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22nd May
2015
PAKENHAM SPRINGS NEWSLETTER
Springers
Phone: (03) 5945 7400
Fax: (03) 59 45 7455
pakenham.springs.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
www.pakenhamsprings.vic.edu.au
PO Box 819, Pakenham 3810
What makes a great school
community?
There are all sorts of opinions and research into
what makes a great school community, and in
almost every piece of research the following
elements are identified in some way
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Leadership and vision
School governance
Management and values
Teaching and learning
Curriculum
Technology and communication
Partnerships and community
Performance
Resources and facilities
I have no doubt that many of you chose Pakenham
Springs Primary School because of its excellent
reputation for academic outcomes, which are
inexplicitly related to the very strong leadership
Colin Sloper and the team have shown since
Pakenham Springs began. As an outside educator
looking in, and now spending almost half a year
with you, I can assure you that the vision, and
values are strongly driving the development of the
curriculum, how that curriculum is taught, and the
resourcing to support this development. Pakenham
Springs does indeed have excellent academic
results because of this.
However, I want to focus on the element that often
receives little attention, that of partnerships.
By its very definition, a school community has to be
one with strong partnerships. Those between the
teachers and their students is an obvious one.
Students need to feel connected to the adults that
care for them and teach them on a daily basis. This
should be mutually respectful, it should
acknowledge the strengths each individual brings to
the classroom.
I have seen first hand the extra things that the
teachers at Pakenham Springs do for the students.
I have seen the friendly ear lent to sad and unhappy
children, I have watched as teachers plan
interesting activities based on the special interest of
children, I have seen food provided when there has
not been enough to eat. I know that teachers here
have spent their own money on games , rewards,
books etc to cater for the needs of their students.
Not only is the relationship between teachers and
students important but so too is the connection
parents have with school, to both support their own
children and our staff. I love seeing so many parents
here in the mornings, dropping off children, giving
them a kiss goodbye, offering reassurance. At the
end of the day it is lovely to hear parents ask their
kids what they have learned, what was fun, did they
have a good day. It is amazing to walk through the
classrooms and see so many parent helpers, and
also the younger siblings feeling at home in our
school.
I look forward to every Thursday when I get a friendly
smile from the ladies delivering fruit to the classrooms
and to my office, an extra that many schools would
not contemplate.
I was overwhelmed with the number of parent helpers
at our recent disco, and absolutely thrilled to see the
many positive comments from parents on Facebook
(see our Disco article).
Each day I’m privileged to watch as our office staff
greet and support parents and visitors to our school.
I’m amazed at their willingness to assist out of work
hours, their happy dispositions and dedication to our
school.
I love my morning greetings from so many of you,
and that you feel comfortable to come and see me
when things are not going well.
I thank you for your trust.
That is what I think makes a great School Community
and I know that Pakenham Springs is one!
Vicki Miles
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
NOTICES DISTRIBUTED
COMING EVENTS
The following notices have been distributed over
the last fortnight. If you missed them copies are
available from the school office or the school’s
web site: www. pakenhamsprings.vic.edu.au
The following events are scheduled for the next few
weeks. Make sure you are aware of the ones which
are applicable to you.
Junior School
06/05/15
Essential Learnings – Prep,
Year One and Year Two
Middle School
06/05/15
Essential Learnings – Year 3
and Year 4
20/05/15
Letter to Parents—MS Delport
Senior School
06/05/15
Essential Learnings – Year 5
and Year 6
13/05/15
District Winter Lightning
Premiership—Select Year 5
and Year 6 students
20/05/15
Senior School Sport—Change
of Date—Year 6
Whole School
07/05/15
Medical Alert—School Sores
12/05/15
School Disco Reminder
14/05/15
Book Club Loop for parents
18/05/15
Crazy Hair Day—Friday 22nd
May
Other
Nil
Monday 25th May

