Penbank Letter Home
A Magnificent Start to 2022
Greetings Penbank families, friends and the Woodleigh School community,
We have been thrilled to welcome you to the new school year. New teachers, new children, staff returning from Maternity Leave, others taking on new roles; it has all added to the excitement for a refreshed start.
As a learning community, we have commenced the year with a clear focus on the school's fundamental belief that we all learn well when we learn by doing and learn by caring.
Learning by doing: children at all levels have actively participated in the school program. Excited by new experiences, specialist classes in Music, Art, Library, PE, Indonesian and Dance and Drama have been approached with enthusiasm. In the classroom, exploring Maths concepts using a variety of materials, or taking responsibility for leading our School Meeting for the first time as a Year 6 student, are all examples of an environment that promotes learning by doing. Our outdoors programs, such as Bush Kinder for our four-year-olds and our first camp to Wilsons Promontory for Year 5 students, have been met with wonder and awe.
Learning by caring, the PYP Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are, explores the nature of self, who and where we are in the world, our beliefs and values, and our relationships, including families, friends, communities, and cultures. At Penbank, 'Who We Are' is where we begin as we learn about each other with genuine care and respect. The Year 6 students recently presented an Expo highlighting their work with this Unit of Inquiry. In addition to documented projects, there were exhibits of whip-cracking by Harry, who would love to be a stockman and demonstrations of gymnastics techniques by Mia and Mia-Bella, to name a few.
Special times are when we can come together and share our learning and experiences. School Meeting, held each Thursday morning, is an important time of the week. It has been my pleasure to work with the Year 6 students who lead School Meeting each week. Thus far, we have congratulated students who have been appointed to Chook Officer positions, have participated in swimming sports (some students moving onto the district level) and performed a musical item or interesting piece of work.
We are looking forward to welcoming parents to School Meeting in the coming weeks.
Overall, it's been an excellent start!
IB – PYP Authorisation
Beginning Monday 28 February, members of the IB organisation will be visiting the junior campuses as we head into the authorisation process in the Primary Years Programme – PYP. This visit will involve classroom observations and meetings with leaders, teachers and students across both campuses throughout Week 5.
A little background info…
IB Mission Statement
The IB develops inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through education that builds intercultural understanding and respect.
The IB organisation works with schools, governments and international organisations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
Woodleigh School began investigating the International Baccalaureate in 2018. It was agreed the principles and values of Woodleigh School could be enhanced through the introduction of the IB at the primary and middle years – Year 7 to Year 9.
Following a rigorous investigation period, implementation commenced in 2019. Jodie Kirchner was appointed to lead the introduction of the IB – Primary Years Program (PYP) to the junior campuses, Penbank and Minimbah. This three-year period is referred to as the candidacy phase, in which the school is required to learn and plan through the PYP Curriculum Framework. Extensive professional learning and implementation occurred throughout this time, and we are now ready for the authorisation that takes place across the junior campuses this week.
Image: IB Learner Profile
Through newsletters and your children, we have introduced you to terms such as Learner Profile and Units of Inquiry. As an example, to commence the year, some groups have been working on the Unit of Inquiry, Who We Are. As learners, children have been investigating the importance of being caring and considerate of others – focusing on the Learner Profile – Caring.
A transdisciplinary approach, the PYP connects learning to include classwork, camps, excursions, School Meeting, events and more. A community of learners, we value the integration of the more conventional disciplines or subjects with organised teaching and learning through real-world problems and connected experiences.
We are excited that we are now at this stage, and I thank Jodie and all staff for their commitment to this ongoing work. It may be a little ahead of time, however, I congratulate you all on what has been achieved through this implementation process of the PYP. A great achievement!
Past students return to the Penbank community
Beginning the year, it was our pleasure to welcome back to Penbank former students, who like their children, are starting out in Early Learning and Prep. I welcome back Jacqui Hamilton (nee Churcher) with Lewis (Prep) and Theo (Early Learning), Candice Hourigan (nee McGaw Prep) with Woody, Vanessa Brodziak (nee Lane) with Augie (Early Learning) and Tim Manuel with Tiger Lily (Early Learning).
