Newsletters
31st December, 2019
Newsletter 1
Dear Lara Primary School Families,
On behalf of all our staff, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the 2019 school year. The staff and I are very excited to be back and are looking forward to the year ahead. A special welcome to our new families and our Foundation students. I have been enjoying visits into the classroom spaces and have noticed how well the children have settled in. They should be congratulated on making such a positive start to the year.
Please take note of some important information below:
School Council Elections:
As of Wednesday February 20th, we are calling for nominations for the Lara Primary School Council. Although a formal body, the School Council is an enjoyable way of being involved in our school’s overall direction, vision and policy development. The constituting order of Lara Primary School confirms the composition of Council as being: 8 elected parents/carers and 5 Department of Education and Training employees.
Meetings are usually held on the third/fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm with at least two meetings per term. We currently have the following vacancies to be filled:
Four 2 year elected parent positions
One 2 year elected DET staff
What is a School Council and what does it do?
All government schools in Victoria have a School Council. They are legally formed bodies that are given powers to set the key directions of a school within centrally provided guidelines. In doing this, a School Council is able to directly influence the quality of education that the school provides for its students. The term of office for members is two years. Half the members must retire each year and this creates vacancies for the annual School Council elections.
Why is parent membership so important?
Parents on School Councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school. Those parents who become active on a School Council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their children have a greater sense of belonging.
How can you become involved?
The most obvious way is to vote in the elections. However, ballots are only held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant. In view of this, you might seriously consider standing for election as a member of the School Council OR encouraging another person to stand for election.
Do I need special experience to be on School Council? No. What you do need is an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the school’s future.
What do you need to do to stand for election? An official notice informing parents of the election and a call for nominations will be on display at school. If you decide to stand for election, you can arrange for someone to nominate you as a candidate or you can nominate yourself in the parent category. DET employees whose child is enrolled in a school in which they are not employed are eligible to nominate as parents for the School Council where their child is enrolled. Once the nomination form is completed, return it to the school office within the time stated on the notice of election. If there are more nominations received than there are vacancies on council, a ballot will be conducted in the two weeks after the call for nominations has closed.
The timeline is as follows:
20th February: Call for nominations
27th February: Nominations close (4:00pm)
If nominations do not exceed vacancies, the new Council will be formed to meet on 25th of March. If nominations exceed vacancies, the list of candidates and nominators will be displayed and the process will be:
7th March: Distribute ballot papers
14th March: Close of ballot (4.00pm)
15th March: Count votes and declare the poll
Nomination forms will available from the school office or can be emailed on request.
The first new School Council members’ meeting to elect office bearers (presided over by the Principal) will occur Monday March 25th, straight after the Annual General Meeting.
Curriculum Newsletters:
Last week we uploaded our curriculum newsletters. These documents allow the different learning cohorts to:
share focus points for each curriculum area throughout term one
pinpoint how you can support your child at home in the different curriculum areas
provide general information related to Inquiry, Student Wide Positive Behaviours and Digital Technologies
If you haven’t already done so, please log onto SENTRAL and view these important newsletters so you are aware of what’s happening and are able to share in your child’s learning.
Meet And Greet Session:
Thank you to all the parents/carers who took part in the ‘Meet and Greet’ process this week. These sessions were vitally important so that our teachers gain a clearer understanding of your child linked to:
Interests and hobbies
Strengths in their learning
How your child best learns
Concerns around learning/engagement
Social/emotional needs
There will be ongoing opportunities throughout the year for you to contact your child’s teacher to celebrate further successes or address any concerns that arise.
Communicating With The Parent/School Community:
The new Lara Primary School Facebook page has now become available to view. We will continue to be consistent in keeping the information updated and accurate so you know about what’s going on at our school. I hope you’re enjoying the weekly uploads so far. Please note that this is a page for us to share information and celebrate our school. Any personal comments would be preferred to not be placed on here.
Website
Our brand new school website has been created and is now available to view with new content uploaded. It is a work in progress, so please be patient with us as we continually upload new information onto the site between now and end of term. The new website will be an effective tool that allows the school to improve communication, engage parents, market its strengths, and build a solid, trusting reputation within the Lara community.
Please check out www.laraps.vic.edu.au
School Assembly and Student Awards:
A reminder to all of our new families that assemblies are held each Friday at 2:30pm on the even weeks of the term. Student, specialist and principal awards are given out during this time. All parents are very welcome to attend assemblies.
