Students
Wellbeing & Welfare
Oakleigh South Primary is committed to providing a safe, secure and stimulating learning environment for all students. We understand that students reach their full potential only when they are happy, healthy and safe, and that a positive school culture helps to engage students and support them in their learning.
It was decided in 2022 to introduce The Resilience Project across the whole school from Foundation to Year 6 as part of their Partnership Program. The Resilience Project curriculum was designed by teachers for teachers and aligns with Victorian and Australian Curriculum standards and framework in the areas of Personal and Social Capabilities and the Health and Physical Education.
The program is based on the philosophy that, in order to live a happier more fulfilling life, we need to regularly practise Gratitude, Empathy (kindness) and Mindfulness. Emotional literacy – having self-awareness and recognition of one’s own feelings and knowing how to manage them – is also an integral part of the program. Each week we conduct a formal lesson based on one of these practises and the students complete an entry into their Resilience Journals. The lessons also engage the students in activities such as creating gratitude posters, mindfulness colouring and matching appropriate emotions to different events.
The Resilience Project
The Resilience Project delivers evidenced based practical strategies to build resilience and happiness by focussing on 4 key strategies:
- Gratitude – The act of being thankful and appreciating what you have in life.
- Empathy (Kindness) – The capacity to understand and feel what another person is feeling.
- Mindfulness – The practice of attention regulation.
- Emotional Literacy – The ability to understand and express our feelings.
As a Partnership School, we experience all that the GEM (Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness) journey has to offer by embedding The Resilience Project’s wellbeing curriculum across the whole school community.Teachers, students, parents and carers all receive tailored presentations that teach the GEM Principles, and inspire regular practise. To support long term change and embed mental health strategies all students participate in a weekly Resilience Project lesson, that has been mapped to the Victorian Curriculum.
There are many things that you can do at home to support the mental health and wellbeing of your child.
The Resilience Project
OSPS has been fortunate to be accepted into the beginning introduction of the Resilience Project in 2022. The introduction includes information sessions for students, teachers and parents.
The Resilience Project’s Partnership Program supports the wellbeing of the whole school community and builds a positive school culture.
- First we engage STAFF through professional development presentations, teamed with resources and activities which develop a consistent language and approach.
- We then inspire STUDENTS across all year levels through the delivery of highly engaging presentations.
- And we empower PARENTS AND CARERS with presentations that provide practical strategies to help build their children’s resilience, and improve their own wellbeing.
- Our CURRICULUM supports the ongoing practise of mental health strategies in the classroom with up to 30 year level specific lesson plans outlined in our Teacher Resource and individual Student Journals.
The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence
Each year Oakleigh South Primary has taken part in The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence, which always takes place in March. This is an important day in our school calendar to join over 6500 schools across Australia to say ‘Bullying. No Way!’ We believe that everyone has a role to play for bullying prevention. The NDA promotes school, parent and community partnerships to build safe and supportive learning environments. The NDA is an opportunity for Oakleigh South Primary to deliver the powerful message that bullying is never ok. At Oakleigh South Primary School we encourage students to join the conversation to find positive solutions for bullying prevention. ‘Be a buddy not a bully’. Oakleigh South Primary is an ‘official Bullying, No Way! school’.
Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships
The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships learning materials have been designed for teachers in primary and secondary schools to develop students’ social, emotional and positive relationship skills. Efforts to promote social and emotional skills and positive gender norms in children and young people has been shown to improve health related outcomes and subjective wellbeing. It also reduces antisocial behaviours including engagement in gender-related violence.
The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) learning materials cover eight topics of Social and Emotional Learning: Emotional Literacy; Personal Strengths; Positive Coping; Problem Solving; Stress Management; Help Seeking; Gender and Identity; and Positive Gender Relationships.
Students in Prep to Year 6 engage in RRRR lessons.
Accelerated Reader & Library Searches
Accelerated Reader (AR) drives the practice component of a comprehensive reading program. It promotes personalised practice whilst providing teachers with the data they need to move students toward success. At its heart, AR is simple. Students read a book, take an AR Quiz, and get immediate feedback. Students become excited and motivated when they see their progress. Teachers can easily monitor and manage students’ independent reading practice. Teachers at OSPS will set AR levels and reading goals for students from Year’s 3-6. Students will borrow books from the AR section of the library. Students can search whether books they have at home are an AR book. Please ensure your teacher is aware that you are reading an extra AR book.
