To download the recent newsletter please click on the link below or continue reading online. Current Newsletter Available for Translation.17th December 2019
News From the North
Dear Parents and Students of the Dandenong North Primary School Community,
As the end of the 2019 school year fast approaches, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff and students for what has been another remarkable year of teaching and learning.
Our school has continued to be a great school and it is thanks to the wonderful school community that we are lucky to have.
At this time, it is important to note that learning does not stop, just because the classrooms are closed. Learning happens every day and you need to be aware of all learning opportunities - whether it be reading at Dandenong Library, shopping at Dandenong Market and making sure you calculate the correct change or just going to a different place which you have not been to before. All of these experiences will be great for the children and they will be able to discuss and explore this further on their return to DNPS.
We wish all of our families a very safe and happy Summer holiday break as we look forward to what 2020 will bring to the school.
UNSW English Testing
At Monday’s final assembly for the year, Mrs Mackay handed out the Merit and Credit certificates achieved by the students who sat the University of New South Wales English test earlier this year. This test is a particularly difficult one which tries to determine the top performers across Australia.
For the first time in many years we had a child that achieved a High Distinction in this test! Akshaj (4H) achieved in the top 5% of all children in Australia who sat this test in Year 4. A truly magnificent effort and one that he and his family should be proud of. Congratulations, Akshaj!
Term 4 ends Friday 20th December - School finishes at 1:30 pm.
Term 1, 2020 begins on Wednesday 29th January
Report Changes
Over the last few weeks, our teachers have been involved in writing individual end of year student reports. These will go home to parents on the final day of school, Friday 20th December.
This year, the format of the report has changed to make it more reader-friendly and easier to understand.
All schools are required to use a five-point rating scale, however it has been decided not to continue to use the A-E rating scale at Dandenong North Primary School. Instead, reports will use the following scale to report your child’s achievement against the Victorian Curriculum state wide standards, and not against other students in your child’s class:
Well Above Standard
Well Above the standard expected at this time
Above Standard
Above the standard expected at this time
At Standard
At the standard expected at this time
Below Standard
Below the standard expected at this time
Well Below Standard
Well Below the standard expected at this time
It is important to still note, that if your child achieves “At Standard” then they are performing at the expected achievement levels for their year level.
Eg. At the Standard for Year 4 when the student is actually in Year 4.
Student reports contain all of the elements of previous years. There will still be a black dot demonstrating which level your child is currently working at and a hollow dot to show what they achieved 12 months ago.
For the subjects of English and Mathematics there will be a written comment from the class teacher, then a new section titled Achievements. This is where the class teacher has used dot points to explain what your child has achieved this year. Lastly, in dot point format again, teachers have listed Future Goals for your child’s next year teacher to work on.
For Specialist subjects such as Physical Education the report now contains a Course Overview instead of the traditional comment. Special comments may be added for students who have completed exceptional work, made fabulous growth with their learning or skill development, or have represented the school in some format.
We believe these changes to the report format will provide a more comprehensive reporting system to showcase your child’s achievements, as well as making it easier for our parent community to understand.
Staff Goodbyes
At this time of year there always seems to be some staff leaving DNPS to continue their career at other educational settings.
Firstly, we have Mr Hardev Singh who will be taking up a team leadership position in Year 5 at Hillsmeade Primary School. Mr Singh has been at Dandenong North for ten years mainly teaching in the Year 1 & 2 levels. Over the past couple of years he has been the Year 2 leader. Mr Singh has a wealth of ICT knowledge and has been of great assistance with the development of the ICT programs and purchasing of equipment. We wish Mr Singh all the best at his new school in 2020!
Ms. Clementine Docherty has been working at Dandenong North for the last two years after regularly being a Casual Relief Teacher. Ms Docherty began working with Mrs Wells’ class in Term 1 2018. Ms. Docherty then replaced Ms. Lyn Macmichael as the Visual Arts teacher for Years 3 to 6. She continued in this role in 2019. Ms. Docherty has taken up a Visual Arts teaching position at Kilberry Valley Primary School for 2020. We wish her all the best for the future!
Miss Rebecca Leicester began her teaching career at Dandenong North this year teaching Year 3. She had a large impact on the delivery of the “Talk For Writing” program, having had experience in this program from her time in Western Australia. Miss Leicester has thoroughly enjoyed her time at DNPS, but has decided to return home to WA to be closer to her family. She has secured a position at a school near Fremantle where she plans to live. Good luck with your Year 3 class next year!
Ms Kirsty Seares has been working at Dandenong North since the beginning of 2018. She has been working in the Physical Education Department of the school working mainly with children in Years Prep - 2. This year she has continued this as well as teaching an ICT familiarisation program for students in Years 1 & 2 developing their keyboard skills and knowledge of Word and Excel. Good luck n your teaching career, Ms. Seares!
Miss Aimee Coffin has worked in Year 6 for the second semester this year. She is on a working holiday in Australia and has decided to continue her travels, heading to Queensland once the school year is over. Miss Coffin has secured a job in Queensland and is looking forward to exploring more of Australia! We thank Miss Coffin for her work with 6K this year!
