What a fantastic time our campers are having at Doxa Camp at Malmsbury!  It has been a little bit chilly but luckily the rain has stayed away and students have been participating in a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities. See below for some images. Our campers are due back at school before the end of the school day on Wednesday.

The Prep/One Investigations Inquiry for this term focuses on the concept of interdependence, how a community functions effectively and what part each individual plays in it. Students will develop an understanding about ‘What is a Community?’ and ‘Who works in our Community to help us? ‘

Students will explore who they are, where they live, who is important to them and the role they can play to support their community.

Today we were extremely lucky to have Lucy from Fitzroy Vet Hospital come and visit us and explain the role a Vet nurse and Veterinary doctor has in looking after our animals.

The students had written inquiry questions such as ‘What are the different ways a Vet helps animals?’ Which Lucy answered with expert knowledge!!

If you would like to know more about our visitors please go to http://fitzroyvet.com.au

We have had such a busy term - Education Week, a number of
excursions, the swimming program and 90th Birthday celebrations to name but a few of the many activities that have occurred over the last 10 weeks. 

In addition of course we had the daily fantastic efforts of our students as part of their everyday classroom learning. Well done everyone for your fantastic efforts this term! 

We look forward to seeing more switched on learning in Term Three.
 
Have a great holiday!

A reminder that school finishes for the term this Friday at 2.30pm.  School will commence again for Term Three on Monday July 14th.

Student reports will be sent home on Wednesday July 16th and Parent Teacher Interviews will be held on Tuesday July 22nd.

The school was rocking on Monday this week when instrumental students and staff from Thornbury High School paid a visit to the school.  They played for us for nearly an hour and it was great to see students and staff up and dancing and enjoying the show. 

Thanks to THS for arranging the visit and a special thanks to the band for playing a little longer then epxcted so that our student that had just returned from swimming were able to enjoy some of the performance. We look forward to the band visiting us again soon.

The smell of baking ANZAC biscuits filled the corridors of Pender's Grove on Thursday as classrooms participated in special activities to remember ANZAC Day and the many people that have been and continue to be affected by war and conflict.

ANZAC day badges are available through our school office and proceeds go to support the important work of Legacy. Legacy is a charity providing services to Australian families during or after a family member's defence force service.

It was an emotional assembly last Friday as we bid goodbye to Jeff and Damian both of whom are moving on to new challenges from Term 2.  We will miss them both trem

Thanks to both of them for their hard work and commitment to Pender's Grove during Term One.  Thanks too to Jeff for his work at Pender's Grove over many years and we wish him well in his new challenge as Assistant Principal at Rosanna Primary School. 

News regarding new teachers for both 23D and 34J will be posted here as soon as possible so keep checking back for updates!

It’s finally on,  the challenge is now open.  Students will be issued a challenge Permission Form and reading log shortly.  The challenge has a mascot this year called ‘Lachlan the Dog’. To find out what is new in 2014 with the Reading Challenge or to learn a little more about Lachlan click on his picture.. 

Year 3 students gathered today to watch some news of the latest reports from The Philippines. Here is a summary of what they learned by the students themselves.

Typhoon Haiyan
The typhoon destroyed houses and is considered one of the worst storms of the century. It struck the Philippines and continued its journey to Vietnam. The worst of the winds reached 315kms per hour.

Devastating Destruction
The typhoon quickly destroyed 80% of neighbourhoods. People sheltered wherever they could, even on rooves. It killed thousands and left many injured. Large waves destroyed coastal areas.

Difficulties
Groups have been working hard to clean up the roads, airports and communities. People from around the country and the world (eg. the Red Cross) have been going to help care for people. There have been difficulties for people finding shelter. Evacuation centres have been set up. Food and water are scarce.

Responding at Pender's Grove
At Pender's people have donated a gold coin during an out of school uniform day. Students have also had a jellybean, marsh mellow and lolly snake guessing competition. All the money raised will go to the Red Cross to help the recovery process in The Philippines. A great thanks to students in 12F and the senior grades who supported the day.