berwick lodge primary school

BERWICK LODGE PRIMARY SCHOOL
20th Year Anniversary
Phone: 9707 1766
Fax: 9796 2198
E-mail: [email protected]
Visit our Websites : www.berwicklodgeps.vic.edu.au,
http://berwicklodgeps.globalteacher.org.au
Camp Australia/Out of School Hours Care: 9769 8251
NEWSLETTER NO. 14
DIARY DATES
Friday 22nd May
Wednesday 27th May
Friday 29th May
Monday 8th June
Tuesday 9th-12th June
Friday 12th June
21st May 2009
NOTICES DUE BACK BY
Gr 5/6 Interschool winter sports-away
Wednesday 20th May
Gr 3/4 Camp Rumbug info night 6:30OSHC Friday 22nd May
Gr 5/6 Interschool winter sports-home
Tuesday 26th May
Friday 8th June
Queens Birthday Holiday
Gr 5/6 Camp Coolamatong 5N,5P,6D,6K Wednesday 10th June
Thursday 11th June
Pupil Free Day
Gr 5/6 Camp Coolamatong forms due
Social Club Books forms
Gr 5/6 Camp Coolamatong final payment
PFA Chocolate Money/chocolates
Gr 1/2 Kym Lardner Storytelling
Gr 3/4 Camp Rumbug expression interest
EDUCATION WEEK OPEN NIGHT
Thank you everyone for attending last night’s Open Night. This is one of our favourite events on the school calendar as
we get the chance to share together the great things that the children are doing at school.
The feedback that I received from teachers and parents was outstanding and I really enjoyed the opportunity to have
informal conversations with many parents. A special mention is due to our student hosts – they were wonderful and we
are so proud of them. They really reflect the growth and development of all our students over the seven years that many
spend at Berwick Lodge Primary School. In saying all this, I am indebted to a great staff – they are so motivated on
behalf of our students. Thank you.
BUILDING EDUCATION REVOLUTION UPDATE
We have had a big win and it really feels great. Things have really moved quickly this week, starting with the
involvement of Jason Wood, our local Federal Member of Parliament who has taken up our cause in parliament and in
the media.
At Monday evening’s school council meeting your representatives on council were brilliant – highly professional in every
way. The questions they asked of Peter Greenwell, our Regional Director, were to the point and incisive, whilst their
comments left no doubt as to where our community stood on the issue.
Towards the end of the discussion I tabled the following advice I had received from a source close to the Deputy Prime
Minister’s office just an hour before our meeting. It reads as follows:
The Federal BER Guidelines for the Primary Schools of the 21 st Century have been changed as follows:
The Commonwealth will not accept applications that are greater than 10% below the indicative amount allocated for
schools as per the Funding Schedule based on school size (FTE’s) and indicative Funding Caps unless applications are
accompanied by a letter from the school principal that the school community and the principal agree to a lesser amount.
In addition, the template designs are optional and schools cannot be prevented from submitting an application of their
choice, consistent with the BER Guidelines.
It is fair to say that this memo led to the almost immediate conclusion of the discussion with Peter Greenwell. The
following day I attended an invitation only meeting at Don Bosco P.S., Narre Warren, of principals of all primary schools
in the Federal Electorates of Holt and La Trobe, with the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard and the Federal Member of
Holt, Parliamentary Secretary, Anthony Byrne.
The Deputy Prime Minister outlined the Government’s education agenda, in particular the BER and took questions and
concerns from the floor. In particular reference to our school’s plight, Julia Gillard stated that she had been briefed on
our concerns and that we were right, the DEECD was wrong, and that we would get our full notional allocation.
More generally, the Deputy Prime Minister gave the following assurances:
All schools, excluding those with special considerations such as heritage listing issues and potential
closure, would receive their full notional allocation unless they put in writing that did not want it.
Schools which accepted template designs that cost below their notional allocation were eligible to apply for
a second building project to the value of the difference between the template cost and their notional
allocation.
There was genuine support for schools that had problems or concerns, in the form of the National BER
Coordinator and the offices of their local Federal Government MP’s and her own.