A handy link is the AR book finder, www.arbookfind.com.au
Library Should your child wish to search if the OSPS Library has a book or if it is currently on loan or available, please search using this link https://oakleighsouthps.softlinkhosting.com.au/oliver/home/browse/list
School Banking Coordinators (Parent Volunteers)
Book Club
The books span a wide range of children’s reading levels and interests, with prices starting from as little as $1.00. There are also a number of games and learning resources to reinforce your child’s enthusiasm for learning. If you and your child see any items of interest, ordering is easy! The Book Club LOOP platform for parents allows you to pay by credit card. Your child’s order is submitted directly to school safe and sound and the books will be delivered to class.
You can place your child’s order at scholastic.com.au/LOOP or using the LOOP app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. Refer to the procedure page below for more information.
Happy reading!
Anthony Savva, Jessica Gray, Jade Freeman & Sarah Rayment
OSPS Book Club Coordinators
CyberSmart
What is Cyber Smart? Cyber Smart is a national cyber safety and cyber security education program managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), as part of the Australian Government’s commitment to cyber safety. The program is specifically designed to meet the needs of its target audiences of children, young people, parents, teachers and library staff.
- Inform children, young people, parents, teachers and library staff about cyber safety issues
- Educate audiences through information, resources and practical advice
- Empower children and young people to be safe online.
Dress Up Days
OSPS hold several dress up days throughout the year.
Easter Hat Parade Prep – 2
The children delight in wearing an Easter hat to school and proudly showcase their creations and millinary skills at the P-2 Easter Hat Parade. Parent Group organise an Easter raffle that is drawn at this special event.
It is usually on the Thursday of the last week of Term 1, check the calendar for details.
Fairy Tale / Book Week Dress Up Day Prep – 2
Depending on the unit of work, Prep – 2 will dress up in thier favourite characters from a fairy tale or book.
Classroom activites will be completed to support the dress up day.
Farmer Day Year 3
Children in Year 3 all dress up as farmers or something that belongs on a farm!
Linked to their year long unit on Sustainability, children participate in farming activities for the whole day.
Harmony Day P – 6
The children wear orange to celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity. The day is about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. Held every year on 21 March.
The message of Harmony Day is ‘everyone belongs’, the Day aims to engage people to participate in their community, respect cultural and religious diversity and foster sense of belonging for everyone.
Japanese Day P – 6
All children are encouraged to wear something that is related to the country of Japan. Even the teachers get involved. You’ll see traditional kimono, pokemon, martial arts, samurai, sumo, Mario Brothers characters, Dragon Z ball and even children dressed as sushi to name a few.
Footy Day P – 6
Held in the last week of Term 3 and children are asked to wear their favourite sporting team colours, predominantly AFL, although it can be any team from and sport, including sports the children participate in.
The day is celebrated by a parade, followed by kicking competitions and a feature football match between Mr Alston’s All Stars and Mr Rowe’s Renegades.
Fete Dress Up Days. The Fete holds a casual clothes day and a crazy hair day to raise funds or gather donations for a few of the stalls we hold at the Fete.
Extra School Activities
A variety of extra curricular activities are offered by OSPS before school, at play and lunch time and after school. They are organised and supervised by teachers before school, during play and lunch times or after school. Thank you teachers!
CHOIR
Our school choir is made up of students from grades four, five and six. No audition is required to join….just a love of music, especially singing. The group meet every Thursday after school from 3.30pm until 4.30pm in the Senior Performing Arts Room.
Our song choices are influenced by the students themselves as well as the teachers involved but we try to incorporate a wide spectrum of genres. Students have the opportunity to develop skills in harmony, melody and choral choreography as well as opportunities to sing solo. Performances of the choir are an integral part of school assemblies. The choir is often invited to perform at the school fete and a variety of community functions.