Years 3/5/6 assembly at 2.15pm in the gym
Tuesday 26th May

Year 1 and Year 2 assembly at 2.15pm in
the gym
Wednesday 27th May

Prep and Year 4 assembly at 2.15pm in the
gym

Year 1—Australian Animals Interactive
Incursion
Friday 29th May

Year 6 Winter Interschool Sport
Monday 1st June

Years 3/5/6 assembly at 2.15pm in the gym
Tuesday 2nd June

Year 1 and Year 2 assembly at 2.15pm in
the gym
Wednesday 3rd June

Prep and Year 4 assembly at 2.15pm in the
gym
Thursday 4th June

2016 Prep Enrolment Information
Evening—7.00pm School Gym
Friday 5th June

Year 6 Winter Interschool Sport
Sporting Congratulations
Congratulations and good luck to Callum McNiff (Year Six—S34) who will be attending the Southern Conference State Basketball trials on Monday 1st June 2015.
Callum successfully made it through the first round of tryouts and will continue
through the selection process in June.
PAGE 2
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL HOURS CARE
Dear Parents,
As you will be aware the school has been in discussions with organisations who expressed
an interest in providing an OSHC program to families at our school.
Following an extensive process, I can inform you that OSHClub has been appointed as the
new OSHC provider for our school community. OSHClub has been appointed for an initial
period of two years, starting with vacation care during the June break.
OSHClub have been running Outside School Hours Care programs for over 10 years and
provide the service for over 200 schools. OSHClub's programs are individually tailored to
meet the school’s and family’s needs, delivered to a high standard.
The new fee structure for the OSHC program from the beginning of Term Three will be:
Before care $19 and After care $22 and Vacation Care from $60.
The fees have been reduced from a current level of $20 and $26 respectively.
There is no extra cost for casual bookings, no annual registration fee for students, and no
out of pocket fees for cancellations if 24 hours notice is provided. A late booking fee of
$3.30 does apply for bookings made at the last minute, eg on the same day as the session.
It has also been agreed that fees will remain at this level until the beginning of the 2017
school year.
Care is a significant expenditure item for many families within our community and OSHClub
have reduced the costs significantly for our families. The school will also benefit from an
annual payment from OSHClub that will defray current costs such as utilities, and contribute
to the maintenance and improvement of the building and surrounds.
OSHClub have also committed to providing an improved space for OSHC, so you will see
improvement to the current OSHC area.
Bookings will be open from Wednesday 27th May for vacation care and Term hree.
Enrol and book at www.oshclub.com.au.
I will keep the school community informed as we move through the transition process and
handover from Cardinia Shire to OSHClub in the coming weeks. OSHClub will be providing
information and promoting their service in the near future, in particular, vacation care for the
upcoming June break.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 3
IMPORTANT
INFORMATION
KEEPING TO DEADLINES
THINGS ON THE ROOF
At Pakenham Springs, where possible, we always
try to allow a reasonable amount of time for the
payment of school events such as excursions and
incursions. We are extremely mindful that if we send
the notice out too early we tend to have people
losing them or forgetting about the payment due
date as it is too far in the future. As such, we
always, where possible, try to have at least a two
week turn around period from the notice being sent
home to the payment being required. (This is not
always possible due to sometimes the timelines
being provided by organisations outside the school
informing us of arrangements close to the deadline).
Recently we have had a few issues regarding items
brought from home ending up on the school roof. As
parents might be aware, we actively encourage our
students to play ball games and the like on the
basketball court area and our oval, well away from
the roofed areas. Unfortunately sometimes items do
end up on the roof and unfortunately, unless they are
extremely close to the edge of the roof and can be
hooked with a broom, there is little we can do to
ensure their retrieval.
At Pakenham Springs we are also trying to be as
inclusive as possible. This means that in the past
we have perhaps been a little too lenient and
accepted payments made after the due date. This
has created the impression that the due date stated
on the notice is flexible and doesn’t really have to be
met.
Unfortunately due to several situations arising
recently, we are having to tighten up our procedures
in this regard and need to keep to the due date.
This is for safety reasons for our students to ensure
that all the necessary safety precautions and risk
management issues can be addressed before the
activity is undertaken.
The behind the scenes preparation to ensure the
smooth running of the activity is enormous and
where late payments are accepted, extra work is
created for teachers and office staff in duplicating
tasks already completed.
The process and
requirements regarding student safety have
increased over recent years and therefore it is more
difficult to simply add another student to the activity.