We received an excellent hearing from the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Principals left the meeting
feeling most confident that the Deputy Prime Minister had taken on board their concerns, understood them
and was committed to fully supporting school communities that adhered to the BER National Guidelines in
realising the Federal Government’s Stimulus Package vision.
We are now in the position of deciding how we make up an application that best meets the educational needs
of all our students and capitalises on the notional $3 million allocated to our school. We have established a
working party of school council to deal with this as a matter of urgent priority.
Incidentally, the library/6 classroom learning complex we initially chose is valued at about $2.1 million all up.
If we choose this option, we still have about $900,000 available for a second project – either another
template, custom designed building or refurbishment.
Once again, thank you to everyone, including Jason Wood, for your support and advice in so many ways over
the past two months. This is a wonderful victory for our kids and now on to the next stage! By the way, all the
local papers are running stories on the issue this week and I understand that the Sunday Age will be
publishing a feature article on the matter.
HELD OVER
Echoes From our First 20 Years and Frequently Asked Questions are being held over given the length of this
report.
QUOTABLE QUOTE
‘A dream without momentum is just that.’
HENRY GROSSEK
OPEN NIGHT – WEDNESDAY 20TH MAY
Thank you to all families who attended our Open Night last night. The positive feedback received from families
indicated that everyone enjoyed the opportunity to visit classrooms and specialist areas and view the results of our
students’ efforts. Thanks must also go to our hard working staff for the preparation of displays and activities and their
attendance throughout the evening. Our student leaders did a magnificent job in showing prospective families around
the school and supporting specialist teachers in their programs. Congratulations to all involved!
PUPIL FREE DAY – FRIDAY 12TH JUNE
Parents are reminded that Friday 12th June is one of the four DEECD mandated pupil-free days for all schools.
Students are not required to attend school on this day as teachers will be involved in working on the mid-year student
reports. Last week Camp Australia distributed an expression of interest notice to determine whether it is viable for them
to offer a full day program for families requiring care for their children. This notice is due on Friday 29 th May and it is
important that families wanting to utilise this service reply so that arrangements can be made and communicated in a
timely manner.
ENROLMENTS FOR 2010
We have commenced our Prep enrolments for 2010 and we remind existing families with preps for next year to contact
the office for an enrolment form. For effective planning purposes it is beneficial for us to know projected prep
enrolments well in advance. We also need to be aware of students with special needs who may require extra support
on their entry to school. Families with queries regarding this matter are encouraged to make contact with us to discuss
the options available to provide support.
If you know of any families with children starting school in 2010 who wish to enrol at Berwick Lodge we would
appreciate it if you could ask them to contact the school administration in order to organise a tour of the school.
3/4 CAMP INFORMATION EVENING
The 3/4 Teaching Team will be running a Camp Information Night on Wednesday 27 th May at 6:30PM in our OHSC
building. During the session staff will provide parents with details of camp arrangements and an overview of Camp
Rumbug (Waratah Bay) activities. Parent helpers will be required for each camp and expression of interest forms will be
available at the meeting..
Camp 1 will be from Monday 7th September to Wednesday 9th September and Camp 2 will run from Wednesday
9th September to Friday 11th September. At the Information Evening parents will be notified of which camp their
child’s class will be attending.
On Thursday 28th May forms will be sent home to seek camp deposits and arrange payment options.
LYNNE BRENNER & DEBBIE CUSACK
2009 Premier’s
Reading Challeng
Well done to all our students busily reading
books from the Challenge booklist.
A special congratulations to the following students who have
completed the reading challenge already. What a super effort!
Mark 6K
Please remember that all books need to be entered on line by
your teacher by the last week of August.
Happy Reading
SCHOOL AWARDS
Congratulations to the following students who received awards over the last week:
Brodie PO
Leah PO
Lucy PO
Rohan PO
Phillip PO
Bailey PO
Angelina PW
Maddison PW
Apryl PC
Zac PT
Brodie PT
Sharni PO
Max PO
Jordan PO
Chloe PO
Nathan 2J
3/4 Camp Information Evening
The grade 3/4 Camp Information evening is being
held next Wednesday (27th May) from 6.30pm in the
OHSC building.
