INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND WORKS
It’s full steam ahead as our new inclusive playground moves towards completion. Decking, pathways, planting, logs for sitting and jumping and fresh white sand has all been added. The climbing frames will arrive shortly to finish of the plans.... not long now. What a great way to end the term!
     

     
REMOTE LEARNING THANK YOU  

As we return to full time school for the last two weeks, we wish to express our very sincere thanks to everyone once again for the ongoing success of our remote learning program.  The teachers and support staff have done an amazing job to expertly deliver teaching to their students remotely over the past weeks. 

Our students are to be congratulated for their eagerness to engage with their learning and to connect on-line with their teachers and friends.  There have been many fun experiences as the children have greeted their friends and teachers each morning………and we always ask ‘What will Mr. Pepi be dressed as each day?’

Once again, thank you to parents and carers for their enormous adaptation of their normal lives in supervising student learning at home and providing so many hands-on opportunities for the children.  Thank you also to the parents who have been providing positive and supportive feedback to the staff.  An effective school based program has been running to support the children of essential workers.  Thank you to all staff who have come in to support this program and connect the students to their learning and fun-filled Specialist Wednesday.  Thank you also to the administration team for their behind the scenes work timetabling attendance, ICT support and family communication. 

VICTORIAN PREMIERS' READING CHEALLENGE

The VPRC is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 17 September 2021. Last year was a record year and we plan to get many more students completing the challenge. Can we get to 100%?

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and can choose to have their name included on the online Honour Roll.

Students have been sent/given sent a unique log in from their teachers.
To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklists and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/prc

CPS students have continued to be avid readers while learning at home.  There are currently 393 books already read at the end of last week and 4 students already completed the challenge! Well done!

Tips to keep read at home:

• Re-read favourite books from your home collection.
• Borrow eBooks via BorrowBox from your local library.
• For young children, search YouTube for 'read a picture book', and listen to dozens of children's books like The Lorax, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Rainbow Fish.
• Watch your favourite authors read their books at The Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Online Read Alouds and Activities.
• Watch astronauts on the Space Station read children's books at Storytime from Space.
• Stream videos of authors reading children's books with illustrations at Storyline Online.
• Listen to a David Walliams audio book.

Download a free classic children's or young adult's book from International Children's Digital Library or ManyBook.net.

RETURNING TO SCHOOL-SUPPORTING STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
Below are some tips for families whose children may be anxious-as we return to school.

Why do kids get anxious and what will make them stop being anxious?
At the particular moment that a child is having a meltdown or becomes anxious, there isn’t much you can do until they calm, although sometimes redirection will help if you find the right distraction. We often talk about mindfulness or breathing, but once a child is extremely worked up, these things may not work. The quickest way to calm the child is to tell them they don’t have to do whatever it is that is concerning them.
 
E.g. Child: I don’t want you to leave me
Adult: Ok I won’t leave you. Magically, the anxiety is gone.

However, now the child has learned that the way to manage anxiety is for an adult to rescue them and they don’t learn that they can manage on their own. In this circumstance, the next time the child faces the same experience, their anxiety can become worse. A common mistake we make is that we rescue our children in this situation. We don’t like seeing our children upset and we want to make them safe, but in doing so we don’t let them experience natural calming down.

Here are some things you can do to support your children with getting back to school.

• Get back into the school-day routine– waking up, eating and going to bed at regular times.
• For anxious kids, plenty of detail can be calming. Talk through the steps of getting to their classroom: talk to them about where they will be dropped off and where they will be picked up.
• Stick to familiar routines as much as possible. Try to have a calm evening and allow more time to settle before bedtime if your child is feeling excited or nervous about school.
• Help your child pack their bag the night before. A visual checklist can help them remember what they need to take. Lay out their clothes so everything’s ready for the morning.
• Allow some extra time to get ready so you’re not rushing.
• Don’t wait around once your child has left you. Often a child that is doing ok will start to worry if you haven’t left. It can make them feel like there is something to be concerned about.

We will call you if your child is unable to calm down after a period of time.
If you feel like you need support, chat to your classroom teacher or contact Jan Smith-Assistant Principal.

