Mount Macedon Primary Newsletter

Wednesday 15th June 2022

Hello everyone,

As we continue to try to manage the large amount of illnesses in the community at the moment, I’d like to thank you all for your understanding. This term, at some stage, every class has had to have emergency teachers, or myself, or be split up into other classes. It is the most difficult term I can remember for trying to manage continuity of education. All of the class teachers have been terrific at making sure that lesson plans were left, even when they were very ill, to ensure that the children’s’ education had minimal disruption. Our student absence rates are the largest we have ever had.

I think that a lot of our students and adults are tired and looking forward to a chance to rest and recuperate.

Last week our Grade 5 and 6 students went on camp to Melbourne. It was a camp that was full of unique experiences and a lot of moving around and navigating through the city. Today I am teaching the grade 5/6 class and their feedback has been wonderful. Every student thought that it was a great camp. Thanks to all of the teachers who gave up their own time to go (especially Rebecca Bowen who filled in for me when I was too sick to go) and a big thanks to Simon Dohler who spent a lot of time booking venues and coordinating the movement of the students through the city. Our school reporter, Eliza Ransome has written a report for the newsletter.

Yesterday, although it was a Professional Practice Day for teachers, our school netball teams competed at the interschool sports. This PPD was only granted for all teachers, this term. Usually these days occur on a staggered rotation throughout the school but the Department of Education and Training asked principals to organise for it all to happen on the same day. Sadly, it clashed with netball, and we didn’t want our students to miss out.

They headed off to Boardman Stadium in Sunbury for the day. Each team competed well, winning some of the games they played. Thanks to Jenny Gadd and Trina Monaghan for coaching the teams for us. The students tell me that it was a really good day and they enjoyed the competition. Once again, their sportsmanship was excellent and they represented us well.

If you have a moment, have a walk to the area near the playground to see our new vegetable garden. It is almost finished and has added a lovely new dimension to the school. Once again, thanks to the Quinn family who have made this their project and have given up weekends and holidays to get it completed.

Next Wednesday 22nd June, our art teacher, Rowena Glenister has organised a lantern parade at the school. Each class has made lanterns representing different celebrations. We would love you to come along at 5pm. The children will walk through the local community with their lanterns (weather permitting) and then finish back at school with a hot drink.

Mid-year school reports will come out next week. Given that it has been a short 9 week term, we will be holding parent teacher interviews in week 2 of term 3. All students who have an Individual Learning Plan, will have been contacted by the classroom teacher to have a Student Support Group meeting next week.

Stay warm and well in this wintery weather.

Kind Regards,

Trish

We are running a second parent session on how best to support child emotional and social development. We would really like this to be guided by you, so if you are interested please let us know what areas you would like covered. There will be space for open Q&As in the live chat. 

Who is Dr. Billy Garvey?

Billy is a developmental paediatrician with over 18 years experience working with children in a number of settings. His clinical and research interests include child development and mental health, multidisciplinary collaboration, improving health literacy and promoting community engagement to support all families. Billy holds clinical, advocacy and research roles in government and not-for-profit organisations at a national, state and local level. He is currently undertaking a PhD piloting a model to support child emotional and behavioural development in primary schools and is a Churchill Fellow exploring how social media can be used to support parenting. He is also the co-founder of the Pop Culture Parenting podcast which aims to support child development and wellbeing using evidence in a meaningful, fun and realistic way. 

Who is Jennifer Dix?

Jennifer is a Clinical Psychologist who has worked for several years in community welfare, specialising in working with children, adolescents and adults who have experienced trauma or are caring for others with a history of trauma. Jennifer has experience in adult inpatient care and community mental health, as well as in facilitating children’s therapeutic groups and parenting workshops. She is particularly passionate about empowering adolescents and young adults to develop the tools necessary to reach their potential. 

Expression of interest link

https://forms.gle/UpkAZFcFVsQFFAZ47

When? 

Wednesday, 22 June 2022

7:30 PM

Where?

Event address for attendees: https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/onstage/g.php?MTID=e1c3693c0b65410f9738f83db2f4d3a26

Event number: 2650 534 2563

Event password: YGmPJ2cpM25

On Wednesday the 8th of June, the Grade 5 and 6’s headed off on this year’s school camp to the City of Melbourne. Our parents dropped us off at the Macedon Train Station, all excited we loaded on our bags and waved goodbye. When we arrived in the city we walked to our accommodation at CYC City Camp, we dropped off our bags and got ready for our first day of adventure! 

The first place we visited was the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) where we did a tour and learned the history of the place. We also took a look at the games exhibition and the MCG museum. Later we got a presentation from an Olympian, Richard Goerlitz, who competed at the Winter Olympic Games in 1998. He motivated us to achieve our dreams, and talked about the ups and downs he faced. 

Next we went to ACMI (Australian Centre For The Moving Image) learning both the history and current ways of moving images, film, video games and animation. After dinner back at our accommodation, we headed to the Eureka Tower and Skydeck. The Skydeck is 297m high. The view of the city was amazing and it was beautiful seeing all the lights and cars down below. We also saw a laser light show on the Yarra river and the flames outside the Casino.  Day one over and we were all tired and weary but it was a great start to our camp.   

On the morning of the second day, we headed to the Lume and learnt about the stories of an artist named Van Gogh. There were a few exhibitions on him and lots of stories to read about his life. Afterwards, we went to the National Gallery of Victoria and looked at old art and art from other countries. Next stop was a concert by Baker Boy at Hamer Hall. We sat in the front two rows in a crowd of about 1500 students. At the start of the concert there were various dance and singing performances followed by Baker Boy's performance.  As we were so close, we got high fives from Baker Boy himself!  To finish off a fabulous day, we dressed up and went to Cinderella the musical at the Regent Theatre. We enjoyed seeing the quick scene changes and little elements that make it magical. The special effects made a simple fairytale very exciting and we all loved it.  

On the final day we went to the Victoria Markets and saw seafood, fruit and vegetables and lots of different stalls holding things we may never have seen before. On our final stop we went to the Aquarium and we saw exotic fish and underwater species, as well as penguins and other sea life.  After the Aquarium, our camp had sadly come to an end and we all jumped back on the bus and headed home.  It was jam packed but an experience that will be embedded in our minds forever.

Eliza - MMPS School Reporter

This term the Grade 1's have been exploring Celebrations for their Inquiry. We were fortunate to have so many parents and grandparents willing to come and share their experiences of celebrations from their own culture - Fijian celebrations, Greek Easter, Martisor and St Patrick's Day. Below are some photos of the children eagerly learning about all the different celebrations such as St Patricks Day which is an Irish cultural and religious celebration, symbolised by wearing of the colour green, as well as the many different celebrations and traditions within the Fijian culture. 

The District netball Competition was held yesterday at Boardman Stadium in Sunbury, and by all accounts it was a great day. Our teams did really well, we won 3 games, everyone played their best and most of all had lots of fun. Well done team MMPS! See below for some netball in action.

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

Saturday 18th June - Parent Event - Mexican Fiesta

Wednesday 22nd June - Lantern Parade

Friday 24th June - Last Day of Term 2 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