Newsletter

EPSOM PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER NO 34– 20/10/10 Phone Number: 03 5448 4318 School Fax Number: 03 5448 3334 Email: [email protected] Website: www.epsomps.vic.edu.au

This is a “YOU CAN DO IT” school

EPSOM PALM PRESS

2011 FAIR—HELPERS NEEDED

Meeting this Thursday 21st October @ 2.30pm

Epsom Primary School fair is held bi-annually usually on a Friday evening

in March from 4.30-7pm. In the past some of the stalls/activities have

included:

BBQ Craft Stall Cake & Coffee stalls

Inflatable Slide Gillies Pie van Go Karts

Spinning Wheel Student Art Expo Dance displays

Wine Auction Face Painting Monster Hamper

Classroom group activities

And lots more….

In 2009 the fair was a great success and raised over $5000. We need

you….please help to make the 2011 fair bigger and better. Volunteers are

needed to help with collecting donations, letter box drops, organising a par-

ticular stall, volunteering you time on the actual day and we need your NEW

IDEAS!!!

Please come to our meeting this THURSDAY 21st October, 2010 @

2.30pm IN THE STAFFROOM. Toddlers welcome and afternoon tea will

be provided. If you are unable to attend but can help please contact the

school on 54484318 or Josie Geddes 0407944585.

Cody, Kystale, William, Maddison,

Ashlee, Lachlan, Maddy, Josh, Kody,

Caitlin, Emilee, Mitch, Adam and

Ryan. Congratulations.

Dear Parents,

I am very appreciative of everyone being patient whilst

the community becomes accustomed to the new parking.

I have spoken to the City of Greater Bendigo about mov-

ing the disabled parking sign and putting in additional

signage making the requirements clearer.

Please note : Along the school fence is a drop off/pick up lane

only. Please do not park and leave your cars in

this lane.

Additional parking is available on the inside of the

bollards if needed.

Children are being supervised at the gate and will

be allowed to walk along the fence to their par-

ent’s car.

Parents who are parked in the new bays or on the

inside of the bollards will need to collect their

child/children from the gate as children will not

be permitted to walk through the traffic.

A reminder of the staggered pick up times:

Children in grades Prep-2 can be picked up by

parents at 3:30pm.

Children in grades 3-6 can be picked up by

parents at 3:40pm. (Teachers will supervise these

students until this time.)

Families who have children in both categories

should pick their children up at the later time of

3:40pm.

It is essential that we work together to ensure the safety

of the students. Thank you again.

Kerry McGuffie

Headlice Check A headlice check will be conducted Monday. Par-

ents will receive written confirmation of the results.

It is a parental responsibility to regularly check your

child’s hair and commence appropriate treatment if

headlice infestation is found. The school provides a

voluntary service to support parents and can offer

advice.

GARDENING KEYS

Keys will be sent home to the Plowright and

Read families this week.

Next week’s gardening families are the Rees

and Rose families.

Thank you for looking after our grounds.

Nude Food Day Winners

We have been learning about Reduce, Reuse,

Recycle in 1/2/3. So we joined up Nude Food

Day and all the children tried to bring a Nude

Food lunch. The Nude Food police checked

lunches last Wednesday and everyone that had

a package free lunch went into a raffle to win

Nude Food lunchboxes. Here are the winners.

By Cait.B. and Asher

Public Holiday –

Next Weds, 27th October Bendigo Cup Day has been declared a public holiday by

the City of Greater Bendigo. Children do not attend

school on this day.

DATES TO REMEMBER: 2011 School Fair Meeting Thursday 21st October @ 2.30pm

2011 Preps Orientation sessions start Thursday 21st Oct.

Tuesday 26th Oct., Thursday 28th Oct.

Bendigo Cup Day—No School Wednesday 27th October

CAMP DATES Gr3-6 Monday 15th-Wed 17th November $185

School Council Monday 25th October

Swimming Wed-Friday 3rd—5th November

Tues-Thurs 9th-11th November

Office News

Tissues All classrooms are in desperate need of tissues.

Could each family please bring in a box for

your classroom.

