LIBRARY BORROWING TIMES

Library borrowing times are now confirmed for each homegroup:

1H - Monday morning

1 S/M - Wednesday morning

1T - Thursday morning

Year 1 Assembly Presentation

The year one neighbourhood will be presenting their inquiry in assembly next week on Tuesday 5th March at 9am.

Students will be presenting what they have learned about what they play?, where they play? and what is play? This will be a great opportunity to see what your child has been learning about and what we are proud of as a neighbourhood.

Hope to see you there!

Thank you parent helpers!

A big thank you to Anna, Rob and Giuliana for your help on Monday morning. We battled the heat but it was so nice to have some new faces in the neighbourhood and support for small groups. Your help is much appreciated.

Generic time table

Time Table

CALL FOR PARENT REPRESENTATIVES

Neighbourhood Parent Reps

We are looking for 3-4 parents from each neighbourhood to volunteer as parent reps for 2013. 

The role of parent reps is to encourage and co-ordinate parent involvement in the educational and social activities of the school in collaboration with the neighbourhood teachers. 

If you are interested, please speak to the teachers in your child’s neighbourhood by Wednesday 27 February.

-Angela Palombo On behalf of the Community Relations Sub-Committee

Library access

Dear parents,
In regards to library borrowing this year, the year one neighbourhood is fortunate to have special access to the library and will be using that space during the day a few times a week. We are in the process of negotiating the activities that will be performed in the space as well as making use of three University High students that are now volunteering their assistance every Thursday. This means that at the moment we have not set a specific time where library books are borrowed. We suggest that if your child has a library bag, they can keep it in their school bag or their locker and we will keep you updated on any new routines that will be set in place.

Stop Motion Film Making - Behind the Scenes

These videos will give you an idea of what students are doing when they are making stop motion films. They usually work in pairs so they have to communicate. One person is the 'animator' and the other is the 'cameraman'. It is a slow process but students have found that the results are very effective.

Esther and Ruben working together to record how they play with Lego using stop motion animation.

Specialist timetable

Specialist times for each home group are:

1H:
Wednesday - Art and Italian
Friday - PE

1T:
Tuesday - Italian
Wednesday - PE and Art

1S/M:
Tuesday - Art
Wednesday - Italian and PE

Esther's Interviews

Esther decided to record what people in the neighbourhood were playing by interviewing them with the ipad.

Interview in the wet area with Anabelle about writing a comic strip about play 20/02.

Interviewing Xavier, Jack and Thomas about their zoo construction 20/02.

Home Reading Log Document

Parents can print out more of the reading logs at home if you are almost full, otherwise we have ones printed out at school located in each home group tub. Home Reading Log

PARENT HELPERS needed for Monday morning

Hello parents,
we are looking for 6 parent helpers to help on Monday morning from 9:30am to 11am.

We are organising a display/exhibition of data collected from this week in our learning area about our inquiry question 'what do we play?'. Parent helpers would supervise a small group of students to walk through the display and record similarities and differences in what students played. The students will then present at the end of the session to the whole neighbourhood.

If you are available and interested please approach one of the teachers or contact Hilary at the email:

green.hilary.g@edumail.vic.gov.au

Thank you!

Happenings in Week 4

Parent Information Night THURSDAY 21st

Dear Parents,
We are looking forward to seeing you this Thursday night in the hall. We just need to inform you all that you will not be able to enter through the normal entrance door used at assembly.

Please enter through the door closest to the fence on the west side of the school. This will make it easier to greet everyone and start on time.

Stop motion animation

Oscar and Henry worked together to record how they play with Lego using stop motion animation.

Stop motion with Lego

Students have started to record how they play using stop motion video software on the ipads.

Happenings in Week 3

Book Covering - Parent Helpers Needed

A trial is being undertaken to help boost our book covering. Boxes of new books requiring covering are available for Parents/Carers to take home and cover. Boxes can be collected from the Meeting Room opposite Julie’s office. A roll of covering material is provided. You’ll need your own scissors.

Please sign out in the register provided, and sign in again when you return the covered books.

Covering tips? See Mark or a Library Parent Helper.