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June

14th
Queen's birthday - public holiday

18th and 21st - 24th
Foundation to Year 4 Swimming Program - to be advised

23rd
Story Night Online hosted by the School Captains

25th
Last day of term - early dismissal 2.30pm

28th - 2nd July
NAIDOC week

July

12th
First day of term 3

19th
Staff first aid training

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Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) applications close on 23rd June 2021

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors. Excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works while sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership.  All are a part of a healthy curriculum.
CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
 
The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students.

Please read the information and application form on the Compass notification. You will need to supply a copy of your concession card to the office with your completed application form, either in person or email the school at chelsea.ps@education.vic.gov.au.

If you have any questions, please contact Ledam in the office.

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The preps have been very hardworking during remote learning and we would like to thank the families for supporting us during this time. It has been wonderful seeing their faces on Google Meets each day and observing their enthusiasm even when learning from home. They have participated in online lessons, games and stories. We are crossing out fingers and toes that we can come back to school on Friday!

Love,

The Prep Teachers

      

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It has been wonderful to see Year 1 and 2s both online and onsite interacting with lessons and live sessions. Year 1s have been doing small group live sessions and it has been great seeing everyone's enthusiasm and positivity during the meets. Year 2s have been meeting for whole class sessions in literacy and numeracy, in addition to 1:1 intervention sessions with Sue Bray and small group tutor sessions with Mrs Cole.

In literacy we have been using shared texts to learn new vocabulary, write compound sentences and to make comparisons between texts. Year 1 phonics has worked well online and despite being via a screen we have still been chinning our work and checking for understanding. Year 2s have continued to progress through our Spelling Mastery program online.

In Year 1 maths we are looking at skip counting and patterns. Year 2 maths has focused on division strategies, introducing how to find fractions of shapes and working through our daily Mental Maths tasks.

Great job Juniors!

Chris Hulse, Wendy Stansfield and Maddie Culshaw

 

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What an interesting and unpredictable time it has become yet again for all students in Victoria in the past 2 weeks. Luckily we as a team and the students as a cohort have been so positive surrounding the effects of this new lockdown. We have seen some wonderful constructive attitudes towards learning and students who have inspired us to look at this in a different perspective. Although we are not together physically we are united an aligned when it comes to the curriculum. Our senior team has planned for students to be all on the same page and ready to come back to face to face learning whenever it arises.

Literacy
In literacy we have looked at procedural texts which has given students the opportunity to write about something they feel confident in. This included students creating a set of instructions to cook different types of yummy food. Students also gave us an in depth instruction manual on how to survive lockdown. Their well-structured, thoughtful and creative procedural pieces were so good some of the teachers at Chelsea may have used them in the kitchen! Some great ideas were commutated on how to provide a fun, entertaining lockdown experience.

Numeracy
As a senior team we began to group students according to their learning needs in mathematics. Looking at the topic of decimals we used the data to group students accordingly. This worked incredibly well as students were able to work on their strengths and weaknesses with more clarity and efficiency. Students have also been working hands on with measurement, practicing changing units of measurement. During remote learning students have been practicing numeracy with their mental math work book. This has been a great way for students to recite and recall learned material across the broad spectrum of numeracy curriculum which they can apply every day.

Inquiry
In inquiry students have delved into the history of Australia. We have looked at early Australian times and what it was like back then. The ability for students to access computers more readily now because of remote learning has allowed them to spend more time investigating early Australia. Students have learnt about pivotal moments, causes and effects and influential characters which have impacted this country. They have also empathised with why and how immigrants came to Australia and its positive impact.
A challenging yet encouraging two weeks for our seniors, it has been wonderful to see how well they have responded to adversity and changes. Its’ never a dull moment with these wonderful students we go through each week together.
     

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Wow term two has certainly flown by! PE and Sport has been jam packed this term at CPS with lots of fun events happening!

