Principal’s Report

For some of us at EPS, this person will not be a stranger! I am very pleased to announce that our new Chaplain is Hollie Boniface. Hollie is an experienced primary school Chaplain and valued local community member. She also has a background in education, which is very valuable when supporting our students and families. Please reach out to us at school if you would like your child to have a chat with Hollie or would like some ideas on support for your family, or just to find out more about the Chaplaincy program at EPS. At the end of 2022, we wished Daryl Bridges well as he moved onto new endeavours, but he has already met up with Hollie recently to ensure a smooth handover in supporting students already accessing the program. Welcome Hollie!

This Thursday 9th March is our School House Athletics Sports Day for all students in Grades 3-6. This event is being held at the Cockatoo Athletics Track at Mountain Reserve, Cockatoo.
Every student will have the chance to run in a sprint and 3 events from the following list (hurdles, 200m, 800m, high jump, long jump, discus and shot put).  If you have yet to do so, please access Compass to give your child permission to attend the event. Students are encouraged to dress in their house colours but to also please remember to bring a school hat!
A reminder of our School Houses and their colours:

Nobelius – Green          A’Vard – Yellow           Worrell – Red              Ryberg – Blue

Other things to please remember to pack for your child:

  • Refillable water bottle
  • Sunscreen
  • Lunch and Snacks – we encourage all students to pack food. However, the canteen at the track will also be open so you may choose to give your child a small amount of money if they wish to purchase something on the day.

We are planning to hold the annual Leadership Assembly this week, on Friday 10th March. Student Leaders are presented with their badges and congratulated at this special assembly. Looking forward to welcoming our new Leadership Team!

Emerald Primary School is looking forward to another great year of teaching and learning and would like to advise you of the school’s Curriculum Contributions for 2023. Schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard Victorian curriculum and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary.

Nevertheless, the ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. We want to thank you for all your support. This has made a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer.

Within our school this support has allowed us to organise and coordinate rich, extensive programs outside of the traditional teaching and learning programs. We are constantly adding new material for teachers to use to support personalised and quality learning in literacy and numeracy.
Our Specialist programs of Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Cooking/Science, Japanese and Physical Education are very engaging, and your financial contributions assist us with the purchasing of varied art resources, musical equipment and more.

Your support in 2022 allowed us to:
·   Provide high quality programs and specific subject materials and equipment for: English,              Mathematics, Science, Art, Music, Inquiry, Japanese and PE.
·    Maintain and develop the school grounds.
·    Ensure the upkeep of our computer devices to enhance learning opportunities.
·    Maintain sufficient class sets of books for students to develop their reading skills.
·    Provide hands on maths equipment ie. measuring materials for teaching purposes.
·    Facilitate English and Mathematics online digital subscriptions.
·    Deliver a range of sporting equipment.
·    Arrange for individual student supplies and class bulk supplies.

As we continue to look to the year ahead in learning at EPS, your ongoing support is very much appreciated.

Information is also available on Compass re: payment arrangements – just click on “Course Confirmation/Payment”.
For further information on the Department’s Parent Payment Policy please follow the link: https://eps.vic.edu.au/info/policy/

Emma Clark
Principal

Hello EPS Families,

Cockatoo Little Aths Club is excited to share that our canteen will be open for House Athletics – this Thursday 9th March for all Grades 3 to 6 students.

Please see the price list if you’d like to prepare with your child/children what they would like to purchase on the day and send them with the right amount of $$.

We also have eftpos available for any adults coming along.

Parents & Carers who hold a Centrelink Pensioner      Concession card or Health Care Card which is current from 30th January 2023 (Start of Term 1) you are eligible to receive CSEF – $125 per year.

This money can only be used for Camps, Sports events & excursions.

Please contact the School Office if you have not applied and would like an Application form.

We will also need to take a copy of your eligible card.

Konnichiwa families,

We’re always busy having fun and learning in the Nihongo classroom and I’d like to keep you all in the loop with what we’re up to.

Preps

Our Prep students are really enjoying coming into the special Japanese room and have made a fantastic start to their learning. We’ve been focusing on greetings used at different times of the day. Here’s a link to a song we’ve been singing as part of our learning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2UYmM365Zk&t=1s

They’ve also learned about Hinamatsuri (Girls Day or Doll Festival) and made these fantastic emperor and empress dolls to display in the room, pictured here with Sonia Sensei and Yumi Sensei, our Japanese assistant who works with us on Mondays.

Grade 1-2

We’ve been using drama and props to tell the story of Momotaro – the peach boy. Ask your child to tell you about it.

Here’s a clip about the story you could watch together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBhFtJPNAZA

Grade 3s

I’m so impressed with how quickly the Grade 3s are picking up learning to read hiragana! They’ll be making flashcards soon and will be able to take them home to review what they have learned in class. It would be great to encourage your child to look over their cards a few times a week.

Here’s a clip I made during lockdown which teaches the first 5 hiragana characters.

https://youtu.be/3sJaST8g7Ag

 

Grade 4-6s

We’ve been building listening skills with the story of The Great Race. I tell the story using simple, comprehensible Japanese and I ask lots of questions along the way to keep students engaged and to check their understanding. Ask your child to tell you the story.

Congratulations

It’s very exciting to announce our Grade 6 Japanese leaders are Heidi and Airlie. They already have some wonderful ideas to enrich our program.

Grade 6 students were offered the opportunity to apply for the chance to go to Japan for a Children’s Conference. Lewis G was chosen to represent our school and we wish him well in the selection process. What an exciting opportunity!

A number of students entered a poster competition held by the Japanese Language Teachers Association of Victoria. JLTAV is looking for an artwork to use as the front cover of their conference booklet. Good luck to those who entered!

Extra Japanese practice at home

It makes me so happy when students want to do even more Japanese learning!

One way to do more is by using Duolingo. Some students and families are using this popular free app/website.

“With quick, bite-sized lessons, you’ll earn points and unlock new levels while gaining real-world communication skills.”

It’s suitable for all ages and I found it to be really motivating. It would be a great way to support class learning.

    www.duolingo.com

Extra Japanese practice at school

For Grade 5 and 6 students who want even more chance to learn and practice their Nihongo, I’m starting up a free after school class on Thursdays from 3.45pm – 4.15pm, starting on March 16. We’ll do more speaking practice and work on having simple conversations. Students will need parent permission to attend. If your child is interested, please contact me at Sonia.morison@education.vic.gov.au

Sonia Morison (Sonia Sensei)

Community News

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Canteen Special!

Friday Meal Deal

Honey & soy chicken

              +

Chilled Milo drink

$6.50

https://www.school24.net.au/

canteenorder/login

Breaking up is hard to do!!!!!!!!

It’s time for the canteen to break up with single use straws, these will not be available in 2023

More than 8 million tonnes of plastic enters the world’s ocean every year and over 90% is single use plastic.

So let’s say bye bye to straws and hello to BYO.  We highly recommend reusable options over all disposables.  Students can purchase a reusable silicone straw in its own case with the school Emblem for $4 from the canteen (over the counter or via online) or uniform shop.

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