Lists need to be updated, student/teacher ratios
reworked, first aid procedures re-checked and
medical information re-compiled.
As such, parents are asked to ensure that notices
and payment are returned by the due date. If you
are having trouble making the payment, it is vital that
this is discussed with the friendly office staff prior to
the due date, so that the necessary permission form
can be returned by the due date.
PAGE 4
Due to the dangers of getting up on to the school
roof, school personnel or community members are
not permitted to retrieve items from the school roof.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development Occupational Health and Safety
guidelines only permit authorised people to work
where there is a risk of a fall of more than 2 metres.
Other people are strictly forbidden from carrying out
such tasks at all times.
Authorised people must conform to the Department’s
regulations. Prior to authorisation, personnel must
prove they have appropriate instruction, training and
information. Authorised people will be expected to
follow safe practices including, but not limited to,
ladder safe work practice, mobile scaffold safe work
practice, applicable risk assessment, where there is
a fall risk of greater than 2 metres.
It is a
requirement that anyone going onto the school’s roof
has the correct harnessing equipment to ensure that
they are secured to the safety points located on the
roof.
As such, at Pakenham Springs school personnel and
parents/carers are not permitted to get on to the roof
to retrieve objects. At Pakenham Springs students
are encouraged to play with sports equipment well
away from the school roof.
Whilst these regulations are sometimes annoying, for
the safety of all school personnel and community
members, they have to be strictly enforced.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
USEFUL
INFORMATION
ARRIVING TO SCHOOL TOO EARLY
As parents will know Pakenham Springs places a
great emphasis on ensuring the safety and wellbeing
of all our students. The school has developed a wide
range of policies and procedures to maximise student
safety at all times.
WALK TO SCHOOL DAY
Walk Safely to School Day is an annual, national
event where Primary School children are encouraged
to walk and commute safely to school.
It is held Australia wide on Friday 22 May.
It’s easy to get involved and helps promote the
benefits of walking while reducing traffic congestion
around your school.
LOST PROPERTY FRUSTRATION
Many parents walking through the Library walkway,
may have noticed that there is a big collection of lost
property (jumpers, hats, drink bottles, jackets) sitting
in the tubs. We recognise the expense of the shool
uniforms and we realise that many times the jumper
your child takes off during the day can be misplaced
and land in the Lost Property tubs.
At present we have a small group of very helpful
parents who come in and sort the lost property tubs
out, returning named items of clothing to the
classrooms. We would like to say a very big thank
you to these special people.
As the mornings have become colder and wetter it has
become clear that some students are arriving at
school extremely early in the morning. This practice
presents a real and significant safety risk for these
children.
Our school grounds are patrolled by
teachers from 8.45am each morning and our rooms
are open at 8.45am for Reception Time.
Prior to this time no yard supervision can be provided.
Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development regulations stipulate that school grounds
must be supervised fifteen minutes prior to the
commencement of the first learning session (in our
case this supervision starts at 8.45am and concludes
at 9.00am).
These regulations also require
supervision to be provided fifteen minutes at the
conclusion of the final learning session of the day (in
our case this supervision starts at 3.15pm and
concludes at 3.30pm).
School staff, like people employed in other
occupations, are required to work a 38 hour week.
Whilst our staff work many more hours than this, this is
discretionary work our staff put in to ensuring they
provide the best educational opportunities for our
students. As such, it should not be assumed that
because staff are present earlier than the required
supervision times, that supervision is being provided.
This would be exploiting and certainly infringing upon
staff’s employment conditions.
It would be helpful if you could check to see if your
child’s name is still clearly visible on each item of
clothing. With frequent washes, names can
sometimes wear off or labels come off, so we ask
you to rename jumpers, etc on a regular basis. It is
much more likely that the jumpers can be returned to
their owners if there is a name strategically placed on
the item of clothing. Please make sure the Junior
School children know what it looks like. When an item
of clothing doesn’t have a child’s name on it, it
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 5
USEFUL INFORMATION
SAFETY AROUND OUR SCHOOL FOR VISITORS:
I remind all parents and visitors to the school that
Pakenham Springs has an enviable record in regards
to student, parent and visitor safety.
The school has a number of processes and
strategies in place to ensure the safety of all