Any suggestions or queries, please contact Mark (available Tues. & Wed.)   e) riley.mark.g@edumail.vic.gov.au

WELCOME PICNIC – POSTPONEMENT

WELCOME PICNIC – POSTPONEMENT TO THURSDAY 7TH MARCH, 2013 – 6:00-8:00PM

Dear Parents/Carers,
Due to an event being held on Tuesday 12th February along Hardy Reserve and McPherson Street, we are postponing our Welcome Picnic to Thursday 7th March at Princes Park from 6:00pm onwards.

The event at Hardy Reserve is a ‘New Orleans Fat Tuesday’ party and there will be road closures along McPherson and surrounding streets which means access into Princes Park will be difficult.

Apologies for the late notice of this but I only found about the New Orleans function over the weekend.

Look forward to seeing you all on the 7th instead.

Interviewing around the neighbourhood.....

Ana:
"We have been working on the ipads. First we started looking at cushions to make the reading area more comfortable. We also thought we needed blankets because in winter people might be cold and they would like a blanket while they read. We found a little red couch that we thought would also be nice."

Oscar and Henry:
'We made a movie and we took pictures to make the film about a sword fight'

What happened?

"A whole wall fell on to them"

"we took 20 pictures and each time we moved the lego pieces"

"I will have to talk to Henry about a title..."

Olivia:
Sapphire the lizard..."He felt ...if you touch him down one end you can get spiked but if you touch him down the other end , from the head down to the tail you won't get spiked"

Tem:

"I drew a comic..it was about this game on the computer that I watched people play called 'Lego Chima... and Hilary really liked it."

Tom, Vittoria, Heath, Milla and Ian:
"We made a big map of the school with Shana and it only took three days...we made it because we wanted to show what was around the school and where we can play."

Vy "I did 'Mathletics'.

Slideshow of happenings in our neighbourhood Week 2

LOST PROPERTY BASKET

The lost property basket in the year one neighbourhood is located just inside the entrance area as you walk in the door to the left (see below). This is where you can look if your child has misplaced an item and you will most likely find it.

Readers and Writers Notebook

Reader's and Writer's Notebooks

In order to assist children to further develop their competency and enjoyment of reading we are encouraging a home routine of reading every night. Children will select from a wide range of text genres such as picture story books, fiction chapter books, non-fiction, articles etc. The routine may include; independent reading (your child reads on their own), shared reading (you and your child share the reading) and read aloud (you read to your child).

Each week your child will bring home, in their home reading folder, books borrowed from the junior library.  This is located in the central area of the red brick building. They will also bring home a library book borrowed from the school library, in a separate library bag, which we are asking you to please provide. This bag should be brought to school as soon as possible clearly marked with your child’s name.

The amount of books will vary depending on the complexity and length of the text. The home reading folder will also include a Reading Log and a Reader’s Note Book.

On the Reading Log please record ALL the books your child reads. This may include books borrowed from both the junior and school libraries, as well as books from home or your local library.

The Reader’s Note Book is a place for the children to reflect, respond creatively and record in some way their interaction with the text. The Reader’s Note Books will be looked at by teachers on a regular basis. They will also be used at school and are required to be returned each morning with your child.

More information and helpful hints about reading will be included on your child’s neighbourhood blog, which is currently being set up.

Any further queries please do not hesitate to approach your child's neighbourhood teachers.

Illustration by Nathan in his Readers/ Writers Notebook (inspired by a book he read)

Neighbourhood PHPS: Gardens, Veggie gardens and sustainability at PHPS...

Gardens, Veggie gardens and sustainability at PHPS

Gardens, Veggie gardens and sustainability at PHPS

There is a small team of parents and teachers currently working towards; creating a garden committee, supporting the school to get the vegetable gardens up and running and developing the newly formed student sustainability action team (the green team). We would love you to join us in a major or minor way. To be informed about veggie garden working bees, garden meetings, Yarra Sustainability Education Network meetings or if you would like to support the Green Team please email us or come and say hello. From Alexandra and Mark.

Alexandra hilvert.alexandra.a@edumail.vic.gov.au (3/4 neighbourhood 2 - on Mondays and Wednesdays) and Mark Riley Riley.Mark.g@edumail.vic.gov.au (Library Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

Take Home Books

A take-home reading routine has begun in the year one neighbourhood. This means that the take-home pocket/folder below is taken home each night and returned to school the next morning.

The folder contains:

- A readers/writers notebook

- 1 or 2 take home books

- Any notices that are sent home from the teacher

When the take home folder is returned in the morning it needs to be placed in the container for each home group (see below).