It is also our pleasure to welcome Sammy Nutt and Daisy Everett to teaching positions at Penbank. Both Sammy and Daisy commenced Penbank as students in Early Learning, progressing onto the Senior Campus for their secondary education. Sammy is the teacher of one of our Year 6 groups, and Daisy is working in a relief position supporting class programs, camps and other activities. I have very fond memories of these wonderful young people commencing at Penbank as little ones, and it is a delight to see them return in a professional capacity or with their own children.
Many thanks
To all parents and staff, I thank you for supporting us in a very smooth start to the year. Due to COVID, your involvement continues to be somewhat regulated. However, we're extremely grateful to be onsite at Penbank where the children are thriving in the beautiful environment both indoors and out.
The systems in place, including our drop off and collection routines, are working well, and our early finish on Wednesday has likewise run efficiently. In these early weeks of the year, we cannot have parents participating at school, but we are hopeful of a change to this requirement midway through the term.
We will continue to provide you with communications from the school that will include The Messenger – newsletters from the Principal and Heads of Campus and other notices uploaded on the school App. I encourage you to download the Woodleigh App on your phone if you haven't done so already.
Looking forward to continuing exciting times at Penbank.
My warmest regards,
VIVIENNE WEARNE
Deputy Principal – Head of Penbank Campus
The Importance of Belonging at School
As 2021 drew to a close, the focus for children, parents, carers, and educators alike was getting schooling back on track by re-establishing familiar routines, rebuilding social connections, strengthening a sense of belonging, and promoting positive wellbeing.
Here are three reflections from three educational experts from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education who were asked to review the year 2021 and make comment regarding what we’ll need to do next.
DR ANNIE GOWING - Senior Lecturer and Student Wellbeing Specialisation Leader in the Master of Education program
School closures caused by COVID-19 have affected the education and wellbeing of children and young people worldwide; however, those impacts haven’t been experienced in the same way by all, and a more nuanced analysis invites consideration of age, place, community resources, individual and family circumstances and personal histories.
The pandemic has magnified some inequalities and revealed others that may have been previously invisible. Those most affected, including young people with additional learning needs and disabilities, are likely to carry the pandemic wellbeing burden for longer than their less impacted peers.
In viewing the pandemic as a natural disaster, there will be impacts on social-emotional development for all young people. Those living in households and communities with elevated economic and social impacts and those with pre-existing mental health concerns are likely to be more seriously affected. For all, there has been an uplift in uncertainty and anxiety as the predictability, safety and stability of their world has shifted.
The ruptured connections with teachers and peers, particularly those at key transition points like preschool settings into primary school and primary school into secondary school, have translated into a loss of relatedness that will take time to rebuild.
Particular attention needs to be directed to the youngest students who have had their foundational learning in literacy and numeracy disrupted, along with their social development, particularly in forming their student identities.
The duration of these effects will vary, and the capacity of young people to be resilient in the face of these challenges will heavily depend on the capacity of their families, communities, and schools to prioritise restoring wellbeing in the short and longer-term.
Schools will need to hold on to the flexibility and adaptability they discovered over the past two years as their students will require finely calibrated and differentiated interventions to rebuild their socio-emotional and cognitive wellbeing.
The wellbeing of teachers must also be rebuilt as they have endured the same challenges as the whole population but with the additional occupational stress of teaching and supporting their students for extended periods of time in the online environment.
PROFESSOR YONG ZHAO Professor in Educational Leadership & PROFESSOR JIM WATTERSTON Enterprise Professor and Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education
COVID-19 occupied our thoughts this year, but it’s far from the major issue for our children’s futures. To thrive in a world that is drastically transformed by technology and globalisation, children need to become independent, critical, entrepreneurial, creative and collaborative.
When jobs are replaced by machines or outsourced, our children will need to become job creators instead of job finders. We need to rethink the purpose of education: it isn’t to prepare children to be ready for the future because they are the creators of the future.
Our job is to help them develop the skills and perspectives to develop a better future for all human beings.