personnel at the school. These measures include,
regular practice of the school’s emergency
management plan, constant updating of staff first aid,
asthma,
anaphylaxis
qualifications,
regular
maintenance checks of the schoolyard and a wide
range of other measures.
I remind all parents and visitors to the school that it is
vital that they are safety conscious at all times when
visiting the school. Schools are extremely busy
places particularly during the hectic periods between
8.45am – 9.15am and 3.00pm – 3.45pm. It is
important that, particularly during these peak times,
parents are vigilant and watchful in regards to safety
issues.
Parents can also increase their safety by ensuring
they stick to the designated footpaths around the
school and don’t take short-cuts across garden beds
or grassed areas. These areas tend to be unstable
and can potentially be dangerous.
As mentioned above, Pakenham Springs has an
enviable record in regards to its safety record and
with a little bit of parent and visitor common sense we
will keep everyone as safe as possible.
Louise also handles the school’s medication
program. Under Department and school regulations
Louise is permitted to administer medications
which have been prescribed by a doctor. (It
needs to be emphasised that this medication must
be prescribed by a doctor.)
The prescribed medications that Louise administers
should only be those that must be administered at a
time set by the Doctor and if the school was not able
to do this then the child’s attendance would be
affected. For example, if a doctor prescribes a
course of antibiotics and one is required to be taken
at 12.30pm obviously the child’s attendance would
be affected if the school was not able to administer
it. Likewise, students who are on ADHD medication
require their medication to be given at set times
during the day.
If your doctor prescribes a medication always check
with them about the scheduling of the dose. Often,
for example, if the child is on a course of three
tablets a day the administering times can be
adjusted by the doctor to before school, after school
and before they go to bed.
By following these procedures we will be able to
ensure that Louise is focusing on those students for
whom no other alternative exists, than to be
medicated at school.
MEDICATIONS AT SCHOOL:
Following the strict Department of Education and
Early Childhood Development regulations and the
school’s Medication in Schools guidelines, the
following arrangements have been adopted at
Pakenham Springs.
If your child has been prescribed a medication by a
doctor that must be administered during school time
you must complete a School Medication Form. This
form gives permission for the medication to be
administered, states the dosage that must be
administered and other details. Medications must
be handed to the office and must be clearly labelled
with the child’s name, dosage and administering
instructions.
Where possible it is preferred that parents administer
any medication that their child might need. This
ensures that parents are able to monitor their
administration.
The school’s aim in offering this service to our
parents is to obviously maximise student
attendance. However, if a student is ill they should
not be sent to school.
The school employs a trained first aid officer. It
should be noted that Louise, our first aid officer, is not
a medical practitioner and can’t offer advice on
injuries or illness. As a trained Level 2 first aid officer
Louise is able to treat minor injuries. Louise’s main
role is in informing parents when their child has
become ill at school or has had a major injury. This
involves making sure the child is placed in the
parents care as soon as possible.
PAGE 6
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
VISUAL ARTS NEWS
HOT CHIP LUNCH
There is a number of students’ artwork from Years 3-6
on display in the Bistro of the Pakenham hotel.
During the past two weeks we have trialled an idea
which highlights the very positive behaviour many
children display during our assemblies.
The artwork is of a person in a background. It
includes drawing, colouring and water painting with a
big focus on creating a sense of space within the
artwork. It would be great to have parents go and
have a look.
The students names are as follows:
Year 3 students
Mia Gartner, Natalie Leith, Charly Jovic, Sebi Cahir
Year 4 students
Charlize Justus, Sienna Siemsen, Skye Ferguson,
Amy Whitehead
We have been recognising this behaviour by issuing
raffle tickets to the students who display our
assembly behaviour.
Sitting with legs crossed,
hands in lap, looking at the speaker and not talking.
At the end of assembly we have drawn out five
tickets and the lucky winners have been invited to
share a hot chip lunch with the leadership team.
While the students and leadership have enjoyed the
lunchtime reward, it is also very pleasing to note the
positive attitude expressed by parents when we call
to tell them how positive their child has been.
Year 5 students
Tylah Burn, Manishraj S, Elina Cole, Amber Jackson
Year 6 students
Riley Wade, Brooke Watt, Jonah Meagher, Nathalie
B, Anna Dowling, Cooper Justus, Beau Rummery
MORNING GREETINGS
I thought I’d take this opportunity to thank everyone
who greets me in the morning on your way to
school.
LOST GLASSES?