Our assembly performances will resume next fortnight with Miss Micallef and Miss Isles’ classes being the ‘first cab off the rank’ on March 8th.
Family Picnic Afternoon:
On Friday March 1st, we are inviting all family members to join us on the school oval for a picnic afternoon. Bring along a picnic rug with some afternoon snacks and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with your children and other school families. This will be an informal afternoon of fun games with musical entertainment too.
When: Friday March 1st 1:50pm – 3:00pm
Where: Lara Primary School Oval
What To Bring: Packed Afternoon Tea
Why: It's one of the first chances families have to meet other families and become part of the Lara Primary School community.
More information to come next week!
SWPBS Update:
Lara Primary School staff and students have enjoyed the roll out of the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support system. We have now implemented three school rules, reward stamp cards, 6:1 positive language approach and the traffic light system. The use of consistent school wide displayed enables students to understand what is expected of them at Lara Primary School.
Throughout the first four weeks of the school year, each class has focused two sessions per week on learning the behaviour expectations of Lara Primary School. Staff are amazed with the improved behaviour of their students. A special mention to Will Duthie, the first student to fill a whole reward stamp card!
The positive feedback from our students, parents and the wider community has been outstanding. We share our thanks with all parents who have jumped on board to support the systems implantation within our school.
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Save The Date Over The Next Month: |
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February 22nd |
Second Whole School Assembly in the Hall |
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February 25th |
First School Council Meeting for 2019 |
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February 27th |
Prep Learning Assessments (no prep students at school) |
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March 1st |
Family picnic afternoon at Lara Primary School |
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March 6th |
Prep Learning Assessments (no prep students at school) |
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March 8th |
Third Whole School Assembly in the Hall |
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March 11th |
Labour Day Public Holiday |
Newsletter 2
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Dear Lara Primary School Families, Time flies when you’re having fun and that’s definitely been the case for a busy term one. With two weeks to go, please take note of some important items below: School Council Elections: The School Council election process has been finalised and I would like to congratulate the following parents who have successfully become members of our School Council: Rob Duthie, Carla Garner, Hayley Dickins and Matthew Van Ingen. They, along with Gary Hamence, Rachelle McMillan, Kris Hollier and Andy Stephenson, will form part of our governing body. These new members to council will hold office for 2 years. Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday March 25th at 6:30pm and all community members are welcome to attend. School Council meeting dates for the rest of the year are: Monday 25th March Monday 20th May Monday 17th June Monday 29th July Monday 26th August Monday 28th October Monday 25th November Monday 9th December I look forward to working closely with the newly elected councillors because we know they provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help inform and shape the direction of Lara Primary School. Family Picnic Afternoon: This event has been postponed to Friday March 29th, when we will be once again inviting all family members to join us on the school oval for a picnic afternoon. Please bring along a picnic rug with some afternoon snacks and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with your children and other school families. This will be an informal afternoon of fun games with musical entertainment too. When: Friday March 29th1:50pm – 3:00pm Where: Lara Primary School Oval What to Bring: Packed Afternoon Tea Why: It's one of the first chances families have to meet other families and become part of the Lara Primary School community. Early Finish: On the last day of term one (Friday April 5th) we will have an earlier finishing time of 2:00pm. A whole school assembly will take place from 1:15pm – 1:45pm in the gym beforehand. Walkathon: A friendly reminder that Lara Primary School is hosting a Walkathon to raise money for new reading material for all students on the last day of term one. Our students will walk with their buddy grades around Lara, leaving school at approximately 9.30am. Afterwards we will meet on the basketball court for a celebration sausage sizzle, muffin and icy pole. Refreshments should be pre-ordered for a cost of $2.00 each before Friday 23rd March. The 5/6 House Captains will be holding some fun activities on the day and students can purchase tickets for the activities from these stalls during the celebration at the end of the Walkathon. Students can bring a maximum of $2 to join in the fun of these activities. SPONSORSHIP RETURN: Money and forms to be returned by Tuesday 27th March (parents/carers are responsible for collecting their child’s money). Prizes for the most money raised and encouragement awards will be presented at Assembly early Term 2. Lara Primary School Cross Country: Our first big Physical Education event (School Cross Country) will take place on Tuesday April 2nd on the Lara Primary School oval. We would love to see as many parents