Active After School Communities

A reminder that for this term Active After

School Communities will be on Mondays and

Wednesdays. This change of day is due to the

coaches not being available on Thursdays.

Camp Costs This years camp to Anglesea for Grades 3-6

children is $185 and you are able to pay in in-

stalments. If payment by the due date is an

issue please come and see me in the Office.

Thank you.

Book Fair What a huge success our Book Fair was. Our

students certainly love to read! Our library

received $450 worth of books (in commission)

from the fair. Thank you to everyone who sup-

ported this event.

Rememberance Day Poppies are for sale in the office- 50c, $2 and

$5.

Excursion Fees Our school year is quickly coming to an end

and there is still some excursion money out-

standing. Please finalise any outstanding

amounts as quickly as possible.

Uniform Order I will be putting in a uniform order next week,

Friday October 29th. This will be the last or-

der for the year in preparation for 2011. If you

have uniform requirements please put an order

in. Money will be required with your order.

Could the following people please come and

see me in the Office :-Lucy Mathews, Narelle

Beer, Tania Dwyer, Michelle Rusbridge, Tania

Marshall and Kelly Wood. Thank you

Deanne Hendy

Saver Plus is a nationally-recognised program developed by Brotherhood of St Laurence and ANZ that is being de-livered in Bendigo by Loddon Mallee Housing Services. Saver Plus matches people one dollar for every one dollar they save to be put towards the cost of education. By joining you could receive up to $500 from ANZ to help pay for items like computers, books and uniforms. Saver Plus is continuing to grow in Bendigo, and many parents and students have eagerly signed up to save for their own or their children’s education. In the short time the program has been in Bendigo over 50 families are well on their way to reaching their savings goals and re-ceiving $500 to put towards next year’s school costs. To join Saver Plus you must be over 18, have a child in school or be studying yourself, receive some income from paid employment, and have a Health Care or Pension Card.

Contact Sam Taylor on 5444 9082 or 0409 909 554, or email [email protected] for more infor-mation on how to join.

An initiative by ANZ and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, with

Loddon Mallee Housing Services

Sports Equipment for our School! We have registered for the Coles Sports for Schools program where Coles is giving all primary and

secondary schools in Australia the chance to get brand new sporting equipment – and we need your

help!

Every $10 spent at Coles Supermarkets, Coles Online, Bi-Lo or Pick‘n Pay between Thursday 2

September and Sunday 31 October 2010, will earn a Coles Sports for Schools voucher worth 1

point.

We’re asking our local school community to collect these vouchers from family, friends and

neighbours to drop into the collection box we have at school.

The more vouchers we collect, the more sports gear we can get! Just remember to ask for the

vouchers when you pay during your normal weekly shop. Thank you to everyone who have already

put vouchers in the box.

Safety in Schools

One of the primary concerns of parents relates to the safety of their children. I was recently reminded of one of the many advantages of being in a government school when I received an email from the Education Department’s Emergency and Security Management Branch, which has a system whereby it notifies schools of any risks to stu-dents, colour coded according to the assessed level of risk. This allows schools to take any necessary action to ensure that students are safe. In the most recent incident, we were alerted that “The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a Top Priority Severe Weather Warning for the Alpine, Western, Central and West & South Gippsland weather districts” This alert that did not apply to us; however as well as alerts relating to extreme weather conditions in areas where there are school camps, they may also relate to such things as suspicious strangers seen near schools or criminal behav-iour that has been the subject of a police report. The most serious risks could lead to a school “lockdown” where students are kept in classes until the risk has passed. If you see any incident that impacts on the safety or wellbeing of staff, students or visitors in or around schools, especially after school hours, you can alert Emergency Management by phoning 9589 6266 (24 hour service). Of course, if what you see is criminal behaviour, call the police on 000. There is no doubt that being part of a large network – which is what the government school system consists of – is an important preventive factor in keeping your children safe. Of course at Epsom PS we have many methods of ensuring that students are safe both physically and emotionally, but it is comforting to know that we also have with us an Emergency and Security Management Branch which can supply information, processes and people to sup-port us should the need arise.