DO THESE GLASSES BELONG TO YOU?
I love this part of my day, it reminds me of why I
became a teacher and then a Principal. It’s pretty
simple really. I want to make a difference to the
lives of students.
However there is also a little secret that you may not
be aware of. Every child and every parent that says
hello in the morning, stops to talk, or simply smiles,
makes a significant difference to my life!
We often forget that the very small interactions we
have with others can be the most significant.
I hope that I am making the children feel important
and happy when they enter school for the day. I
hope I make parents feel welcome and confident
that we will look after your children.
Most of all though I just wanted to say thankyou for
making my day!
Please collect from the front office.
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 7
PREP AND YEAR 1
NEWS
YEAR 2 AND YEAR 3
NEWS
At the time of writing this, my feet have
finally recovered from a brilliant disco last
Friday night. It was so fantastic to see so
many kids having an absolute blast. The
night was a huge success with a huge
turnout and smiles everywhere. A massive
thank you to the Community Building team
for organising such a successful event and
also to all of the parents who assisted on
the night. This aspect was particularly
pleasing as it showed that the event was
truly a community event with everyone
supporting this worthwhile disco.
It is hard to believe that we are half way
through Term 2 and almost half way through
the year already!
Just a reminder that it is super important
that all clothing is named, in particular
jumpers and jackets. Tania Campanelli,
one of our wonderful parents who kindly
volunteers her time to go through our lost
property weekly, has informed me that
there are a huge number of clothing items
that she is unable to return to their owners
due to the fact they are not named!!!
I’m looking forward to our upcoming Year
One
‘Australian
Animals
Interactive
incursion’ where the students will have the
opportunity to experience a wide range of
animals here at the school. I can’t wait to
see the great writing and other learning that
comes from this day. I hear there is a
crocodile that will be coming along!!!
Our Prep students also have a couple of
exciting events coming up with the
Responsible Pet Ownership incursion and
also the Community Helper Dress-Up Day
just around the corner. Stay tuned for
notices which will be coming out soon.
Nathan Jagoe
The Year Two students have been working
hard to master their knowledge in number
patterns, which is also supporting them in
skip counting, addition and subtraction.
It is fabulous to see every student making
progress in this area.
This week and next, our clever Year Two’s
will be investigating balancing equations.
This can be a difficult skill for young children
to get their heads around. An example of a
balanced equation is 7+5=10+2 To practice
this skill at home and other Year 2 skills, you
may like to visit the URL
https://au.ixl.com/math/year-2
Reading for meaning is also a big focus in
the Year Two learning environment with the
team currently delving deeper into
comprehension strategies and identifying
the main idea. Putting a little time aside
each night after your child has read to
discuss the text, has proven to have a
direct
correlation to improved reading
performance. You don’t have to wait till the
end either, often discussing a little of the text
works best.
The Year Three students are moving into
the big numbers, right up to 10 000. Having
students place these numbers on a number
line, ordering and renaming numbers up to
10 000 has all been a part of the fun. Did
you know that 2 365 could be renamed as 2
thousands, 36 tens and 5 ones? Knowing
how numbers are built and arranged makes
adding and subtracting using mental
computation much easier. I know — who
would have thought! Please remember that
reading is still a very important and
necessary part of the after school routine.
Year Three students should spend some
time reading aloud as well as to themselves.
Jane King
PAGE 8
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
YEAR 4, YEAR 5 AND
YEAR 6 NEWS
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
CURRIED EGG WRAPS
It has been extremely busy at ‘The Springs’
over the last couple of weeks, with an
enormous
range
of
educational
opportunities arising for our students and
our staff.
All Year 3 and Year 5 students are to be
congratulated on their effort and approach
they took towards completing the NAPLAN
INGREDIENTS
assessments last week. The teachers were
 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, roughly chopped
extremely proud of all students.
 1 tablespoon curry powder
Yesterday, our Year 6 students were on an  1/3 cup whole-egg mayonnaise
exciting journey to visit the Melbourne  2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic chives
Immigration Museum and the Shrine of  1 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped
Remembrance to complement the work  8 small cos lettuce leaves
being done in their guided inquiry about  4 sheets lavash bread or mountain bread
Australia’s history.
 200g shaved ham
During our Curriculum day on Tuesday 19th
May, our teachers engaged in some
extremely valuable professional learning
around developing the critical thinking skills