as possible supporting the students and would appreciate any help you can provide manning the circuit (please see your child's teacher if you have a current Working With Children's Check and can help out on the day). Students who finish in the top 6 (4 to go through with 2 emergencies) in their age group (9 - 13 year olds) will have the opportunity to represent Lara Primary School in the District Cross Country event held in Term 2. School Assembly and Student Awards: A reminder to all of our school families that assemblies are held every second Friday at 2:30pm on the even weeks of the term. Student, specialist and principal awards are given out during this time. All parents are very welcome to attend assemblies. Miss Micallef and Miss Isles’ classes will perform at our next assembly performance. Photos of the recital will be displayed on both our Facebook and school website page. Calling All Lara Primary School Families: Our very first Working Bee will run from 9.00am-1:00pm on Sunday March 31st. We kindly ask that if you are able to assist, you inform the front office on 5282 1261 for catering purposes. You do not need to bring any tools or equipment on the day, however you may wish to bring your own gardening gloves and a hat. Parents who are able to assist at school working bees help maintain the school grounds which helps reduce the overall cost to the school for grounds maintenance. Working bees also provide an opportunity for parents and families to meet and catch up. . Jobs generally include; maintenance and tidying, tree pruning, planting, painting, clearing gutters and drains, sweeping and rubbish removal. On March 31st we will specifically look to refurbish the front shelter and clear space for our new grade 3-4 playground that will be erected in April. A sausage sizzle is provided for those who attend. Parent Helpers Course: Please keep your eye out on Sentral and Facebook for more information about the upcoming Parent Helpers Course. We highly value the contribution of our volunteers in our school and look forward to welcoming many of you to the training session. Every Day Counts: We all want our students at Lara Primary School to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day on time. Remember, every day and hour counts. If your child must miss school, speak with your classroom teacher as early as possible.
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Working Bee Calling All Lara School Families
Our very first Working Bee for 2019 will run from 9.00am-1:00pm on Sunday March 31st. We kindly ask that if you are able to assist, you inform the front office on 5282 1261 for catering purposes. You do not need to bring any tools or equipment on the day, however you may wish to bring your own gardening gloves and a hat.
Parents who are able to assist at school working bees help maintain the school grounds which helps reduce the overall cost to the school for grounds maintenance. Working bees also provide an opportunity for parents and families to meet and catch up.
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Jobs generally include; maintenance and tidying, tree pruning, planting, painting, clearing gutters and drains, sweeping and rubbish removal. On March 31st we will specifically look to refurbish the front gazebo and clear space for our new grade 3-4 playground that will be erected in April.
A sausage sizzle is provided for those who attend.
Thank you so much,
Visual Arts
Visual Arts is a wonderful opportunity for students to express themselves without the pressure of right or wrong answers. We see Visual Art as being an opportunity to be creative, use a range of materials, and learn a little bit about art elements and techniques while we’re at it.
1/2 classes have been learning about warm and cool colours and how to use them to show contrast in their compositions.
3/4 classes have also been learning about warm and cool colours, and have used line to create ‘opposite’ pictures (sun/moon, warm colours/cool colours)
5/6 classes have been investigating the work of Sidney Nolan, specifically the Ned Kelly Series of paintings. They have created their own Ned Kelly painting.
All year levels have found out how the school’s SWPBS program applies in the classroom, and have responded magnificently. Preps will have their turn in the art room later in the year.
We produce art for other people to enjoy, so take a moment to appreciate it! Art work is on display throughout the school.
Mrs Bennett and Mrs Wirken
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Digital Technologies
This term, the 5/6 Digital Technology classes have focused on caring for our laptops, caring for ourselves and being safe online.
Students have joined the Education Department's 'Schools' Google account which they will use from now until the end of their schooling. Using this Google account,
students have explored and used the Google apps and joined an online Google
classroom where they can collaborate with one another as well as their teachers.
Ten of our grade six students have been given the role of 'Class Techspert' where they attend fortnightly meetings to help them help their classmates with any laptop problems as well as share their knowledge.
A fantastic start to the year!
Indonesian
In Indonesian this term we have been learning to have basic conversations including greetings, asking “What’s your name” and answering, asking “how are you?” and answering and saying goodbye. We were lucky enough to have Ms Wirken’s Indonesian friend come in to some of our classes to show us some traditional Indonesian instruments. We have explored the Day of Silence (Nyepi) and learnt some Indonesian songs. We have been looking at different ways to improve our memory and the similarities and differences in cultures between Indonesia and Australia.
