Macedon Primary School Newsletter

5 May 2021

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

Principal's Report

Dear parents,

I am excited by a number of the projects that are being run through the school as part of our focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives this term.  Some students working in Middle Gully will be developing a bush tucker walk between the maze and the dam area.  We have been in touch with Kerri Douglas the Macedon PS Koori Education support Officer from DET.  We are working with Kerri and local landscape designer Kylie Blade of BLADE by DESIGN to develop the space into an interactive and educational walk through this section of Middle Gully Reserve.  We have also engaged with the local parks ranger to learn more about the local endemic species and bush tucker.  Students from selected grades will work on preparing the space and planting out the bush tucker plants.  I look forward to this becoming a part of Middle Gully Reserve.

NAPLAN – May 11 -13 May

The nationwide NAPLAN assessments for our Year 3 and Year 5 students is next week.  The assessments will be occurring between the 11th and 13th of May.

Language and Writing – Tuesday 11 May

Reading – Wednesday 12 May

Numeracy – Thursday 13 May

The NAPLAN tests are an important check-in for our school, our state and the education system in Australia.  The results support us to measure our success and identify areas for improvement with our teaching.   For parents of students in year three and five, this is just one of a number of assessments your children will complete through the course of the year.  I encourage you to keep the daily routines normal as we approach the week and describe the period as a normal week at school.   There may be additional anxiety that your child feels as we approach these assessments, however we encourage you to encourage your child to focus on putting in their best effort just like they do with all of the other assessments they complete throughout the year.  Your child’s teacher will be working hard to create a supportive and safe environment and give all students the skills they need to put their best effort forward during the assessment period.

If you have any questions about the NAPLAN assessments or would like to discuss them with me please call the school to make a time to see me or feel free to email me matthew.forrest@education.vic.gov.au

Annual Report – Presentation to the community – Wednesday 5th of May – 7:30pm

I will be presenting this document to the community at School Council on Wednesday 5 May and I will also be offering you all the opportunity to tune in via WebEx at 7:30pm.  I invite you all to join me and the school council by clicking the following link at 7:30pm on Wednesday https://eduvic.webex.com/join/forrest.matthew.j  

Finally, thank you to the parents who helped out with the Mother's Day stall today, especially Lisa Colban who organised the stall for the first time this year.  The gifts all looked amazing and I am sure will be gratefully received on Sunday morning. I would like to wish the Mum's in our school community a Happy Mother's Day and I hope you have a restful day on Sunday.

Matt Forrest

Principal

Latest Department of Education advice on COVID19

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/parents/Pages/coronavirus-advice-parents.aspx


Important Dates

11 May - NAPLAN for Yr 3 & Yr 5 - Language and writing

12 May - NAPLAN for Yr 3 & Yr 5 - Reading

13 May - NAPLAN for Yr 3 & Yr 5 - Numeracy

14 June - Queen's Birthday public holiday (school closed)

25 June - Last day of Term 2 (2:30 dismissal)

TERM 3:

12 July - School Curriculum Day (no students)

13 July - First day of Term 3

7 September - Whole School Photo Day

17 September - Last day of Term 3 (2:30 dismissal)

TERM 4:

5 October - First Day of Term 4

13 October - 15 October - Grade 3/4 Camp Weekaway

25 October - 29 October - Grade 5/6 Cape Bridgewater Camp

2 November - Melbourne Cup public holiday (school closed)

17 December - Last day of year (1:30pm dismissal)

Notes sent home

**Please note, notes can also be found on the Macedon Primary website under the 'Parents' tab and then 'Event' section.

Yr 5 & 6 Students - Somers School Camp Expression of interest 

Yr 6 to Yr 7 Transition forms

Mother's Dall Stall flyer

Yr 6 Bomber Jacket Invoices

NAPLAN Information for Yr 3 and Yr 5 Parents

From the Office

Parent payments for Cross Country / House Athletics

We have had some families pay twice for these events or pay for children that will not be attending (these events were for years 3 - 6). If you have overpaid, a credit will sit on your account or be put towards other fees on your account. If you have any questions, please contact the office.

Lost Property from Y1 & Y2 camps

We have a number of items of lost property from the Yr 1 and Y2 camps held at the end of last term. If you are missing something, please ask your child to speak to Miss Hall in 1KH.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)

To the families that have applied for the Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF), these funds have now been received by the School for this school year. When filling out permission forms for camps, sports or excursions, can you please tick CSEF in the payment box and we will allocate these funds against the cost of the excursion. Funds received from previous years that have not been used have been carried forward to this year. Please don't hesitate to contact the office should you have any queries regarding the amount of CSEF you have to use for your child.

Absence Notifications

If your child is late or absent from school without explanation from parents, an SMS will be sent to Adult A at around 10.15am. Please respond to the SMS promptly. Please note the following: 

If your child is LATE FOR SCHOOL, a parent must accompany the child to the office when you arrive, sign your child in the Early Leavers/Late Arrival book and take a “Late Pass” for your child to hand to their teacher. Rolls are marked promptly at 9am. If the music has finished and your child is not yet in class, they have probably missed the roll.

