Macedon Primary School Newsletter

27 July 2022

School Values: Respect, Responsibility, Creativity, Integrity, Teamwork

Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

As I write my last report before returning back to the classroom I would like to thank everybody for your support during Matt’s absence. We welcome him back next week and I wonder if he has managed a tan in the balmy European Summer. I would like to congratulate the Foundation students who this week reach their first school milestone of 100 days at school. Stay tuned for some happy snaps next week.

Solar Grant

Macedon Primary School has been selected to participate in the Greener Government School’s Building Program to receive a 32kW solar power system. This will promote and assist us in achieving the Government’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050 by promoting environmental sustainability and use of renewable energy in our school. Installation of the panels will begin to take place next week. There will be some disruption while the panels are being installed with the main entrance to the school being inaccessible as well as the entrance near the library. While the works are in progress could families, please use the entrance near the sensory room to access the office.  

Farmers’ Market - This Saturday

The Macedon Village Farmers’ Market will be setting up on the school basketball courts on Saturday 30th July between 8am and 1pm.  Drop in, grab a coffee and support our local farmers and producers.  Proceeds from the stall site fees go directly to the school to support school improvements and student programs.

Parent Teacher Meetings

On Tuesday the 9th and Wednesday the 10th of August we are holding parent teacher interviews.  The 10 minute Face-to-face interviews will be held during the afternoon and into the evening on both days and will give you an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with their classroom teacher. We strongly advise that facemasks are worn. You will receive an email with the details and instructions about how to book an interview in our online system.  For the first time in a long while, we are having face to face meetings in your child’s classroom.

Please find the Parent Teacher Interview dates and times below:

 

 

F-2

3-6

Tuesday 9th August

3:50pm – 7:00pm

2:00pm – 5:30pm

Wednesday 10th August

2:00pm – 5:30pm

3:50pm – 7:00pm

Family Holidays

Many families are escaping the Macedon winter and travelling at the moment. It is important that you notify the office or your child’s class teacher if you are going on an extended holiday, so that an Absence Learning Plan can be completed. All of the teachers emails are available on the school's website under the "About" tab.

With Thanks

Karren Baker

(Acting Principal)

Important Dates

30 July - Macedon Village Farmers Market

9 August  Parent/teacher interviews

10 August - Parent/teacher interviews

12 August - Grade 3/4 Excursion to zoo

15 August - Grade 1/2 excursion to Bendigo

18 August - ICAS English exam

19 August - District Athletics (selected Yr 3 -6 students)

22 August - Grade 1/2 swimming, Kyneton 

26 August - Grade 1/2 swimming, Kyneton 

29 August - Grade 1/2 swimming, Kyneton

1 September - ICAS Maths Exam

2 September - Grade 1/2 swimming, Kyneton

5 September - Grade 1/2 swimming, Kyneton

8 September - Science Expo 4 - 6 pm

9 September - Grade 5/6 Hot shot tennis, Gisborne 

13 September - School photo day 

14 September - District basketball

16 September - Last day of term 3 - 2:30pm dismissal

TERM 4:

3 October - First day of term 4

18 October - 21 October - Year 5 & 6 Camp - Howqua

31st October - Curriculum Day (student free day)

1st November - Melbourne Cup holiday (student free day)

2 November - 4 November - Year 3 & 4 Camp - Weekaway Lancefield

5 December - 6 December - Year 1 & 2 Camp - Lady Northcote 

20 December - Last day of the year (1:00pm dismissal)

Dressing for Macedon Winter

Winter is in full swing and the mornings are frosty, we remind parents to dress their children with plenty of layers. The classrooms are all warm, however at recess and lunchtime the children need to be dressed appropriately.  Our lost property has numerous jackets, jumpers and coats. I Please come in and take a look.

If your child is coming home muddy, please pack a spare set of clothes in their bag. We have limited spare clothes in sick bay and would appreciate if you could supply your own.

New COVID Settings

Face Masks 

All Victorians are now encouraged to wear a mask when with other people indoors and when you cannot physically distance, including outdoors.

Wearing a face mask can help protect you, your child/ren and those around you. Face masks stop droplets spreading when people talk, cough, sneeze and laugh, which lowers the chance of spreading or catching the virus. This information is especially important for those who are medically at risk.

The Victorian government’s advice recommends people over 8 years of age wear a face mask in indoor settings, except for close contacts, who must wear a mask indoors unless an exception applies. If you wish your child to wear a mask at school, and/or they themselves wish to wear a mask, we will ensure they are supported to do that. We have a supply of children's and adult masks at school or you can send your child to school with their own mask.

