Mount Macedon Primary Newsletter

Care - Create - Collaborate

Mount Macedon Primary School aims to develop positive, independent, resilient and inquiring students who are ready for the future.


Principal's Report

Tuesday 15th March 2022

Hello Everyone,

I hope that you all have had a lovely long weekend.

You will all know by now that we currently have a spate of COVID cases in the school. Our grade one class has been the most affected, but there are cases through the school. We have been extremely lucky to have reached this stage without having ongoing cases of COVID and it is now important that I remind you to be particularly vigilant in watching for symptoms. They can be very mild in children. Could I also remind you to use the DET supplied RAT tests twice per week to help us identify asymptomatic students who may still be positive?

Students who are absent due to the pandemic can get schoolwork during their 7 days of isolation. Please just let us know if your child is well enough to undertake work and we will put together kits for them that can be picked up. If you have no-one to pick the work up for you, I will try to drop packages at your front gates.

At school we have moved classroom seating around to provide as much distance as possible between students. All children are being reminded every day about hand hygiene and for the grades 3-6, mask wearing requirements.

Please remain calm and positive (as much as you can) with the children. I have had some verbal aggression from parents in the last couple of weeks and I remind you all that I am not making these rules, just enforcing them. I am trying hard to keep you informed about what is happening in a very dynamic situation. I understand that everyone is tired and a lot less resilient, but I remain passionate about modelling positive behaviour to our children.

Today our school will undergo an OH&S audit around our COVID safety. I will let you know the results as soon as I receive them. I believe that we are following the rules and guidelines well.

On Friday, at assembly we were able to announce the winners of our Athletic Sports Day. It was a very close event but, on this occasion, Mitchell (gold) won on the day. Given that Kulin (green) won the swimming sports, it has been a year of even competition. Well done to everyone.

On Thursday, three of our students, Charlie D, Olive G and Emily M are representing our school at the Division swimming sports. This is a spectacular result for our school and we wish them every success up against all of the schools in our region.

This Friday we are scheduled to have our Cross-Country event for our senior students at Dixon Field. We would love some parent help with this event as our children run either 2 or 3 km and we need parents along the track encouraging and checking in on them.

This year we are being evaluated for our progress in delivering the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program. The IB committee will review us remotely as part of the Asia Pacific Region. This will occur in August, but we are already working hard to gather all the documentation required. We will be sending home a survey to find out how you feel about the inquiry learning occurring in the school.

I’d like to finish by talking about the great learning that is going on in our classrooms. The children at this school are generally very committed to their learning and each time I teach them (I try to get into classrooms as often as I can) I am amazed by their ability to articulate their learning and their independence in setting their own learning goals for improvement. They are a very bright group of children.

Have a lovely week and call me if you need to talk about anything.

Kind regards

Trish

MMPS Staff Parent and Visitor Code of Conduct

Please see attached below the MMPS Staff, Parent and Visitor Code of Conduct. We appreciate if you could please take the time to read through this important document.
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WHAT IS THE PYP?

 

•       The PYP is designed for students aged 3 to 12. It focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. It is a framework guided by six transdisciplinary themes of global significance, explored using knowledge and skills derived from six subject areas, as well as transdisciplinary skills, with a powerful emphasis on inquiry.

•       The Transdisciplinary Units are: -

•       The PYP is flexible enough to accommodate the demands of most national or local curriculums.

•       The PYP embeds a lifelong learning philosophy via the development of a Learner Profile for every student.

Grade 1 Update

In Grade 1, the central idea for their Unit of Inquiry is: "People in our community have different roles".

Students have each chosen a role in the community that interests them ie. Vet, Police Officer, Firefighter. They have done research and are now putting together their own presentations to share information on the role they have chosen.  Below is a picture of George using his PowerPoint plan to create his presentation on a Farmer.

Grade 4/5 Update

As part of the IB unit of Inquiry over the last few weeks the Grade 4/5's have been learning about the rules, expectations and norms of communities and societies. One of the ways they have been exploring rules is to change one rule of the day in their classroom. Examples of some of their rules of the day have been; applauding anyone who enters the room, singing out “hammer time!” every time Mrs. Smith says stop, and allowing girls to go outside for recess before boys. Each day they reflected on the rules and discussed who benefited from the rule, who was disadvantaged and what the consequences of having these rules had on our learning community. Some of the rules were fun and silly, and some of the rules prompted the students to think about fairness, justice and equity. They will continue to look at rules and expectations and how these differ between communities and cultures. This week, the Grade 4/5's were also having fun in PE, learning how to play Soccer and practising ball balancing and passing. See below for soccer skills in action.

Kimochis at MMPS

This week our Key to Communication is our Voice.

