Principal’s chat - Maldon Primary...
Transcript of Principal’s chat - Maldon Primary...
THIS WEEK AT M.P.S.
Tuesday 21st June
Division netball training selected students, Bill Woodfull netball courts,
3.20-4.00pm.
Thursday 23rd June
Judging of Christmas windows, Grades 5 and
6 -4pm at Maldon Café
Friday 24th June
Last day term 2, 2.30pm
dismissal
Friday Fundraiser
Movie and popcorn-
gold coin donation
Casual clothes day-
gold coin donation
NO Assembly today
Monday 11th July
First day term 3
Newsletter No 15
June 20th, 2016
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday 3rd August
Sport meeting, 9.35am
Friday 5th August
Sport meeting, 9.35am
Sunday 14th August
Maldon Market fundraiser
Wednesday 17th August
School Council meeting, 6.30pm
Thursday 18th August
School Concert
Thursday 1st September
Grade 1 camp experience day
Thursday 1st September– Friday
2nd September
Grade 2 camp
Sunday 23rd October
Working Bee, 9am-12pm
Saturday 29th October
Market and Fair fundraiser
Sunday 13th November
Race the Train fundraiser
Thursday 24th November
Shopping Spree fundraiser
Principal’s chat
This week we have reached week 11- the last one of the term. We have
had a very busy and productive term with many learning experiences and
opportunities. I wish you all the very best for the two week break and look
forward to seeing everyone back, refreshed and reenergised for term 3.
Last Tuesday I attended the Kids as Catalysts pitch presentations. Our
grade 5 and 6 students have been working hard to form partnerships with a
range of organisations in our community as part of the Kids as Catalyst
program which is designed to empower students and build school pride.
Take some time to read the information in “What’s happening in the
classroom?” below about the great projects that they will be working on next
term.
Last Wednesday we held our school council meeting for this month. After
our council meeting we all attended a training session with a representative
from the Department of Education who provided training around the roles
and responsibilities of being a school councillor. We also discussed what
governance issues are and what operational issues are. Governance items
are discussed and managed by school council and operational items are
managed by the principal. The training also highlighted the importance of
staying true to our core business which is anything that is directly related to
our strategic plan and annual implementation plan. