Volume 11 -  31st July 2008
Week 2 .... Term 3

Ph: 8381 7166
Fax: 8381 6041

Email:
hvsadmin@happyvalley.sa.edu.au

Website:
www.happyvalley.sa.edu.au

Inside this issue............
Festival of Music, Staff Car Park, Industrial Action, Welcome New Staff & Students, Child Protection Curriculum, Parent Helpers, Maths News,  LAP, Smidge Visit, Fundraising Update, Letter from Daniel Family, Parent Club, Pedal Prix, Kookaburra Cafe, OSHC, Sport, LAP, Community News, Raffle Winners,

THERE WILL BE NO INDUSTRIAL ACTION AT OUR SCHOOL NEXT WEEK

I have always believed that a good leader needs to make sure that they stay on the "cutting (or even bleeding) edge" of knowledge and research about their organisations work.

With this in mind I ventured off to Nashville, the home of country music, our Nicole, Keith and Sunday and the temporary home of some 3000 educators from around the world who came to learn about "differentiated instruction".

In plain English this means how do you, in classes of 30 plus students assess, gather data on, cater for and constantly improve the skills of every student regardless of backgrounds, learning styles and readiness for learning.

We shared ideas and knowledge at all levels from basic classroom work through to whole school structures that improve the school environment for the young learners in our care.

The classroom ideas were great and I will share these with staff but, for me, the most interesting part was how schools in other places assess learning and gather data on student improvement and then develop relevant and practical plans to continue improvement.

It was heartening to hear that what we are already doing here at Happy Valley is "on the right track" with our

• development of a safe learning environment based on a strong sense of values and vision

• gathering of a range of data on student learning

• strong emphases on early literacy strategies such as guided reading and phonics

• development of Learning Communities of teachers and students

• willingness of staff to learn, try new ideas and reflect on outcomes

• common understanding by students and teachers that we need to continually review and find ways to improve what we do

• strong culture of students voice and leadership

We now need to continue this work and ensure that we really examine students' specific skills, abilities and understandings, "map" our curriculum, create "real situations" for leaning and pass on relevant knowledge from class to class and to families.

On a more personal note I would like to thank Doug, Darryl, Judy and all the staff for their efforts at the end of the term keeping things running smoothly. I also need to say how wonderful it was to be back at "the Valley" after my trip!

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Congratulations to Eden W., Eleanor A. and Deayana B. who have gained solo parts in the "Festival of Music" at Festival theatre on September 10^th.

Our choir will be performing that night and the girls will have leading roles in two songs. Well done girls!
 

A reminder that the staff car park is for staff only and official visitors.  It is not a drop off zone for parents and care givers.

It is an out of bounds area for students and if found in that area the consequences for students will be Time Out. This is for student safety.

If parents continue to ignore this rule we will be forced into keeping the car park gate closed in the morning and afternoon.
 

As you may be aware from the media the Australian Education Union want schools to participate in strike action over the next week.

Our school branch will not be taking any industrial action in the short term.

We will have school as normal next week.
 

We are lucky to be able to welcome new staff to Happy Valley, although some of them are already well known to us.

Firstly, we would like to welcome Sandra Daldry, who is replacing Judy Miller in the Resource Centre, whilst Judy is on long service leave for the first 5 weeks of term.  We would also like to welcome back Liz Loveday.  Liz already has a role in the Junior Primary area, working with both Lyn Smart and Shelley Saunders.  Liz will now be working an extra 2 days, supporting the two large R/1 classes in the Junior Primary area.

In the Primary classes we would like to welcome back Ana Paul, who will be taking Darryl Draper's Year 5 class, while Darryl is fulfilling his Head of Primary role. Ana also has a role in supporting the large Year 5 class. Lastly, welcome, too, to Stefan Butler, who will be working with both Carol Atherton and Simon Mueller, supporting their large classes.  Stefan is also well known to the older students as he has often worked across the Year 5/ 6 and 7 classes.

A special welcome to our new Reception students who started school for the first time last Wednesday.  Seoul S. started in Lyn Smart's class (pictured below).

A number of children also started in Joyce Kerr's class (pictured below). These children were Liam E., Ryan B., Caleb A., Mikayla M., Gypsy H., Merian S. and Latisha K. The children have settled so well that it is already hard to tell who is "new."

Several other children also started in other classes across the school, having moved from other areas or countries. A special welcome to Nicole C., Christian M., Ambar B., Nicholas E., Kira C., and Kasey C.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to all of these people and their families.

