National Volunteer Week is the annual celebration to acknowledge the generous contribution of our nation’s volunteers. At Coromandel Valley Primary School we are fortunate to have many community members who willingly give their time to help our students connect with a range of different learning and sporting opportunities. Many of the programmes we offer are enriched by the support of amazing volunteers .

Thank you to all school volunteers for the vital role you play each and every day, and for making our school community a caring and rich place for learning.

Next week we will acknowledge our volunteers at the Monday assembly and also at a morning tea during the week.

Liz Pelling

Recently some of our students were involved in developing a film at Colebrook Reconciliation Park. All schools in the  Mitcham Hills Partnership were invited to send students to be filmed participating in a range of activities organised by the Blackwood Reconcilition Group.

Thanks to Kylie Gardner for organising this opportunity for our students and her ongoing work to promote Aboriginal education and Reconcilition. Congratualtions to the following students who took part in this project Amber R, Callum B, Joseph S, Owen G, Taylor H, Charlotte G, Hannah S, Clare C and Keanu R. Please see the letter below from the Blackwood Reconcilition Group.

This week we fondly farewell Judy Merry and thank her for her years of service to Coro primary through the Kid’s Hope Australia Program. Judy’s own children attended Coro primary and as a retired school teacher, she jumped at the opportunity to work with school children through the Kid’s Hope Australia mentoring program. Affectionately known as ‘Merry’ to her students, Judy has supported many Coro students over the years. She has found it to be a very interesting and rewarding experience and has enjoyed seeing her students graduate from primary school as happy, confident young people.

 

Judy recently turned 80 and after moving house made the difficult decision to officially retire from Kid’s Hope. She looks forward to spending quality time with her husband, going for walks with their golden retriever and enjoying time with her children and grandchildren. 

We thank Judy for making a difference to the well-being of so many students and we wish her well. 

Jenny Tucker

Co-ordinator LAP and Kid’s Hope

Maths at home

Remember to use any opportunity at home to continue developing maths skills. Click on the link below for some great ideas from the Victorian Education website. 

http://numeracyguidedet.global2.vic.edu.au/numeracy-at-home/

 Salute

You need: three people and a deck of cards (picture cards removed). 

Shuffle the cards and place them face down in the middle of a table. Two people pick up one card each (without looking at the number) and place them on their foreheads. The third person adds the two cards together and calls out the total. 

The two players look at each other's card and with their knowledge of addition they can work out what the number on their forehead should be. 

For example the players pick up the cards 6 (player 1) and 7 (player 2) and place them on their forehead (no peeking). The third player calls out 13 (because that’s the total of 6 plus 7). Total is 13. 

Player 1 looks at the 7 on player 2’s forehead and can ask themselves “7 plus what equals 13”. Player 1 calls out 6. 

Player two discovers 6 add what equals 13 and calls out 7. 

There are no winners or losers in this game. We are just trying to be accurate and improve automatic recall of basic facts. 

Mike Shaw

Reminder next Wednesday 26th May is school photos. 

The last chance to order sibling photos is at midnight 24/5 (Monday night).  Sibling envelopes are available from the office.

Most parents want to help their child achieve a healthy balance in their online and offline activities.  The website of the eSafety Commissioner is a great resource for parents, containing many informative articles and links. The link provided below is for parents and carers, covering online time in general. 

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/big-issues/time-online

How much time is too much? 

There is no magic figure. The right amount of screen time can depend on a range of factors like your child’s age and maturity, the kind of content they are consuming, their learning needs and your family routine. 

It can be easy to focus only on the clock, but the quality and nature of what they are doing online, and your involvement, are just as important. 

Consider your child’s screen use in the context of their overall health and wellbeing. For example, is online time getting in the way of their sleep and exercise? Is it impacting on their face-to-face connections with family and friends? The answers to these questions will guide you and help strike the right balance of online and offline activities for your child. 

Signs to watch for: 

Signs that your child’s online activity may be having a negative impact on them or on your family include: 

* less interest in social activities like meeting friends or playing sport 

* not doing so well at school
* tiredness, sleep disturbance, headaches, eye strain
* changes in eating patterns
* reduced personal hygiene
* obsession with particular websites or games
* extreme anger when being asked to take a break from online activity
* appearing anxious or irritable when away from the computer/device
* becoming withdrawn from friends and family 

Unwanted Contact on Online Games 

Socialising online can be a great way for children to build friendships, but it can also put them at risk. Unwanted contact is any type of online communication that your child finds unpleasant or upsetting, or that leads them into a situation where they may be unsafe. This can happen even if they initially welcomed the contact. It can come from strangers, online ‘friends’ your child has not met face-to- face, or from someone they actually know. 