of our students and how to further maximise
the benefits of using proficiency scales in
the classroom. To familiarise yourself with
how scales are being used to support your
child’s learning, you may like to ask your
child questions such as:
Step 1
1. Place eggs, curry powder, mayonnaise, garlic
chives and coriander in a bowl. Mix until well combined.
Step 2
Place 2 lettuce leaves along 1 short end of 1 sheet
lavash bread. Top with one-quarter of egg mixture and
one-quarter of ham. Season with salt and pepper. Roll
up firmly.
Step 3
1. Repeat with remaining lavash, lettuce, egg mixture and ham.
“How are you going with _______?”
“What are your next steps in learning in
_____”
Crackers With
“What does it mean to be proficient?”
Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread and Banana
Take care,
John Barkley
YEAR 6
If you have not returned your child’s
Secondary College Placement Form,
these are due TODAY—22nd MAY. Please
contact the office or myself if you need
support with this.
Dividing evenly, spread 2 crisp bread crackers with
1 tablespoon chocolate-hazelnut spread.
Top with 1 sliced small banana
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 9
OUR FIRST SCHOOL DISCO
A BIG SUCCESS!
POSITIVE COMMENTS FROM OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Awesome to see so many smiles and excited little people when I
arrived to pick up my daughter! Great work everyone involved!
Looking forward to the next one already.
My preppie had a ball and
can’t wait for the next one.
Thanks for organising such a
wonderful, fun event.
Thank you for organizing the event my children
thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
My Miss grade 1
thought it was the
best thing out,
from picking the
outfit, how to wear
the hair, getting
ready, seeing all
her friends lining
up and dancing to
her fav Red Foo
songs, well done
guys!! Win win and
drop off and pick
up was pretty
easy!!
Thank you everyone for the
first disco. My daughter had
the best time.
Thankyou to everyone involved
in the disco tonight, my daughter
had an absolute ball and can’t
wait till the next one! Very well
organized.
My son had an awesome
time!
Thankyou to all that made
this night happen!!
My kids had an amazing time and
can't wait for the next one.
Thank you everyone that helped
organize and helped with the disco. My
youngest son had a fantastic time and I
will say that my oldest son is having a
great time. Can't wait for the next one.
My daughters had the best time and had been so
excited
all
week
about
going.
Great experience for them. First disco a huge success.
PAGE 10
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
DISCO THANK YOU
Obviously as Principal it is part of my role to
thank the teachers on your behalf, for the work
that they do. But after reading your Facebook
comments I think that as a community you have
said it all.
Ill leave you with this comment (made by a
parent) as I think it sums up the collective
response felt by us all:
I personally would love to thank the
Community Building Team for providing such
a positive experience for our kids to socialise
and further bond with the fantastic
Pakenham Springs Community that we
have. Nothing pleases me more than to see
a smile on my son's face and his confidence
in the world grow like it did tonight.
Thanks Paky Springs staff, you really are the
best.
The Community Building Team itself wishes to
acknowledge our very special parent helpers.
Thankyou so much for your support, without it
we couldn't have run such a wonderful event.
Thanks to our DJ Jason - you engaged the kids
in song, games and dance and they had a ball!
THANK YOU
Pakenham Springs Primary School would like to
extend our sincere thanks and acknowledge the
support of our local community sponsors who
provided vouchers for the students at our school
Disco.
We look forward to future associations with the
following organisations:
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
INFORMATION
Primary school age is the perfect time for students
to learn about healthy food and physical activity.
Children of this age learn quickly and pick up habits
(good and bad) and are influenced easily by family,
friends, teachers or role models. There’s not a better time to positively influence your children and
create good habits for the future.
The Physical Education Program at Pakenham
Springs is beginning to implement a healthy eating
and active lifestyle by encouraging the students and
parents to pack a healthy lunchbox for their children. We will be introducing two mascots to PE
next Term named “Healthy Harry” and “Ready Freddy” within Junior School for one class each week to
take to their classroom and also selected students
to take home. Both Healthy Harry and Ready Freddy enjoy eating healthy and being active during the
week as well as on weekends, so the lucky students
who take them home will be encouraged to share
some physical activity with them - such as runs,
walks, local sport - to name a few.
A competition will also be starting between each
class to see which group has the healthiest lunch
box. Miss DeHey and Mr Sutherland will be providing parents with some lunchbox options and asking
parents to join with us by sharing ideas to assist in
providing some recipes or photos to utilise.
Some suggested options could include;

