NEWSLETTER 10/2015
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Dear Parents and Friends
How quickly the term is going now as we head into the final 2 weeks. On Monday 22nd May you will receive your child's June Progress report, which will detail your child's progress towards the standards for their year level as well as provide future learning goals for the remainder of the year. This year, reporting requirements from the Department of Education have changed, with schools being able to use a variety of programs and methods for reporting to parents, though you will not notice a big difference on your child's report as most of the changes are in the way we prepare them.
Our student-led conferences will take place on Wednesday 24th June, commencing at 1:30pm. Look out next week for the online booking details. These sessions are designed to be a conference between students, their parents and the teacher. Students will share their learning progress, future goals and other aspects of their schooling life.
Grade 6 Graduation Present - Soccer Nets
In 2014, our year 6 graduating class raised funds to help pay for their graduation, as well as to leave a legacy to the school community in appreciation of their primary school years. This is a new tradition that started a few years ago. Recently we purchased soccer nets as the school gift from our 2014 graduating class. The children will be very excited to see these erected shortly! The bean bags in the BER building were a gift from the previous year's graduates.
Fundraising Update
Our fundraising and PFA efforts this year have been fantastic, with the fete and Bunnings BBQ our 2 big ticket items. I know everyone has been dying to know the final figure for the fete and I can finally reveal this figure to be: (....drum roll)
$27,089.00
What an amazing effort - and only half way through the year! Remember, all money raised this year is going towards the upgrade of our junior school playground.
PFA Meeting
On Wednesday we held our Parents and Friends' Association meeting. It was great to see some new faces at the meeting. All parents are welcome to attend these meetings, they are a great way to meet other parents. I attend each meeting and give an update on school activities. There is also a report and discussion around the PFA activities and ways to be involved in school life. As we are trying to make the meetings as accessible as possible for all parents, we are alternating day and evening meetings at the moment. If you were not able to make this one, please join us on Wednesday 5th August at 7:00pm.
School Council and Sub-committees
The School Council and its sub-committees will be meeting on Monday night from 6:00pm. The Buildings and Grounds and Education Sub-committees meet at this time, twice per term, to discuss issues and put forward proposals for School Council to consider. Any parents are welcome to be involved in the sub-committees - you do not need to be a member of School Council. If you are interested in being involved, please join us next week and see what it is about.
Buildings and Grounds:
This committee ensure that our school grounds and buildings are safe and well maintained. Working Bees are a major priority for this committee, which plans the activities to be undertaken at these days. The committee monitors our school maintenance plan to ensure the upkeep of our buildings and grounds is maintained, as well as working towards a long term plan for our buildings and grounds.
Education:
This committee has the important role of reviewing and drafting new policies which include curriculum and some school operations. We would love some extra support with this aspect of the school, which also provides parents with information about how the school operates.
DET SCHOOL APP
Need practical tips about what you can do at home to help support your child’s education?SchoolMate is an essential App for parents of school-aged children in Victoria.Produced by Victoria’s Department of Education and Training, SchoolMate will provide parents with a roadmap to help aid their child’s learning at home and at school.
Kendra Parker
PRINCIPAL
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
MPPS BULLY PREVENTION PROGRAM CONTINUES...
This Week: DEALING WITH BULLIES!
This Week: DEALING WITH BULLIES!
In class, teachers have discussed effective ways to deal with bullies. Now students are aware of the characteristics of a bully they will be in a better position to learn ways to minimise the chances of becoming a victim. The following information has been taken from the ‘Bounce Back’ resources written by Helen McGrath and Toni Noble.
Students have the right to attend schools where they feel safe and protected and where bullying is recognised for what it is, peer abuse. The effects of bullying on targeted students have been shown to be serious and long lasting. There is growing intolerance in schools and the community towards bullying and social injustice. The positive steps being taken in schools provide a rationale for a sense of optimism about the possibilities of lowering the incidence of bullying, and of enhancing the resilience of students involved in bullying, even in minor ways. The preventative and management strategies that schools can take are actions to build resilient students.
The prevention of bullying requires a multi-faceted approach that employs preventative environmental processes and also teaches all students the personal skills and values that enable them to respond to bullying situations.
In particular the focus is on making bullying ‘uncool’ by:
· Highlighting the long-term effects of bullying on both the students who take part in bullying and those who are at the receiving end.
