Dear Parents, Carers, and Students,

Some exciting news recently! Julia Abdel-Nour, one of our amazing Assistant Principals has recently announced that she is expecting her first bub early next year. She and her husband Tarek are expecting a baby boy. I’m looking forward to meeting little Brucie! Congratulations to Julia from the whole school community. Julia will be finishing up at the end of the year to commence her Family Leave and I thank her for all of her amazing work since she commenced in the Acting Assistant Principal role in Term 3 last year.

Jen Barnes will take over the Acting Assistant Principal role at the start of 2025. If you see Julia in the yard (she’s on yard duty every afternoon after school) please congratulate her.

UPCOMING VACATION

Every year I’m staggered at how quickly the year passes. We start school in January/February and before we know it, it’s the end of Term 3. I have a theory about why the years go faster as we get older. I’m sure that you would like to hear it.

Your life is all that you know. Whether you are five years old, or fifty years old, your life consists of a period of time from when you are born, to right now. When you are five years old, one year is one-fifth of your life. I remember, as a youngster, years would go forever and the time between Christmases and birthdays would be interminable. But, as a fifty-year-old, each year is one-fiftieth of your life and the years are compressed somehow. They fly by at an astonishing rate. I’m sixty-six and I barely blink to find another year has gone.

Anyway, enough of my rambling and self-indulgence. I hope everyone has an enjoyable and relaxing break. If you get the chance to spend time with your children, please make the most of it. Those years of them being children will go past in a flash.

I won’t be back at work until the start of the second week of term, taking Long Service Leave during the first week. My wife and I are spending three weeks at our apartment in Mooloolaba, escaping the grandchildren. We currently have three, with two more due in the next couple of months. Mrs K spends a lot of time babysitting them. It’s one of the reasons that I may keep working for a few more years yet!

I realise that I have almost contradicted myself here – saying to enjoy your children while you can, then, in the same breath say that I’m escaping the grandchildren. The difference is that when we had out two children, we were in our twenties/early thirties. It’s a lot more difficult when you are in your sixties!

TERM 4 HATS

Don’t forget that all students are required to have and wear a school hat during Term 4, whilst outside. Bucket and Legionnaires hats are available from the school office at the special price of $11.00. PLEASE have all hats (and any other removable items of uniform) clearly marked.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR VOLUNTEERS

Thank you to all of our volunteers that have helped out at events during the year and in the classrooms and other activities. The school would be a shadow of itself without your help. What you do is very much appreciated and allows us to provide activities and events that enrich the school experience for everybody. Please don’t think that your efforts go unnoticed.

An example of this was yesterday when I sent out the request for helpers to sort out the lunches for footy day. Before the notification had even popped up on my phone, the spare slots were quickly filled. It was heart-warming.

I would also like to thank the staff members who also give up their own time to help out at out-of-hours activities. They are gold.

VOLUNTARY PARENT CONTRIBUTIONS

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and active involvement in the Reservoir West Primary School community. 

Your partnership is essential to the ongoing success and growth of our school.  50% of families have contributed this year.

All contributions to the school are entirely voluntary and we understand that every family’s situation is different, and we respect your decisions regarding financial contributions.

For those who have already made contributions, we extend our gratitude.  We were pleasantly surprised to have some contributions processed recently.   

Your generosity enables us to enhance our resources.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to contribute and are in a position to do so, we invite you to consider making a voluntary contribution. 

Contributions can be made via Compass.

Thank you once again for being an integral part of Reservoir West Primary School community.  Your commitment helps us crate a learning environment where students can reach their full potential.

EXITING STUDENTS

We have already been notified that a few of our students will not be returning to Reservoir West in 2025. If there are any others that will be moving schools, please let us know as soon as possible. Email Jo Blom in the office or me.

PARENT OPINION SURVEY – THANK YOU

We currently have 184 out of 456 families complete the survey, which is 40%. I think that we have hit saturation point and I’m going to stop pestering our community that the survey open until this Friday 20^th September.