As explained in our last newsletter, we will be implementing the revised Child Protection Curriculum during the latter half of this year. This curriculum is for students from pre-school to Year 12. All staff spent a considerable amount of time at our Pupil Free Day last term, working on program planning for the implementation of this curriculum. We will also be devoting quite a portion of staff meeting time, sharing and discussing what has been happening in classrooms.

There are two themes which underpin the Child Protection Curriculum. These are:
We all have the right to be safe.
We can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust. 

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There are four focus areas which are developed at all year levels. These areas are:
The Right to be Safe
Relationships
Recognising and Reporting Abuse
Protective Strategies

We will be sending home information about the different topics covered over the weeks as we get further into the program. Please contact the school if you have any questions about the Child Protection Curriculum.

Parent helpers in Mrs Kerr's R/1 class are having a great time.  Karen Fathers is in the home corner with Gypsy H., Harry S., Kayla M., Tara M. and Joseph F., enjoying 'afternoon tea' and a puppet show.

MATHLETICS
Primary students are now all logged on to MATHLETICS.  Mathletics is a maths program which enables students to improve their mathematical skills as they compete against students from around the world and complete mathematics curriculum tasks.  They are able to access Mathletics 24 hours a day from the Internet and will be able to do so until the end of August.

MATHS AT HOME
Research shows that strengthening the partnership between school and home increases students' chances of success in their education.

• You can help your children at home by involving them in mathematical activities and talking to them about mathematics and its everyday uses.  Be positive!  Praise your child's success.  Encourage your child to have a go at measuring, calculating, counting, estimating and solving problems.  Invite children to investigate and make discoveries for themselves.  Encourage them to find their own answers.  Don't be too quick to tell them the answers.

• Show children how to use maths in your everyday activities, e.g. measuring ingredients, estimating costs, calculating  change,  timing  how  long  things  take to

Each newsletter this year I will include a few mathematical ideas for you to work on at home.  The first four are from the area of measurement.  Have fun!

• Cooking at Home.  Children can help you prepare shopping lists, work out the quantities of ingredients needed, weigh the ingredients and check on the cooking time.  Involve children in selecting new recipes.

• Keep the Calendar Up-to-date.  Mark any special events on the calendar, e.g. family and friends' birthdays, outings, holidays, excursions etc.  Look for patterns in the number squares.  Encourage children to make their own calendars or to keep a diary.

• Mass and Height  Keep a record of your child's mass and height.  See how much they have grown each year.  Do this for everyone in the family.  Graph the results using various types of graphs.

• Mapping  When travelling, provide children with a street directory or map and discuss directions.  Point out speed limits, distances to towns, populations in towns, etc. when you are driving along in the car, ask children to guess how far it is to the next light post, the next town, etc.  Calculate the distance travelled or the distance yet to travel.  Involve the whole family.  Measure the distances with your odometer.

Carol Atherton -- Primary Maths Coordinator

Due to unforseen circumstances, we have two students who really need a LAP volunteer.  If you are interested, please contact Wendy Nicolle at the front office.

Smidge is a lap dog and he is the official LAP mascot.

Big Smidge has been on a visit this week and last week.  We have a Little Smidge that lives in our LAP room, but Big Smidge travels from school to school, getting to know all the wonderful LAP students and their volunteers. 

Smidge brings his back pack full of goodies from his other visits, including maps showing where he has been and his own stamped visa.  The map has stars on it from both city and country places in South Australia as well as Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. 

Smidge has visited the seven classes that have LAP students and joined in everything they did.  Over the week Smidge has played tennis, been to choir, attended assembly, dancing classes  as  well  as  going  to  the Pedal Prix race at Victoria

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REMINDER - School photo's Thursday 7th August.  Many parents asked for a class photo and one single shot of their child.  We can do this for you now.  Check out the order form which was handed out last term for options. On the day of photos, send the order from and correct money as we cannot give change.  If you would like a family photo taken (it can only be with siblings who are at this school not pre-schoolers) please see Amelia in the front office for an envelope.  Thank you

Father's Day stall will be happening again this year in week 7.  More information about this in a later newsletter as it gets closer to the date.

Friendship lists have been delivered to Lyn Smart's, Sue Higgins', Shelley Saunders' and Gail Richter's classes. Joyce Kerr has new students and will be out later this term.  

Cindy Kershaw - Secretary

After receiving their shirts at a school assembly on Friday the pedal prix teams arrived at 7:30 am on Sunday for the Victoria Park Race.

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In a light drizzling rain the parents worked as a team to erect three marquees and the trestles ready for the day. The teams were given their green and gold jackets and then joined our Old Scholars team (Blink) for a lap of the track.  Blink are using Trent Smart's bike and is made up of past students including five year 7 students from last year, a year 9, a year 11 and one at TAFE.  The more experienced riders gave the teams hints on how to take some of the corners etc.
 

