Irymple Primary School

Richmond Football Club Visit

Students were lucky today to receive a visit from 2 members of the Richmond Football Club as part of their two-day AFL community camp. They spoke about their experiences as AFL players to Grade 5/6 students. More information in this weeks school newsletter!

Parents of Preps and New Families BBQ

Thank you to the new families and teachers for making this inaugural event a really pleasant and worthwhile evening. We had approximately 20 families attend and the children themselves seemed to have just as good a time. The children enjoyed the new play equipment immensely.

New Lunch Bag System

Thank you to all the people who have so well adjusted to the system to stream line preparation of lunches for our earlier lunch format. We still however have a couple of things that we would ask for some assistance with. These are:

Lunch orders are to be completed at home if possible and as a last resort completed at school. Orders to be in before 9:00am. Correct money to be placed in either-

A snap lock bag (which can be used again if change is required)

Any envelope folded over – NO Staples or sticky tape are to be used as they are not allowed in the food preparation area of the canteen as both items are considered possible contaminants. It is also not suitable to wrap money in a tissue and then wrap sticky tape around and around.

Food regulations do not allow money and food to be placed in the same bag where they are touching each other.

Bus Travel

Just a reminder to students who catch buses, that it is important to have bus passes and money ready to board all school buses. All bus money that was $1.00 in 2011 is now $1.10 in 2012. The bus drivers have allowed for the past two weeks, but now will require money to be correct. A wallet or purse of some sort for the children who have daily or half daily tickets to buy is recommended as we have small children searching for the lost dollar coin each day and morning bus passes blowing away, getting scrunched up in bags or lost altogether. In the past the behaviour of our children on the buses has been exemplary and we hope it will stay that way. One bus driver however mentioned last week that noisy calling out was occurring. Once children get on the buses Government guidelines regarding travel etiquette apply and if they are not adhered to the following system applies-

1st referral – Verbal warning to student (this has been done regarding the unacceptable noise)

2nd referral – Written warning to parent

3rd referral – 1 Week suspension from bus travel

4th referral – suspension from the bus for the remainder of the year

Most of the buses that pick up our children are not solely school buses and are public buses as well and have members of the community of all ages on board so quiet respectful behaviour is expected at all times.

Car Park

Please be vigilant at all times when driving in the school car park as children do unpredictable things and drivers must be aware of other cars stopping suddenly to avoid accidents. Every year we have several accidents in the car park and this causes a great deal of anxiety and inconvenience for all concerned.

Prep for Parents

Prep for Parents is an email subscription specifically for parents whose child is starting primary school.

Subscribers receive an email every Wednesday during school term. The topics covered include what to expect during the first weeks of school, what Preps learn at school, how children learn, numeracy, healthy eating, the importance of play and tips on dealing with school holidays. There will also be links to further resources and online content to help you support your child's learning journey.

Current email: What Preps Learn

Congratulations New Captains

Congratulations to the following students on being appointed to the Captains and Vice Captains position for the first half of 2012

They are:

Harrison O’Brien Boy Captain

Tarsha Hawley Girl Captain

Connor Mensch Boy Vice Captain

Isobel North Girl Vice Captain

Our captains in 2011 did an outstanding job and made our school and their parents very proud of them. They so ably led the school assemblies and many other events within the school such as Anzac Day and the Leadership Forum held here in Mildura. We look forward to the new group being the best examples of good citizens that they can be. Many students who develop their leadership skills at Primary School go on to further these skills in high school and beyond.

New Play Equipment

On the weekend a band of workers finalized the soft fall and edging for the Play structure. So far the students have had a great time.

A big thank you, to the people, who gave up their Sunday to assist with the final preparation and tidying up of some of the school garden areas. These people were- Mr. Garry Beer, Mr. Wayne Sparks, Mr. Rob Thompson, Mrs. Karen Costa, Mr. Dean Brown, Mr. Ashley Johnstone and Ms Kylie Helyar. Several students from these families also assisted.

Healthy Lunch

Snippet – courtesy of Sunraysia Community Health

Keeping a Safe Lunchbox

School lunchboxes can heat up in the summer months. When this happens foods that should be kept cool such as meat, eggs, fish and dairy can become unsafe to eat. To keep foods cooler for longer include a frozen water bottle or ice brick in the lunchbox

Some foods that can be stored in a lunchbox without cooling are:

Bread rolls, fruit buns, muffins, pikelets
Whole fruit, canned or commercially sealed fruit
Dried fruit, nuts and seeds
Tinned baked beans & spaghetti
Some salad vegetables like carrot, beans, snow peas, celery sticks and cherry tomatoes.
Water!

For further information go to The Better Health Channel

Yvonne Madden,

Principal

Follow @irympleps