Melton Primary School NewsletterP: 9743 5335 E: melton.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au W: http://www.meltonps.vic.edu.au

Monday 7th August, 2017

From the Principal's deskTake Home Reading ProgramThank you to all of the families that have looked around home for any of the MPS take home readers. Any time that you come across a reader, please send it back to school. Thank you for your support, we appreciate it.

Curriculum DayThis Friday 11th August students are not required at school as this is a curriculum day. Staff will participate in the final day of their Berry Street Professional Development Program. Please ensure that you arrange suitable supervision for your child/ren.

Foundation 2018Students enrolled in Foundation for 2018 recently participated in their first scheduled transition day. If your child/ren were not enrolled or unable to make it, don’t worry it is not too late. Please ensure your enrolment form is lodged at the office and we will contact you in relation to future transition sessions.

100 Days of SchoolLast week the Foundation students celebrated their first 100 days of school. As a part of their celebrations, they welcomed into their classrooms their grandparents. It was wonderful that so many grandparents took the time to visit and share with the students their life experiences and what school was like for them. Thank you to all of the grandparents for supporting this event and all of the Foundation staff for your organisation of this special day.

Grade 6 First AidOur senior students enjoyed a visit from the StJohn’s Ambulance Service who provided them with tips and techniques on what to do in an emergency situation and how to provide first aid. Thank you to the year 6 staff for arranging this valuable incursion.

From the Principal's deskGrade 4 Narana Aboriginal CentreRecently our Grade 4 students visited the Narana Aboriginal Centre in Geelong. Our students actively participated in a range of hands on and interactive sessions on the culture and customs of the Aboriginals. Thank you to the Grade 4 team for your organisation of this event.

Performing ArtsDuring Performing Arts this year, Miss Timpani has arranged a variety of productions to visit our school and for the students to enjoy. Successfully she has applied for grants to support the cost of these incursions and also for new musical equipment. Recently the Grade 6 students participated in the Improvaganza Performance. Thank you to Miss Timpani for her organisation of these exciting events.

Immigration MuseumLast week the Grade 5 students headed off to the Immigration Museum where they learnt about the journey that many different nationalities had in coming to Australia and making it their home. Thank you to the Grade 5 team for your organisation of this hands on learning experience.

Principal’s DayLast week we celebrated Principal’s Day. Mrs Sutherland, Mrs Gilbert and I would like to thank all of the staff, students and parents who helped us celebrate this day. Thank you for your kinds words, chocolates and flowers. We felt very spoilt.

MPSSA District AthleticsOn the 17th & 18th of August, a number of our senior students will represent MPS at the District Athletics Carnival. We wish all of these students the best as they give their event their best effort and show great sportsmanship. Good luck everyone! Thank you to Miss Morrissy for all of her organisation for these 2 days and to the staff/parent helpers on the day, we appreciate your support.

From the Principal's deskOnline AssemblyWe are changing the format of our online assembly, we will now pre-record and enhance student participation and the presentation. To enable us to do this, we will not host assembly this week, we will postpone it until Wednesday 16th August. Thank you for your understanding as we make improvements.

Parent Opinion Survey 2017WE WANT OUR PARENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK. Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents at the school. It is designed to assist our school in gaining an understanding of parents’ perception of school climate, student engagement and relationships with our parent community. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

The survey will be conducted online and only takes 15 minutes to complete. It can be accessed via desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile at any convenient time within the fieldwork period from Monday 7th August to Sunday 27th August.

Approximately 30 per cent of parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. The survey results will be reported back to our school at the end of September. The school will communicate with parents the results through the newsletter and the annual reporting document. Last year we used the survey results to plan curriculum areas and program across the school.

For further information, please speak to you child’s teacher or visit: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pages/performsurveyparent.aspx

Vanessa HarrisonActing Principal

Key Dates for Term 3August

7th Early Bird Readers 8:15am8th Breakfast Club 8:20am9th Early Bird Readers 8:15am

Assembly online 2:30pm Postponed until next week10th Early Bird Readers 8:15am

Grade 6 Project Rockit Cyber Bullying Incursion11th Curriculum Day - Students not required at school.14th Early Bird Readers 8:15am15th Breakfast Club 8:20am16th Early Bird Readers 8:15am

Grade 3 Project Rockit Cyber Bullying IncursionAssembly OnlineSchool Council

17th MPSSA District Athletics Track DaySchool Review Day 1Early Bird Readers 8:15am

18th MPSSA District Athletics Field Day

August19th MPSSA District Athletics Field Day21st Early Bird Readers 8:15am22nd Breakfast Club 8:20am23rd Early Bird Readers 8:15am

Father’s Day StallAssembly online 2:30pm

24th Early Bird Readers 8:15am Grade 6 Stamp Out Graffiti Incursion25th Grade 1 Melbourne Museum Excursion28th Early Bird Readers 8:15am

Grade 3 & 4 Camp to Phillip Island29th Breakfast Club 8:20am

Grade 3 & 4 Camp to Phillip Island30th Early Bird Readers 8:15am

Grade 3 & 4 Camp to Phillip Island31st Early Bird Readers 8:15am

School Review Day 2

Watch this space….

Exciting new developments will be coming soon!

F- 2 Book Week 201719th - 26th August

To celebrate Book Week we are hosting a dress up book parade for the junior students.

The 2017 theme of book week is to Escape to Everywhere!

F-2 Book Week Dress Up Parade will be held on Wednesday 30th August at 2:05pm on the tennis court (weather permitting, otherwise it will be in the gym).

Start organising your costume today. Prizes will be awarded at each year level. Parents are welcome to attend.

National Literacy and Numeracy Week 2017

4th - 10th September

To celebrate National Literacy and Numeracy Week, we will be hosting a range of free extra curricula activities throughout the week during lunch time.

All students are welcome to participate and maybe win a prize or two.

A full list of the scheduled activities will be advertised in the next newsletter.

We encourage our families to arrange some great activities after hours with your child/ren for this week. Why not visit the local library, take a walk of your local streets and count the houses with and without a fence, visit

the shops and give your child $2.00 to spend and see who can get the most for their money or have your child do a book swap with a friend. The possibilities are endless.

Foundation

We had a great day celebrating 100 days of school. The children did some fabulous activities with each of their Foundation teachers to celebrate.

To end a great day we invited our Grandparents along to share their stories with us. We heard about their school days, where they grew up and what life was like for them growing up. We thank them for giving up their time and for being such an important part of their grandchild’s education.

This is just a reminder to check your class Dojo regularly. Each Foundation teacher regularly puts up reminders, information and stories about your child. We do this to keep you informed and connected with your child’s learning so please take advantage of it. If you are not connected to Class Dojo please see your child’s teacher. Connection is fast, easy and free!

Year 2 We would love to share some photos of our VCOP and Big Write sessions with you all …

Here is what our students have to say ...Zac C - It helps me practise writing.Mollie B - I like it because it helps me to learn more words and I love writing stories.Alyssa W - I like playing the Boggle games because you have to be quick at thinking of words and have good word knowledge.Leah P - You get to write lots of words that you know to describe your characters.Selena N - I know how to use different punctuation.Tara W -It’s fun doing the talk homework and I like doing the Big Write.Cooper R - I like to write narratives because it is really fun to write.

Humanities StudiesThis term the Year 4 students are studying a History unit where they will be learning about the culture of Aboriginal Australians prior to British Colonization.To tune the students into the learning, we visited

Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre on the 27th July 2017.

The students had a great time exploring and learning through this excursion. Check out some of our photos!

Students learning about the different ways that plants were used in Aboriginal culture.

Students engaging in a presentation about the different tools, clothing and dreamtime stories.

Students learning how to throw a boomerang! We had some very

successful throws!

Reminders:● Please be reminded that the Year 3 and 4 students are

attending camp on the 28th - 30th August 2017. Please ensure that any outstanding forms are returned to school as soon as possible.

● If you have not yet signed up to Class Dojo, please request an invitation from your child’s classroom teacher. We regularly use Class Dojo to communicate reminders, photos of student work/learning and information about content being taught in Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

Year 4

Year 6Friday 21st July the Grade 6 students were fortunate enough to be

invited to the Melton Shire Council offices. The students were invited into the chambers where local council

meetings take place.

A council representative took approximately 30 minutes and explained to the students about many areas of the local council

chambers, how they operate, how decisions are made within council and how local government relates to state government.

Students took part in a mock council meeting where 2 lucky students were voted in as Mayor of Melton and even got to wear the robes

and decorative medal that the Mayor wears when in office.

Local and state governments we discussed and many students got answers to questions that they had previously written down and

thought about regarding our Grade 6 Humanities unit.

