No 7 2013 - Echuca West Primary School

School Council AGM
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
Personal Best at the West
echucawestps.vic.edu.au.
SMS 0428937348
NEWSLETTER
NO. 7 FRIDAY 15 th MARCH, 2013
SPECIAL EVENTS NEXT WEEK
Monday 18 th March
Performance – “It’s a Mad World”
Active After Schools – Soccer
Wednesday 20 th March
Cake Stall 3p.m.
Active After Schools – Cricket
Friday 22 nd March
Echuca Cross Country
Echuca/Moama Soccer Tournament
STUDENT LEADERS
Jaime Nichol and Luke Pollock
New
Luke Pollock and Jaime Nichol continue as our School
Leaders for the next week.
On Wednesday 13 th March we held our Annual General
Meeting. At this meeting office bearers were elected and I
am pleased to announce the following people have accepted
positions:
Kim Moss – President (& Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee)
Belinda Evans – Vice President (& Finance Sub-Committee)
Keith Baillie – Treasurer
Mel Bourke – Secretary
The other parent representatives on School Council are:
Berneata Corken – Fundraising and Community Relations
Sub-Committee (Chairperson)
Kim Higgins – Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee
Matt Hamilton – Buildings & Grounds Sub-Committee
(Chairperson)
Jody Wilson – Fundraising and Community Relations Sub-
Committee
Shelley Fehring (DEECD representative)
Regional Swimming Carnival
Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending the Division &
Regional Swimming Carnival in Bendigo. Our students did
a fantastic job competing against swimmers from as far and
wide as Mildura and Gisborne. The swimmers who attended
the carnival were Erin Blachford, Billy Barnes, Lara Judd,
Jack Evans, Nemesha Collins, Mitchell Wales, Lara
Urbaniak, Jayde Evans and Sophie Peterson.
Students who received medallions at regional level were:
Lara Judd – 3 rd in freestyle and first in backstroke. Lara will
now go down to Melbourne to swim in the state finals.
Jack Evans – 3 rd in butterfly
Billy Barnes – 3 rd in backstroke
Students who received ribbons at district level were:
Nemesha Collins, Lara Urbaniak, Jayde Evans and Sophie
Peterson – 10 year old girl’s freestyle relay
Billy Barnes – 2 nd in freestyle and first in backstroke
Jack Evans – 3 rd in butterfly
Lara Judd – 3 rd in freestyle and first in backstroke.
Grade 3/4 Electronic Camp Payments
A number of parents have requested to pay their camp
deposit electronically so a tax invoice with BPay details will
be sent home with all Grade 3/4 students on Monday.
TERM 1 FOCUS
Our School Values
Respect-having regard for self, others and the environment
Inclusion-sense of belonging
Integrity-being honest and fair
Responsibility-being responsible for your actions & words
Personal Best-striving for excellence
Each term we will focus on one of these values as part of
our whole school approach to wellbeing. In Term 1 our
focus is on Inclusion.
STAR OF THE WEEK AWARD
Grade Prep A: Mia Mills Firebrace – for a fantastic effort
when trying to spell words and for showing compassion to
her fellow classmates.
Grade 1B: Brodie Millen – for always working hard in the
classroom and being a great friend to his classmates.
Grade 2C: Seb Mitchell – for his great reading efforts at
school! And for being a good friend to his peers and smiling
all week long.

Grade 3D: Natalia Williams – for concentrating and
listening well in class and for getting on with her work
quickly.
Grade 4E: Bailey Harding – for having a great attitude
towards learning. You made a fabulous job of all written
tasks this week. Well done!
Grade 5F: Jack Evans – for the wonderful effort he has put
in to improve himself as a learner and class member. Well
done!
Grade 6G: Georgia Cassidy – for outstanding leadership,
the ability to help her classmates and look to build on her
own abilities.
We are running sessions between 3.30 and 4.30 on Monday
and Wednesday.
Activities include:
Monday 18 th March – Soccer
Wednesday 20 th March –Cricket
Interested children can pick up a form from the office.
Children will be given a snack straight after school. Please
make sure that you pick your child up at 4.30pm.
STUDENT ACTION GROUP
CLASS OF THE WEEK
This week our Class of the Week is Grade Prep A : For
playing fun games and letting everyone join in.
FUNDRAISING
Congratulations to Emily Bray, Kiri Baldwin, Reilly
Buntine, Imogen Tall, Jaime Nichol, Bianca Norris, Brenton
Urbaniak, Layney Doherty and Billie Tobias who are our
new Student Action Group Representatives for Terms 1 and
2 of 2013.
BIRTHDAYS IN THE SCHOOL THIS WEEK
Cake Stall.
Our next Cake Stall will be held next Wednesday 20 th March
at 3.00p.m. Donations of cakes, slices or produce are most
welcome.
We would like to wish a happy birthday to Drew Thompson,
Ally Spedding, Mason Golding and Kiara Mills who are
celebrating their birthdays this coming week. We hope they
have a great day.