Education should be a strength-based and passion-driven process to help each child develop their strengths and find their passions. Education should also help each student learn to use their unique talents and passions to serve others and the world.
To create such education is to give children more freedom to exercise their right to self-determination and lead their own education. We need to pay a lot more attention to the growth of children than the content of the curriculum. We should provide a broad and flexible curriculum and engage students in real-life learning on a global scale.
BELONGING AT SCHOOL
Fundamental to getting back on track and in full flow mode as a community where we can all thrive and flourish is our need for belongingness (Maslow & Rogers). As humans, we are motivated to belong, but this will only emerge when we feel safe.
School belonging is underpinned by feelings of being accepted, respected, included, supported and valued by others within the school environment, and it has been well documented that school belonging is both a predictor of academic success and positive wellbeing, and adaptive behaviours.
It is not a surprise that a student’s sense of belonging tends to decrease during “transitions”, and Covid has created more of these moments than ever before and continues to do so whilst perpetuating a landscape of uncertainty that has multiple lenses to it.
Hence, with respect to school belonging, research suggests that the relationships students have with teachers, peers and parents are central to fostering positive connections with the school.
Perhaps camps, activities and extra-curricular opportunities have never been more important or needed. It is these opportunities where we learn more about ourselves and others, what interests we have in common, what are our strengths, how to gain confidence to be who we are, to find the right fit and not to just fit in.
Parents and teachers will need to remain alert (not alarmed), observant (not spying), adaptable and responsive (whilst maintaining clear boundaries) to ensure our young people can thrive as best they can to a range of challenges – not just COVID-19 – in a world that’s found a new way of getting through this unexpected moment in history. We can support our young people, by reminding them of their strengths [albeit] to be brave, kind, curious, forgiving, etc. and encourage perspective, patience, and perseverance when theirs may be limited or wane.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to share information and/or seek advice as needed.
In kindness,
DONNA NAIRN
Director of Counselling
Reference:
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au...
Further resources:
https://woodleigh.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/school-transitions
https://woodleigh.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/resilience
https://woodleigh.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/friendship-belonging
A Conversation on Consent With Chanel Contos
WEDNESDAY 2 MARCH 7PM (VIA ZOOM)
In 2021 Chanel Contos instigated an online petition calling for young women to come forward if subjected to sexual assault while still at school. The petition subsequently went viral, with thousands signing or sharing stories that, in many cases, were deeply upsetting.
Chanel's petition has delivered a change in the way sex education, particularly consent education, is taught in schools. Her broad and strong call for change has made schools and policy-makers reassess their sex and life education curriculum to help protect young people across the nation.
Chanel will join us to share insights into her call for action and offer parents guidance around normalising the topic of consent to ensure all young people experience healthy and respectful relationships.
BOOK NOWThe Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund
Every Victorian child should have access to the world of learning opportunities that exist beyond the classroom. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps ensure that no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. It is part of making Victoria the Education State and the Government’s commitment to breaking the link between a student’s background and their outcomes. \
DOWNLOAD THE INFORMATION FORM HERE
DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM HERE
Have you downloaded the Woodleigh App?
The Woodleigh App is available for Apple and Android devices and it's a great way to access the most up-to-date information about what’s going on or what’s coming up at the three campuses of Woodleigh School. With the ability to receive notifications and filter updates, you can be up-to-date with all the latest Campus news.
DOWNLOAD FROM THE APP STORE DOWNLOAD FROM GOOGLE PLAYCONVEYANCE ALLOWANCE TERM 1 2022
Conveyance Allowance only applies to students attending the Woodleigh Campus located at Langwarrin South and students attending the Penbank Campus located at Moorooduc. These families can get help with the cost of transporting their children to their nearest school or campus. The conveyance allowance is a contribution towards transport costs and is not intended to cover the full cost and is available to students travelling by public transport, private car and private bus.
The Victorian Minister for Education has amended the definition of the closest appropriate school/campus (Instrument of Specification). This may impact some of our families who have been unable to make a claim in the past or deemed ineligible.
