SCHOOL VISION- ‘We are helping our students develop the knowledge and skills required to become life-long learners, putting them on the path

to become successful, happy individuals who are active and valued citizens in their local and global communities.’.

PRINCIPAL’S DESK

WE’RE (sort of) BACK It was great news to hear that all students in Foundation will be returning to school from Monday 18 October. I'm sure everyone in the community is thrilled, if not a little anxious. We are acutely aware that students may be riding a rollercoaster of emotions at the moment (and throughout the year), so please let teachers know if there are specific concerns your child may have. All teachers are mindful of what students may be feeling and will adjust programs to support wellbeing concerns relevant to the current circumstances. Although it hasn’t been the perfect conditions for learning, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our families for the enthusiasm and commitment that they have displaying during remote learning. Our students have continued to learn and develop their levels of resilience. I look forward to seeing our students re-engaging with their peers and teachers. Student Shout Out! For those of you who may have heard on the radio or saw the news article in the Age, one of our students, Aiden in Year 5, shared the innovative and creative way in which he is ‘beating the lockdown blues’. Sleeping outside in his swag, every single night, has been one way in which Aiden has been coping with our extended lockdown. You can read the story here: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/he-loves-it-the-10-year-old-boy-beating-lockdown-blues-20211005-p58xdt.html Stories like these, and the ‘Tour de Kids’ story (this is shared in depth later in our newsletter), shows how our school values of Resilience, Respect, Positivity, Integrity and High Expectations are used on a daily basis by our students outside ‘normal’ schooling and how they are using these values to better their current situation. Well done to these three wonderful students! I am sure there are more stories like these. If you or your child has a story like these two, please share them with the school office as we would love to communicate these with the wider school community.

Some things to remember: • Please ensure that you do not gather in groups in

and around the school. We are trying to design the traffic flow to keep people moving, that falls apart when groups start to form.

• Strictly no playing on the playgrounds after school (as this leads to groups forming).

• Please don't suppress fevers in the morning with Panadol, Codral etc. If your child needs this in the morning before school, they shouldn't be coming to school.

• As it is hayfever season, if your child gets sniffly or sneezy, please ensure you have treated the

symptoms. Remember, students who display symptoms related to COVID will need to be collected by parents - telling us you think it's hayfever won't be a reason to keep the child at school so please see your GP if this is an issue. If your child is going to bring medication (Claratyne, Zyrtec etc.) that should be kept at the office with a completed 'Medical Action Plan’. Drop Off / Pick Up of Students School will begin at 8:45 am for all students. Student will need to be dropped off at a school entrance or outside their classroom and walk in by themselves. Parents who pick up their child/ren from school need to organise a pickup location away from the immediate school entrances. More specific information will be provide in next week’s newsletter. Sunsmart No Hat No Play operates throughout Term 4. All students must wear a school hat when outside playing, participating in outside class activities and sports sessions. Even on cloudy days at this time of the year, UV levels are on the rise. Park Ridge Primary School is a SunSmart school, and our students and teachers need to be careful when outside. For best sun protection, use these Five SunSmart steps during the sun protection times: 1. Slip on covering clothing. If you can see skin, UV can reach it

PLAYGROUND UPDATE

If you have been lucky enough to have wandered past the school during this lockdown, you would have noticed some very exciting works happening. The new fitness track/play area is so close to being completed. Unfortunately progress has been slow due to the very wet weather but we are almost there. We are just awaiting some final track work and some areas to be soiled and seeded for over the holidays, and then we will be open for action.

Carrie Chalmers Assistant Principal

2. Slop on SPF 30 or higher broad-spectrum sunscreen. Apply sunscreen before going outdoors and reapply every two hours. One application is not enough . 3. Slap on a sun protective hat. The best hat shades the head, face, eyes, ears and neck. 4. Seek shade. Shady spaces help block some of the sun’s UV but not all, so you still need to wear hats, clothing and sunscreen even in the shade. 5. Slide on sunglasses labelled AS 1067. If practical, help protect the eyes with sunglasses. Attendance It is now a requirement from the Department of Education, for teachers to mark the roll twice a day; this is normal practice when students are onsite. As we are going through a period of some levels being onsite and some levels learning from home, from Monday 11 October, student rolls will be marked twice a day. Teachers will use their attendance from their morning sessions, email correspondance and submitted work to indicate your child’s attendance.