HOWEVER, if you would like to complete the survey by Friday:

Click on the link below, or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to the survey.

https://www.orima.com.au/parent

Select the School and Campus name below.
School Name: Reservoir West Primary School
Campus Name: Reservoir West Primary School

Enter the School PIN: 357331

A GREAT PERSUASIVE PIECE FROM COLE COOPER YEAR 5

BRUCE’S GRANT

Sports are one of the worlds most loved activities, people play sports everywhere, if it’s soccer in the streets of Brazil or if it Australian Rules Football in the big stadiums in Australia. Everywhere we go sports can be seen, and to play sports you require equipment so I strongly believe that the grant should go towards sports equipment. Will you read on to find out why the grant should go towards sports equipment?

I strongly believe that the grant should go towards sports equipment and I’m not just saying this without proof because according to the UNSW Sydney and The Mayo Clinic “Participation in regular physical activity can increase self-esteem and can reduce stress and anxiety.” and also the average soccer player in Europe makes between $500,000 to $2mil per year and on top of that as a sports player you have the opportunity to get a brand deal for example Messi’s deal with Adidas or Ronaldo’s deal with Nike. Partner deals are a major part of sport and the best players get played boatloads of money, for example: every year Cristiano Ronaldo makes £15 million pounds or around $30 mil dollars from Nike. So the grant going towards sports equipment could make RWPS students future millionaires.

I really strongly believe that the grant should go towards sports equipment because the activity titled “sport” is proven by many to help extremely well with mental health. Big company WebMD said “Sports boosts your overall health and other benefits.” and “Sports calm your mind, strengthen your muscles and improve your wellbeing.” and to play sports you require equipment and if just buying some sports equipment will help students with their mental health and social life then I highly advise on using the grant on sports equipment.

I very strongly believe Bruce's’ grant should go towards sports equipment. Sports can strongly benefit your physical health in many ways stretching from strength to stamina, and as the company Better Health Channel said “Sports strengthen your bones, muscles and joints it also lowers the risk of developing osteoporosis [which makes your bones slightly spongy and ruins your posture,it is also often caused from spinal fractures.] or other joint problems like arthritis”. There is constantly reasons being uncovered as to why sport helps your physical health, why would you purposely chose to have worse health? I would highly advise for anyone who hopes to be fit that they pick up sport, and for sport you require equipment.

In conclusion I strongly believe that the grant should go towards sports equipment because it helps with mental health, physical health and money and sport is proven by many institutions all of those benefits correlate with my 3 reasons.People may disagree but I believe that sport is one of the most beneficial forms of exercise. So Bruce don’t you want your students to be fit, happy and successful?

A well-researched and presented piece. Well done Cole!

COMPETITION
Alfie came second in the written component of the Wild at Art art competition.

Thanks to everyone who popped in on Friday afternoon to cheer him on.

“The Gang Gang Cockatoo is special to me because it is part of my Aboriginal culture. They have soft feathers that I love to collect and feel.

I love to hear the sounds they make, that’s when I know they are around. I think they are so special, we have to look after them!!”

Bruce

Principal

TERM THREE EFFORT AND BEHAVIOUR PROGRESS REPORTS

At the end of the week, you will receive your child’s Term Three Effort and Behaviour Progress Report via Compass.

These reports provide parents/carers and students with a succinct picture of a student’s 

progress relating to their effort and behaviour at school in different curriculum Term Three subjects.

The Term Three Effort and Behaviour Progress Report displays effort and behaviour on a grid and graphs for subjects taught during Term Three and are comparable with Term One and Two.

Teachers use school-created matrices to make judgements about each student’s level of effort and behaviour in each subject area taught in Term Three. Matrices will be sent out with instructions of how to access reports on Friday afternoon.

Teachers decide if a child’s effort and behaviour is:

10        Excellent

8          Very Good

6          Good

4          Satisfactory

2          Unsatisfactory

0          Not Applicable

Scores 1,3,5,7 and 9 do not have a category. This is due to limitations with setting up reports using Compass.

Please Note:

• Foundation students did not receive a Term One Effort and Behaviour Progress Report.
• Term Three Effort and Behaviour Progress Reports do not indicate levels of academic achievement.
• School Yard Behaviour is only scored for Behaviour.
• If N/A appears on your child’s progress report for a subject, the reason may be due to: an exemption for the curriculum area, a long-term absence, low attendance for the subject, a late enrolment or another special circumstance.
• Sometimes subjects aren’t taught every term, in accordance with our teaching and learning plan. If this is the case, the subject will not appear for the term on your child’s report.

Accessing your child’s Report

Please refer to the Accessing Term Three Effort and Behaviour Progress Report information that will be sent on Friday via Compass.

