Mount Macedon Primary Newsletter

Tuesday 21st  June 2022

Hello everyone,

As this is the last newsletter for the term, I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone for their resilience and perseverance this term. I was excited yesterday, because for the first time in a long time, all staff were present. This week though, has continued to present some staffing difficulties and we will need to continue to use emergency teachers to cover some roles, up until Friday. Most staff absences have required at least a week off school this term, and this is quite a different scenario to the one or two days that staff usually require off due to illness. I remain eternally optimistic that next term will be more settled with less illness for students, staff and parents.

I attended a meeting yesterday held by the Deputy Secretary of Education. Principals have been informed that vaccination is no longer a requirement to enter a school. Parents, teachers, visitors, and contractors no longer need to show their vaccination status and in fact there is no requirement to be vaccinated at all to enter the school. Mask wearing is encouraged but not mandated.

On Saturday night, Friends of the School held a Mexican Fiesta Night for parents in the school hall. I heard that it was a fantastic night and a lot of fun. FOS would like to thank:

* Everyone who helped set up and pack up

*Sam Hurst for being a wonderful MC

*DJ Dan Berger for his tunes

*The Quinn, Krajewski, McClurg and Jex family who cooked

*Everyone who attended and made the night such a success.

This week, reports will be going home. A lot of time has gone into assessing where your child/children are at in their learning. For each judgement, teachers need to have three pieces of evidence (triangulation of results) to be sure that they are accurately placed at the correct curriculum level. I have proofread all the reports, but sometimes a spelling/grammar mistake escapes me. If you have a mistake in your report, please bring it back and I will correct it for you. Parent teacher interviews will be held in week 2 of Term 3.

Could I please remind you all that day 1 of Term 3, Monday 11th July will be a Pupil Free Day? All staff will be working at school on this day, undertaking Primary Years Program training. I received notification yesterday that DET (Department of Education and Training) has allocated another Professional Practice Day (no pupils at school) for Term 3. I will meet with the school council tonight to discuss the best date for this day and let you know as soon as possible.

I’m currently running school tours for prospective parents for 2023. If you know of anyone who may be interested, please let them know. For the first time in quite a few years, we will only have a small cohort of siblings starting next year. This means that we will be able to take students from beyond our usual school zone of Mt Macedon residents only.

Next term is a production term and for many of our students it will be their first time performing on the stage at school. We are really looking forward to it.

I have heard from the children that many of you are taking the opportunity to go away on a holiday. Enjoy every minute, and make sure that you rest up and relax as much as you can.

Kind Regards,

Trish

Unfortunately, due to one of the presenting team members becoming unwell, our Second Parent Information session will be postponed. We apologise, and hope to have a new date finalised some time in Term 3. Please stay tuned, as we are keen to have this valuable and informative session rescheduled as soon as is possible.

Hello everyone.

This is the last week of term. It's crazy to think we are halfway through the school year, and it's gone so fast. This semester has been filled with  so many events and occasions that we will remember. 

We started the year with our yearly swimming and athletics carnival as well as other sporting events like netball, soccer and AFL. We also participated in an intensive swimming program for two weeks to learn and improve our swimming skills.  At the very start of the year we had the Macedon and Williamstown Bike Ride for grades 4, 5 and 6, and the ‘Bike Ed’ program for the grade 4’s.

The grade 6’s got their jackets, badges and leadership roles, and are finally leaders of the school after waiting for years. The grade 5/6 camp was not too long ago, where we learned about Melbourne, and the history of it too. We also have our buddies program between the Foundations and the grade 6’s to help them get to know the school, and everyone in it, but also to have some fun.

In the future we are looking forward to more events, like the neon disco, the production, teacher for a day and many more. We are very excited for the second semester ahead. 

Eliza.

This week, our guitar students had more of a fun session for the end of term where they were learning some theme songs from the movies! Our grade 2 students were strumming away to Harry Potter Hedwig's Theme, and our older students were introduced to some new songs to practise over the holidays such as Top Gun anthem. To end the sessions, the students got a real treat and took turns to play a little on music teacher Aaron's electric guitar with a free choice of songs like Batman and Shotgun. 

Tuning Into Kids is an evidence based interactive and practical parenting program that will give you a new way of thinking about your childs emotional development. Are you a parent of a child in grades five or six? Do you want to feel more confident in your parenting to support your child with their emotions? Council are running two FREE online six week Tuning into Kids programs for parents. A practical parenting program that will give you a new way of thinking about your child's emotional development.

Limited spaces available. Contact Stephanie Vassilios on svassilios@mrsc.vic.gov.au or 5422 0333 to book

Wednesday 22nd June - Lantern Parade

Friday 24th June - Last Day of Term 2. School Assembly 2pm & EARLY FINISH 2.30pm

Monday 11th July - Pupil Free Day

Tuesday 12th July - First Day of Term 3 for Students

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