People are now exempt from testing and isolating four weeks after getting COVID, instead of 12 weeks.

Parents and carers who have COVID-19 can transport their non-COVID-19 children via private vehicle to their primary or secondary school when an alternative person is not available to assist. This will include school holiday programs held on school grounds.

This means that parents and carers will be able to leave COVID self-isolation to take their non-COVID-19 child to school or school holiday programs via a private vehicle.

The parent or carer must travel directly to and from the school only. They must remain in the vehicle at all times, unless it is reasonably necessary to leave the vehicle to walk the child to and from the entrance of the school safely. They must wear a face mask at all times.

Family members are asked to continue reporting positive COVID-19 cases to both the Department of Health and our own testing portal.

You must also let the school know if your child is a close contact. Students who are close contacts and want to attend should still take 5 RATs over 7 days and wear a face mask whilst indoors if they are aged 8 years or over.

Students should continue to stay home if they are unwell, even if they test negative on a RAT.

Rapid Antigen Tests

Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) will continue to be available in our school in Terms 3 and 4.

RATs continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (5 negative tests over a 7 day period) or who have symptoms.

The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers will have them should they need them if their child is a household contact or has symptoms.

Families must continue to notify the Department of Health and the school if their child returns a positive RAT result. Additionally, you should inform us if any of your children are household contacts.

Thank you also to all families who have got their child vaccinated.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has updated its recommendations around fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccination. From Monday 11 July 2022, people over 30 years will be eligible for a fourth dose. ATAGI recommends that people aged 50 to 64 years should have their fourth dose, while those aged 30 to 49 years may choose to have a fourth dose. For further information see the ATAGI website.

Getting vaccinated is easy and bookings can be done via the coronavirus website. If you have any questions about the vaccines, I encourage you to speak to your GP or a health practitioner.

For more information about face mask requirements, visit the Coronavirus website.

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/parents-carers-and-guardians 

From the office

Family Holidays

If you have planned absences such as holidays please let the office know via email, phone or there are forms available from the office. We can then let the teachers know and they can arrange a learning plan for your children. 

Car Parking around the school

Families are reminded to obey the road signs in Smith and Carrington Streets around the school crossings and park safely in the streets surrounding the school, in particular Margaret Street as it is quite narrow. Parents are reminded that the staff car park is for staff.  Please do not park behind the cars parked in the staff car park as it is illegal and staff need access to their cars in case of an emergency.  The drop off area in the mornings is for people to "stop and drop".   With significant traffic before and after school and limited parking, you may opt to park further up the road in Smith Street where there are additional parking areas and walk the rest of the way, using the crossing at Carrington Street to enter the school.

Crossing at the Carrington/Margaret Streets intersection is unsafe at busy times.   Children riding their bikes or walking must use the crossing where we have a supervisor.  We also urge parents to use the crossings with their children to model traffic safety.

Late arrivals

If your child is late to school (after 9:00am) can you please sign them in at the office. The teachers mark the rolls at 9:00am and if your child is late to class they will be marked as absent and you will receive an SMS asking about their whereabouts.  The classrooms are open from 8:50am.

Foundation 2023 enrolments

Foundation enrolments for 2023 are now open. If you have a child that is starting school next year of have friends or family interested in enrolling their child at Macedon Primary, please contact the office for an enrolment form or click on the following link: https://macedonps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2023-Student_Enrolment_Form_Updated_Feb_2018.pdf 

Voluntary Curriculum Contributions

The process for invoicing parents for voluntary curriculum contributions. If you are unsure if you have paid or if you would like to pay, please contact the office.

Working with Children Check

All parent helpers at Macedon Primary must have a valid working with children check. It is free for a volunteer check, please apply online at https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/individuals/applicants/how-to-apply-1If you have a valid working with check and have yet to provide it to the school, please email a copy or come into the office and we will take a copy.

Julie and Emma

Student Achievement Awards

The following awards will be handed out at Assembly this Friday in the JCB at 3:00pm

FKH - Easton H - for his awesome effort with his handwriting.

FKH - Spencer R - for his hardworking approach to all tasks.

FKB - Jasper K - for being super focused during Initialit.

FKB - Scout C - for being focused during all learning tasks.

1/2TT - Asher Mc - for sensational effort with all her writing. 

1/2TT - Billy S - for terrific work and great learning.

1/2AM - Zoe R - for her caring nature and great learning.

