17 August 2016

Newsletter 14/2016





Principal’s Report



Morning Tea with the Principal




As principal it is important to me that I find as much time as I can to talk with students. I like to walk around the classrooms as often as I can and head outside before and after school. I have also introduced ‘Morning Tea with the Principal’ these last two weeks. This is a special way that I am able to get to know individual students, as well as recognise and congratulate them on their special achievements.



During the week teachers and ES staff can award students for their achievements in the classroom and in the yard – whether this be working hard to achieve a learning goal, displaying one of our school values, helping a fellow student out and being a caring citizen – staff will award students with an entry to go into the draw for a special morning tea with myself. The draw will occur at assembly each Friday afternoon.



Morning tea will be scheduled for a Tuesday most weeks at recess time.


This has been a lot of fun and I am looking forward to many more morning tea ‘dates’!

 These last two weeks I have had the pleasure of the company of:

Baylin 4B; Olivia 3G; Siena 2UO; Harley 5/6R; Charlotte 5/6L; Annika 1B

Stratos 1O;  Summer 1O;  Talia 3G;  Shaedyn 5/6L;  Mia 5/6R

 

Building Works Update

I must say we are VERY excited that the start of our building works has begun! You may have noticed our builders have popped up fencing which sections off some of the staff carpark to allow for their skip, cars, tools and trucks to come in and out with ease. We have a make-shift staff carpark next to the junior playground to enable staff parking through the building works time. Fencing separates the building works area and the student toilets, also enabling safe work practices for the builders and safe entry and exit for students to the toilet block at this stage. The fencing area has made it a little tricky for entry and exit to Before and After School Care – thank you very much for your patience in the detouring at the moment – it will all be worth it in the long-run! We look forward to sharing building updates and progressive photographs as we move along – watch out for updates on our Facebook Page as well!

 

3/4 Camp

We hope that all families with campers are going Ok without your resident 3/4 child at home! Did we hear some sighs of relief at all??? We have heard they are all having a fantastic time! Won’t be long and they will all be home happy, tired and with lots of memories to share with you!

Acacia Avenue Kindergarten

Kingston Council have been in discussion with Acacia Avenue Kindergarten, the Education Department and Mentone Park PS about a proposal to redevelop Acacia Avenue Kindergarten at Mentone Park Primary School. Kingston Council acknowledge the need to upgrade the Acacia Ave kindergarten building due to aging building structures, and also extend the size of the kindergarten to allow for increased numbers of children. All key stakeholders came together recently to discuss the proposal of redeveloping the kindergarten on MPPS site, with these key points coming from the meeting:

  • That the proposed project would contribute to high educational outcomes for local children and families continue to develop the strong sense of community within the Mentone Park area

  • That in support of this proposal the Kingston Council would submit a Capital Grant application, and that if successful would enable this project to go ahead on agreeance from all key stakeholders

  • That the possible location of the proposed kindergarten on Mentone Park PS is still in discussion stages

The opportunities that this proposal would result for our school and MPPS students is endless and we look forward to what the future will hold in continuing to build strong relationships with Acacia Avenue Kindergarten should this venture be successful.
The grant application for Kingston Council is due mid August. I look forward to sharing more exciting updates of this proposal as we know further information. Please do not hesitate to contact the school should you have any questions or queries about this proposal.
 
NAPLAN results
We received our student Grade 3 and 5 individual NAPLAN results late yesterday. NAPLAN is a National Assessment Program and tests students in key areas in literacy and numeracy and provide parents, teachers and the school a snapshot of how students are progressing. Individual student NAPLAN results will be sent home with students on Wednesday. Accompanying your child’s results will also be an information card to assist parents in interpreting your child’s results. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher should you have any questions or concerns you would like to talk about.
It is also really important to remember when looking at your child’s results that these are a ‘snapshot’ for your child’s learning and do not take into account any of the other factors that go into measuring student growth that on-going teaching and learning takes into account by your child’s teachers.
The other thing that NAPLAN DOES NOT MEASURE is what makes each student exceptional and unique. NAPLAN results DO NOT MEASURE or TELL US that some students like to sing, are good at drawing, or that some students show their learning well through using hands-on resources. NAPLAN DOES NOT TELL US that some of our students are funny and make us laugh, that some students have unique inquiry skills or that they look after their friends. NAPLAN DOES NOT TELL US that some of our students are amazing helpers for our younger students, or that they are terrific help around the home for their parents and that they are an amazing big brother or big sister. NAPLAN DOES NOT TELL US how each student will be remembered by their teachers when they leave us at the end of Grade 6 or what each student will go on and flourish in when they are older.
So whilst we want and know that all of our Year 3 and Year 5 students will and have tried their very best to excel on their NAPLAN tests, when you are looking at your child’s results take a moment to remember that these results do not tell us who each child actually ‘is’!
 