If your child will be ABSENT FROM SCHOOL, we ask that you either:

  • Log onto Skoolbag and record the absence
  • Phone the school on 5426 1518 and leave a message on the absence voicemail; or
  • Send an email to the school’s email address; macedon.ps@education.vic.gov.au

If you need to take your child EARLY FROM SCHOOL we ask that you:

  • Call or email the office to advise what time you will be collecting your child so we can have them ready at the office.
  • come to the office to sign your child out.

Working With Children Checks

All parents, carers and other visitors to Macedon Primary require a current Working With Children’s Check to volunteer at the school. To apply for a volunteer WWCC you simply log on to

https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/ (its free!)

If you have a current WWCC or VIT and have not advised the office, please bring your card into the office to have it photocopied or simply take a photo of the card and email it to the office at macedon.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Julie  and Emma

Student Achievement Awards

These awards will be handed out at our Friday afternoon assembly. Our assembly takes place in the JCB (John Curtin Building) from 3:00pm on Friday afternoons. We are now able to welcome parents and carers to attend.

F/1TT - Pippa B - For terrific literacy progress.

F/1MS - Isabella M - For always doing her very best work.

1KH - Archer D - For his wonderful mental calculation with place value.

1/2KB - Myles C - For his enthusiasm in reading sessions.

1/2KB -  Johnny F - For his enthusiasm in reading sessions.

2RG - Asha T - For outstanding work in mathematics!

2RG - Indiana C - For fantastic diary writing!

3VW - Lorna L - For being a caring and supportive class member.

3VW - Martha B - For fantastic effort with persuasive writing. 

4CS - Dusty M - For his wonderful hardworking approach to all areas of his learning.

4CS - Vera C - For her super effort on her persuasive writing and always giving her best.

3/4MS - Ruby S - For taking on feedback. Well done.

3/4MS - Max M - For always showing empathy and care to others.

3/4MS - James M - For working consistently well and preparing thoughtful answers to questions asked.

4/5BT - Oscar S - For excellent book work and always being neat.

4/5BT - Cody E - For being a responsible and caring role model to others.

4/5BT - Hannah R - For always being a kind and happy class member.

6AB - Matilda G - For always having a go especially about B.O.D.M.A.S.

6AB - Jasper R - For being a diligent worker and awesome class member.

Donations of footy boots

Do you have any old pairs of footy boots looking for a new home? We have interschool footy on Monday for the Yr 5s and Yr 6s and some of the kids don't have boots. If you would like to donate a pair, there will be a tub in the foyer for donations. Thank you

Athletics Day Report

It was a beautiful Autumn day for our House Athletics last Wednesday 28th of April.

Everyone looked great dressed up in their house colours as we arrived at Dixon field. All the students participated in 7 events: 100m sprint, hurdles, 800m run, long jump, triple jump, shot put and discus.

Everyone participated well for their house and made an effort to achieve their best. The final results will be announced at the school assembly this Friday.

The top performers on the day will also go through to our district athletics event in August.

Thanks very much to all the parents who helped and came along to help on the day – we can’t run these events without your amazing assistance. Thanks also to the teachers and staff who made the day run so smoothly and successfully. Mr O.

School Council update

Towards the end of last term, the Macedon Primary School Council met for the school’s Annual General Meeting and our second council meeting of the year.

At the AGM we thanked outgoing parent council members Tiffany Barton and Nina Moncrief, who also served as president in 2019 and 2020. Big thanks also to Karen Baker for serving as a staff member representative on council in addition to her leadership at the school. We welcomed new parent council members Ben English, Sarah Turner and Sam Evans and new staff representative David Oxworth. Council elected Justin Sawyer as our new president and Duncan McGauchie as vice president. A treasurer and secretary will be selected when the full council reconvenes at our next meeting.

At the Council meeting we worked through approvals for the wonderful Grade 1 and 2 camps at the end of Term 1. We also revisited ongoing discussions about the school Fete and Farmers Market in 2021. Parent council members were also invited to contribute to the school’s four year strategic review process – and requested Nina Moncrief to continue her serving on the review panel until the conclusion of the process. Between meetings, council was also asked to review and approve the school’s annual report developed by our Principal Matthew Forest.

Our next meeting is tonight – Wednesday 5 May  7pm - and, as always, all parents are welcome to attend.

Scholastic Book Club - Term 2

Scholastic brochures were handed out on Friday, please note, these orders are due by the 10th of May. 

We do not accept cash. 

You can place your child's order online at scholastic.com.au/LOOP

or use the LOOP app.

Outside School Hours Care

Our rates are: $15.00 for Before School Care (7:00am - 8:45am) and $22.00 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.

Community News

Gisborne Secondary Information evening - 5th May

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.