It feels like forever ago but we the term kicked off with our District Athletics Carnival back in week two. Thirty-five competitors from CPS attended the event and we finished the day with some fantastic results. Kade came in 2^nd place in the 9/10 year Boys in a nail biting finish. Lena crossed the line in 10^thin the 11 year Girls and Matilda finished 7^th overall in a large 12/13 girls age group! These three students have qualified for the Divisional Cross Country which is due to take place at a later date. We wish Kade, Lena and Matilda all the best!

The grade five’s and sixes were lucky enough to take part in some fantastic SEDA Soccer clinics! The clinics ran on Thursday mornings for four weeks and the participation from all of our students was outstanding! Lots of fun was had by all, including our Senior teachers.

Foundation classes and the Grade one’s and two’s also joined in the soccer festivities with an incursion from Football Star Academy. Coach Chris took our Junior students through a range of soccer drills and mini games which helped us all learn the key skills and rules for Soccer. We definitely have some brilliant up and coming talent in the Junior school, which Miss McDonald is  very excited about!!

Our Sports Captains have been extra busy this term with Sports borrowing, with a record number of balls and equipment being borrowed each day! It is so great to see so many students being so active and practicing their favourite sports in the yard! Please just remember to return your equipment at the end of lunch!!!

We got three session into our Foundation-Grade Four Intensive Swimming Program at Toby Haenan Swim Centre before lockdown hit and we had to put our lessons on pause. Feedback from the students and teachers has been really positive and we will hopefully be able to get the rest of our lessons out the way before the end of term. Tentative dates have been booked for Friday 18^th, Monday 21^st, Tuesday 22^nd, Wednesday 23^rd and Thursday 24^th. Unfortunately this will all be dependent on restrictions lifting in Victoria so we will just have to keep and eye on things and keep our fingers crossed!

The highlight of our term although certainly had to be our highly successful CPS Athletics Carnival! The students had worked so hard in their PE lessons leading up to the event, so it was brilliant to be able to see them put their skills on show! The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and thank fully, the day ran super smoothly! I would like to say a special thank you to all our wonderful staff at CPS who made the day possible and also to the amazing Parents and families that came and helped out and supported our kids on the day! These events are a highlight of the school calendar and there success is a credit to our amazing school community! Thank you!

Looking forward to getting back to school next week and finishing off an awesome semester!

All the best,

Miss Mac

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This week we had this image and this story starter to get us all going… 
Bang! The gunshot echoed around the stadium, and the athletes sprang out of the starting blocks. Within moments, they were tearing up the track with ferocious speed.  She could hear the...

Congratulations to these creative entries who are our winners this week:
Bang! The gunshot echoed around the stadium, and the athletes sprang out of the starting blocks. Within moments, they were tearing up the track with ferocious speed. She could hear the sound of the roaring crowd in the background but that didn't matter right now. All she could feel was the rush of adrenaline she had just got. The only words going through her mind as she sprinted as fast as she could was: I can do this, keep on running, I can do this, keep on running. The finish line was closer. I can do this she told herself and she did...
Lilli – 6E

Jessica could hear the wind whistling past her and the crowd roaring with excitement as she sprinted as fast her legs could carry her. Jessica was only fifty meters into the one hundred meter sprint and her legs were already exhausted, if she was going to win she would have to persevere. The woman furiously bolted across the orange running track as if she was being chased by an unworldly creature. Once the ninety meter mark was crossed she didn't slow down, but she sped up to incredible speeds flying through the finish line like a hot knife through butter.
Jacob – 6L

…my feet hitting the ground with a soft thud but the noise was lost in the swam that was the audience. What should have been a minute felt like an eternity. There was only one word in my head. Run. I could feel the flecks of dirt hitting my shin, Hard enough to hurt but not leave marks. My legs felt numb but I kept running. I had to win. I was not losing again. Not today. The final stretch was close and the roar of the crowd was deafening. I could feel the adrenaline rushing off my head. RIP! I run over the bright blue ribbon. I had won.
Tahlia – 6E