Pre-school Mini Concert

On Monday afternoon we had the pleasure of Acacia Avenue Pre-school and Creative Beginnings Early Learning and Kindergarten joining us for a pre-prep mini-concert put on by all of our junior school and hosted by our School Captains, Daisy and George. It was a lovely way to welcome potential prep enrolments for next year into our school and to showcase the wonderful singing talent of our students. I would like to thank Daisy and George for their wonderful hosting, and I am glad they too are not sure about putting frogs into microwaves (if you would like more information on this, kindly see Mrs O’Neill and Mrs Arentz and the grade one children – and ask them to sing you their VERY interesting song!).
 
Book Fair
Our Book Fair begins next week, Monday 22nd – Thursday 25th. We hope that you are able to take advantage of the times 8 – 9am or 3.30 – 4.30pm on these days and come along and have a browse and purchase some of the exciting books selling during these times. There is nothing better than the look and smell of a new book!
 
Stranger Danger
Wednesday afternoon we placed a Tiqbiz message out alerting parents that a group of students was approached by an unknown man who started a conversation with them over the fence. The students were quick to act and followed the correct procedures, notifying the yard duty teacher. Our staff has all been notified to be vigilant whilst on yard duty. The school is also in the process of rolling out its “Feeling Safe Together” program.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions, through the front office on 9583 4935.


Trivia Night



Well what a marvelous night we all had! Another huge thank you again to our amazing PFA members who worked so hard in organising such a successful night!
 A very special thank you to Dana Pritchard and Jenny Martin for being our hosts for the evening, the night ran like clockwork!












2017 Prep Students


The time of year is soon near us where schools need to begin their next year planning structures around classes and staffing. To be able to do this effectively it is really important as a school that we know our expected 2017 prep enrolment numbers.


Can I please encourage parents who have a pre-prep child at home due to start school here at Mentone Park PS next year to begin to complete the enrolment information and hand this in at the office – this will assist us greatly in the beginning planning stages for next year. If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to contact our office or our prep teaching team. Thank you very much in advance! 


Renée Kennedy


Acting Principal





ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL'S REPORT










SCHOOL COMMUNICATION


Effective communication is a vital component of any organisation and a school is no exception! We know that the relationship between school and home is of significant importance to the success of our students. To this end, we are continually assessing and evaluating our communication practices and looking for ways to improve and engage our school community.


In ‘the good old days’ (okay, in the last few years), schools relied heavily on printed newsletters and notices to provide information to parents. Progressively, social platforms such as Facebook have enabled schools to share items of interest almost instantly. This has proven a popular and effective method of sharing school and student successes and events with the community of MPPS.


We are proud of the progress we have made as a school in terms of communication measures to date and have some new ideas to implement in coming months. Below is a list of the communication pathways that are important within our school environment, and the platforms we employ to ensure these lines of communication are clear, regular and user friendly!


General information about MPPS – This includes the school profile, history, school vision and values statements, enrolment information, school policies and parent handbook (A-Z of information about MPPS). This information can be found through:

  • School Website,
  • Billboards/Info Boards (enrolment advertising)
     

Circulation of information for community members – This includes general information, upcoming events, curriculum and wellbeing updates, school improvement strategies, achievements, advertising, reminders and items of interest. This information can be found through:

  • Fortnightly Whole School Newsletter (digital),
  • Whole School Tiqbiz Notifications
     

Year Level/Subject Specific Information – This includes Specific Curriculum focus, homework requirements, student celebrations/achievements, excursion information, reminders, requests for materials or helpers. This information can be found through:

  • Fortnightly Level Newsletters (digital)
  • Year level or Grade Tiqbiz Notifications

 

Parent / Teacher Communication – This includes general information, progress reports, concerns, celebrations, queries. This information can be found through:

  • Tiqbiz One2one
  • phone calls
  • scheduled meetings
  • informal chats at convenient times
  • parent/teacher interviews
  • school reports
  • diary/reading log notes

 

Requests for information - This includes start of school year paperwork, medical forms, excursion permission forms, school fee payments and levies, fundraising. This information can be found through:

  • QkR
  • printed notices when required
     

Current events - This includes community events (fundraising or otherwise), celebration days, camps, excursions, student or school achievements. This information can be found through:

  • Facebook
  • Newsletters
     

Feedback and Consultation - This includes surveys, collection of data, decision making, evaluation. This can be found through:

  • School Council
  • Student Voice Council
  • PFA
  • school committees
  • survey monkey
  • student attitudes to school survey
  • parent opinion survey
  • parent forums
  • School email
     

As you can see, we have a variety of communication measures in place which aim to cater for the personal preferences of our community members and aims for us to have good connections between school and home. Where possible, these various methods are linked for ease of use. For example – from the Tiqbiz app you can quickly access Qkr, the Website, or school newsletters (through links posted weekly), or you can contact your child’s teacher through the One2one function!

We are currently looking into the following future measures to further improve our communication techniques and engage the community, encourage participation and receive feedback:

  • A school Twitter and Instagram account – which will be linked with Facebook, so parents can use their preferred social media platform.
  • A closed Facebook account to enable online discussion and sharing
  • Closed facebook pages for the various parent groups within the school (year levels as managed by class reps, PFA etc)
  • A suggestions/feedback/comment box to be placed outside the office

 

If you have any feedback or suggestions, please do not hesitate to send an email addressed to me, to Mentone.park.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au or drop a note into the new feedback box outside the office!

 













ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS

Term 3, Weeks 4 & 5

CONGRATULATIONS!!  






Week 4



Week 5



 



Alison Lough
Assistant Principal



Working BEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!


SATURDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER 10am – 2pm
Keep the date free! Many hands make light work!
Come along, bring the kids, it’ll be fun!
Our theme for this Working Bee is simple…  We will be beautifying our school grounds while adding to our ever increasing community spirit!
We’ll be concentrating on the pruning of trees and bushes around the senior playground and along the front of the school. We’ll also be weeding, planting, tidying, removing debris and generally giving the garden beds a make-over! We’ll rake the soft fall in the playgrounds back around the equipment, clean out drink troughs and remove cobwebs from around windows and doors!
As usual, the hard work you put in will be rewarded with some morning tea and a sausage sizzle for lunch!
Hope to see you there! Look out for the notice on tiqbiz next week where you can indicate your attendance. Alternatively, you can email me at mentone.park.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au to let me know of your intention to be there. Knowing in advance the expected numbers assists us in catering.
Alison Lough on behalf of the Buildings and Grounds Committee



FROM THE ADMINISTRATION TEAM



Dear Parents & Guardians,

Please see below some reminders from the Administration Team.

Tiqbiz
Just a reminder that parents must come into the office to SIGN IN your child if they are late and also SIGN OUT your child if they are leaving early.

Please also note you can record your child's absence if you are going on extended holidays. Select the first date of absence and the last date of absence and submit.

Spare clothing
Due to OHS regulations, we are no longer allowed to supply underwear to students. Please include extra underwear and socks in your child's bag to cater for any toileting accidents. This will save phoning you, requesting to bring some spare underwear for your child.

Thank you for your assistance.


Administration Team
Anne, Trish & Jane

PFA UPDATE





Trivia Night a fantastic success

What a fantastic effort everyone made for our recent Trivia Night, the costumes were amazing on the night, the trivia was fantastic from all reports and there were lots of great prizes and auction items up for grabs. And we raised approximately $ on the night for our school which is fantastic - thank you everyone who came along, dressed up and made the night a huge success. A massive thank you to Jenny Martin, Dana Pritchard, for their hard work in pulling such an awesome event together. Many thanks also to our DJ Craig Dance, Wendy Davis, Anne Leggett, Noela Unwin, Cheryl Nancarrow, Nicky Langhorne, Anna Borek, Christine Gill, Marnie McGrath, Fiona Longmuir and Anna Buist for their help with the fundraising activities on the night. A big thank you as well to all of the parents who donated auction items and who contributed to the class hampers.  Everyone's combined efforts are appreciated and helped to make the night such a wonderful success. Thank you!


 


UPCOMING EVENTS.....


 
Bunnings BBQ THIS Saturday
Our annual Bunnings BBQ fundraiser is happening this Saturday 20 August at Bunnings Mentone from 8am - 4.30pm. Thanks you to everyone who has offered to help out on the day, our roster is full which is fantastic, but the support doesn't end there! We encourage all our school families to come down on the day to grab a sausage and show your support for our fantastic school. We'll be posting the event on our Mentone Park Primary School Facebook page so please make sure you like the post and share it among your Facebook networks as well!
 