Ready to race

The bikes were out on the track at 9.20am and that was when the excitement began to build!!  Dramatic music played over the loud speakers ...... every one but the riders cleared the track ...... the count down started ...... 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 ...... the Australian flag drops and we are racing, for 6 hours!
 

All but five of our riders and their families are new to Pedal Prix so it was a big learning curve for most with Team Vortex completing 44 laps and Team Viper 62 laps in their 6 hours.  The older riders with their new bike finished 104 laps, 13th in their category.

There has been a huge amount of work behind the scenes, put in by parents, for this day to be successful:  New t-shirts, designed each year for the riders that the students can then wear as their school uniform.  Thanks to Michelle Wood for organising these and presenting both Shane Stagg and Shane Martin a 'goodie' bag at the assembly for their winning t-shirt design.

Thanks to Fay White for organising our notes and fundraising.  This has included the Disco, Car Boot Sale, BBQ at Harvey Norman and a raffle.  The list of winners of the raffle are at the end of this newsletter.

Thanks to Trent Smart who has been supporting our riders every Thursday afternoon and to Peter Smolarek who has prepared the bikes and survived scrutineering on Saturday.  Well done Peter.

None of this would have happened without all the parents taking the students to the practices and helping with timing, rider change-over support and marshalling on the day.   And this was really just a practice for Murray Bridge in September!!

If you can, travel up to Sturt Reserve for the 24 hour race on the 20th or 21st of September and support our teams. It's a great event.

Wendy Nicolle - Pedal Prix Team 2008

Welcome back from holidays.

Thank you to our volunteers who have joined us yet again.  Anyone who would like to help us in the canteen, please come in.  We would love to see you and the extra help would be greatly appreciated.

A new menu has been distributed to all families with new items listed and new daily specials.  Please add the following to the menu.
* Butter Chicken & Rice $3.50

Available over the counter for recess and lunch
* Soup $1.00  *Hot Chocolate or Milo $1.30

Special Lunch Deal - Friday 15^th August
* Savoury Pretzel & Drink -- Order form to be sent home           next week

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There are currently vacancies available for Before and After School Care sessions.

OSHC Cookbook
Copies of the OSHC cookbook are now available for immediate sale.  These are a wonderful addition to any home -- full of easy recipes, anecdotes, old favourites and helpful hints.  The cost of the cookbook is $10.00 per copy and monies raised will go towards a purchase the children have agreed upon.  Books can be viewed, paid for and picked up from the OSHC room.

Active After School Sports Program
OSHC is continuing to participate in this program which is funded by the Australian Sports Commission.  This term we will be having Dance sessions with "Footsteps" in the Hall on Mondays.  If you find your child is enjoying the program, you may wish to pick them up after 5.00pm.  This will enable them to fully participate in the program.

Roxanne Longbottom -- OSHC Director
Ph. 8322 2411 -- direct line with answering machine or mobile 0417 898 739

HAPPY VALLEY FOOTBALL
It has been a great 11 weeks of Football so far with all teams having convincing wins, and some just losing by narrow scores.  It has been good to see some parents helping out with Canteen and other duties when the games are played at Happy Valley.

REMINDER
The 4/5s are playing this Saturday the 2^nd August.  I will be needing parents to give up some time throughout the day to help in the canteen as we start the games at 8.30am.  Yes, that means you must be there by at least 8.15am so your coach can arrange the players that he has. Wendy and I will be setting up for the day, at the school from 7.00 am. (Long day for us)  Also donations to the canteen would be much appreciated e.g.: cakes, toffees, biscuits etc.

Thank you to all the parents that have all ready helped out as it does make my job and Wendy Wilden's a little bit easier as there is a lot involved.

Congratulations to Caleb Daniel in representing South Australia in State SAPSASA.  He received best and fairest player for the series.  Well done Caleb from all players and Coaches.

As from the end of this year's football season I will no longer be the Panther League & Happy Valley School Delegate.  I will  be looking for some one to  take  over this roll and I will

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U10 vs. St. Teresa at 10.00am - Brighton PS, Highett Ave, Brighton (small field)

Gary Kite -- Soccer Coordinator

HOST FAMILIES WANTED.  AFS Australia, a not for profit student exchange organisation, needs homes for three community service participants urgently for six months.  The boys are from the USA, Switzerland and Belgium.  While here, they will be volunteering at Habitat for Humanity, Marine Discovery Centre and Nature Education Centre.  They wish to experience Australian family life while being useful in the community.  If you feel you would like to open your home to one of these participants, please contact AFS representative Bev Milton on 8234 3221.

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