1. education
2. school

Phone: 93549332
Fax:
93505315
Thursday 30th October 2014
UPCOMING:
Pupil Free Day
Monday 3rd November
Melbourne Cup Day
(Public Holiday)
Tuesday 4th November
Coburg Cup Day
Wednesday 5th November
Prep Orientation
Tuesday 11th November
Prep Orientation
Tuesday 18th November
School Council Meeting
Wednesday 19th November
The relationship value
that we are currently practising is
Resilience
ATTACHED:
New Bank Account Details
Fawkner festa
Bluelight Disco
Foster Carers Needed
Coburg Cup Day
Merlynston Festival
Email: Coburg.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
Web: www.coburgps.vic.edu.au
School Council President’s report
School Uniform
School Council voted to introduce a compulsory school uniform at our meeting
on 22 October. Uniform will be compulsory from the start of term one in 2016.
Council’s decision was directly informed by parents’ feedback. We had 71 responses, with 80% in favour of a compulsory school uniform. This is a fantastic
response rate, and I’m grateful to all parents who made the effort to reply and
supply comments.
A sub-committee of Council has been formed to look at changes to the uniform.
It will consider the range of uniform items, including a possible sports uniform.
We will keep you updated as details are sorted out.
School Review
I attended the School Review on 23 October. This takes place once every four
years, and involved the senior staff, an external reviewer, two external experts
(a principal and an assistant principal), and Emma Greenwood and myself from
School Council. We also had a great discussion with the school captains and vice
-captains.
We reviewed the last four years, then focused on goals for the next four years.
Importantly we had lots of discussion about what will change around the school
and in the classrooms. Jane is already bringing in changes, and more will be in
place for 2015. Many of the changes will focus on consistency of teaching and
teacher practice. Our new school values will continue to be embedded in every
day activity across the school. There is a commitment to greater parent involvement within the classroom.
The feedback from the reviewer and external experts was very positive – our
school is currently doing very well. I’m confident that under Jane’s leadership
the school will go from strength to strength.
Regards,
Rob Ferguson.
There is no school on the following days next week:
NO HAT, NO PLAY
Monday 3rd November 2014—Pupil Free Day
Term 4
our Sun Smart policy
applies
Tuesday 4th November 2014—Public Holiday
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
School Review
Our School Review was last Thursday and the panel consisted of:
Graeme Lane, the School Reviewer
Rob Ferguson, the School Council President
Emma Greenwood, a parent representative on School Council
Deborah Crane ,the Assistant Principal from Wilmott Park PS
Helen Zull, the Principal from Coburg North PS
Sarah, Ben, Frances and Rosa, teachers from Coburg PS.
It was a very productive day with lots of great discussion on where the school needs to go next. I would like to
thank Rob and Emma for their very valuable contributions from a parent perspective and to the staff who spent
considerable time preparing for the day.
The next step in our journey is to frame our goals for the next 3 years in the areas of student achievement, engagement, wellbeing and productivity.
Crossing the Road
I received a letter from a concerned parent with regards to a parent and toddler who crossed the road in front
of a turning car from Russell Street. The parent behind the wheel of the car was very distressed as she nearly hit
the couple. I cannot stress enough the importance of using the lights to cross the road when accompanying children.
Enrolments 2015
Prep enrolments continue to remain open with 43 preps on the books so far, this will allow two classes at this
stage. If you know of anyone looking for a great school with lots to offer, let them know we are here!
Staffing
Congratulations to Sarah and Nellie who were the successful applicants in the recent internal ongoing process.
Both staff members have ongoing positions at the school and are no longer on contract.
As part of the workforce planning I have advertised on Recruitment online two graduate positions and one Leading Teacher for 2015, these positions close on 7th November.
Community Working Bee on the Senior Side
A huge thank you to the small handful of parents who turned up to give the senior side a well
deserved clean up.
Some of the jobs included cleaning out the drains, cleaning up all the litter, sweeping, cleaning of
the canteen and toilets and the drinking troughs were given a spruce up. Kelvin Thompson also
attended and helped out with a few of the jobs as well.
You may have noticed that our oval on the senior side is starting to look fantastic, John the gardener mowed the lawn on Sunday so we have cordoned off half of the oval as there are still some patches where
the grass has not taken as well.
Without help from the community it gets very difficult to keep on top of school ground maintenance, so thank
you once again to the parents who turned up. Many hands make light work.
Parent Details
Please be aware how important it is to keep family contact details up to date. On a number of occasions staff
have not been able to contact parents regarding unwell children. Update forms are available from the school
office or alternatively you can use the new school app to notify the school or email at www.coburgps.vic.edu.au
World Teachers’ Day
Traditionally in Australia the last Friday in October is World Teachers’ Day. We will celebrate World Teachers’ Day on Thursday 6th
November.
This is an opportunity for the teaching profession to celebrate the
fantastic work they do in providing so many learning opportunities
for all students. The expectations placed on teachers in the 21 st century are certainly many and varied, often being called upon to implement programs which were once never part of a teacher’s repertoire in times gone by. We are fortunate at Coburg Primary School
to have so many dedicated and hardworking teachers who go about their day to day work providing care and
support for all of their students. This includes catering for the endless individual learning needs of students,
providing challenging experiences in order to extend students, developing creative talents, teaching a language,
encouraging activity and participation in sport and physical exercise and keeping pace with the speed of change
especially in technology. In order to manage this incredible workload, it is normal for teachers to spend many
hours after school and at home (including weekends) preparing, planning and assessing. World Teachers’ Day is a
great opportunity to stop and take a minute or two in order to appreciate the important work that is undertaken
by our teachers in every school.
Enjoy your day Teachers!