Bree – 6B- I liked how we were informed about the 3 levels of Government and how they told us about open and closed debates within the council. I was lucky enough to take part in a mock council meeting and was one of the councillors. It was an interesting morning and I was able to learn more information to help me with my Humanities.

Ciara – 6B – I liked it when we got the chance to ask questions and meeting the Mayor of Melton. I asked the question: Why do we have to pay taxes? The answer I received was: We pay taxes and council rates to help the community, building houses, shopping centres, rubbish collection and water our local plants.

Tiahni – 6A- I found that the council visit was very informative and it was very interesting. I learned about the 3 levels of government and how the local council takes care of the local communities. We witnessed a mock run through on how a council meeting works and how they vote on what is needed to be done within the community.

Dayne – 6A – During the local council visit I learned about improving Melton and how they go about doing that. They told us that at times it can take a while to get improvements approved as they take into consideration the money and locations. The Mayor told us that it can be difficult making those decisions. I thought the Mayor was funny and that she was really nice.

STUDENT REFLECTIONS

Challenge YourselfSo far this Term the students have been having fun with Auslan Numbers.

Foundation are counting 1 to 10 having fun singing 10 Little Penguins.

The Grade 1’s are counting to 100 focusing on patterns in their signing.

Teens - Shake.Tens - Slide.

Double Numbers - Circle.The Grade 2’s have been having fun with using their numbers to 100 to challenge each other with math addition.

AUSLAN

This year Melton Primary School is inviting Melton Mini’s to come and participate in some group activities

during Term 3 and 4. These activities will include storytelling, art and craft,

puppets, music and more!

Who is a Melton Mini?A Melton Mini is a younger sibling of an MPS student that have not yet started school! That’s right, kids of any age that are yet to start school!

All sessions will run from 2pm to 2.45pm! Put these dates in your calendar:

Friday 25th of AugustFriday 15th of SeptemberFriday 20th of OctoberFriday 10th of NovemberFriday 1st of December

Please note: Parents must stay for the duration of the

activity!

Homework Club has started.All students are invited to attend our homework club, this will run before school on Tues, Weds and Thurs in the Library from 8:18-8:38am. Staff will be there to assist with homework activities. No need to sign up, just come along whenever you can.

From next week we will also have a grade 3-6 homework club after school in Mrs Lenon’s room (5B- Room 24) from 3:00-3:30pm. Please register your interest at the office. Students will have access to school ipads to use during this time. (Parents must sign to give permission, as it's outside of normal school hours)

Saving the Gorillas

Hi our names are Mia and Marlee, we are in grade 5. We

are collecting any old phones and charges to give to the

Melbourne Zoo to help save the Gorillas.

Please bring in any old phones for us to recycle.

Fathers Day StallThe stall will be in the Performing Arts Room, near the library.

If you would like your child/children to have the opportunity to purchase from the Father’s Day Stall they will need to bring their money in a named envelope on the day and hand it to their teacher for safekeeping. Thanks for your support.Parents and Friends Association

If any parents are free to help out on this day please let Mrs Sutherland know.

Dear Families, The date for the Father’s Day Stall is

Wednesday 23rd of August. We have a wide variety of fantastic gifts (including cards and gift bags) for your child/ren to choose from. Items at the stall will range in price from $1.00 to $10.00. Children are able to purchase for Dads, Stepdads, Grandfathers, and Uncles etc.

Every child that makes a purchase from the stall gains an entry into the lucky prize draw.

Djerriwarrh Festival Updated

Dear Parents and Families,

The Djerriwarrh Festival, which will be held on Saturday 18th November, is drawing closer. The festival committee have decided that this year’s theme will be: ‘I Belong. A Celebration of our Community’. Melton Primary School will be representing this theme by celebrating the different cultures which make up our school community. We will be sending out permission forms to take part in Melton Primary School’s entry for the Street Parade very shortly so please keep an eye out for this form in the coming weeks. If you would like to help out with the preparations for the day please contact Mrs Collins or Mr Roberts.We are particularly looking for students who have national costume and would be prepared to wear it in the parade. If you would be able to help out with this it would be much appreciated.

GARDENING CLUB!Wow! What a wonderful start back at school after our holidays. We arrived back to discover some

new growth in our veggie patch! We were able to dig up our potatoes and take them home with us!

We also participated in National Tree Day. We received some goodies to plant around the

school grounds - take a look ...