Bang! The gunshot echoed around the stadium, and the athletes sprang out of the starting blocks. Within moments, they were tearing up the track with ferocious speed. She could hear the...The roaring of the crowd cheering, a nervous sweat dripped down her cheek as she watched the athletes zooming up the track, although she cheered as her son was one of those athletes, she held her breath, watching in a mix of excitement and fear, but as the final second passed, her son was the second person to get over the finish line, watching him make it that far almost made her cry with pride. He raised his arms in the air, screaming with triumph, as his mother also did.
Alex – 6L

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On 4 June 2021 during remote learning we had this prompt as the start of our writing piece. It was a diary entry. The task is to continue the diary using the picture as a guide too.
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Month: June 
Year: 3015
Dear Diary,
It has now been 2 years since we moved here. Leaving Earth was tough, but we are beginning to feel more at home with every single week that passes. When we came to our new home, we were allowed to bring everything with us from our Earth homes. It still feels a bit strange though. Life without gravity really takes some getting used to!
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Congratulations to these winners:

Have you ever imagined living in a world with no gravity? Well, it’s hectic! Sometimes you wake up floating in the middle of your own the room! One time, I went to get some milk but as soon as I tried pouring it into my cup it started floating away. You might think I am hallucinating but I swear I am not! The milk actually started floating away and that’s not all. Once, a book floated in the air and slapped me on my face which wasn’t very nice. However, probably the most hilarious thing that ever happened was when my bed tipped over and, SPLAT, I face planted.
Lena – 6L

Dear diary, It is now our first week living on Mars because earth blew up. It’s very different. It has no gravity, a lot of aliens, and the world is red! We basically live in an upside-down earth! My mum, Angus and I have to get used to it. There is also flying cars and weird creatures. Scientists are trying to figure out a way to go back in time and stop the world from blowing up. But I don’t think they will. The government are building cities, restaurants and houses. We also need a lid on the trampoline so we don’t fly out.
Jai – 5W

My dog, Chocco keeps on spinning uncontrollably throughout the yard, his frisbee zooming into the space time continuum. Gravity means a lot to me more so now that I notice what it was. Mainly because it helps my marshmallows stay in my hot chocolate, and my hot chocolate stay in my mug. I spend my time contemplating why Elon Musk did this to my family. My home deemed for his playground to test out rockets. I want it go back to days where my feet stuck flat on the floor, I could blow my mum a kiss and walk out the door, go to school learn something new. But no, I have my life turned upside down for a man who thinks he wears a crown Elon Musk, please save the rest of us. Our world is in doom and it all lies in the hands of you. This will take some getting used to.
Zoe – 6L

Our new home on Mars looks somewhat like our old home on earth on the outside, but on the inside it looks quite different. All over the walls are handles, for us to hold onto to stop us from floating. Dad super-glued all our furniture to the walls, floor, and roof so that it's easier to use in zero-G. We had to leave Earth in 3012, because it over-populated. Real estate became too expensive to buy, and only people who had already bought their houses or were insanely rich could stay. My family were amongst those who had to leave because they couldn't afford to pay their rent anymore. I can't write any more because my dad's calling for me to help him super-glue the new piece of furniture we got to the roof!
Eve – 5P

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How much money have I saved?

View your value saved on dining and activity offers in ‘My Profile’ tab under ‘Stats' in the ‘Value Unlocked’ box. 

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YourGround a Victorian Police Initiative

There’s a new project lead by Monash University called ‘YourGround’. 

Councils across Victoria have signed up to the program which essentially is an online interactive map where any woman, girl or gender diverse person can add a pin and a comment to an area they feel is safe and why, or unsafe and why.

This is an effort to gather often unheard experiences and perceptions of safety in public spaces so local police and councils can act on them.  The results will show us what is working well and should be replicated, and what isn’t and should be fixed. 

The process couldn’t be easier.  Open the website, add a pin, add brief notes about why that area feels safe or unsafe, and you can also see input from people before you and add your own comments to those.  There is no login and you don’t need to give your name. Police and Council are keeping an eye on the map as the project runs in an effort to quickly identify areas of concern they previously hadn’t been aware of.  The project will run until August.

This is your opportunity to have a say in the safety of your community.  The more input we have, the more chance we have of identifying areas that aren’t safe and working to make those better.  Get on board! 

www.yourground.org

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