07 Newsletter 2014

Gilson College
370 Bridge Inn Road, Mernda Vic 3754
P: 9717 7300 www.gilson.vic.edu.au
Mer nda
14 March 2014
Term 1
Week 7
Coming dates/events 2014
Sun 16 Mar
Weetbix TRYathlon - Geelong
Sun 16 Mar
WORKING BEE 8:30am-12:30pm
Wed 19 Mar
Athletics Carnival - Year 7
Wed 19 Mar
Public Information Night
Acacia Room - 7:00pm
Thur 20 Mar
ASV Sports Day Years 1-3
Tue 25 Mar
P&F Movie Night - Years F-2
25-28 Mar
Year 7 Camp - Halls Gap
Wed 2 April
Parent Teacher Interviews
Thur 3 April
House Cup Competition
Thur 3 April
End Term 1
Tue 22 April
Term 2 Commences
Fri 25 April
ANZAC Day Holiday
28-30 April
Year 5 Camp - Sovereign Hill
Tue 29 April
ASV Sports Day Years 4 & 6
Working Bee
this Sunday
8:30am - 12:30pm
Newsletter #07
Delahey
Editorial
Recently I was walking along the west bank of the Maribyrnong River when I came across a
memorial in a shelter. It was there to commemorate the work of the Irish women who first
settled and farmed the Maribyrnong Valley and one name that caught my eye was Mary
Delahey (nee Dodd).
It appears that the Dodd and Delahey families were early pioneers in the western districts of
the Melbourne area. Mary and her husband, Henry, migrated to Australia in 1840 from Ireland with three children and then
soon after set up their home. Six more children were born here in Australia and they began to carve out a life in their new
country. However, tragedy was to strike in 1851 when Henry, a carpenter, was killed as his cart overturned with a load of
timber from Melbourne. Mary as a widow with a large family continued the work on her own and eventually owned around
1000 acres in the valley area.
Today we have just a few reminders of the hard work of these pioneers. The suburb of Delahey (adjacent to our Taylors Hill
campus) was named after one of Mary’s sons William Delahey, who was just a baby when the family arrived from Ireland.
Brimbank Park and a few nearby ruins remain as evidence of the hard working people who settled in the district.
Today the Western Ring road cuts through these former large properties and tens of thousands of motorists flash past the
remains of drystone walls oblivious to the hard and courageous work that was the daily routine of the pioneers.
Are there untold stories from your family and the past? What stories would your grandparents or your parents tell you if the
television or computer was put to sleep for while?
This reminds me of Moses who wrote thousands of years ago:
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you
sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands
and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Moses repeated these comments again in Deuteronomy 11:18-20 – perhaps the repetition was necessary to underline the
importance of what he was saying. Today we seem so busy that we fail to share or learn the important things because they are
crowded out of our lives by trivial time wasters. When we understand the past, it can help us make sense of the present and be
inspired to tackle the future.
It’s worth a thought.
Mark B Vodell
Principal
Gilson College
Mer nda
Public Information Night
Enrolments for next year are coming in on a regular basis
so tell your family, friends and neighbours about our
Public Information Night
on
Wednesday 19th March at 7:00pm.
Invite them to attend and learn all about our College, the
programs we run, our class set up, ethos and
expectations.
Teaching staff contact emails:Mrs Helen Jakupec: [email protected]
Mrs Maria Simon: [email protected]
Mr Ryan Starrett: [email protected]
Mr Israel Best: [email protected]
Mrs Dee Wilson: [email protected]
Mrs Narelle Milekic: [email protected]
Miss Natalie Thomas: [email protected]
Mrs Cherie Keath: [email protected]
Mrs Kathy Oemcke: [email protected]
Mrs Laurelle Wallis - Reception: [email protected]
Learning Strategies Centre
The purpose of the Learning Strategies Centre (LSC) is to assist teachers and students
with learning strategies. Currently we are working with the Taylors Hill Campus to
establish a Mernda Campus program. The coordinator, Mrs Jayne Dold and our support
teacher, Mrs Carolyn Attard are constructing a program in which the individual needs of
each student are discussed with the teachers and the Leadership Team.
Testing by professionals is arranged by the LSC team and Funding applications are
prepared on behalf of the students and parents. The team endeavours to keep abreast
of any new developments or programs that may advance the learning of their students
by regularly attending professional development sessions.
This year already Miss Thomas has attended the first Module of the Feuerstein Program
which targets the building up of cognitive functions such as analytical perception,
comparisons, orientation in space, defining a problem, and building strategies; valuable
skills for all students. In addition, our two teacher aides, Mrs Cutler and Mrs Mann,
along with Mrs Keath, Ms Thomas and Mrs Simon have started a Bridges Literacy and
Numeracy course which will assist students who can benefit from extra literacy or
numeracy support.
School Fee Accounts
Thank you to all those families who have their fee
accounts up-to-date.
Should you have money outstanding for this
term please attend to this matter ASAP.
You need to have all Term 1 fees finalised by the
end of next week, prior to Term 2 fees
being posted out.
Thank you, in advance
Gilson College
Mer nda
Years 1-2 Excursion to the Melbourne Museum
‘My Grandmother’s Toy Box’
Last Tuesday Year 1-2 had the opportunity to
travel back in time and learn about the toys
their grandparents used to play with.
The
excursion was to the Melbourne Museum,
where students were able to visit a range of
exhibits, including 'My Grandmother’s Toy Box’.
"I liked the dinosaur bones I saw. I liked
seeing the toys my grandmother might have
played with.” - Jeremy
“I liked playing with the toys and the
puppets.” - Abbie
"I enjoyed playing on the Sea Lions. I liked
looking at the box (Brownie) camera and I
liked seeing the different outfits of the paper
dolls.” - Keletso
Gilson College
Mer nda
World’s Greatest Shave
They say a "change is as good as a holiday”. Mr Best, William and Kane do not need a holiday, they have had a big change. Gilson College has experienced two weeks of fund-­‐raising and we greatly appreciate the effort and leadership that our men, young and old, have made in regards to making a difference in a naFon wide event. Combined, they have raised over three and half thousand dollars. Thank you to every giving and compassionate heart. se
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Gilson College
Mer nda
Message from the local Police
Working Bee
jobs
for this
sunday
“Just a note to advise that we are seeing an increase
in bicycle thefts from within the area. Please see the
attached flyer regarding bicycle security. Most of the
recent thefts occurred when bikes have been left
unattended for short periods of time at shops or other
public locations.”
* planting seedlings in the planter boxes
* cleaning window ledges
* pruning bushes
* leveling pavers on walkway - Junior School to Admin
building
* whipper snipping
* weeding - all garden beds
* de-cobwebbing
* watering fruit trees
* painting handrail - The Village
Remember, your own equipment will add extra time to your hourly total.
Bring your pruners, whipper snipper, long handled cobweb broom, long
handled shears etc.
See you on Sunday morning!
Wishing Kane, Evie, Jamie and Amelia the
best of luck at the Geelong Weetbix
TRYathlon this Sunday, 16th March.
Canteen helpers
We are looking for a few more volunteers for
Canteen Duty each Friday during Term 2:
Duty runs from 9:30am to 1:00pm.
Just a few more dates left to complete the term.
Please drop in at the Office or call to register a
date that suits you.
Gilson College
Mer nda
Foundation Excursion
uniform shop
winter fit-out
Please make your
appointment
and save ‘waiting time’
If you are wanting to do a winter fit-out for
your child prior to the end of this term you
will need to make an appointment with the
Uniform Staff or at the Office so we do not
have a rush in the last week of term.
Please see Mrs Wallis or Bek Armstrong
in the Uniform Shop to set an
appointment time on a TUESDAY
afternoon.
There are only three (3)
Tuesday’s left!
You are welcome to leave an order with
the Office
with name, sizes, quantity and payment in
an envelope if you cannot get to the Shop
on Tuesdays. Your order will be ready the
following day.
On 6th March, Foundation students visited the Melbourne Museum to discover what is different and what is the same in our families comparing times gone by and our families today.
On arrival students had the pleasure of exploring an area known as the Children’s Gallery. They were able to expend some energy while exploring exhibits of animals, dress ups, building blocks and more.
We then visited Grandma’s Toy Box. This is the story of a girl who is at home sick for one day and her mother shares with her the story of Grandma’s toy box. Toys have been kept for Eive generations and although some are the same as today such as Barbies, some are quite different, such as a ball made of possum fur from a long time ago.
Our last activity was to visit ‘First People’s’ exhibit which is a display that tells the story of Victorian Aboriginals. This gave us the opportunity to see the culture from within their large extended families as well as artefacts from Aboriginal History.
Some of the highlights of the day were to see Phar Lap, an old fashioned house, a very old movie in a mini-­‐theatre, as well as the motorised bird in the First People’s exhibit.
The children were also privileged to see the eels being fed as a bonus. Overall we had a very interesting day with lots of fun and much to see.