 Here is a video to explain what we are teaching the students at school:-

MMPS Update by School Reporter Eliza

Hello everyone.

A week ago we had Athletics Day. It was a burning hot day and by the end of it everyone was tired and exhausted. There were a tonne of running races as well as shot put, discus and long jump for the older grades. 

For the younger grades (Foundation-2) there were fun little races for them to enjoy like: running races, bouncing ball races, skipping, bag races, hurdles, frisbees and much more.

Overall everyone had a blast, and tried their best. It was great to see and hear everyone cheering for each other and encouraging each other throughout the day. 

All of the Grade Sixes have now received their leadership badges and are hard at work developing their leadership roles. It's very exciting to know a lot of the kids have been here for years to earn these badges.

Eliza

Division Swimming

The Division Swimming Competition will be held this Thursday at the Melton Waves Swimming Pool. Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for the event:

Olive 11yr Freestyle, Breaststroke

Emily M 12 yr Breaststroke

Charlie D 10 yr Breaststroke

We wish them the best of luck, and hope they enjoy the day.

Cross Country

This coming Friday 18th March, our Grades 3 - 6 will be participating in the Cross Country Trials at Dixon Field in Gisborne. The Bus will depart MMPS at 9.00am, so please ensure children arrive to school on time. Please also ensure children bring plenty of water for after the run. The students will be returning to school by 12pm. Good luck everyone and have fun! The first 10 students to cross the line first in each race will be selected to compete in the District Cross Country on Friday 23rd April.

Music Update

This week in music our guitar  students were practising their skills playing the song Feelgood Inc by the Gorillaz. They were practising how to use different music notes, and learning how to do a slide. This is a technique that gives more interest to the sound and notes you are playing. It is quite a skill to master, but well worth it once you can put it all together to form a great musical sound. The students were also preparing to learn some chords for a song called Rip Tide by Vance Joy that they will be playing next week. The chords they will be learning to master are A minor, G and C. Have a look below at some guitar work in action.

MMPS Dad's Golf Evening

FOS Pop Up Cafe

FOS Bulb Fundraiser

Spring to it!

We know it’s hard to think about spring flowers when we’re still waiting for summer to arrive, but if you want your garden full of spring bulbs you need to order them now!

Welcome to our first fundraiser of the year, and this one is super easy to be a part of and spread the message far and wide to your friends and family (even those outside of Mount Macedon). Forty percent of all sales are donated to the school by Tesselaar, who is conducting the bulb sale on our behalf. So if you were going to order spring bulbs through a reputable seller then this is the way to do it and raise money for your local school at the same time. It’s all done online so no need for cash in envelopes or notes back to teachers, just head to www.bulbfundraiser.com.au/MOUNTMPS (it’s also super easy to send the link to family and friends). Get in quick, final orders will be taken until 9th April 2022, or until sold out.

Funds raised will go to supporting projects at the school. Please try and support this important fundraiser if you can.

Thanks,

The FOS Team

From the Office

Just a quick note to remind parents if you are dropping your child late to school, please present via the school office and sign your child in as a late arrival. This really helps staff and teachers keep track of attendance, and helps avoid any disruption to the start of class. We appreciate your cooperation.

Friends of the School

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)

Do you hold a valid, means-tested concession card? The Victorian Government will provide CSEF to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF.  A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child. Please see the below attached for more information and an application form. Please contact the School Office if you have any further enquiries.

CSEF Financial Assistance Information

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CSEF Application Form 2022

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COMMUNITY NEWS

New Gisborne Playgroup Open Day

The New Gisborne Playgroup invites all to attend its annual Teddy Bears' Picnic Open Day on Sunday 27th March, 10am to 12pm (252 Station Road, New Gisborne). Come and see what the playgroup has to offer pre-school aged children, from arts and crafts to an extensive range of indoor and outdoor toys and play equipment. And for tired parents, there will be a coffee van to provide your caffeine fix.

So bring along the family, a favourite teddy bear, and a picnic basket - there will be lots of fun and entertainment for your little ones!

For more information see www.newgisborneplaygroup.com

Kyneton Football Netball Club Launch Day

Macedon Junior Football

Macedon Junior Netball

Sunbury Calisthenics

Term 1 Tennis

Important Dates

Division Swimming  Thursday 17th March

FOS Pop Up Cafe Friday 18th March

Dad's Golf Evening Friday 18th March

Cross Country - Friday 18th March (Grades 3-6)

School Council Annual General Meeting Tuesday 22nd March 

2022 Term Dates

Term 1 - Monday 31st January to Friday 8th April

Term 2 - Tuesday 26th April to Friday 24th June

Term 3 - Monday 11th July to Friday 16th September

Term 4 - Monday 3rd October to Tuesday 20th December