Fathers Day Breakfast and Stall - Thursday 1st September
A big thank you to Vicki Limnios who has generously put her hand up to help coordinate this years Father's day stall. Jodi O'Sullivan and I will be coordinating the Father's day breakfast, and both of these fantastic events will be held on Thursday 1st September.  If you already know you're free and can help out with either activity please click below to volunteer for the Father's Day Breakfast and Father's Day Stall. 

Father's Day Breakfast and Stall - Thursday 1 September

 Please click here to volunteer Please detail your availability include 'Fathers Day Breakfast'


 Please click here to volunteer Please detail your availability include 'Fathers Day Stall'
 
Footy Day Lunch Friday 9 September - helpers needed
It's all happening this term folks! :-)  Friday 9th September we will host our annual Footy Day and Footy Day lunch. We will need some helpers please to prepare the lunches for our hungry footy fans on the day so if you're free on Friday 9th September and available to help please

Please click here to volunteer Please detail your availability include 'Footy Day Lunch'
 
Call for 2017 Fete Committee members
Before we know it, next year will be here, so we are very keen to setup a 2017 Fete Committee to help coordinate this major fundraiser that will be held on Saturday 25th March 2017. We are looking for volunteers to help coordinate the Fete. This involves planning the event, decision making and coordinating a number of volunteer teams. We will also need a number of volunteers to run the stalls and activities on the day. If you have availability to work in a collaborative team on this event then we'd love to hear from you.
Please email stacey.naturedirect@gmail.com or wadavis@bigpond.net.au to register your interest and availability.


If you can assist with coordinating or volunteering for either of these activities please email Stacey.NatureDirect@gmail.com or Wendy Davis on 0417 517 040 or wadavis@bigpond.net.au







Alice's Adventure !




Parent Sewing Working Bee


Today we held our first sewing morning, thank you to Natalie Hampson, Peter Dixon and Marissa Anderson for their assistance with sewing costumes. Also a huge thank you to Vicki Limnios and Katherine Rowe for their help behind the scenes. 

Our next sewing morning will be held on Thursday 1st September 11am - 1.00pm. Please bring along your sewing machine or pair of scissors to assist cutting material. If you are unable to attend but are happy to still assist, you can contact me by email
mrscheers@mentonepark.vic.edu.au and I can send some things home for you to work on.

Looking forward to seeing your smiling faces, sewing machines and scissors on Thursday 1st September!


Amy Cheers

Performing Arts










OSHC 18th AUGUST














Due to the building works, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience regarding entry to OSHC.


The best way to access OSHC is to walk through the basketball court & use the black gate to come through. The holiday program is available now. We ask parents to book in advance as we need to know for staff ratio.


 


A polite reminder to parents who are using our services on a casual basis, please book in your child/children in advance, as we need to know who is attending on the day.


 


The weather is warming up and the children are having fun with more outdoor games.


 


We are having a good week and hope you are too!

 

 

From OSHC TEAM







ANICA & JAMES
YOUTH LEADERSHIP VICTORIA





 





Dear Parents,


Below is the class roster for the rest of the school year. 

Please click here to volunteer for any of the dates below.


Thanks,


Liz & the Kids’ Cafe Team


Term 3
                         
Aug                 19th                 2O
                        26th                 2UO

Sept                2nd                  3S
                        9th                   closed - Footy Day

                        16th                 cleaning - all welcome

Term 4

Oct                  7th                   3G
                        14th                 4H
                        21st                 4W
                        28th                 5/6L


Nov                  4th                  5/6R
                        11th                 5/6S
                        18th                 all Preps & Grade 1
                        25th                 all grades 2 & 3

Dec                  2nd                  all Grades 4, 5 & 6

                        9th                   cleaning - all welcome







Working With Children Check Reminder

All parents/guardians, visitors & volunteers to the school MUST sign in & out of the school and display their WWCC in a lanyard, which is available at the school office.
The Department of Education requires any person involved in an activity where children may be present to have a current WWCC or have supplied proof that they have applied for a WWCC with the Department of Justice. All schools are required to comply with the Working with Children Act 2005.
Volunteers are expected to carry the WWCC card on their person at all times when working or volunteering at the school or during school related activities.
There is no fee for this check. Apply now by visiting: www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au

COMMUNITY SERVICE & ANNOUNCEMENTS


The Department of Education & Early Childhood Development and Mentone Park Primary School do not endorse the products or services of any private advertiser. They accept no responsibility for accuracy of information contained in advertisements or claims made by them.