1. education
2. school

Term Dates 2015
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Term 1 30 Jan
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Term 2 13 April
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Term 3 13 July
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Term 4 06 Oct
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ABERFELDIE PRIMARY SCHOOL
Doone Street, Essendon 3040
PH: 03 9337 8084
FAX: 03 9337 8917
Out of Hours School Care: 03 9331 0326
Aberfeldie PS School APP - Skoolbag
Email: aberfeldie.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
Website: www.aberfeldieps.vic.edu.au
26th February 2015, Newsletter No. 04
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27 March
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26 June
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18 September
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19 December
ABERFELDIE NEWSLETTER
Dates to remember:
27th
February
2nd
March
6th
March
th
9
March
13th
March
19th
March
Friday
Monday
Friday
Monday
Friday
Thursday
20th
25th
27th
Friday
Wednesday
Friday
March
March
March
Forms sent home:
Hotdog & Donut Day
District Sports – Swimming Trials
Summer Gala Sports 5/6
Labour Day Holiday
Summer Gala Sports 5/6
Then & Now Incursion Prep -2
Rosehill Science Incursion 3 & 4
Sausage Sizzle Prep – 2, 4:30 - 6:30pm
Dads’ Evening – Calmer Café 5pm
Cross Country 3 - 6
End of Term 1 – 2:30pm Finish
Then & Now Incursion Prep-2
Special Religious Instruction Form – Grades 1 to 6
Woorabinda Camp Expression of Interest – Grades 4 & 5
Event
Summer Gala Sports Day
Sausage Sizzle Invitation
Woorabinda Camp Exp of Interest
Then & Now Incursion
Grade
5/6
Prep-2
Grade 4 & 5
Prep-2
Cost
$23
$5 per family
------$11
Permission Form Due
Friday 27th February
Monday 2nd March
Tuesday 10th March 9am
Thursday 12th March
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’ S REPORT
Thank you to all parents who attended the Meet and Greet
sessions last week. These sessions are informative for
teachers and provide an opportunity for parents to have a one
on one meeting with their child/ren’s teacher at the beginning
of the year. Thank you to all the teachers for their efforts on
such a long day.
Building independence and responsibility in your children is
really important. At school we begin in Prep with students
tidying up after themselves, being responsible for small tasks
and jobs. We build on these consistently across the year and
as the student’s progress through the year levels. Here are
some things you can do to help build independence and
responsibility in your child/ren.
 Get them to help unpack their school bags so they
develop the routine of giving you notes, getting their
homework out and pack their bags, for school so they
know if they have notes to hand in and bring their
homework/readers/Library books etc into the classroom.
 Students need to carry their own bags by the time they
are in Year 2, sooner if practical (if they are not too
heavy).

Provide opportunities at home where they need to pack
up, tidy up, clear away, put their clothes away, take their
clothes to the Laundry, set the table, collect the mail;
there are many other ways to create tasks that will assist
with students’ organisation skills.
 A regular responsibility or chore at any age develops a
sense of responsibility and that other members of the
family expect this chore to be done; unpacking the
dishwasher or drying the dishes, make their bed and
clean up their room on a regular basis.
Often we expect children to be organised and independent but
we haven’t modelled what these skills look like. As adults we
need to show them what they look like and then give them an
opportunity to practice them. Building on these skills helps
students take responsibility for their choices and actions even
when they could have made a better choice.
The weather is constantly changing and so it is important you
prepare our child/ren for this. On the cooler days make sure
students have a jumper, even if they don’t want to wear it, put
it in their bag. For those hot days put sunscreen on in the
morning and it is perfectly fine to put the sunscreen in their
school bag so they can apply it again before going outside. We
just had our first extreme weather timetable; this is where we
keep the children inside due to the weather. We will call
extreme weather timetable for heat as well as wet and cold
weather. The thunderstorm this week certainly had us all
talking; students and teachers.
