Mentone Park Primary School Newsletter: April 2015

NEWSLETTER 6/2015

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Friends

You will be receiving this newsletter via our new newsletter page. I hope you find this easier to read and access. We are also currently updating our website and looking at implementing a school app to make communication and access to information easier. If you would like to provide any feedback on this, or any other changes we have made this year, we would welcome your comments. Please drop us a line via the school email, or drop a note into the office.

Welcome to term 2. I hope that you all enjoyed some family time over the school holidays and Easter break.

THE CHICKENS ARE COMING!!!

Excitement is growing amongst the school community as the arrival of some chickens looms closer. This week some of our students worked with the landscaper Richard to plant out fruit trees and prepare the run for the chooks. It really looks inviting now!

Green Gang leaders Brae and Kiera

One of our wonderful parents, Louise Cook, has been able to source some rescue hens who are in need of a good home. These hens will be coming to live at Mentone Park, where they will feel like they are in paradise after where they've lived! We look forward to their arrival any day.....

If any parents have contacts that could assist us with hay or chicken feed, please let the office know. Thank you.

ANZAC DAY STUDIES

Did you realise that our whole school approach to learning and teaching means that we all study the same units of inquiry across the whole school? Last term it was Health and Wellbeing and this term will be Science. However, in these first few weeks, to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Gallipoli, the whole school is learning about this very important story in the history of Australia. Please make sure you take the time to discuss this event with your children and share what they have learnt.

Year 1&2 students with their ANZAC tribute

As part of their studies, the year 1 and 2 students learnt about the significance of poppies in remembering the ANZACS and the 5000 Poppies Project. Though making 5000 poppies was a bit ambitious, they did manage to make 200+ and have made our own Mentone Park tribute to commemorate this special and solemn occasion. Make sure you drive past the fence on the corner of Broome and Blackwood Ave to see it.

ANZAC Day remembrance service - our school captains will lead a whole school ANZAC Day ceremony on Friday 24th April at 3:00pm on the courts near the Remembrance Garden. All parents and friends are invited to attend. Students are invited to bring a poppy to lay during the service.

SCHOOL REVIEW AND SELF-EVALUATION

This term the school will be involved in developing a Self-Evaluation report that will drive our school review and new Strategic Plan in term 3. As part of that process, there will be many steps involved, including:

Staff working in data teams to review our progress in terms of Achievement, Engagement, Wellbeing and Productivity
Student forums, with all students to get feedback on our learning and teaching
Parent forums, with all parents being provided opportunity to give feedback
Parent survey, with specific links to outcomes related to our current Strategic Plan

I hope you avail yourself to these opportunities to have your say into our strategic direction. The parent forum will be held as part of the PFA meeting on Wednesday 6th May at 7:00pm. The survey will be available online and a link will be sent out next week.

ANNUAL REPORT

The 2014 Annual Report was endorsed at School Council last term and is now available to the community. You can find a copy of the Annual Report here:

Annual Report

BUNNINGS BBQ

We are very fortunate to have been allocated a Saturday to run the Bunnings BBQ. This is always a fantastic fundraiser for our school. We need your help to make it a success. If you can spare some time to help out, you can let us know by:

Inform the office via telephone, in person or email
Complete the form that will be sent home this week and return to your child's teacher
Register on line using VolunteerSpot. Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

Click this link to see our Sign-Up on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/K2Ku7C
Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on VolunteerSpot.

You would have heard on the news that the new smoking rules began this term with smoking now banned within four metres of an entrance to all primary and secondary schools in Victoria, and within the school grounds, under an amendment to the Tobacco Act 1987.

Change of Date:
Note that the curriculum day in May will now be on Monday 25th May, NOT Wednesday 20th May as previously advertised.

Have a great term!

Kendra Parker
PRINCIPAL

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

I commented to a couple of students on Monday that they must have had a growth spurt during the holidays because they looked taller! This made me reflect on the amount of growth children experience in just one school term. After not seeing the children for two weeks, their physical growth was more obvious. Not only have students got taller, but they have also got smarter, more socially aware and built on their emotional intelligence. All this growth in just one term! It is worth remembering that while we may not notice these changes on a daily basis that they are indeed happening right in front of us. The conversations I have been having with students this week as I have moved around the school have demonstrated to me just how much progress they have made. I look forward to watching them continue to build their academic and emotional intelligence this term.

