BELMONT PRIMARY SCHOOL
Mt Pleasant Road, Belmont
Phone 5243 2972 Fax 5241 1182
www.belmontps.vic.edu.au
e-mail: [email protected]
Principal: David Houghton
BELMONT BULLETIN
th
NO.11 27 April, 2016
Thursday
Monday
Friday
Friday
Tues - Thurs
Friday
Mon - Fri
Wed – Fri
Friday
Monday
TONIGHT
nd
2 May
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6 May
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6 May
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10 – 12 May
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13 May
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16 – 27 May
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rd
1 – 3 June
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10 June
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13 June
DATES TO REMEMBER
Parents Club Meeting.
Grade 1/2 Melbourne Museum Excursion.
Mother’s Day Stall.
11:30am
School Walk-a-thon.
NAPLAN testing.
Prep Lego Excursion.
Grade 3/4 Swimming program, Leisurelink.
Grade 5/6 Bluelight Youth Camp.
Report Writing Day, no students required at school.
Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday, no students required at school.
7:30pm
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
served, and those that still today step bravely into the
unknown to serve our country.
Clip found here:
https://youtu.be/Q20DUaIzYJg
LEST WE FORGET
Our School Captains Tom and Hannah represented
the school and attended a special service in Geelong
last week with Miss Papasavvas. The school with the
help of Michelle Lugg and other parents who donated
flowers put together a beautiful flower wreath pictured
here. The school also recognised this important day
with all students joining our School Vice Captains
Marcus and Rose for a service here at school. As part
of this assembly we watched a wonderful song tribute
that was released last year which has raised much
needed funds for returned service men and woman
and their families. If you have not seen this clip it is
well worth viewing.
Head Lice checks were completed for around 95% of
our students with a few students who did not
participate and around 15 absent for their selected
day.
This approach, using a recognised group (Geelong
Headlice Service) was a trial and we will make a
decision afterwards based on the data we receive and
feedback from parents whether or not to continue this
approach. If you would like to provide any feedback
please use our APP or write a note in your child’s
diary.
The service identified 13 cases of live lice, 6 cases of
eggs so 19 students all up across 10 grades. (This
represents around 7 % of student school population or
1 in 14 students) There was evidence too, that several
families had treated their children or attended to
checks prior to this screening so I believe we have
also achieved an increased awareness among our
parents of this annoying problem for our students and
families.
The service provided good information for all families
and was delivered in a professional and respectful
way. There will be follow up checks with all students
who were identified with eggs or live lice in a week or
so and additional information provided to these
families. The school will be careful how this second
follow up is completed to maximise student privacy.
Lee Kernaghan, Guy Sebastian, Sheppard, Jon
Stevens, Jessica Mauboy, Shannon Noll & Megan
Washington unite to release the official music video for
the charity single, 'Spirit of the Anzacs', a tribute to
those that have given their lives, those who have
School Cross Country was held last week with all
students age 8-13 competing for a position at the
Regional Cross Country this Friday.
Selected students will leave school at around 12.30pm
and return by 3.00pm. The event will again be held
down at the Belmont Common. Parking is available
near the caravan parks and further toward the
playground areas. Parents most welcome to meet
students at the venue. The forecast is not ideal so
please come prepared. Generally Cross Country will
run regardless of the weather (with the exception of
thunderstorms).
is our inclusion in the Sporting Schools program which
is providing specialist coaching and quality equipment
for our students. The school is still proposing to apply
to create a Playpod which will be housed behind the
rural building. This POD would store ‘bits and pieces’
for students to creatively play with.
LOTE (Language Other than English) room in action
Our voluntary levy helps support the maintenance of
our grounds and in time we do plan to provide some
additional plantings (native and other) in those areas
that are yet to be developed.
With the exception of our Year 3/4s our class sizes for
our remaining 10 grades are at, or better than those
across our Region. We have placed additional
resources in at Year 3/4 recognising the additional
students currently in this area.
IMPORTANT : 2017 Enrolment The school has begun
to take enrolments for Prep 2017. Parents who have
children or siblings who will begin next year (turn 5 by
April 30th) should make contact with the office as soon
as possible. We have 18 students enrolled for 2017 so
far and similar numbers on our waiting list.
Feedback Term 1, 2016 - Thank-you to the many
families who provided some feedback. This week I am
pleased to share what parents would like to see more
of in the school. I cannot include all comments but
have selected common themes.
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Parent helper program begin in Term 1.
Interschool sports/athletics/excursions
More opportunities for healthy play / wellbeing.
Teacher presence in the yard.
More play equipment /open areas /play spaces
Native plants / nature based learning
Information for parents how to support student
learning
Smaller class sizes
Input from children regarding a range of things.
Undercover areas for outdoors
Problem based learning
Breaking kids into groups so teaching is at the
right level
Class pets
More activities at lunchtime
Educating children to their fullest capacity
Response:
Term 1 was a very short term and is an important term
for staff as they establish strong routines and
expectations for their classes. For this reason delaying
parent helpers until term 2 has proven to be the best
timing for students and staff.
The school continues to seek out opportunities to
increase sport and play for our students. Most recently
Feedback is routinely sought with students by staff at
all levels and can be as simple as a class conversation
about an activity or task. Feedback is also formally
done through the Attitude to School Survey completed
each year with our year 5s and 6s. We will be seeking
feedback from our 3/4s about our BYOD program
regularly over these next terms to help us frame this
work and maximise student engagement and learning.
All classes group students when required. Teachers
will use many opportunities through any given week to
explicitly teach small groups of students with like
needs.
In the last 18 months we have significantly increased
opportunities for students at lunchtime. We now
operate a games based lunchtime program 2 days
each week, library open once a week, choir and other
tuition each Friday.