1/2AM - Mabel P - for a terrific effort with all her learning.

3/4VW - Ruby W - for great work on a research project.

3/4VW - Joshua M - for fantastic research project, very neatly presented.

3/4MS - Holly B - for putting effort and thought into her Winter poem.

3/4MS - Rylan K - for putting effort into all of his work. Well done!

3/4MS - Josh M - for staying focused on his work and working well independently.

3/4MS - Ted P - for working well independently in class and during our class split.

3/4MS - Lukas B - for showing lost of independence when working Well done!

3/4GS - Levi F - for outstanding work on his Redback spider mini project. Fantastic work Levi.

3/4GS - Lauren B - for always being a helpful and caring member of our class.

5/6MS - James M - for his kind respectful attitude towards others.

5/6MS - Emmanuel A - for his dedicated approach towards his learning this term. Well done!

5/6RC - Kai L - for his great questions and contributions in all of our literacy sessions.

STEM:

Charlie W - 5/6RC - for exploring and creating a new world in AR. Thanks for joining us.


Middle Gully Program Update

28 July - 3/4GS 

Mr O is currently working on a plan for the remainder of the term. 

Parent helpers are always welcome, please sign in at the office prior to going over to Middle Gully and make sure the office has seen your current Working With Childrens Check.

Our sessions are on a Thursday afternoon from 2:00pm - 3:30pm. 

Younger siblings are welcome, but must be supervised by their parent or guardian.

5/6MS Middle Gully Report

Gardening

This activity was really fun and there were lots and lots of plants! There was Cos Lettuce, Carrots, Celery, Spring Onion, Cauliflower, Spinach and Strawberries. They all tasted pretty good. Some people did not like the spring onion though as it was too spicy. The strawberries hadn't grown yet and there was another patch but they’d gotten eaten by bugs. We also did some weeding and when I tell you there were a lot of weeds I mean a lot. Some people planted silver beets. We also found lots of worms living in the soil.

The Maze

The Maze as you know is quite easy, with multiple routes and gaps which most of us have climbed. Mr Ewels decided it was too easy, so we all drilled wood planks in the maze to create more walls to create one path and one path only. We each took turns holding the plank and drilling. This definitely made the maze much harder. We also brought broom bush to create a fire, after all the hard work we sat down and roasted some marshmallows. k

The Mosaic 

Creating the Mosaic was super fun. They are pictures of beautiful flowers, leaves and trees. It was on some big flat stones, then we broke up some little bright colourful tiles, stuck them down with some green glue which dried as hard as cement. We have finished one stone but the other one still needs work. We are going to put them in the Indigenous Garden and they will look amazing there. 

I can’t wait to see them!

Visual Art Report

This term in Visual Art, we are having a terrific time focusing on Simple Machines and Steam Punk. Grades 3-6 have been starting their Intaglio printing explorations. Grades Transition – 2 have been using metallic pens and pencils to draw Steam Punk “creatures”. Here is an amazing Steam Punk dog by Archer.

Indonesian News

This term in Indonesian, Year 5 and 6 students are learning how our tastebuds work by investigating the flavours manis (sweet), asin (salty), asam (sour) pahit (bitter) and pedas (spicy). This week we taste tested kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), kecap asin (soy sauce) and asam (tamarind juice) and the winner was.....kecap manis by a country mile.

 In Indonesian, 'c' is almost always pronounced 'ch', so 'kecap' sounds a lot like the English word 'ketchup'. Both words are derived from the Cantonese word 'koechiap', which means 'sauce'. Read this informative blog post if you would like to learn more about Indonesian ingredients;  https://bit.ly/kecapmanisYr5and6

STEM Update

Our 3D printer is sure getting a workout, now it is the Grade 1/2 student's turn.

As this was the first time they had ever worked in 3D, we started with a project to create their very own, personalised keyring.

Here we can see Archer's design being printed. Students explored how the 3D printer prints in layers by melting filament at very hot temperatures and layering them on top of each other (like icing on a cake)

We also talked about why it uses hexagon shapes to fill in the object (they are quicker to print than a solid shape and use a lot less material, but are still very strong and light)

Mr. Garcia

ICAS - Assessments for Yrs 3 -6

What is ICAS? 

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English and Mathematics. 

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals. 

We encourage you to consider entering your child into ICAS this year.  

 Learn more about ICAS here. (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas) 

 How to participate in ICAS 

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please: 

1.   read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas

2.   go to Parent Portal herehttps://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps 

3.   enter our school’s access code –     FUW928

4.   enter your child’s details, select the tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to payment. 