Parent Survey Data:
The 2014 Parent Opinion Survey was conducted during Term 3 from 28 th July to 8th August 2014 and it provides
feedback to us as a school on how we are going. We have looked at the data briefly at School Council and we will
discuss the findings at a staff meeting in the near future. l will discuss the findings at a coffee and chat after Monday morning assembly as well, I am interested to find out from parents their thoughts on the areas of transitions,
extra curricula and student motivation.
The survey is an important part of every school's parent engagement strategies and assists with future planning
and improvement.
“To have failed is to have striven; to have striven is to have grown.”
Maltbie Davenport Babcock
Jane Hancock
Principal
On the 22nd October all the grade 1/2 classes took a walking excursion
to Coburg Lake. All of the students were well behaved and did a fabulous job walking even with some sunny, hot weather. Students made
observations around the lake taking note of things that were manmade and what were natural. Students made a sketch of a tree. Students were also asked to note the similarities and differences around
the lake from a picture taken 75 years ago.
We are going to follow up this excursion with a second trip to the lake
on Monday, 8th December. We hope to see if there are any changes
between the seasons – we would especially like to see what the cygnets and ducklings look like. Stay tuned for more information about
the second walk coming soon!
In early August of this year, a member of our local community discovered, during a cleanup of her house, a
class photograph from the year 1919. Captured on film is Coburg State School’s seventh grade, a reminder
that until the 1950s our school provided an education for children up to year eight. There is a distinct possibility that at least one of the students in this photo had a family member who was either killed or
wounded in what contemporary historians dubbed the Great War of 1914-1918. Certainly everyone in this
photo was effected by the influenza outbreak of 1919 which saw the temporary closure, in February, of
our school and the conversion of Coburg High School into a hospital.
Approximately one in three residents of Coburg contracted the virus, with almost 400 needing to be hospitalised. There were also around twenty deaths. By the end of winter, the crisis had passed. Worldwide, the
influenza pandemic, nicknamed the Spanish Lady, claimed the lives of over 20,000,000 people within a
few months. The period from 1915 to 1919 were grim years indeed for many Coburgians.
STUDENT OF THE WEEK
Monday 20th October 2014
GRADE
STUDENT NAME
REASON
Prep Sandra
Zara Barajas-Anderson
For becoming confident in all areas.
Prep Frances
Younan Karkees
For doing such a great job at swimming last week!
Grade 1/2 Anne
Meshari Alamri
For trying so hard to improve his reading.
Grade 1/2 Ben
Tom Nakhatorn
For his outstanding effort in all subjects.
Grade 1/2 Jolie
Layla Harper
For outstanding effort in keeping up with the school
values.
Grade 3/4 Jenny
Alara Mindemir
For being a kind and friendly classmate. Well done
Alara!
Grade 3/4 Peta
Jasmine Ugurlu
For always helping others in the classroom and playground.
Grade 5/6 Nellie
Stephanie Kritikos-Wright
For the great ideas she shares with her Literature Circle.
Grade 5/6 Sarah
Sophie Wilkens
For demonstrating fantastic team work in our first interschool sport match for the term.
Monday 27th October 2014
Prep Sandra
Danielle Doroja
For always trying her best in all curriculum areas.
Prep Frances
Ahmed Issa
For taking responsibility for his belongings at swimming.
Grade 1/2 Anne
Antoinette Gattoni
For her excellent improvement in all areas of her work.
Grade 1/2 Ben
Angie Issa
For her great presentation and detail in her reading
responses.
Grade 1/2 Jolie
Lewis McCosker
For taking pride in his reading group work.
Grade 3/4 Jenny
Lila Rubbo-Ferraro
For settling in beautifully into grade 3/4J. It is a pleasure to have you join our classroom.
Grade 3/4 Peta
Wiremu Hiko
For being an honest, friendly and hardworking new addition to our class.
Grade 5/6 Nellie
Lama Al-Dhubani
For the help she has been giving to others in the classroom.
Grade 5/6 Sarah
Siena Jacques
For demonstrating resilience in social situations.
Coburg Primary School
Attendance Award 2014
These students are to be congratulated for their daily attendance.
Week ending Friday 17th October 2014
Grade
Student
Grade
Student
Prep S
Cooper Esler-Cahill
3/4 J
Iggy Tranter-Gabb
Prep F
Ayush Giri
3/4 P
Anthony Hua
1/2 A
Matilda Hunter
5/6 N
Max Oehlmann
1/2 B
Aidan Burns
5/6 S
Benjamin Marzetty
1/2 J
Khalid Al-Kalbani
Week ending Friday 24th October 2014
Prep S
Savitri Jitendra
3/4 J
Mohaned Al-Sharani
Prep F
Bassem Assaad
3/4 P
Alice Lietz
1/2 A
Lakshmi Jitendra
5/6 N
Amelia Bryant
1/2 B
Angel Shrestha
5/6 S
Abby Johnson
1/2 J
Chelsea Wallace-O’Malley
NEW BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS
All Direct credit payments must be made into the following account Bank: Bendigo Bank
BSB: 633000
Account Number: 140364829
Account Name: Coburg Primary School Council
Please make sure
 Under Payee Reference you MUST PUT YOUR CHILD’S NAME AND PAYMENT ITEM
e.g Books –Jane Smith.
 You may make one bulk payment for all the students in the family except for OSHC.
 THE OUT OF SCHOOL HOURS CARE PROGRAM (OSHC) PAYMENT MUST BE SEPARATE.
We would appreciate it if you could return the Notice with the receipt number written on it, as
well as the words “paid by Direct Credit”. Joy will then receipt it and return it to you.
Failure to follow these instructions may mean the amount you deposit could be credited to
another family’s account.