Sandwiches or pita bread wraps with cheese,
lean meat, hummus and salad

Cheese slices, crackers with spread and
fresh or dried fruits, corn thins, yoghurt

Washed and cut up raw vegetables or fruit
(capsicum, carrot, celery etc)

Fresh fruit (orange, apple, banana, grapes)

Frozen water or a pack of milk

Home made quiche, fritatta or zucchini slice
Happy, healthy eating everyone.
Lucy DeHey
Cameron Sutherland
PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS
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McDonalds Pakenham
Jump Crazy
Monkey G’s
Chocolates & Lollies
Kemizo
Priceline Pakenham
Croc’s Pakenham
Cardinia Life YMCA—Pakenham
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 11
Middle School
Bucknell
Year 3
Each newsletter we will
highlight what a class from the
school has been learning.
This edition students from
Middle School Bucknell report
on what they have been
learning about so far over the
term.
All Children Should Brush Their Teeth Twice a Day
I believe all children should brush their teeth twice a day.
First, sugar and food gets stuck in your teeth. If you don’t brush your teeth, plaque builds up until it
hardens and you can’t get it off.
Secondly, you need to brush your teeth or you will get cavities. If you have plaque on your teeth it
eats away the enamel that protects your teeth. Plaque is sugar that can cause cavities and rotting
teeth.
Lastly, you have to brush your teeth twice a day, because you eat more than one meal a day. First is
breakfast, brush after that. Second is lunch. Last but not least is dinner, brush after that as well. If
you don’t brush after dinner, the leftover food on your teeth will rot your teeth overnight.
In conclusion, brush your teeth twice a day or you will get cavities and rotting teeth.
By Grace Groves
Dogs are Better Than Cats
A dog is an animal you can have as a pet.
Firstly, dogs are friendlier. They might walk up to you. They might lay with you on the couch. They
might sleep with you in bed.
Secondly, dogs can be trained. Dogs can be trained by walking and running with them. You can train
them to help you. You can train them to stay inside.
Lastly, dogs are more playful. Dogs like to play with you. You can play their favourite game fetch.
You can throw balls at them and they will return it.
In conclusion, I believe dogs are friendlier, dogs can be trained and they are more playful.
By Taylah Milkins
PAGE 12
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
All Kids Should Have to Wear School Uniform
A school uniform is a set of clothes that you wear to school every day. I believe all kids should
have to wear a school uniform.
Firstly, if you go out of the school teachers can find you. Parents can bring you back to the school.
You can be recognised. If you get lost you can be found easily.
Also, kid’s mums just need to get school uniform for you. They don’t have to go to the shops and
get heaps of clothes for their kids. Kids don’t have to get lots of different clothes. It can save
time.
As well, teachers can recognise the school you go to. You will know if there is a stranger in the
school. If someone has no school clothes on, kids will be able to tell you. You would know the
kids that go to your school.
In conclusion, all kids should have to wear school uniform to school because it can help kids get
dressed, you can recognise new kids at your school and you can find any lost kids.
By Jemma Kendall
Not All Sharks are Dangerous
A shark is an animal that lives in the deep sea. I believe not all sharks are dangerous.
Firstly a lot of sharks don’t have teeth. Gummy sharks don’t have teeth.
Secondly, a lot of sharks are quite small in size. Some sharks are little and scared of humans.
Lastly, don’t swim in places were sharks live. If you leave them alone and don’t annoy them they
won’t hurt you.
By Rylen Smith
All children should have a pet.
Pets are very useful for children. I think all children should have a pet.
Firstly, pets give children experience in being responsible for something. Children learn how to be
nice to pets. Children learn how to be responsible for something.
Secondly, children learn how to take care of animals. They learn what they drink. They learn what
pets eat. They learn how they eat and drink.
Lastly, they learn how to train pets. They learn how to walk pets. They learn to teach pets how to
climb. They learn how to teach pets swim.
I believe all children should have a pet because children learn how to be responsible, take care and
train animals.
By Jessica Chilver
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 13
Junior School
Foley
Year 1
Each newsletter we will
highlight what a class from the
school has been learning.
This edition students from
Junior School Foley report on
what they have been learning
about so far over the term.
In writing this term J09 have been learning about procedure writing. We know all of the important
things that are included in a procedure. We always start with a title, goal, materials or ingredients,