How to deal with unwanted contact 

If someone is contacting your child and this contact is unwanted or makes them feel uncomfortable, here are some things you can do to help: 

* Make their accounts private
* Delete contacts they don’t really know
* Report and block
* Delete requests from strangers
* Stay involved in your child’s digital world
* Build an open trusting relationship
* Help your child to protect their privacy
* Teach your child to be alert to signs of inappropriate contact 

For further information on how to keep your child safe with online games and social media use the following links: 

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/big-issues/unwanted-contact

https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide

Mike Shaw
Assistant Principal - Innovative Teaching and Learning

On Wednesday May 5, the students in Year 3 had the opportunity to learn from Alan Griffiths, from the Australian Museum of Childhood. Alan brought his phenomenal collection of toys to the school gym and each class spent a lesson exploring the toys, how they worked and the history behind their development.

Following the class visits, students met altogether for a conference where they learned about the scientific principles behind some basic toys. They also learned some interesting facts about how play has changed over time. This incursion made connections to their current Unit of Inquiry into how play changes across time and location.

As part of our unit of inquiry into exploration we visited the Migration Museum and Art Gallery. At the Migration Museum we participated in a session – First Contacts. This program focussed on the lives of children both pre and post colonization in South Australia. At the Art Gallery students had a guided tour where they explored the history, stories and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. Students saw a diverse range of historic and contemporary works of art.

Mr Gully & Mr Murphy

Yr4 Teachers

Did you know that on a Tuesday and a Wednesday lunch time I run activities in the LAP room (Turner Building).

Open to any year level, Tuesday is colouring and Wednesday is Lego building.

Check out some of the creations made so far this term.

Jenni Forder

Pastoral Care Worker

Oliphant Science AwardsJust a reminder if you are interested in submitting an entry into the Oliphant Science Awards your registration form needs to delivered to the front office or to Mrs Todd by Thursday 27 May 2021.

Registration forms can be found at the front office, or email Sarah.Todd476@schools.sa.edu.au for a registration form or to ask for more information on the categories. Oliphant Science Awards Registration Form.pdf

Congratulations to the following students for being selected to play in one of the Southern Heights district sporting teams:

Chelsea G and Erin B – Netball

Harley H – Australian Football

We wish them and their teams well as they compete against the other South Australian districts next month.

It was perfect weather today to play Netball and our Year 6 and 7 girls had a great time competing against Westbourne Park and Edwardstown Primary School at Edwardstown. Our Year 6 team comfortably won both of their games and will progress through to the next round. Our year 7 team played with great effort but the other teams were too good for them on the day and they will not progress to the next round.

Big thanks to Ms Hiser and Mr DeLyster for coaching the girls and also to the parents who supported with transport and encpouraging our players.

Well done to all of the Cross Country runners who competed at the District Carnival at Belair National Park.

10 year olds: Emma C, Zara F, Andi O, Miles G, Peter B, Souna N, Fletcher H, Joel Z, Harry G, Eamonn B, Leo K, Lucas T, Nicholas J.

11 year olds: Lily Z, Phoebe W, William C, Liam Q, Vin P, Elliot J, Flynn F, Lucas M, Kalem W, Aston F, Conor O.

12 year olds: Poppy T, Luke Z, William B, Charles M, Jess B, Zak S.

13 year olds: Scott L, Hunter F.

At this carnival students run a challenging 3km course (2km for the 10 year-olds) up and down hills and over a wide variety of terrain, including grass, gravel, dirt, and asphalt trails.

Congratulations to both William C and Emma C who placed who finished 4^th in their age groups. William and Emma have now been invited to represent Southern Heights District at the State Championship event at Oakbank Race Course next month.

All of our runners showed great effort and should be proud of their achievements.

A big ‘thank you’ to Corina Z and Rachel Q for assisting with finish line marshalling throughout the day and also to Vicky for helping with organisation and supervision.

Mr De Lyster

PE Teacher

Coromandel Valley Primary School families and students are invited to join the Blackwood Reconciliation Group’s Reconciliation Walk on Sunday, 30 May. We hope to have many in our school community walk with our school banner to show our support for Reconciliation. Meet at the Blackwood Roundabout at 11:15am to start walking at 11:30am. The walk goes down Shepherd’s Hill Road to Colebrook Reconciliation Park, feel free to bring a picnic lunch and stay to explore the park.