· Portraying it as an act of weakness, cowardice and abuse.
· Portraying bullies as predators against whom students need to defend and protect themselves.
· Challenging the attitude that bullying only happens to those who deserve it.
· Encouraging the students to reflect on their own contributions to the bullying situation.
· Helping students differentiate between dobbing, acting responsibly and asking for support to solve a problem.
· Developing students’ awareness of the dark side of peer pressure and teaching self reflective skills to enable them to make good but realistic decisions about what they take part in.
The slogans that could be used here are:
Don’t be a sheep.
Think for yourself.
A stupid thing is still a stupid thing even if one thousand people say it.
· Challenging students’ perceptions that if it is not happening to them then it is not their problem and encouraging them to accept that bullying is the responsibility of everyone in the community. The slogans that could be used here are:
Bullying spoils things for all of us.
Everyone is responsible for making sure the bullying stops.
Emphasis is placed on developing the courage of bystanders and giving them skills to support a student who is being mistreated.
Teaching skills which students can use in bullying situations where they are the potential or actual target. For example:
Not attracting the attention of bullies.
Fooling the bullying into stopping.
Giving assertive warnings.
Maintaining face so as to appear dignified and not humiliated.
Accessing adult support in order to address a situation where their rights have been violated.
Learning specific actions in order:
Ignore, Move away, Say politely, ‘Please leave me alone’, Call out loudly, ‘Stop annoying me’, Ask for support from an adult.
Please discuss these issues with your child/ren to help reinforce the message.
Bullying does not only happen at school.
If you have not downloaded it as yet, please follow these instructions:
1. Go to the app store and search for "tiqbiz"
2. Download it (it is free) and type Mentone Park into the search field.
3. Click on whole school and all the classes/subjects that your child is involved with.
- for example, if your child is in 1B you would select: whole school, 1B, Art, P.E., Performing Arts and Italian.
4. When a post is added by school staff, a red circle with a number will appear on the app, this will tell you how many notifications you have.
5. Student Absences can be recorded using tiqbiz. Select Whole School and 'absence'. In 'Absence Form' complete reason for absence and signature. The school will get an instant notification of your child's absence. You will no longer be required to phone the school or send a note.
6. Once all school community members have the app and are confident using it, this will be the main means of communication. Teachers and parents will be able to communicate 1:1 using the app.
Alison Lough
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
UNIFORM SHOP
We will be closing our uniform shop on Friday 12th June and from the holidays you will be able to purchase directly from PSW, either at the shop or online.
More information will come explaining the change over the next few weeks. Please note that we will not be re-stocking our shop from now on. Any orders already placed will, of course, be honoured.EMAIL ADDRESSES
Please ensure we have your correct email address. At the moment we appear to have a lot of emails bouncing back.
PARENT SOCIAL EVENT
The PFA have been busy organsing our
Parent Social Event which is looking to be a very exciting night!
To enable us to secure the best venue at the best price, we have had to change the date that we asked you to save by 1 night!
The Parent Social Event will now be held on
Parent Social Event which is looking to be a very exciting night!
To enable us to secure the best venue at the best price, we have had to change the date that we asked you to save by 1 night!
The Parent Social Event will now be held on
Friday 7th August
at Seed Cafe in Mordialloc
This is going to be a wonderful night of laughter, socialising and dancing the night away.
at Seed Cafe in Mordialloc
This is going to be a wonderful night of laughter, socialising and dancing the night away.
HOST: MPPS
DATE: Wednesday 17th June 2015
WHERE: School Hall at 10.30am
DETAILS: Gold coin donation raising money to help cure cancer
Tomorrow we have 2R and 5D on the roster to help out at the Kids' Cafe' and next week it's 1/2U and 6W. All welcome to help with cleaning on Thursday 25th June. Closed on the last day of term 26th June. Remember you can use the new online roster to register.
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 you to swap spots.
If you have any problems accessing volunteer spot please let me know (0413 009 493 or lizpleasants@me.com) and I will try to help you out.
I look forward to seeing you in the Cafe'.
Liz & the Kids’ Café Team
SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB
LOST PROPERTY
The end of term is fast approaching, please check lost property for any missing items. There is an INCREDIBLE amount of lost property - please look carefully as on the last day of term all illegible and unnamed items will be disposed of.
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.
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