Troubleshooting

The Term Three Effort and Behaviour Progress Report provides a great discussion starter for you and your child about their goals for effort and behaviour for Term Four. Formal PST Conferences occur at the end of Term Two and Term Four. There are no formal PST Conferences for Term Three Progress Reports as they relate to effort and behaviour only. If you wish to discuss your child’s Term Three Progress Report, please contact the teacher of the subject after the holidays, via Compass. If you have any trouble accessing your child’s progress report, please contact me and I will assist you.

Barbara Balliro

Assistant Principal- Teaching and Learning

Barbara.balliro@education.vic.gov.au

FRIENDSHIP CARNIVAL
What a couple of fun days we had last week!

The Year 6 Wellbeing Leaders, with the support of Year 5 future leaders, led two lunch time activities in and around the Hub. The aim was to create awareness on R U OK? Day.

The activities students participated in were:

• Outdoor Games: Chess, noughts and crosses, and hopscotch
• Chalk drawing
• Friendship tree: how to be a kind friend
• Cup Filling: what happens when your cup is full of kind comments? Mean comments? A mix of both? How do you feel? How would someone else feel?
• Friendship Bracelets
• Friendship Cupcakes: which ingredients do you need to have a healthy friendship?
• Friendship Zines: Create a short story with friendship tips
• Gratitude card: thank you for being a great friend!
• Picture scenarios: what would you do?

Serena and Lola: congratulations on another successful event! You both worked super hard, used your initiative to solve problems, and led a small team responsibly. Unfortunately, Audrey (another member of the Year 6 Student Wellbeing Leadership team) was unwell – We missed having you work in the team for this event. Hope you are on the mend.

A special mention to the following senior students:

Austin A, Talia N., Etta, Austin Giles

Talia T, Izzi, Savannah, Igby, Flynn

Alicia, Amelia, Celine, Violet

Delilah, Tilda, Brosie, Olivia

Without much notice, they accepted the request to support the Year 6 leaders. They gave up their lunch play on both days. They organised the activity stations independently, worked amazingly in a team, were kind and caring to all students who attended, and cleaned up when finished without being asked. You are all superstars!!

We hope you enjoy watching this video which provides a snapshot of the event:

Friendship Carnival 2024

Term 3 Wrap Up

Thank You
We extend our thanks to parents and guardians for their unwavering support throughout Term 3. Our job is busy and full of many challenges: not only do we support students but also parents and carers. Your continued trust in us, involvement in the school and support play a crucial role so that our students thrive. We look forward to continuing this journey together in Term 4.

Here is a recap of some of the Term 3 events:

Naidoc Week
Creation of a bottle cap mosaic mural with an indigenous theme.

Cup O-Noodle Drive
Raising over 400 cups of noodles for the homeless shelters.

Enhanced Wellbeing Workshops
Year 5/6 Boys: Healthy Masculinity with Daniel Principe

Year 5/6 Girls: Supportive Friends 2.0

Year 4 Boys: Revved Up

Year 4 Girls: MPower

Foundation – Year 2: Emotional Literacy with Purple Play Space

Friendship Carnival
All about friendship, connection and checking in on one another.

Celebrating Individual Successes
This term has seen many individual successes across our student body. From academic achievements to personal growth milestones, connections with peers, to improving emotional regulation and help-seeking skills, we are incredibly proud of our students. We are super proud of the personal growth we have seen.

Looking Forward: Term 4
Our focus will continue to be on holistic development, ensuring that our students grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Key areas/events we are looking forward to include:

• Year 3: Emotional Literacy with Purple Play Space
• Year 5: Peer Support Training (Friday 18^th October). Applications for this leadership role closes 18 September 2024.
• Year 6 to 7 transition support
• Transition support across the school

Have a safe spring holiday!

Warm regards,
The Wellbeing Team – Kane, Emma and Rebekah

MENTAL HEALTH / EVENTS CALENDAR 2024

Term 3, Week 10

Assembly this week.

• 1.50pm: 5MoF
• Golden Ticket Draw – Milburn Wing
• 2.00: Assembly at stage area
• End of assembly: SOTW and Golden Ticket Draw photos at the stage area
• 2.30pm: early End Of Term dismissal.

Congratulations to all of the students that are receiving a Student of the Week award!

Group photo of last week's SOTW recipients!

