Thank you to all our parent helpers!

The teachers and students of neighbourhood 1 would like to thank all our wonderful mums, dads and guardians who came and helped with our learning throughout Term 1. We have had parents running specific projects, helping with their writing, giving presentations, assisting with excursions... the list goes on!

We are always amazed by the diverse range of talents, skills and kindness our community of parents and guardians have to offer. Our doors are always open, and we would like to welcome with open arms those who are able to come in and help with our neighbourhood's learning. 

Children's Book Festival

If you are out and about in the city this Sunday (3rd April), check out the Children's Book Festival on the lawns of the State Library where you will meet some of your favourite children's book illustrators and authors. Many, many activities will be organised by groups such as Book Council of Australia and Book Illustrated. There will also be a myriad of authors and illustrators there including Leigh Hobbs, Terry Denton, Janet McLean, Elizabeth Honey and Judy Horacek. And don't forget that there is also an exhibition "Look! The Art of Australian Picture Books Today" inside the library itself.

The festival will start from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. More details can be found on the State Library website and you can also download the festival program HERE.

Refugees Incursion

Last Wednesday, Elias' dad David came to visit the neighbourhood to help with our inquiry topic on "Communities". David, who is a Principal Solicitor and Migration Agent for RILC (Refugees and Immigration Legal Centre), gave a presentation about refugees and communities We learned about the differences between a refugee and a migrant, reasons why people may seek refuge in other countries as well as looking at some countries where refugees might come from and the people who come from there. The neighbourhood had many questions for David - more than he could answer!

We would like to thank David again for his time and his wonderful, thought provoking presentation. We would also like to extend our warmest gratitude to all parents who  have visited our neighbourhood to help out during our learning time.

Water safety and survival day

On Tuesday 29th March the Intensive Swimming program will focus on the rules and safety at the pool, beach and other wet environments. The students will practice water survival skills and rescue procedures. To make this a worthwhile learning experience for your child, we ask that all students involved in the  program bring shorts and a T-shirt to wear over their bathers. Please bring a plastic bag to put your wet clothes in at the end of the session.

Intensive Swimming Program

The Intensive Swimming program will commence next Monday (21st March) and will run for two weeks. Those students who have signed up for this program will go to the Klim Swim Richmond for two hours during school time  on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with their home groups, while students who chose not to attend will remain with others in the neighbourhood. As different home groups will be attending the program during different times of the day, we have created a flexible timetable to minimise disruption to the students' learning.

Finally, a reminder to all students that they will need to pack their swimming gear if they are attending the program.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier's Reading Challenge will be starting very soon at Princes Hill Primary School. All grade 3/4 students are expected to take part this year. Consent forms have been sent home with the students earlier this week but can also be downloaded HERE. The Premier's introduction letter of the event can be downloaded HERE. Please hand in the forms to your home group teachers as soon as possible. Any queries can be directed to Keith, who will be organising the event for the whole of the 3/4 grade this year.

The Ultimate Book Guide Blog

We wanted to share with you a fantastic blog written by the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide series.

http://www.theultimatebookguide.blogspot.com/

This blog reviews books for children and includes contributions from the editors,  authors as well as young readers. It is a wonderful resource for both parents and children and is well worth a browse if you ever need inspiration for the next book to get out from the local library or buy from the book store.

21st Century Learning

Leading educator Sir Ken Robinson talks about the changes that are taking place in education across the world. This is a good explaination of the wider educational context that influences teaching and learning in our school.

Touch Typing

We have been practicing our touch typing skills during ICT this week. Touch typing is a useful skill for students as they begin to publish more written work using word processors and other publishing software. We concentrated this week on typing using all our fingers on RapidTyping.

Students can continue practicing these skills at home by using the Dance Mat Typing found on the BBC website.

Neighbourhood email address

We have set up a neighbourhood email address for correspondences with our community.

Email address is: phps34n1@gmail.com

Please use this method of contact for non-urgent matters. Any confidential information, urgent messages or well-being issues should be addressed directly to relevant teaching staff.

Moment of Silence

During the morning of Flood Relief Appeal Day held on 17th February, the students across the grade experienced  displays prepared by the teachers. These displays all gave examples of how communities can come together in times of crisis. One of the displays included a room dedicated to a 'Moment of Silence' where video was shown of different moments of silences throughout the world. Students of neighbourhood 1 used this video as a 'seed of thought' in their writer's notebook. Below are a selection of published works which grew from this seed of thought.

Please click on the works to have a closer look!

Poem by Tilly Murray-White

 

 

Story by Amelia Menzies

 Poem by Alexander Adcock

Story by Ruby Ayliffe

Story by Alia Zahirovic

Poem by Bella Miller

Welcome Patrick!

We welcome Patrick to our neighbourhood and the Princes Hill community. Patrick is in his second year of Master of Teaching at Melbourne University and will be teaching the grade 3/4s in neighbourhood 1 on Mondays and Tuesdays for the next 8 weeks and two full weeks after that.

We hope that Patrick will have a productive and enjoyable time at Princes Hill Primary School.

Grade 3/4 Information Night

A reminder that we will be holding an information session for parents of grade 3/4 this Thursday (10th). We will begin by meeting in the new gymnasium at 7:00 PM where teachers across the neighbourhoods will be giving a presentation. We look forward to seeing you there.