ADVERTISING SPACE
If you would like to sponsor our newsletter and advertise
your business in this space we would love to hear from you.
This will cost $20 each week to include your business card
or logo in our weekly newsletter. If you are interested
please contact the school on 54822263.
Major Fundraiser – Term 1.
Easter guess the number of eggs in the jar competition.
To guess how many eggs are in the jar will cost $1 a guess
or 3 guesses for $2. The Easter Egg Jar is in the office if
you would like to have a guess. Guesses are recorded in a
book and the winner will be announced on the last day of
term Thursday 28 th March.
ACTIVE AFTER SCHOOLS PROGRAM
REMINDERS
Lunch Orders are Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
Lost Property Box is in the Undercover area.
Bank Day is Thursday
FUTURE DATES
Monday 25 th March
Active After Schools – Soccer
Wednesday 27 th March
Active After Schools – Cricket
Thursday 28 th March
Easter Bonnet Parade 1.30p.m.
Guess the Eggs in the Jar Competition Drawn
Last Day of Term 1
Monday 15 th April
Start of Term 2

COMMUNITY NEWS.
BUNNINGS ECHUCA EASTER FAMILY NIGHT.
When: Thursday 21 st March from 6pm-8pm.
The night will include:
Animal farm
Balloonist
Professional facepainter
Heaps of craft for the kids
Easter egg hunts
Appearance from Easter Bunny
Free BBQ cooked by Kiwanis Club of Echuca.
Much more!
Bookings Essential 54 820 200
GIVE GOLF A GO
Free Day
When: Sunday 24 March
Time: 9:30 start
Girls and Boys aged 7 to 16 years
Booking essential
Contact Rich River Golf Club 03 54813372
GREATER YMCA VACATION CARE PROGRAM
Runs from 2 nd – 12 th April, 2013. Flyer available from school
office if interested. For all bookings and enquiries, contact
Program Coordinator: Leeanne: 0418 356 451 or 0354822517
9am-5pm.
HEART FOUNDATION WALKING.
Heart Foundation Walking Information Session and Lunch.
Come along and find out about Heart Foundation Walking, a
network of free walking groups in your community! You’ll
have the opportunity to meet other people interested in
walking, and find out about starting up your own group. We
will also take a short walk in Moama before enjoying a
healthy light lunch.
When: Monday 25 th March 2013
Where: Moama Community Centre (Corner of Martin and
Echuca Streets) Moama
Time: 10am-12.30pm
RSVP: Michelle Sims or michelle.sims@ymca.org.au or phone
54822517. Murray Campaspe “Get Active Eat Well”
ECHUCA MOAMA UNITING CHURCH CAR BOOT SALE
Is your house overflowing with Unwanted and Unused Toys,
Furniture, Clothes, Bric-a-brac etc.
You don’t have enough room or goods to have a garage sale.
Well book a site at our Easter Saturday 30 th of March
in the Church Carpark (limited sites available)
Site Free for Church Members and $ 20.00 per site for Non
Members.
To book a Site now Phone : Jules on 5482 1430
During office hours – Tuesday to Friday 10.00am to 3.00pm

ECHUCA WEST PS GRADE REPORTS
Prep A: This week we welcomed Miss White to our room who is a
3 rd year Student Teacher from Latrobe Bendigo. The Preps have
enjoyed the extra teacher’s attention. Life Saver Col came to
school on Wednesday and taught us valuable information about
how to be safe in all types of water and great rescue techniques.
We were also fortunate to see and listen to Trevor Vincent and
Judy Pollock who competed in the Olympic Games. Their medals
were on display also. Please remember that Library day is
Wednesday and Library books need to be returned so your child
can re borrow. Today we enjoyed reading and Phys. Ed with our
Grade 6 buddies. Enjoy the cooler weather and the weekend.
Grade 1B: We have managed to fit lots into this short week! Our
daily Literacy sessions are running really smoothly and everyone is
doing a great job of working responsibly at their activities. This
week we enjoyed reading ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and looking at
how the author used talking marks when the characters were
speaking. We had an interesting discussion about whether Little
Red Riding Hood was disobedient or whether she just made a
mistake when she wandered off the path. We examined the names
on our Name Wall and discovered that Archie and Kiarrah both
contain ‘ar’ so we listed lots of other words that contain this blend.
In maths we looked at subtraction and made subtraction stories.
On Wednesday we attended a SINK or SWIM session, which is Life
Saving Victoria’s new program targeting inland waterway safety.
We also had a visit from Trevor Vincent and Judy Pollock,
Olympic athletes, who brought along their medals. In Science on
Thursday we investigated crickets and sang our current favourite
song, “The Ants go marching!” It’s been a fun week.
Enjoy the weekend everyone!
Grade 2C: We had Lifesaver Col visit us this week to teach Prep to
Grade 2 about Water Safety.