Last week’s Golden Ticket winners!

Dear Parents and Carers,

From Years 3 to 6, students have the opportunity to participate in a 1:1 Smart Classrooms program using Chromebooks running Google’s ChromeOS. We have had great success with this program, with over 90% of families opting in.

Reservoir West has chosen to create technologically inclusive learning environments to inspire hands-on learning, promote creativity, provide personalised learning and education in a variety of subject areas, and develop students 21st Century learning skills. Through increased access to digital technologies, students can benefit from enhanced learning that is interactive, collaborative, personalised and engaging.

Attached below is further information from both RWPS and our supplier, EduNet for those who would like some more information around the program.

The portal for purchasing Chromebooks for 2025 is now open.

Visit the Edunet Parent Portal at: http://reservoirwestps.technologyportal.com.au 

Please note the following cut off dates: 

1. To receive order prior to Christmas, order must be placed and paid for by 28th November 2024*.

1. To receive order for Week 1 Term 1, order must be placed and paid for by 5th January 2025*. 

1. All orders will be sent to the school and then distributed to families

* Cut off dates are only for devices listed on the portal as in stock. If a device is out of stock we can’t promise a Christmas or Week 1, Term 1 delivery.

In addition, some families have asked if other devices from home can be used at school. Unfortunately, this is not an option at RWPS. Chromebooks are exclusively used from Years 3-6 and they must be purchased via EduNet to be configured to our network. If you believe you have a device from an older sibling that may be able to be used, please see the criteria in the attached handout or email Jen Barnes.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to email:
Jen (Digital Technologies Co-ordinator) Jen.Barnes@education.vic.gov.au
Bruce (Principal) Bruce.Kearney@education.vic.gov.au
Edunet (Supplier) portal@edunet.com.au

Kind regards,

Jen Barnes
Digital Technologies Co-ordinator

2025_RWPS_Smart_Classroom_Presentation
RWPS BYOD 2025 Parent Doc

Dear RWPS community,

Hello school community,

Hang Around Friday
Another wonderful community event that not only strengthens the community spirit of our school but also provides us with an opportunity to fundraise.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered and attended the event. Thank you to the grade six students who gave up their lunchtime to cook sausages. Lola, Stella, Elsa, Milli, Emily and Yarra. That was our quickest sell out of sausages yet.

Thank you to our sponsor TheirCare, your ongoing support within our school is greatly appreciated.



Well done to our creative stalls run by some students!

Pizza and Footy Day
This event would not have been possible without Joyce and Julia. Thank you for organising this event.

Thank you to the parent volunteers who organised and distributed students lunches yesterday.

A fundraising update
We are excited for share that the school has allocated the fundraising efforts to the below thus far in 2024

- We have purchased three interactive white boards for class rooms

- We will have picnic tables installed under the new shade on the oval for students to enjoy in term four

- We have contributed towards the grade six graduation

- We have funded the new iPads and chrome books which the students have been using in classrooms since term 1

Our fundraising target is $70,000 for 2024 and we are almost there.

We have two final events in Term four:
- Hang Around Friday - 25 October 330-5pm
- This will be our final Hang Around Friday BBQ for 2024

Student Art Gallery Evening - 22nd November 5-8pm This is a very special event for the entire family to enjoy. We will have our students art pieces, created during 2024, on display in our school gym. There will be an opportunity to purchase framed pieces of student artwork, making the perfect Christmas presents. We will have BBQ sausages, hot chips and beverages available to purchase.

We encourage students to invite grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, family and friends to come along. We hope to make this a biannual event at the school. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the students and teachers efforts.

Please save the dates in your calendar. If you would like to volunteer at either of these events please click this link - https://signup.zone/rwps-pfa-events 

Thank you for following along and your ongoing support.

Warmest regards,
Zayna Fratto and the PFA team.

District Athletics Success at Meadow Glen Track

What an incredible day! We had 13 enthusiastic participants representing Reservoir West at the district Athletics event held at Meadow Glen Athletics Track. The effort and dedication from our students were truly inspiring, both on and off the track. Your teamwork, persistence, and resilience were on full display!