Both Woodleigh School and Bayside Christian College are registered the same and classified as same type schools. Therefore, previously if you lived closer to Bayside Christian College you would have been deemed ineligible to receive the conveyance allowance. However, parents can now apply for consideration by providing a “signed letter” to the school why the closest school of the same denomination is not appropriate for their child. You must include your child’s name and demonstrate the below points:
- The student does not belong to, or associate with, the school’s particular religion, or engage in religious activity associated with the school’s religious doctrines; and
- The relevant school’s compulsorily requires its students to engage in religious activity associated with that religion or religious doctrines.
The Department of Education and Training will review individual applications on their merits. Please note that you must still meet the main criteria listed below.
Completed conveyance application forms must be signed by the parent or guardian (page 4) must and submitted to the School.
If you have previously submitted a form and there is no change to mode of transport or address details you are not required to complete a new form for 2022.
New forms must be completed for students attending the School for the first time or existing conveyance allowance claimants who have a change of circumstances affecting eligibility. For example:
- Moving residence or changing their mode of transport;
- Changing schools/campuses. Ie Penbank Campus to Senior Campus
The Department of Education and Training’s main criteria for student eligibility is:
- The School attended is the nearest appropriate school. (or attach a supporting letter as per above)
- The student resides more than 4.8kms from the school by the shortest practicable route.
- Students are of school age 5 – 18 years and enrolled at school for 3 or more days per week.
To apply for a conveyance allowance, parents are required to complete the appropriate forms.
- Travel by contract bus: “Conveyance Allowance Application – Private Bus Travel”
- Travel by myki bus: “Conveyance Allowance Application – Public Transport Travel". Must provide prove of purchase ie copy of receipt or ticket.
- Travel by car: “Conveyance Allowance Application – Private Car Travel” will need to be completed for each student, listing all students travelling in the nominated vehicle.
- Combined travel: Each appropriate form will need to be completed as above, e.g. drive further than 4.8km to catch public transport (Private Car/Public Transport).
Please note for Woodleigh Campus families: If you live within 4.8km of public transport (ie one of our myki buses) and choose to travel by private bus or car you will not be eligible to claim the conveyance allowance.
The School will lodge 4 claims a year (1 per Term) with the Department of Education and Training. The Department will reimburse the school and the allowance will be credited to your fee account in instalments. Completed applications need to be received by Friday March 4 2022 to be included in the first claim.
- Contract Bus Reimbursement is determined on the basis of the shortest practicable route from the student’s residence to the school and not the actual distance travelled in the bus.
- Public Transport The cost of fares are fully refundable.
- Private Car Reimbursement is made on the basis of the one-way distance travelled per vehicle and the number of students in that vehicle. Payment is made to the family operating the vehicle.
If you have any queries please contact Robyn Kent on 5971 6100 or email rkent@woodleigh.vic.edu.au.
As 2021 drew to a close, the focus for children, parents, carers, and educators alike was getting schooling back on track by re-establishing familiar routines, rebuilding social connections, strengthening a sense of belonging, and promoting positive wellbeing.
Here are three reflections from three educational experts from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education who were asked to review the year 2021 and make comment regarding what we’ll need to do next.
DR ANNIE GOWING - Senior Lecturer and Student Wellbeing Specialisation Leader in the Master of Education program
School closures caused by COVID-19 have affected the education and wellbeing of children and young people worldwide; however, those impacts haven’t been experienced in the same way by all, and a more nuanced analysis invites consideration of age, place, community resources, individual and family circumstances and personal histories.
The pandemic has magnified some inequalities and revealed others that may have been previously invisible. Those most affected, including young people with additional learning needs and disabilities, are likely to carry the pandemic wellbeing burden for longer than their less impacted peers.
In viewing the pandemic as a natural disaster, there will be impacts on social-emotional development for all young people. Those living in households and communities with elevated economic and social impacts and those with pre-existing mental health concerns are likely to be more seriously affected. For all, there has been an uplift in uncertainty and anxiety as the predictability, safety and stability of their world has shifted.