Our teaching staff work hard to provide for each and
every student in their care. We routinely review all our
programs, processes and systems to continue to
improve our school ‘educating children to their fullest
potential”.
Have you noticed that the parking rules have been
changed at our request alongside the new Mod 5
portable. Parents can park here, remain with their cars
awaiting pick up but only when school buses are not
expected. In this case we will place signs along the
roadside nearest this parking area.
We will have an update on the School Crossing plans
in next weeks newsletter. As parents will know the City
of Greater Geelong undertook extensive study of our
traffic flows and volumes last term.
Late Congratulations to Pat M, Tom & Gus H and
Jack O-L (part of the Northern Bobcats) who won the
U12 Boys B Grade Grand Final at the GBNC in March.
They beat the Grovedale Pistons who had gone
undefeated all season - score 36 to 35. Very exciting
game and well played by all members of the U12
Northern Bobcats team. True teamwork and spirit!!!!
Have you ‘seed’ our seeds.
1/2D have collected a variety of seeds to begin their
study of "Seeds". They have observed them and
discussed their size,shape, colour and texture. They
have grouped them into those that can be eaten and
those that cannot. They have even done some
botanical drawings of seeds, pods , fruits and plants
containing seeds, as well as labelling them.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Food allergies The school is continuing with individual
appointments with parents to discuss plans specifically
as they relate to their child. If you have a child with
Anaphylaxis please contact the office to make an
appointment to discuss the specific details and actions
needed for your child. We have 7 students who have
been identified as anaphylactic. Four appointments
have been completed.
Regards,
David Houghton Principal 
FROM THE ART ROOM
Have you been out to the wood heap lately? Do you
know that ever since I taught grades one and two
about Dendrochronology I find myself counting the
rings on every tree stump I come across ! Anyway......
GRADES FIVE AND SIX
This was our last week working on corrugated
cardboard animals and you can see some of them on
display in the office area if you're around in the next
few weeks. Snails proved to be quite popular for their
free choice of animal.
GRADES THREE AND FOUR
Our drawings of the Notre Dame Cathedral are
finished and will be on display soon. I'm hoping that
when these children are older and perhaps be lucky
enough to visit Paris they'll remember drawing this
building and think Wow! I drew this when I was at
Belmont Primary, who knows?
GRADES ONE AND TWO
This week we each made a collage. Collage is a way
of making pictures by gluing different materials, objects
or shapes onto a background. The word 'collage'
comes from a French word 'coller' which means to
glue. I seem to be fixated on France at the moment!
PREPS
This week we are making yarn sticks (yes, I know that
we call it wool but yarn sticks sounds more interesting
for some reason.) It's another activity to get fingers and
hands working, winding, winding and when they are
finished I'm hoping that they will look good attached to
our stripe paintings from last week. That's the plan.
Yvonne McDonald
Art Specialist
DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY
Tomorrow, Friday 29th April, we have 51 students
competing at the District Cross Country at Barwon
Valley. We have been very lucky to have had singlets
donated by the Select Group (Serra family) which our
students will wear. As you can see in the photos
below they look fantastic! I would like to say a huge
thanks to the Serra family on behalf of the Belmont
community. Good luck to all the students tomorrow.
PARENTS CLUB
Thank you to those families who contributed to the
Geelong Mums ‘From One Mum to Another’ campaign!
We were able to donate 5 complete toiletries bags so
this is a wonderful contribution, especially given the
late notice. The bags have been delivered to Geelong
Mums and will be distributed to local Mums just in time
for Mothers Day.
UNIFORM ORDERS
CHANGE OF DAY TO MONDAYS
Starting in Term 2, uniform orders will be taken on
Monday morning at 8:45 – 9:45 in the staffroom.
Orders will no longer be taken on Thursdays.
ICY POLE SALES
Icy poles are available for students to buy on Tuesday
and Fridays every week at lunchtime.
Fruit stick
Paddle Pops
50c
$1.00
FRIDAY NIGHT BASKETBALL
Belmont 26ers
Belmont Stars
Belmont Boomers
play at
play at
play at
ADVERTISEMENTS
Mothers Day Stall
Friday 6 May 2016
The cost is $5.00 per student and this year's focus is
on local, handmade gifts. If your child wishes to
participate, please make the payment to their
classroom teacher as soon as possible.
For new parents, here's how it works:
 Parents Club purchases a range of different
gifts and gift bags.
 Each student is given a gift bag to decorate
during class time.
 Students attend the Mothers Day Stall and
select a gift; there are at least 5 different gifts
to choose from and the students put a lot of
thought into what will suit best!
Next Meeting
We’ll be catching up TONIGHT to finalise the
preparations for the Mothers Day Stall. We’ll be
sorting, packing and wrapping gifts from 7.30pm. If
you haven’t been to a Parents Club meeting for a
while, or you’ve never been before, why not pop in
tonight and say hi!
Feedback
Parents Club is a terrific opportunity to meet fellow
parents, put faces to names and get to know what’s
happening around the school. There’s no pressure to
commit to extra jobs, we promise! If you have any
feedback or suggestions and can’t make it to the
meetings, you’re welcome to contact Rebekah Hughes
on 0438 316 240 to have a chat.
BYE
5.05pm
5.05pm
CHRIS O’LEARY PROFESSIONAL
PIONO TUITION
I am a passionate and dedicated piano teacher
with many years experience in teaching all ages
and styles of music which allows me to cater to
individual needs and insuring that all lessons
are interesting and enjoyable. I teach beginners
to advanced and I offer your first lesson free.
You can contact me on 5241 6323 or
0428 178 987 Email:
[email protected]