 Please note that the ICAS tests shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.  

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records. 

18 August - ICAS English exam

1 September -  ICAS Maths Exam

We will notify you when your child’s ICAS results are ready. You and your child can access the results once released via the Reports Portal using the TAP ID and pin found on the back of the ICAS certificate. 

 We are proud to offer ICAS and look forward to some fantastic results later in the year. 

**Payment needs to be made by 1st August 2022**

Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions. 

Outside School Hours Care

Please notify the office or email oshp@macedonps.vic.edu.au if your child is sick and will not be attending before or after school care.  

We now have spaces available for casual days, however you need to fill out an enrolment form PRIOR to your child starting at the service. f you have a permanent booking and do not need the service for After School please advise the program as soon as you know, preferably before 11.00am on the day so we are able to give that space to another child.  For Before School, please call before 6.30pm the day before or email the service on oshp@macedonps.vic.edu.au

Late cancellation fees apply if your child’s place is cancelled after 11.00am.  Further, if you do not cancel your child and they do not attend, fees may still apply.

Fees for 2022

Our rates for 2022 are: $16.00 for Before School Care (7:00am - 8:45am) and $23.00 for After School Care (3:30pm - 6:30pm). All you need to do is call the school 5426 1518 or email oshp@macedonps.vic.edu.au to book.  If the unexpected happens and a casual booking is required within 24 hours, please contact the school via phone, we cannot accept walk-ins after school.  Please note that enrolment forms need to be completed at least one business day before the first session of care.

Please pay through the school via Direct Deposit, using the following details (not BPay):

Account name: Macedon Primary School

BSB: 063-840

Account: 1003 4330

Vicki, Helen, Karen & Marie.

National Water Week Poster Competition

To celebrate National Water Week, we’re calling for primary-aged students to design a poster that reflects this year’s theme, 'Our Water Stories'.

Student prizes

The winners in each category receive:

• First prize is a $100 gift card

• Second prize is a $50 gift card

• Third prize is a $30 gift card.

First prize winners in each category are entered into the state level competition.

School prize

A school prize of $500 is awarded to a school each year towards a sustainable project at their school. This prize is proudly supported by Southern Rural Water.

Schools whose students enter the poster competition are automatically eligible to win the school prize.

Categories

• Prep/Foundation

• Years 1 – 2

• Years 3 - 4

• Years 5 – 6

• Students with additional learning needs

Key dates

• Entries close: Midnight, Friday 2 September 2022

• Winners will be announced during National Water Week, 17-23 Oct

Entry conditions

• Poster size must be A4 or A3

• Any medium, from paper to digital, can be used

• Any art material and digital technology can be used, including paint, textas, crayons, coloured pencils, collage materials, original photographs and digital graphics

• Uploaded files are limited to 20MB

• Image files should be in .JPG or .PNG formats

• Group artwork will not be accepted (only one student per artwork)

• Each student can only enter once.

How to enter

Visit National Water Week.com.au. Enter your school’s postcode to find your local competition and upload your poster.

Need inspiration

Visit our website, www.gww.com.au/nww to take a look at last year’s winning entries.

Questions

Please contact our education team:

• Call: 0404 865 597

• Email: education@gww.com.au

• Website: www.gww.com.au/nww

 


Community News

Macedon Village Farmers Market - Saturday 30th July - Macedon Primary

The Macedon Village Farmers Market is having a "Christmas In July" theme. The market will be indoors in the JCB at Macedon Primary on Saturday the 30th of July from 9am - 1pm. Please come along to support the market which in turn supports the school.

Have you got something important to say?

Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health and Sunbury Aboriginal Corporation are inviting people between the ages of 9 and 25 to join Kid x Plus.

At Kid x Plus we will help you to develop a talk which will be presented to politicians, experts and decision makers, making sure that they know about the things that young people care about.  Last year’s Kid x Plus speakers talked about a range of topics including mental health, education, discrimination, disability and the environment to name a few. 

Even if you don’t want to give a talk, you can still join Kid x Plus as part of our event team, helping us to run the event.

Registrations close 22 July.  To find out more and to register go to: https://sunburycobaw.org.au/kid-x-plus/

If you have any queries about Kid x Plus, please contact Matt Gleeson, Building Healthy Communities, Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health on 9744 9516 or at matt.gleeson@scchc.org.au

Macedon Primary School

Macedon Primary School acknowledges the Wurundjeri people as the traditional owners of the country upon which we learn and work. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community and pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.