Newsletter 3
Dear Lara Primary School Families,
The first four weeks of this term have gone by so quickly and it has been brilliant to see how well all students have settled back into school life after the Easter break. The holiday period allowed myself to reflect on what a great term one we had and with that in mind, take this opportunity to thank all staff, students and families for making Lara Primary School a positive, safe and fun place of learning and growth.
What is a School Review?
Victorian Government Schools must undertake a school review every four years. During this time, the school community completes a comprehensive self-evaluation of their progress towards the goals, targets and key improvement strategies that have been a priority in their School Strategic Plan.
Across 2019 and during several review days in term three, we will reflect and evaluate Lara Primary School’s strengths, areas for improvement and the impact of its improvement efforts. This will involve getting feedback from the whole school community including families, students and staff. At the end of the school review, a new four-year school strategic plan is created and endorsed by the school community.
Calling Lara Primary School Families
I am emailing to see if families of Lara Primary School students would consider taking part in upcoming parent forums to assist us to plan our future school direction. We will be hosting two parent forums where families will be asked to unpack questions like:
What do you believe are the school’s achievement highlights over the past four years?
How would you best summarise and evaluate our performance against previous goals?
How can we improve things further?
What will be future areas of focus?
A second element of the parent forum will look to evaluate our current school vision and help institute new school values. These values will convey the beliefs that positively influence our behaviour and the way we interact with individuals, groups and communities at Lara Primary School.
Information about the parent forums are as followed:
Date: Thursday May 23rd 2019
Times – Morning Session: 9:30am – 10:30am
Afternoon Session: 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Venue: Lara Primary School
If you are interested in attending either of the forum times, please register your interest at the front office by calling us on 5282 1427 no later than Tuesday May 21st 2019.
I look forward to engaging families in this process so that we have a clearer understanding of our strengths and areas for development. We will be able to work together to better plan for action and improvement, and focus on what matters.
Curriculum Newsletters:
Last week we emailed out the curriculum newsletters. These documents allow the different learning cohorts to:
share focus points for each curriculum area throughout term two
pinpoint how you can support your child at home in the different curriculum areas
provide general information related to Inquiry, Student Wide Positive Behaviours and Digital Technologies
If you haven’t received a copy of the curriculum newsletter, please let the front office know in order that you are aware of what’s happening and are able to share in your child’s learning.
Child Safety Update:
At Lara Primary School, we are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students by adhering to the Child Safe Standards. As part of our commitment to child safety, we have developed policies and procedures to ensure that our students are protected from harm including all forms of abuse whilst at school.
Some of the ways we look to do this include:
ensuring all staff adhere to policies, guidelines and code of conduct for the care, wellbeing and protection of students
foster honest, respectful and trusting relationships between adults and students within the school community
ensuring all people working and volunteering with our students have a current Working with Children’s Check
ensuring referee questions confirm suitability of applicants to work with children
following the Department of Education and Training’s mandatory reporting requirements
implementing a School Wide Positive Behaviour Support framework
creating a child friendly environment where all students feel free to enjoy schooling without any concern for their safety
If you have any questions regarding Child Safety and how you can contribute to ensuring Lara Primary School continues to provide a positive environment for our students, feel free to contact Carolyn Kent-Hughes or Erin Cassar, our Child safety advocates.
Zones of Regulation:
At Lara Primary School, we have continued to develop our students’ ability to recognise their arousal level. This assists with improving control, attention, planning and problem solving. To do this, we have sustained the use of a program called Zones of Regulation (Leah Kuypers, 2011). It has provided a way for students to express how they are feeling in a safe and non-judgemental way. It has also helped our students learn to regulate their emotions so they can function in changing situations.
Within this program, the students have been taught that their regulation levels would sit within four zones. The aim is to help them recognise their own and others’ arousal levels and work out tools and strategies to remain calm when they are getting worked up, or to perk up when they are feeling flat. The zones are:
Blue Zone: when our mind or body is feeling slow or sluggish, or how we generally feel when we first get up in the morning. This may not be an ideal state when taking part in PE with Mr Pickles.
Green Zone: when we can show control and can focus on schoolwork or being social. This is generally the zone to aim for.