Whilst it is upsetting to see staff depart - we would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their dedication to ensuring each and every student is provided with the best possible education here at DNPS.
At the final assembly for 2019, Mr Mackay announced the student leadership positions for 2020. It was fantastic to see so many parents at the assembly watching their child receive their badge. As has become a tradition, the current leaders handed over the badges to their incumbents and wished them luck.
We have many children in Year 5 that could have filled these roles and as Mr Hilton said a few weeks back, you don’t need a badge or a title to be a leader. Every child in Year 6 is a leader of Dandenong North Primary School.
At Monday’s assembly, the leadership roles were presented to the following students:
School Captains - Hrishoth (5H) and Zehra M (5CW)
SRC President - Aminah (5F)
School Leadership Team Members:
Chudier (5F), Ibrahim (5CW), Hamidah (5L), Chloe (5H), Yalda (5F), Marko (5H), Ananya (5L) & Sahar (5D)
The House Captains were also announced:
Keys Captains: Ali R (5H) & Fatima R (5F)
Keys Vice Captains: Karlo (5F) & Raeann (5D)
Verey Captains: Bol (5F) & Hoda (5F)
Verey Vice Captains: Revelation (5F) & Aura (5L)
Marsh Captains: Bilal (5D) & Connie (5D)
Marsh Vice Captains: Jayden M (5H) & Isabella (5H)
Leed Captains: Joshua J (5L) & Sandy (5H)
Leed Vice Captains: Amir M (5H) & Madina (5H)
Congratulations to all of our 2020 student leaders!
Another triumphant stage success!! Our annual end of year school concert brings out the best in our students as they confidently strut their stuff on stage, moving to the music and Monday’s event was no exception.
It began with some Preps opening the show with a fabulous performance of “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” - with the excellent elephant, lion and zebra costumes making the stage come alive. Each of the levels enjoyed performing choreographed steps to their chosen music.
There was a good turn out of parents and family members who came to watch the performances and they would have gone home in awe of the performances shown today. Each grade had put in a lot of effort, rehearsing until their routines were flawless and it was a joy to watch.
A big thank you goes to Mr Lodge for his organisation of music. A thank you to Miss Sobia for co-ordinating the acts and also Ms Docherty and Miss Hubert for the Christmas decorations which made the stage look festive.
The Grade Six Certificate Graduation Ceremony was, held today in the hall. It was fantastic to see the hall full of parents and family members eager to witness their child/family member receiving their Certificate of Graduation. This ceremony is a celebration of the achievements of our Year 6 students and the start of a new chapter in their lives, Secondary School.
This year, Mrs Hilton opened the ceremony by welcoming the parents to this event. She then introduced each class into the hall, to the applause of the family members in the crowd. Thenila and Lazar our outgoing School Captains presented an emotional speech to the audience before each individual student was called up to receive their certificate and a small badge.
Mr Mackay then presented the Mackay Medallions, which are named in his honour. These medallions have become a tradition at DNPS and they signify amazing educational, social or emotional growth made by an individual student over the course of the Year 6 school year. The following students received a Mackay Medallion at today’s ceremony:
Abolfazl M (6D), Kesenraj S (6D), Sahar M (6K), Ruth Q (6K), Zulqarnain M (6HK), Vaishnavi D (6HK), Hadia B (6A), Mehdi R (6A), Aqsa A (6L) and Lazar M (6L)
Congratulations to all of the Mackay Medallion winners!
Mr Hilton presented the academic awards to the top performers on the PAT Reading and Mathematics tests. This year there was a tied for the highest achievement for both tests. The awards for Literacy went to Farzaan D (6L) and Bhanu I (6D). For Mathematics the awards went to Siyana D (6A) and Aisha D (6K). Congratulations to all four students.
Mr Malone then presented the School Sports Victoria Sporting Achievement Award. This award has been presented at the Year 6 Graduation for the past seven years. This is a most sought after ward as it is presented to the student who has consistently achieved high levels across all sporting fields. This award was presented to Archit (6K). Congratulations Archit! Mr Malone presented for the last time at a Graduation Ceremony. He presented twenty Malone Medallions. Below are the list of winners:
Farzad B (6L), Lazar M (6L), Sai K (6K), Dak N (6K), Jeremy R (6K), Reza A (6A), Sajoan P (6A), Shavin S (6A), Aliya H (6K), Sahar M (6K), Armeen N (6A), Farzana N (6A), Ruth T (6A), Lusi A (6D), Ashya N (6D), Sehrish N (6D), Susil N (6D), Ruth Q (6K) Fatema M (6A) & Hadia B (6A).
Congratulations to all of the Malone Medallion winners!
Lastly, Mrs Mackay closed the Certificate Day telling the children to take care, look after each and that they are always welcome back to Dandenong North.
Congratulations to all of the award winners and good luck to all of our Year 6 students.