Parent helper forms will be
available at the information evening, as well as from
your child’s class teacher after the night.
On Tuesday 19th May, 6 students represented Berwick
Lodge Primary School and the Edwin Flack District at
Zone Cross Country. The children did a tremendous job
and were once again an absolute pleasure to take and
have represented our school on the day.
The children should be extremely proud of their efforts as
much as I and our school are of them.
They received the following places:
Kyle 7th place, 10 year old boys
Marine 25th place, 10 year old girls
Bailey 41st place, 11 year old boys
Madison 31th place, 11 year old girls
Sarah 16th place & Rachael 22nd place
12/13 year old girls.
Well done to these children once again on their
outstanding effort and placing!
Amy Carlile
P.E Coordinator
THE BERWICK SAFETY
HOUSE COMMITTEE
Urgently seek your help
Committee Members
Required
Members meet once
every 5 weeks for one hour only
Please come to our next AGM
Tuesday May 26 at 8pm – meeting
duration 1hour
Please call Rose 0412 743 391 or
Alain 0417336133
AGM for 2009 will be held at St. Michael’s
Primary school
UpRoar
Thank you, the Grade 3/4 Team.
Looking for a
FOR SALE
Hot wheels assorted tracks and accessories including
cars and trucks $20.00, car launcher $5.00, 48 car carry
case including 48 care $50.00, motorised hyperpod
$10.00, back pack $5.00, Bey-blade battle arena with 4
bayblades & accessories $20.00.
Call Andrea 0407 152 632
Girls black bloch jazz dance shoes size 5-1/2 $25.00
Good condition. Call Belle 0425 757 928
LOST
4 Bakugan battle ballers and launcher lost at BLPS.
These are in the shape of small balls that are slightly
smaller than ping pong balls, which open out and have
battles figures inside. There are 2 beige balls, one white
and one black. The launcher is red and grey and is used
to shoot the balls out. Please send to room 8 1/2K or the
office or call 0431 532 353.
new idea for your child’s
birthday party?
Why not stay at
Let
home?
UpRoar take the stress out of a birthday
party at home!
UpRoar is home-base children’s party service that
will take charge of everything!
From decorating to cooking, from games and clean
up, our fully qualified and vibrant staff are there to
handle all aspects of a party.
For further information, please contact
Sara Prosser on 0427 553 973 or
email
[email protected]
MICHEL’S PATISSERIE, PARKHILL PLAZA,
SPECIAL
Please bring in this coupon to receive this special
discount
Buy a pie and receive a cup of coffee for half price.
Brochures available from store.
Expires 30th June 2009
ROB’S British & Irish Products
The Best Butcher on the Block.
177 Lonsdale Street Dandenong
9792 5188
Specializing In: British Gammon, Haggis, Irish
Boling Bacon, Pork Pies, Welsh Faggots, Scottish
Pies. White Puddings, Scottish Black Pudding,
English Black Pudding, Scottish Kippers and Much
Much More!!!
The Party Food Shop
Your one stop party shop
Paul Stemson 0418 141 946
Phone 9704 6940
Fax 9704 6214
New Bigger Shop, Factory 3/12 Deblin
Drive, Narre Warren 3805
1300 1 PARTY or 9704 6940
Independent Consultant
Biggest Morning Tea –
Fundraiser for Cancer Research
Thursday 28th May 10am - 12noon
Entry by Donation (to be donated back to cancer research)
At private residence in Berwick
You and a friend are invited to a ‘Biggest Morning Tea’ event to share with
women and friends. This is a Fundraising event where you can purchase
Intimo Lingerie to support this vital area of research - so if you need a bra or a
cami (or whatever else), you will be supporting this worthy cause as 10% of
sales on the day will be donated to Cancer Research – so come along and
enjoy a morning with other women, where I'm sure a few laughs will be had
and maybe even new friendships made. Take the opportunity to have a little
time-out for yourself and relax.
Please call to confirm by Sunday 24th May. Take
a look at your diaries NOW...if you are free, save
the date, respond to this flyer and be there! RSVP
24 May on 0409 860 065.
(My address will be advised when you respond – I am within
walking distance to the school.)
FROM LYNDA – Senior Intimo Consultant