The ruptured connections with teachers and peers, particularly those at key transition points like preschool settings into primary school and primary school into secondary school, have translated into a loss of relatedness that will take time to rebuild.
Particular attention needs to be directed to the youngest students who have had their foundational learning in literacy and numeracy disrupted, along with their social development, particularly in forming their student identities.
The duration of these effects will vary, and the capacity of young people to be resilient in the face of these challenges will heavily depend on the capacity of their families, communities, and schools to prioritise restoring wellbeing in the short and longer-term.
Schools will need to hold on to the flexibility and adaptability they discovered over the past two years as their students will require finely calibrated and differentiated interventions to rebuild their socio-emotional and cognitive wellbeing.
The wellbeing of teachers must also be rebuilt as they have endured the same challenges as the whole population but with the additional occupational stress of teaching and supporting their students for extended periods of time in the online environment.
PROFESSOR YONG ZHAO Professor in Educational Leadership & PROFESSOR JIM WATTERSTON Enterprise Professor and Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education
COVID-19 occupied our thoughts this year, but it’s far from the major issue for our children’s futures. To thrive in a world that is drastically transformed by technology and globalisation, children need to become independent, critical, entrepreneurial, creative and collaborative.
When jobs are replaced by machines or outsourced, our children will need to become job creators instead of job finders. We need to rethink the purpose of education: it isn’t to prepare children to be ready for the future because they are the creators of the future.
Our job is to help them develop the skills and perspectives to develop a better future for all human beings.
Education should be a strength-based and passion-driven process to help each child develop their strengths and find their passions. Education should also help each student learn to use their unique talents and passions to serve others and the world.
To create such education is to give children more freedom to exercise their right to self-determination and lead their own education. We need to pay a lot more attention to the growth of children than the content of the curriculum. We should provide a broad and flexible curriculum and engage students in real-life learning on a global scale.
BELONGING AT SCHOOL
Fundamental to getting back on track and in full flow mode as a community where we can all thrive and flourish is our need for belongingness (Maslow & Rogers). As humans, we are motivated to belong, but this will only emerge when we feel safe.
School belonging is underpinned by feelings of being accepted, respected, included, supported and valued by others within the school environment, and it has been well documented that school belonging is both a predictor of academic success and positive wellbeing, and adaptive behaviours.
It is not a surprise that a student’s sense of belonging tends to decrease during “transitions”, and Covid has created more of these moments than ever before and continues to do so whilst perpetuating a landscape of uncertainty that has multiple lenses to it.
Hence, with respect to school belonging, research suggests that the relationships students have with teachers, peers and parents are central to fostering positive connections with the school.
Perhaps camps, activities and extra-curricular opportunities have never been more important or needed. It is these opportunities where we learn more about ourselves and others, what interests we have in common, what are our strengths, how to gain confidence to be who we are, to find the right fit and not to just fit in.
Parents and teachers will need to remain alert (not alarmed), observant (not spying), adaptable and responsive (whilst maintaining clear boundaries) to ensure our young people can thrive as best they can to a range of challenges – not just COVID-19 – in a world that’s found a new way of getting through this unexpected moment in history. We can support our young people, by reminding them of their strengths [albeit] to be brave, kind, curious, forgiving, etc. and encourage perspective, patience, and perseverance when theirs may be limited or wane.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to share information and/or seek advice as needed.
In kindness,
DONNA NAIRN
Director of Counselling
Reference:
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au...
Further resources:
https://woodleigh.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/school-transitions
https://woodleigh.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/resilience
https://woodleigh.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/friendship-belonging
WEDNESDAY 2 MARCH 7PM (VIA ZOOM)
In 2021 Chanel Contos instigated an online petition calling for young women to come forward if subjected to sexual assault while still at school. The petition subsequently went viral, with thousands signing or sharing stories that, in many cases, were deeply upsetting.
Chanel's petition has delivered a change in the way sex education, particularly consent education, is taught in schools. Her broad and strong call for change has made schools and policy-makers reassess their sex and life education curriculum to help protect young people across the nation.