steps in order and lastly we write an interesting conclusion.
The students were able to successfully determine that ingredients were
used when we were cooking and materials were used when we were making something. We have been lucky enough to make popcorn, jelly, clowns
and pretty flowers. The students have had a wonderful time learning about
procedures and are now very excited about moving onto Information Reports.
In Numeracy, J09 has been focusing on counting to 100. We have been skip counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.
Even some of us have been having a go at skip counting by 3’s. Once we became confident in learning all
of our numbers we began to order numbers from smallest to largest. We used a clothes line to help us with
our ordering. We worked in small groups and helped each other to become proficient in using numbers.
Our class then worked on using graphs in the classroom. We gathered data on J09’s favourite footy teams
and we found out that Essendon was the most popular. Miss Foley’s favourite footy team, Richmond came
a close second. We also gathered data on J09’s birthdays. In September we have five different students’
birthdays. It will be a very busy month. We have been doing lots of learning in
J09 this term and we have lots of fun, exciting things to come.
Please feel free to come and visit our classroom at any time to see us hard at
work.
PAGE 14
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
Mathemagic!
Tac Tix
ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION GAMES
21
Small group game
Using the numbers 1, 2 or 3, add on using these
numbers, going around in small groups (2-5 people
is good).
Aim: The first person to 21 wins. Use strategies to
try and land on 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 and 21 (difference of
4) in order to win.
Yahtzee
Partner game
Equipment: 5x 6 sided dice
Take in turns to roll the dice. Each player gets a
maximum of 3 rolls for each turn. Choose the highest dice from each throw, and re-roll any that you
don’t want to keep (to see if you can get a higher
number). The closest to 100 wins.
TacTix is a two-player game, where the players take turns removing
counters from the board.
The goal is to force the other player (the computer) to remove the last
counter. On any turn, you may remove counters from either a single
row or a single column. The counters must be on adjacent squares (for
example, you could not legally remove only two corner counters). You
may remove as few as 1 or as many as 4 counters on your turn.
Plus or minus
Partner game
Equipment: 2 x dice, paper and pencil to keep tally.
Both people start at 100. One person aims for 200
by adding, the other to zero by subtracting. Players
take turns to roll the dice and either add or subtract
the total of the 2 dice until they achieve their goal.
One more thing: it has been proven that the player who moves second
can always win, if he or she plays perfectly.
Websites
http://illuminations.nctm.org/
http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/
INTERESTING MATHS FACTS
The word ‘hundrath’ in Old Norse (old language from
where English language originated), from which
word ‘hundred’ derives, meant not 100 but 120.
What comes after a million, billion and trillion? A
quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion,
nonillion, decillion and undecillion.
Different names for the number 0 include zero,
nought, naught, nil, zilch and zip.
Continue with these calculations and .... be amazed!
1x9 + 2 = 11
12x9 + 3 = 111
123x9 + 4 = 1111
PAKENHAM SPRINGS……….a learning community
PAGE 15
Using a piece of scratch paper, cut eight rectangular cards that will fit in the boxes below. Write a 1 on the first card,
a 2 on the second card, and so on, until you have the cards numbered from 1 to 8.
The challenge in this puzzle is to place the number cards in the rectangles below so that no two consecutive
numbers are next to each other horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. For example, if the 5 is placed in the far left
box, then the 4 or 6 can't be placed in the box directly to the right of the 5 or the two boxes that are diagonally above
and below the 5.
Think about how you tried to solve this problem so that you can discuss it afterwards.
Numbered Squares
For games the squares are put together rather like Dominoes.
The games can be as hard, or as easy as you like.
Young children can simply match the number symbols.
The numbers can be put together
to make 10, or have a difference of 2 or add to make a multiple of 3 etc
Cards can be found at: http://jenny.myzen.co.uk/PDs/T1.pdf
DID YOU KNOW?
2 and 5 are the only primes that end in 2 or 5.
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
You would have to count to one thousand to use the letter "A" in the English language to spell a whole number.
The number of spiders eaten by the average human in their sleep during their life time is eight!
PAGE 16
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