RUNNING CLUB
Running Club begins in February training twice a week to prepare all children interested in improving their general fitness, house cross country conditioning and middle distance training for school athletics. Running Club is initially open to any child in Grades 4-6 and then a squad is formed to train specifically for cross country. Running Club continues to support these children through their successful stages leading into State finals.
Running Club also trains students who are competing in middle distance events for athletics. Cross Country Season (February – June) Training times: Monday & Friday 7:30am at school and Bald Hill Park. Athletics Season (July-October) Training times: Monday & Friday 7:30am at school.
Focus areas include; dynamic range of motion warm ups, agility, activation and balance exercises, specific interval training for the event, fun interactive aerobic games, training on the District, Division and State course, breakfast club after each session.
The school supplies all exercise equipment, running uniform and staff. We do ask for a gold coin donation to cover breakfast club at the end of each session.
ROBOCLUB
Once a week, two Year 5 and one Year 6 group of students are involved in a program called RoboClub. This weekly activity is run by Mr Eykman, teachers and industry leaders. It enables students to engage in projects aimed at improving their knowledge of coding, developing engineering skills and working collaboratively through the design process. Students learn through the Lego Ev3 Mindstorms program, and are encouraged to be involved in competitions such as RoboCup.
LIBRARY
Every year level has a weekly library session to borrow books of their choice.
Outside of school times, the library is open every day (except Tuesday assembly days) before school 8.45am – 9.00am and every day after school from 3.30pm – 3.45pm for the 3 – 6 senior grades to change their accelerated readers. Prep – 2 change their reader books in their classrooms every day and change their library books once a week in their class library time.
OSPS is exceptionally lucky to have such a large library filled with lovely books and resources.
ART CLUB
The Art Club is open to all grade 5 and 6 students every Tuesday lunchtime from the second week back.
Art Captains are always in attendance to assist. Students are encouraged to continue working on artworks relating to the year 6 school production however they may also colour and draw independently if they so choose. It is an enriched and productive fun opportunity offered to all students that appreciate the Visual Arts who are able to use their time to create and make in a fun and productive cooperative learning environment.
The school also offers ‘Wool Club’ on a Wednesday lunch time for Year 3s to work on their textile skills. Older students are welcome to come and assist Year 3s at this time.
Leadership
The following leadership positions are offered in Year 6.
School Captains
Vice Captains
House Captains
Sports Captains
Library Captains
Art Captains
Library Captains
Music Captains
ICT Captains
Sustainability Captains
Japanese Captains
Mathletics
Teachers from time to time may set specific maths tasks for students to complete, these tasks will appear for children to complete first when they log in. Children can complete other maths tasks at their level and work through the program at their own pace.
Children who obtain a Bronze or Silver Mathletics Certificate are presented with these at their year level assemblies. Children who obtain a Gold Mathletics Certificate are presented with these at the whole school assembly on Tuesday.
www.au.mathletics.com
myON
Every child in the school is enrolled in the myON news and myON Reader program and each child has an individual username and password. The myON programs are internet based and can be accessed from school and home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Renaissance myON® Reader is a student-centered, personalized literacy environment that gives students access to more than 6,000 enhanced digital books. Titles are dynamically matched to each individual student’s interests, grade and Lexile® reading level. Combined with a suite of close reading tools and embedded supports, myON Reader fosters student engagement and achievement.
Renaissance myON® News, powered by News-o-Matic, delivers age-appropriate digital news articles for students, reporting on timely topics and current events. Articles incorporate engaging multimedia – videos, slideshows and photo galleries – to help students better understand the news. Subjects cover everything from space science and endangered species to football and fashion, engaging even the most reluctant reader.
An accelerated reader (AR) test can be completed at school after reading most myON books.
UNSW Competitions
Oakleigh South PS has been offering its Yr 2 – 6 students the opportunity to participate in the University of NSW Competitions for over 10 years. The school offers tests in English, Spelling, Writing, Mathematics and Science.
Our results are outstanding.
Reading Eggs
ABC Reading Eggs or Reading Eggspress makes learning to read interesting and engaging for kids, with great online reading games and activities. Children love the games, songs, golden eggs and other rewards which, along with feeling proud of their reading, really motivate children to keep exploring and learning.