If your child is marked absent, it is your responsibility to log into Compass and provide a reason for their non-attendance. If your child has been marked incorrectly, please contact your child’s teacher directly to rectify. There will be some teething problems as we wade through this new approach. SMS notifications for student absenteeism will be re-activated on Monday 18 October. Office restricted for Face-to-Face Contact Although our office staff are back on duty, the office is continuing to minimise for face-to-face contact. If you need to speak to the office, please use either email or phone. We are trying to limit contact with our staff. Foundation 2022 A reminder that enrolments are due ASAP for 2022 Foundation students. If you or a friend have a child that would like to attend Park Ridge Primary School in 2022 but are yet to submit an enrolment, please do so ASAP or risk missing out. Email enrolments to: park.ridge.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Dale Blythman Principal

TOUR DE KIDS Over the last month, two of our students James (Year 4) and Ben (Year 2) have been busy raising money for the Starlight Foundation. The boys took part in an open age event called ‘Tour de Kids’. The boys pledged to bike ride 200kms over the month of September and supporters donated to support them. The boys did an amazing job riding, and logging 213kms for the month. On top of that they raised $300 each. That’s $600 between them to support the Starlight Foundation. During the month the boys updated everyone on how they were going and even explained it to people they met on their rides. Both boys demonstrated the schools values of resilience (finding ways to ride even when their bikes broke down), integrity (keeping their pledge), respect (to other path users etc) , high expectations (competing in a challenge along side adults and businesses) and positivity (even with falls, bruises, grazed elbows and bee stings- they never gave up). Great work James and Ben, what a fantastic example you have set for our community. Families have the opportunity to donate here: https://tourdekids.org.au/james-caulfield https://tourdekids.org.au/benjamin-caulfield

GET RED, RED, READY FOR DAY FOR DANIEL 2021! Day for Daniel is Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day. Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation has produced the Keeping Kids Safe resource to support students Recognise, React and Report when they feel unsafe. Developing an understanding of respectful relationships is also a key learning area within the resource. Keeping Kids Safe is age and developmentally appropriate and contains short videos to promote classroom discussion amongst students and their teachers. They are used as part of our comprehensive whole school approach to personal safety education and are aligned with the Victorian Curriculum and our Positive Education model. On Friday 29 October we ask that students wear RED to support this important cause. Whether they are learning at school or remotely, they will participate in activities that discuss and encourage the following areas: · Rules for being safe · Being safe · Recognise body clues · React to feeling unsafe · Making a safety network · Safe internet use Finally, I have attached a link for parents/carers with safety parent advice and support agency links: https://danielmorcombe.com.au/keeping-kids-safe-resources/parents_carers/ At this stage we are unable to collect gold coins for the Daniel Morcombe Foundation on the day due to the pandemic. However if you would like to make a personal donation, please use the link below. https://danielmorcombe.com.au/donate/

Anna Christofis Curriculum Leading Teacher

CADBURY CHOCOLATE DRIVE

We have a number of boxes of Cadbury Chocolate spare from our fundraiser earlier this year. We have made the decision to offer these boxes to families at a wholesale price of $40.00 per box. Each box contains 60 chocolates, a mix of Freddo Frogs and Carmello Koalas. Please contact the office via phone or email if you would like to purchase a box. Thank you, Administration

Matthew Davey Physical Education

SPECIAL GUEST EXPERIENCE On our second last day of what was one of the more challenging terms in our students’ short life, we were lucky enough to meet 4-time Paralympian and dual gold medallist Blake Cochrane. Blake was in quarantine after the Tokyo Olympics and posted on his Instagram page that he was happy to do free online school talks – how good is that! Blake’s incredible presentation to our students was a gripping and engaging story about his life including the struggles he faced as a child through to the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. He began by mentioning that the “Para” in Paralympics actually means that the games run “parallel” to the Olympics, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the athletes having a physical disability, something I’m sure many people may not have known. He talked about the bullies he faced as a child, which he referred to as “dream takers”, people who tell you that you cannot do something and emphasized the importance of only paying attention to the people in your life who are going to support you. He also encouraged the students to stay on track with their home learning, drawing comparisons to when he was in Year 12, he took all of his studies with him to Beijing at his first Paralympics as he knew his education would be the most important thing for him later in life. Blake went on to highlight the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and watching what you eat, including always eating breakfast and getting enough sleep at night to ensure you have enough energy to reach your potential every day. He also spoke about how even though he had won two gold medals at the London Paralympics in 2012, he was most proud of his bronze medal at the Tokyo games because he swam 3 seconds faster than in 2012. His message here was to always strive for your personal best regardless of the outcome. We were very lucky to have Blake log on to our school Webex session as I’m sure the students, staff and parents who heard him speak came away with a plethora of positive advice and also a chance to reflect on our attitude during these times and life in general.