Chanel will join us to share insights into her call for action and offer parents guidance around normalising the topic of consent to ensure all young people experience healthy and respectful relationships.
BOOK NOWEvery Victorian child should have access to the world of learning opportunities that exist beyond the classroom. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps ensure that no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. It is part of making Victoria the Education State and the Government’s commitment to breaking the link between a student’s background and their outcomes. \
The Woodleigh App is available for Apple and Android devices and it's a great way to access the most up-to-date information about what’s going on or what’s coming up at the three campuses of Woodleigh School. With the ability to receive notifications and filter updates, you can be up-to-date with all the latest Campus news.
DOWNLOAD FROM THE APP STORE DOWNLOAD FROM GOOGLE PLAYConveyance Allowance only applies to students attending the Woodleigh Campus located at Langwarrin South and students attending the Penbank Campus located at Moorooduc. These families can get help with the cost of transporting their children to their nearest school or campus. The conveyance allowance is a contribution towards transport costs and is not intended to cover the full cost and is available to students travelling by public transport, private car and private bus.
The Victorian Minister for Education has amended the definition of the closest appropriate school/campus (Instrument of Specification). This may impact some of our families who have been unable to make a claim in the past or deemed ineligible.
Both Woodleigh School and Bayside Christian College are registered the same and classified as same type schools. Therefore, previously if you lived closer to Bayside Christian College you would have been deemed ineligible to receive the conveyance allowance. However, parents can now apply for consideration by providing a “signed letter” to the school why the closest school of the same denomination is not appropriate for their child. You must include your child’s name and demonstrate the below points:
- The student does not belong to, or associate with, the school’s particular religion, or engage in religious activity associated with the school’s religious doctrines; and
- The relevant school’s compulsorily requires its students to engage in religious activity associated with that religion or religious doctrines.
The Department of Education and Training will review individual applications on their merits. Please note that you must still meet the main criteria listed below.
Completed conveyance application forms must be signed by the parent or guardian (page 4) must and submitted to the School.
If you have previously submitted a form and there is no change to mode of transport or address details you are not required to complete a new form for 2022.
New forms must be completed for students attending the School for the first time or existing conveyance allowance claimants who have a change of circumstances affecting eligibility. For example:
- Moving residence or changing their mode of transport;
- Changing schools/campuses. Ie Penbank Campus to Senior Campus
The Department of Education and Training’s main criteria for student eligibility is:
- The School attended is the nearest appropriate school. (or attach a supporting letter as per above)
- The student resides more than 4.8kms from the school by the shortest practicable route.
- Students are of school age 5 – 18 years and enrolled at school for 3 or more days per week.
To apply for a conveyance allowance, parents are required to complete the appropriate forms.
- Travel by contract bus: “Conveyance Allowance Application – Private Bus Travel”
- Travel by myki bus: “Conveyance Allowance Application – Public Transport Travel". Must provide prove of purchase ie copy of receipt or ticket.
- Travel by car: “Conveyance Allowance Application – Private Car Travel” will need to be completed for each student, listing all students travelling in the nominated vehicle.
- Combined travel: Each appropriate form will need to be completed as above, e.g. drive further than 4.8km to catch public transport (Private Car/Public Transport).
Please note for Woodleigh Campus families: If you live within 4.8km of public transport (ie one of our myki buses) and choose to travel by private bus or car you will not be eligible to claim the conveyance allowance.
The School will lodge 4 claims a year (1 per Term) with the Department of Education and Training. The Department will reimburse the school and the allowance will be credited to your fee account in instalments. Completed applications need to be received by Friday March 4 2022 to be included in the first claim.
- Contract Bus Reimbursement is determined on the basis of the shortest practicable route from the student’s residence to the school and not the actual distance travelled in the bus.
- Public Transport The cost of fares are fully refundable.
- Private Car Reimbursement is made on the basis of the one-way distance travelled per vehicle and the number of students in that vehicle. Payment is made to the family operating the vehicle.
If you have any queries please contact Robyn Kent on 5971 6100 or email rkent@woodleigh.vic.edu.au.