A special congratulations to the following students who have advanced to Regionals in their events:

• Quinn Canazno (9/10 boys) – 200m Dash
• Anton Naughton Smith (9/10 boys) – 1500m
• Henry Livingstone (9/10 boys) – 1500m
• Grace Farmer (9/10 girls) – 1500m
• Hanna Stafford-Komornik – 800m Run

We are incredibly proud of all our participants and their hard work. Congratulations again to our athletes heading to Regionals—your commitment and effort have brought you this far, and we can’t wait to see what you achieve next!

Athletics T3 W10

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On Tuesday the 17^th of September we celebrated Footy Day in which students dressed up in their team colours and participated in some Football related activities. After a delicious Pizza lunch supplied by our fabulous PFA (THANK-YOU!) we took the oval to meet our very special guest for the afternoon! Our special guest was Kane Lambert, three-time AFL premiership Richmond champion who also happens to be closely related to one of our very own staff members…can you guess who!?

He kicked off his visit with a Q&A interview written and delivered by our very own RWPS students:

Foundation student Bailey Crow asked, “What is the funniest thing Dusty has ever done?”

Year one student Eli Dodds asked, “How many games have you played in total?”

Year two student Zac Davies asked, “How many goals have you scored?”

Year two student Isaac Deady asked, “What is the best part about playing football?”

Year three student Max Murray asked, “Who was the best player you ever played with?”

Year four student Aticus Irineos asked, “Have you ever barracked for a different team when you were younger?”

Year four student Flynn Dodds asked, “How many premierships have you won?”

Year six student Zhane Abbas asked, “What was your most humiliating moment on the footy field?”

Year six student Emily Gelsumini asked, “Who was your inspiration to play football?”

After this we held a kicking competition open to any 5/6 students and staff members who thought they could beat Kane Lambert’s longest kick! A few ball greedy teachers may have come close!

Lastly, Kane endured an ENOROMOUS line of students waiting patiently to get their tops, scarves, cards (and even SHOES!) signed by Kane, who did it all with a huge smile on his face- what a LEGEND!

On behalf of the RWPS students and P.E team we would like to extend a huge thank you to Kane Lambert for coming out to our school! We all had an absolute ball and welcome you back any time!

Have a fabulous break everyone, keep kicking goals ⚽

Mulynda Blease and Amanda Solakidis

Footy Day T3 W10

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The bottle cap Indigenous mural has been completed! Thanks to the whole school community for their involvement in collecting caps for this special project. Every student participated by gluing the lids to create this spectacular artwork. Special mention to our wonderful art captains Akira O’Brien, Blythe Tonkin and Ava Mantello for their input. Their thoughts and ideas formed the essence of the overarching theme for the creation. The captains chose these particular symbols to portray a community spirit in the mural, where humans and animals work together harmoniously to look after mother nature and in turn, she looks after all of us. Members of the Deadly Club also took part by adding the finishing touches to the mural. See photos attached.

The mural will be presented at Friday’s assembly, and it will then go on display at the upcoming art show on Friday 22^nd November. Its final home will then be just outside the art room.

Thank you to all for your involvement.

Mural T3 W10

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Dear Parents and Carers,

In the 5/6 Cohort we have been learning about natural disasters. For the past 2 weeks we have been working on bushfire safety plans in our Global Studies curriculum. These plans could help others in need that are in bushfire areas. Us 5/6s have worked really hard to show you what we have created. Chosen students' projects are presented in the newsletter. Thank you for your time.


Video - Created by Harry, Harvey, Bernie and Flynn.

Global Studies Y5-6 T3 W10

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START YOUR OLYMPIC JOURNEY AT PRESTON RESERVOIR LITTLE ATHLETICS!

Preston Reservoir Little Athletics Centre is looking for new athletes to join our Centre ahead of the 2024/25 Track and Field Season. Little Athletics is held on Saturday morning from 8:30am at Edwardes Lake Park Athletics Track, Reservoir. The new season commences on Saturday October 5th with registrations now open. Little Aths is a great sport for all kids aged 5-16 with a focus on participation and encouraging athletes to BE YOUR BEST in an inclusive and family friendly environment! To register, go to www.lavic.com.au/centres/preston-reservoir/

2 Week Trial offer: New athletes to Little Aths are welcome to sign up for the two week free trial offer where athletes can try Little Athletics for two weeks without having to make a financial commitment! This is a great way offer to give a new sport a try! To sign up for a free trial, go to www.lavic.com.au/membership/new-member/trial-athlete-offer/ 

Community T3 W10

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