Children in Prep – 2 are provided with a username and password early Term 1, they may log in at home and complete games and activities.
Student Voice & Agency
Student Agency and Voice which promotes active student participation and provides students with a sense of ownership of their environment. This comes in many forms at OSPS and here are a few examples:
STUDENT VOICE Student Voice is a team of Year 4-6 representatives. In student voice we promote student attendance by presenting the ‘It’s Not Ok to Be Away’ awards fortnightly. We talk about things that are going on in the school, voice any concerns that come up around the school yard and brainstorm ideas to solve them. For example, we are looking at ways to keep our school yard cleaner. We all thoroughly enjoy being involved in Student Voice.
YEAR 4 & PREP BUDDY PROGRAM Students in Year 4 are partnered up with a prep student for the buddy program. They engage in structured activities that promote role modelling and connectedness between the buddies. The Year 4 stduents keep in touch with thier buddy until Year 6.
YEAR 5 PLAYGROUND BUDDIES Students in Year 5 have a chance to put on a yellow flouro vest and be a playground buddy in the Prep to Year 2 playground. They are tasked with assisting younger children to find friends, play games cooperativly and generally help and talk to the tounger stuents in the school.
CAPTAINS In year 6, leadership positions are elected annually. They include School Captains, Vice Captains, House Captians, Music, Art, Sport, STEM, Japanese, Sustainability and Library Captains.
Tigray Fundraising
Why is OSPS helping the Tsefah Primary School?
- More than half the population of Ethipoia do not have access to clean water
- The main health problems are disease and malnutrition
- Access to primary school is limited in urban locations, however this is increasing with help from other countries
- 90% of 7 year olds enrol in primary schools but only about half finish the first year
- An increase in educated people, will help the communities of Ethipoia
Ethiopia in Africa
Ethiopia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north and northeast, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south.
The population is nearly 100 million inhabitants and Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world. It is the second most populous nation on the African continent after Nigeria.
It is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile West, jungles, and numerous rivers.
The capital and largest city is Addis Ababa. Over 90 languages are spoken in Ethiopia and the ancient Ge’ez script, also known as Ethiopic, is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world.
Interesting Facts
- Tigray is a region in the north of Ethiopia, Tsefah is a town in Tigray
- Coffee originated in Ethiopia
- A town called Dallon in Ethiopia is the world’s hottest settlement
- Wild animals that live in Ethiopia include the black rhinoceros, lions, African Elephant, African Wild Dog, Cheetah, Gazele and mouse
- Ethiopia mainly sells cattle, a plant called khat, gold, leather products and oilseeds to other countries
- The most popular meals are various types of thick meat stews, known as ‘wat’ in Ethiopian culture, and vegetable side dishes.
Ethiopian Flag
The colours of the Ethiopian flag all have meaning. The OSPS Dress up for Tigray day, we ask all children to dress in all or some of the colours from the Ethiopian flag.
- Green represents the land
- Yellow stands for peace and hope
- Red is symbolic of strength
- Blue represents peace
- The star represents diversity and unity, and the sun’s rays symbolise prosperity
Flag of Tigray
The Tigray flag is yellow and red. The main language is Tigrinya, although most urban people are also able to speak Amharic, which was taught in schools.
Dress up for Tigray
Proud that our Year 3s in particular and the whole school in general continue to support Tsefah Primary School in Tigray, Ethiopia. $3.50 – the cost of a cup of coffee is all that it takes to send a child to school for a year.
It’s great to see the money we raise reaches the children. Maria Strintzos arranges and delivers the goods, you are an inspiration. OSPS raises around $6000 each year.
Farming in Tigray
Farming is an important part of life. Tigray has about:
- 2,713,750 cattle
- 72,640 sheep
- 208,970 goats
- 1,200 horses
- 9,190 mules
- 386,600 donkeys
- 32,650 camels
- 3,180,240 poultry of all species
- 20,480 beehives (0.47%
Money reaches Tsefah Primary School
It’s great to see the money we raise reaches the children of Tsefah Primary School. Maria Strintzos arranged and delivered the goods, you are an inspiration.