Thursday and Friday I am attending a Mind Brain Conference.
The focus is on integrated concepts improving learning
effectiveness,
mindfulness, positive
education,
the
neuroscience of learning, what works in learning and much
more. There is a range of high profile speakers including
Professor John Hattie and Associate Professor John Munro
who have been pivotal figures in our educational practices. I
am really looking forward to the opportunity to further
increase my knowledge over the two days.
Heather Golder – Assistant Principal
School Council
Nominations for the two remaining Parent Representative
positions will be extended until 4.00pm Friday February 27th.
Nomination forms are available from the School Office. Further
details are displayed in the Office foyer, Hall Foyer, BER
building and 5/6 building.
Community Connections
Dads’ Evening
We are pleased to announce that we will be running our
second annual welcome evening for Dads of Aberfeldie PS
Kids. It will be held on March 20th at Calmer Café in Fawkner St
and will run from 5.00p.m onwards. It will be a largely social
event with the focus being on welcoming new Dads to our
school and getting to know a bit more about A.P.S . Feel free
to stay as long or as little as you like.
Many thanks to Jim Schumann (Aberfeldie Dad) for his efforts
in making this event a regular fixture.
Parent Reps Step 1
We would like to establish the Classroom Representatives role
in 2015. This is a key role in developing that sense of
connectedness that we are trying to build. The role of a parent
rep can be many and varied but essentially it is to assist
communication on a classroom level. It can also be a vehicle
through which teachers can request help for excursions,
classroom programs etc. If you are interested in filling this role
please send an email to millott.brett.a@edumail.vic.gov.au
with Parent Reps in the subject line.
Next step will be to meet with the parent reps to formalise
protocols and procedures.
Brett Millott – Principal
SOUNDHOUSE SAP & INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PROGRAM
SAP & Instrumental Direct Debit Payment Dates:
Term 2 - 20th April 2015
Term 3 - 20th July 2015
Term 4 - 12th October 2015
Interview with a Japanese Student Teacher
Last week we (Victoria, Alysha and Elysha) got the chance to
interview a Japanese student teacher named Fumi. We had a
good time asking her lots of interesting questions about
Japanese learning with Sensei Troung translating from
Japanese. Some of the questions we asked were...
1.
What made you come to Australia? Fumi came to
Australia because her university sent her to learn about
the Australian learning system.
2.
What is your favourite aspect of Japanese learning? She
likes that all the students have the same learning goal.
3. In what ways could Japanese learning be improved? The
schools could have smaller classes.
4. Do you think it is better to know a lot but not understand
it very well or to know a little but understand it clearly?
Fumi thinks it is better to know a little but understand it
clearly.
5. What aspects of learning do you like best? She likes to
use the hands on technique.
Fumi is 19 and from Kyoto. She has five people in her family;
her mum, her dad, two sisters and herself. She likes the band
'Triple A' and does some piano and karaoke. She likes the
Hanami Festival and the Summer Festival in which she wears a
summer kimono. She likes shopping and doesn't consider
herself a sporty person. Her favourite place to visit in Japan is
the Japanese Universal Studios. She likes the Harry Potter
World there. Fumi lives by herself in a small house. When she
came to Australia (when her university sent her) she came
with 2 other students from her university. The three of them
each went to different schools to learn their learning systems.
Fumi came here and also to Buckley Park College.
In Japan they don't speak much English. Much like here they
mainly speak their national language. At the schools (primary
school, middle school, and high school) they use lines that go
vertically. Some of the lessons they do are language,
arithmetic, PE, sewing, integration, drawing, and handicraft.
You get lots of homework in high school, not so much in
primary school, and about in between in middle school. They
mainly use grey lead until about year six when they start using
pen. If Fumi doesn't get to be a teacher she plans to work at a
furniture store.
We would like to thank Fumi for helping us write this article.
By Victori (5/6B), Alysha (5/6A) and Elysha (5/6C)