Here are some letters that Grade 2C wrote to Lifesaver Col!
To Lifesaver Col,
Thank you for visiting me at Echuca West. I will remember to stay
calm and not panic and wear a life jacket.
From Mason
Dear Lifesaver Col,
Thank you for visiting me at Echuca West. I will remember to make
sure I have a grown up with me when I swim.
From Dakota
Dear Lifesaver Col,
Thank you for visiting me at Echuca West. I will remember to make
sure I will have a grown up with me when I swim. I will make sure
I wear a lifejacket when I swim in the river and I will stay calm and
not panic. I have learnt a lot about water safety.
From Halle
Dear Lifesaver Col,
Thank you for teaching all of us safety. We appreciate you. You are
good, Col.
From Stephany
Grade 3D: We have all enjoyed the short week in Grade 3 this
week! This week we presented our Shoeboxes. This was very
exciting. We all had a chance to present our shoeboxes to the class,
explaining all of our special items. It was a bit scary talking in
front of the class but we all managed to do it very well! We then
had a 'Shoebox Exhibit' and we were able to have a closer look
inside everyone's shoebox. People had family photos, pictures of
their pets, favourite teddy bears, favourite books and movies as
well as sports uniforms. In Literacy, we have been writing
persuasive pieces. This week we discussed whether too much
money is being spent on toys and games. We had lots of mixed
opinions in the class! In Maths, we have been looking at addition
and adding 2-digit numbers together. Enjoy your weekend
everyone. Grade 3 and Miss Hill
Grade 4E: This week was Shoebox Week! On Tuesday the students
brought in their decorated and filled shoeboxes. Everyone got the
chance to share all the special things inside their box that
represented their life. It was a great opportunity to get to know
one another better. In Literacy we looked at information texts and
have used that knowledge to create information posters about our
shoeboxes. They are on display in the classroom and friends and
family are welcome to come and have a look. Today we finished
off our Shoebox Celebrations by sharing our shoeboxes with our
Grade 2 buddies. Well done everybody, you did a great job!
P.S. Congratulations to all our swimmers and basketball players
who did so well at Zone and Vibe last Friday. You were wonderful
ambassadors for our school.
Grade 5F: Another busy week in Grade 5, which has seen us start
a lot of new topics across the curriculum. In Literacy we have
moved on from narratives and have started looking at persuasive
writing. We are looking at the important features of persuasive
writing, and how to self-assess and improve our own pieces. We
also started a study on the use of apostrophes, and looked at how
to expand our vocabulary using the books we are reading. In
Maths we have moved on from division to focus on time. We are
looking at telling the time and duration of time. Our Photo Stories
are coming along in Integrated Studies, and we are aiming to have
them finished by the last week of school. It is easy to get distracted
looking back at all our photos, but all students are working well to
create their presentations. We were very excited to do soccer trials
for inter-school soccer this morning, and we’d like to thank Mark
Urbaniak for his help... Have a great weekend!
Grade 6G: This week we have started to finalise our life stories on
Photo-stories. We will organise a date so that our family and
friends can come in and see them. We have a range of photos and
information. We have also put music to them. We are very proud
of the work we have done. We are also in the finishing stages of an
animal power point. It has been great teaching each other lots of
skills using these programs. Throughout the week we have also
completed our writing pieces for the writing4fun competition. In
Maths we have looked at telling the time. We have calculated that
on the Monday holiday our class combined watched and used
almost a staggering 90 hours of technology. We are going to look
at the amount of television we watch next week and graph this
information. We have also had our trials for the upcoming soccer
tournament. There will also be opportunities for students to play
interschool sport through our Friday sports coming later in the
year. Congratulations to those students who nominated and were
successful for the Student Action Group. It will be great to see
these students showing a range of leadership qualities throughout
the year. Being part of the SAG team gives them a voice in the
school and the ability to make changes around the school and see
how decisions get made in a school environment. Well done on a
great week!
SCIENCE
Preps, Grade 1 and 2- Schoolyard Safari:
We explored the school ground to see what small animals lived
there. Since then we have had a close up investigation of worms,
snails, ants and crickets. We discussed what we knew about them,
listed what we found out after our observation and completed a
labeled diagram of each animal.
Grade 3 and 4 - Plants in Action:
We have been busy learning about seeds, germination and flowers.
We also planted bean seeds and watched most of them develop
roots and leaves. For our latest project we made a face on an
empty eggshell and planted grass seeds inside the shell. Some of
the eggheads have sprouted an amazing head of hair!
Grade 5 and 6- Life in the Balance:
We investigated the interactions between living and non-living
things and how invasive and feral animals and plants can upset the
balance in an ecosystem. We found out a lot about cane toads and
the problems they are causing. It was fun playing the game Roo
Survival, where we role played kangaroos seeking resources like
food, water, space and shelter. When the kangaroos could find the
resources they needed, their numbers increased for that year.