Yellow Zone: slightly more elevated emotions or a heightened state of alertness. This may not be ideal when trying to focus on learning tasks.
Red Zone: extremely heightened alertness with very intense feelings. Generally, in this zone we are not in control of our body. This can be a difficult state in a social situation.
Our newly appointed chaplain is also running small focus groups during the week with selected students focussing on the Zones of Regulation program.
New Playground:
A very massive thank you to the members of our parent community who supported us to purchase and get our newly erected playground up and running. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
School Assembly and Student Awards:
A reminder to all of our school families that assemblies are held every second Friday at 2:30pm on the even weeks of the term. Student, specialist and principal awards are given out during this time. All parents are very welcome to attend assemblies.
Mrs Newman and Mrs Volkov’s classes will perform at our next assembly performance. Photos of the recital will be displayed on both our Facebook and school website page.
Open Day:
Our Open Day was held last week where future prospective parents had the opportunity to take part in scheduled tours in order that they learnt more about our wonderful school. We are still offering personalised tours of the school throughout 2019. Feel free to inform any Lara community members that they can call the office on 5282 1427 to make a booking for a tour or if you have any enquiries.
Parent Helpers Course:
Please keep your eye out on Sentral and Facebook for more information about the upcoming Parent Helpers Course that will commence in the second half of this term. We highly value the contribution of our volunteers in our school and look forward to welcoming many of you to the training session.
School Wide Positive Behaviour Rewards:
It’s been really satisfying to see so many students following our three school rules (Safe, Respectful, Ready to Learn) this year in order that staff have been able to hand out negotiated rewards because their ‘clicker reward charts’ have become fully stamped. Last week I had the opportunity to host a group of year 3-4 students who elected to have lunch with me as part of their reward (which was really nice to accommodate). We look forward to rewarding many more students throughout the remainder of this term!
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Peer Support @ Lara Primary School:
This term, our Year 6 students (and some Year 5 helpers) underwent a two-day training course to become Peer Leaders. Their new role has them conducting a series of ten weekly lessons through which they model and teach the rest of the students in the school about practical ways to demonstrate appropriate and expected values and behaviours (this commenced in week three). This course will roll out annually, providing every single senior student a fantastic and very tangible leadership opportunity.
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Who’s Who at Lara Primary School:
Erin Cassar – PSD and Wellbeing CoordinatorFavourite food: Pizza Favourite hobby: Going to the beach, camping and work outs at the gym Favourite book/movie: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Sport I follow or play: Boxing and dancing Did you know that I: Can eat three packets of Tim Tams in one sitting |  |
Laura Chiavaroli – Prep Classroom TeacherFavourite food: Chocolate Favourite hobby: Ballet Favourite book/movie: The Notebook Sport I follow or play: Football and netball Did you know that I: Was going to be a nurse before I commenced teaching |  |
Patrice Podbury – Year 1/2 TeacherFavourite food: Asian cuisine Favourite hobby: Reading and cooking Favourite book/movie: To Kill a Mockingbird Sport I follow or play: Football and basketball Did you know that I: Love to travel overseas |  |
Emily Bruce – Year 3/4 TeacherFavourite food: Pizza Favourite hobby: Performing arts and dance Favourite book/movie: Peppa Pig Sport I follow or play: Follow the Geelong Cats (I go to most games) Did you know that I: Have been in a musical theatre show |  |
Demi Isles – Year 5/6 TeacherFavourite food: Curry Favourite hobby: Hanging with my cats Favourite book/movie: The Hunger Games Sport I follow or play: Netball Did you know that I: Have eight siblings |  |
Julie Bennett – Intervention and Visual Arts TeacherFavourite food: Mango Favourite hobby: Going for walks around You Yangs National Park Favourite book/movie: Watership Down Sport I follow or play: Cricket Did you know that I: Was a goal umpire in AFL football as a teenager |  |
Save The Date Over The Next Month:
- May 17th – Whole school assembly in the gym (Year 1-2N and Year 3-4V performing)
- May 20th – School council meeting
- May 22nd – Responsible pet ownership day
- May 22nd – Winter lightening premiership for grade 5-6 students @ Geelong Grammar
- May 28th – Division cross country for selected students
- May 31st – Whole school assembly in the gym (Prep B and Year 5-6G performing)
Joel Riddle – Principal
“Success is a journey, not a destination”