is a great resource with many books available to read on-line.

This term our topic is ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’. The focus is on events and aspects of the past that have significance in the present. The major focus will be on Australia, in particular, early exploration and settlement.

Important Dates

Tues July 22 House Athletics Thurs July 31 Fri Aug 1

Pasta Blaster Indoor Assembly

Wed Aug 6 Dance session - 1 Wed Aug 13 Fri Aug 15

Dance session - 2 Curriculum Day

Tues Aug 19 Book Week Parade Tues Aug 26 Wed Aug 27

Dance session - 3 Fathers’ Day Stall

Tues Sept 2 Dance session - 4 Tues Sept 9 Wed Sept 10- Fri Sept 12

Dance session – FINAL Year 4 Camp

Fri Sept 15 Footy Free Dress Last Day of Term 3

Sun Oct 5 Daylight Savings starts Mon Oct 6- Wed Oct 8

Year 3 Camp

LEVEL 3 HOMEWORK

This term our students have been given a Homework Task Grid to paste into their Homework Books. It will cover all activities to be completed throughout the term.

Children will again be expected to read for at least 10 minutes a night and practise their times tables and number facts regularly. Please remember to check your child is recording his/her reading in their Reading Log Book and sign it weekly.

In addition, your child will have a maths activity and a word study or a writer’s notebook activity to complete each week in his/her Homework Book.

Middle School Newsletter

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Please also sign the grid in your child’s homework book each week. This is another valuable form of communication between the home and school and we appreciate your support.

DAVID SKINNER DANCE PROGRAM

David has been involved with Croydon Hills for many years now. He provides an excellent program, introducing the children to some great dance moves and a huge variety of music. The program involves five sessions – see the calendar on the previous page for dates.

Thank you to those who have already made the payment for this program. If you haven’t made a payment as yet, please go onto Compass for details and to pay.

CAMPS

A reminder of Instalment dates and amounts

Instalments)Due) Year)3)) Year)4)

Mon)16th)June) $57.00 $65.00

Mon)21st)July) $50.00 $65.00

Mon)11th)August) $50.00 $60.00

OR

Mon)11th)August) Full$Payment of $157

Full$Payment of $190

CERES

As a part of our Integrated Studies focus on the 4 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse) the Middle school went on an excursion to CERES Environmental Park. CERES is a not for profit educational organisation located on 4 hectares of rehabilitated landfill in East Brunswick, Melbourne.

In our classes we were guided through a series of activities by the passionate staff at CERES. We discovered how long it takes for many household items to breakdown or decompose. Did you know that it takes up to 1000 years for plastic bags to decompose?

Some brave students got to hold worms and examine other organisms that help break down material. This helped us to understand that we need to be mindful of the things we throw out.

We had an amazing walk by the Merri Creek and we learnt about its history and importance to the Wurundjeri people. Our guide also told us that CERES was once a rubbish tip and over time the waste overflowed into the Merri Creek. People even threw cars into the creek! Now CERES is a thriving community, an urban farm and Australia’s largest environmental education location.

CERES is an amazing example of what people power can to do in order to benefit the community. See later in the newsletter for some great photos from the day!

http://www.ceres.org.au

FROM THE SPECIALISTS Visual Arts – Miss Michielin Based on the Middle Inquiry unit, “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, students will be investigating how painting has changed and evolved through the years. We will explore how to paint with tones, creating light and dark atmospheres appropriate for out work and brainstorm where painting might lead to in the future. In conjunction we will look at the history behind certain painting styles and look at where in a progressive timeline they fall as part of our Art History component. Students will require a smock each week, an old t-shirt or jumper will be enough to cover their school uniform.

Physical Education- Mrs McMenaman

PE in Term 3 involves the House Athletics, which was held on Tuesday 22nd July. Thanks to those parents on the day who were able to assist with marshalling, timing, supervision etc. The winners form this day will be considered for the District Athletics Carnival.

The focus of the PE lessons this term will be on Athletics. Children will learn the techniques of High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Put and Discus. They will also have a go at trialling for Cross Ball, Tunnel Ball and Shuttle Relay.

The District Athletics Sports is on Tuesday 2nd September, with the back up day on Thursday 4th September. The Athletics is being held at the Bill Stewart Reserve, East Burwood Athletics Track, East Burwood. (Burwood Highway).

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Music – Mrs Lane

Classroom music: We will continue to dance, sing and play our way through term three. There is a new addition to the music classroom – “Jumbie Jams” – which are steel drums that we’ve added to our ensemble of classroom instruments that the students can play. Children will also do a unit of work on “Music History” – researching musical genres (Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century) and composers. Students will also listen to and talk about contemporary music and compose their own “futuristic” music. This fits in nicely with the inquiry unit – “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”.

Choir: Rehearsals will again be every Monday lunchtime and Thursday before school (8 a.m.). New members are welcome to join at the start of each term. It is imperative that all choir members attend every rehearsal and performance throughout the year. The choir will be performing at “Stagestruck” Tuesday the 12th August. Some middle school students are also performing in the “State Schools Spectacular” at Hisense Arena on Saturday 13th of September. The four rehearsals for this event are: Wednesday 30th July, Wednesday 20th August, Thursday 11th September and Friday 12th September.

Stagestruck Tuesday 12th August: This is our annual concert showcasing the talents of our Performing Arts students. Children who would like to perform in Stagestruck have signed up with the name of their item and the names of all the other members in their group. Items are to be a maximum of 2 minutes long so that we can have lots of participants. It is important that the children are practising regularly and have something very polished and well-rehearsed. The P.A.C. is available for students to practise on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lunchtimes.

Ukelele Band/iPad/Marimba Band: New members are welcome to join after the Stagestruck concert. This group is a great opportunity for those students who have an interest in playing in an ensemble but don’t necessarily have formal lessons.

Instrumental Lessons: Please speak to me (Mrs Lane) if you are interested in your child learning an instrument. I have details of very good teachers that I can put you in touch with if you are interested.

Newsletter

Please ensure you know what is happening by reading the Croydon Hills’ weekly newsletter. Remember there are also photos and regular updates on the Croydon Hills’ Facebook page.

Regards,

The Level 3 Middle School Team

Robyn Twining, Geoff Lamble, Leigh Dixon, Jonathan Wilisoni and Debra Karanzoulis