Blog Feedback

As we are starting a new blog for this year, we want to ensure that it is useful for all. So we would appreciate any input from parents and students as to what you would like to see on the blog or if there are things that could be improved. Please feel free to add your comment below or contact Hilary. Thank you and we hope to have the blog in full bloom soon.

School Picnic

WELCOME PICNIC

PRINCES HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL

FAMILY WELCOME PICNIC

Tuesday 12th FEBRUARY

6:00-8:00PM

at

PRINCES PARK

Near the BBQs and playground (top of MacPherson St, near the corner of Princes Park Drive)

All Princes Hill Primary School families and staff are invited to our annual Welcome Picnic. This is an opportunity to meet other families in your child’s neighborhood and the broader school community.

YEAR LEVEL GROUPS

Please bring a plate of some kind of finger food to share with other families and teachers in your child’sneighbourhood.

FOOD

Trying to get a balance of food, we suggest that those with surnames A-R bring savoury foods and those with surnames S-Z bring fruit or dessert.

BRING

BYO everything and remember that as there are no recycle bins at the park, please take your platters, uneaten food and rubbish home with you.

FUN FOR ALL

JOIN IN AND WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

All children must be accompanied and supervised by a parent/carer.

IN THE EVENT OF INCLEMENT WEATHER THE PICNIC WILL BE CANCELLED

Princes Hill Primary School

School Council

PARENT INFORMATION EVENING on 21st February

There will be a parent information evening held on 21st February at 4pm - 5pm. The presentation from the junior school will be in the gymnasium. Parents and caregivers are then invited to join their year level teachers back in each neighbourhood for individual questions. We must also inform you that there will be no after school care on this day so if your child is attending, please ensure they are supervised. Also, if there are any particular topics that you would like to talk about, please comment at the bottom of this post or contact your neighbourhood teachers. We look forward to seeing you all there.

Daily Routines

There are a few daily routines that we are stating to put in place in the year one neighbourhood. These include:

Before school:

-       Bags in lockers

-       Lunch orders in tubs

-       Take home books changed

-       Take home book pouches in homegroup boxes

During School

-       When finished with lunch/recess students need to put there lunchboxes back in their bags and go out to play.

-       After playtime students all meet back at the entrance to the year one neighbourhood.

Welcome!

The year one team would like to welcome everyone joining our neighbourhood in 2013. We have all enjoyed meeting both parents and students this past week and feel very lucky with the community we are in.

The year one team is made up of four teachers this year: Shana, Mary, Tony and Hilary. Because we will be meeting many of you for the first time, we would like to share a bit about each of us.

Shana

This is the third year I will be teaching at Princes Hill Primary School. Prior to this I worked at Wooranna Park Primary School with Esme Capp. For the past two years at Princes Hill, I have been involved in setting up the learning neighbourhoods, alongside interior designer Mary Featherston. I am very excited to be in a teaching role this year, especially with grade 1 children. I have 3 children of my own, a 4 year old girl Lola, a 9 year old boy Kai and an 11 year old girl Ella. As I am sure you can tell, I was born in South Africa but have been living in Melbourne for the past 15 years. All my family still lives in South Africa, so overseas trips are very special to me!! 

Hilary

This is my first year teaching after graduating from Melbourne University last year. I have a background in Fine Art Photography and Drawing, have had a year travelling overseas in between studies and volunteered for a number of charity projects. Now, it is very exciting for me to be working in a school that appreciates creativity and allows teachers to play to their strengths. I look forward to getting to know all of you so please say hello when you can.

Tony

I came to Princes Hill two years ago to be part of the progressive approach that was just established at the school. I had been teaching for five years (predominantly Years 5 and 6) at Canterbury Primary School. Since arriving at Princes Hill I have particularly enjoyed the challenge of working in a team environment which stimulates great learning for all in the community. This is my first year teaching in Year 1 which I am quite excited about. I have a real interest in maths and enjoy supporting really high level thinking which is engaging and relevant. I have two children, Austin who is 3 years old and Eliza who is one.  I bought a boat this year so expect to hear some stories that have come home from school about all the big fish Tony has caught……


Mary 

Mary has worked at Princes Hill Primary for several years. Last year she began by working in the year one neighbourhood and then had a few months leave.