Some students have had some wonderful achievements recently - sporting feats, dancing, even acting! I have enjoyed hearing all about the things children do outside of school. Make sure if there is something your child has done that they are proud of, they come and see myself or Kendra so that we can acknowledge these achievements at assembly and celebrate their success with the school community.

Alison Lough

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

EXTRA-CURRICULAR PROGRAMS AT MPPS

This term we are excited to be working with a few groups to provide a variety of activities after hours at school. Some of the activities are run by private organisations that parents can choose to pay for, and others are being run by parents / staff. Programs on offer include:

Tuesday 3:40 - 4:40pm - Soccer and Netball (Big 5 Sports - for Prep - Year 4 students)
Wednesday 7:45- 8:45am - Running Club (Bruce Allen - parent - year 4-6 students)
Thursday am - Tennis (Hot Shots - all ages)
Thursday pm - Art Smart (all age groups)
Friday 7:45am - Circuit training in the hall (Miss L - Year 4-6 students)

Look out for information coming home for these activities, or else inquire at the office for sign up forms.

TERM 2 CALENDAR

Here is the calendar of events for this term. It will be updated fortnightly.

Term 2 Calendar

SAVE THE DATE

The PFA are organising a

Parent Social event - lock the date now into your calendars:

Saturday 8th August

More details to come...

SCHOOL COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S REPORT

Hello Mentone Park Families and Students.

The New School elections took place recently and I was pleased to be re-elected to the role of President for 2015.

We also welcomed 2 new members and I would like to say thankyou to Nicky Langhorne and Maria Fakitopoulos for putting their hands up in joining School Council.

School council is made up of a number of Sub Committees and parent involvement is critical to making MPPS a successful environment for our children to learn in.

These Sub Committees cover things such as Fundraising, Building and Grounds (Working bees and General Maintenance) Education and Finance. You do not need to be on School council to assist in the many and varied activities that are apart of Mentone park throughout 2015.

The dates for the upcoming Working Bees have been sent out, even if you can spare an hour to help out is all that we ask. I’m sure you will agree the school looks far better when we don’t have weeks or overhanging branches to contend with. As the saying goes many hands make light work and we appreciate any assistance that you can give throughout the year.

Whilst the Kids Crazy carnival was the main fundraising event for the year , we have many other activities throughout 2015 that you can be involved with, in particular If you can spare an hour on a Friday at the Kids café , I’m sure Liz would appreciate the help.

The monies raised from last year’s fundraising/PFA events have helped in the purchase of IT equipment (20 x IPad and Netbooks) as well as the upcoming installation of Air-conditioning/Heating for the BER Building.

Later this year will see the Capital works program come to fruition, The initial plans have been discussed and we hope to share these with the wider community shortly. A much needed improvement for the school. Other activities this year include:

District Swimming Carnival
Cross Country Run
District Athletics
Parent Social evening
Walk A thon
Mother’s Day Stall
Father’s Day Stall
Incursions and Excursions for all Year Levels
Italian Day
School Disco

The introduction of new electronic communication is proving successful , as are the new Fortnightly level newsletters. The opening time of 8.45 is also providing a great opportunity to discuss any issues you have with your class teachers.

STRATEGIC PLAN

This year is the final year of our current Strategic Plan as we head into a Review year. The focus for our 2015 Annual Implementation Plan will be to develop and implement the final strategies we identified in the Strategic Plan. These include a focus on Spelling, embedding our approach to teaching Maths and personalised learning, finalising our whole school curriculum documents, and enhancing our assessment practices

Role of School Council contributing to the development of the school strategic plan (the document that tells people what the school wants to achieve in the future and how it plans to get there);

• approving the annual budget (the financial plan for the calendar year that tells people how the school is going to provide money so it can implement its strategic plan in that year) and monitoring expenditure;

• developing, monitoring, reviewing and updating policies (guiding principles designed to influence decisions, actions that the school makes);

• developing, reviewing and monitoring both the Student Engagement Policy (how the school expects students to behave, how bullying will be managed and the school's approach to managing student behaviour) and the School Dress Code (this includes how students are expected to dress during school hours including travelling to and from school, if the school has a uniform and what that looks like, and any arrangement with clothing suppliers that the school might enter into);

• informing itself and taking into account the views of the school community when making decisions regarding the school and the students

• arranging for the supply of the things needed for the conduct of the school (such as goods, services, materials and equipment),

• raising money for things that the school needs

• making sure the school’s grounds and buildings are maintained

• entering into contracts for things like cleaning the school or a school council building project

• regulating and facilitating the after-hours use of the school premises and grounds

What school council does not do:

School council does not manage the day to day running of the school. For example, it does not employ teaching staff, decide which classes students will be assigned to, or sort out issues relating to individual teachers and students and/or parents.
School council does not discuss individual issues relating to teachers, staff or parents – these are very clearly management roles, and therefore the Principal's job.

Should you have any questions in relation to anything relating to MPPS School Council please do not hesitate in contacting any of the School Council Members or myself

Best Regards
Andrew Davis

MPPS School Council President 2015

THE PUMPKINS ARE READY

1/2 U had a wonderful time picking all the pumpkins after spending months watering and caring for them.

The pumpkins will be for sale after school today and tomorrow near the library.

PE NEWS

Our Jump Rope for Heart "Jump Off Day" is coming up on Thursday 21st May from 9-10:40am. Please remember to keep fundraising and practise your skipping!

Active April - we're nearly half way through April and already seeing some fantastic results from parents, staff and students. Remember it's not to late to join up on line at https://www.activeapril.vic.gov.au/ and register your weekly activity for great prizes!

Miss L.

Welcome Back to Term 2.

There are some exciting changes in the Kids Cafe this term starting with an online roster system. We will still be rostering classes on for specific cafe days (see below for this terms list) and hopefully this system will take the pressure off the class reps;

- use the link here http://vols.pt/TwbT6X and fill in your details for the time slot/slots that suit
- please feel free to fill in as many spots as you like if you would like to help out more regularly than your rostered class day
- this system will also send you reminders and allows to swap spots

If you have any problems accessing volunteer spot please let me know (0413009493 or lizpleasants@me.com) and I will try to help you out.

We will be conducting some taste testings at the beginning of week 2 and the kids will get to vote for their favourite dishes to go on the menu that Friday.

Garlic toast is back by popular demand, although it will only be available over the counter and will be limited to a maximum of 4 pieces per person. Also coming back for terms 2 & 3 are hot chocolates!

Unfortunately, rising food costs have meant that we will need to make modest price rises across most of the items on the menu. We do try to keep running costs as low as possible in the Kids Cafe but we haven’t had a price rise for the last few years.

We are still looking for a volunteer or volunteers to pick up the chickens from Parkdale on a Thursday afternoon, please. It would only take 1/2 hour of your time to drop by the chicken shop to pick them up. This could be done before school pickup on a Thursday.

April	17^th 2O & 5 / 6 S
	24^th 2R & 5D
May	1^st 1 / 2 U & 6W
	8^th PS & 3/4 G
	15^th PM & 3 / 4 O
	22^nd 1O & 3 / 4 S
	29^th 1B & 3 / 4 H
June	5^th 2O & 5 / 6 S
	12^th 2R & 5D
	19^th 1/2 U & 6W
Thurs	25^th cleaning, all welcome
	26^th closed, last day of term

I look forward to seeing you in the cafe'.
Liz & the Kids’ Café Team

KIDS' CRAZY CARNIVAL

We still have some Auction items to be paid for and collected before we can finalise our profits from the fete.

SCHOOL BANKING

School Banking day is Wednesday. Please remind your child/ren to give their banking to their class teacher first thing in the morning. We have had some banking arrive at the Office after recess and the banking has already been completed.

On Monday 27th of April we will be holding an account opening day after assembly. Refer below.

ROTARY CLUB OF MORDIALLOC INVITATION

Jean Hailes for Women's Health and Rotary Club of Mordialloc present "Women's Stuff". Listen to health experts talk on women's health and wellbeing.

Wednesday 29th April, 7:00 - 10:00pm

Parkdale SC, Performing Arts Theatre

Book online at jeanhaile.org.au/events or by calling 9562 6771

Community Announcements & Advertising

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.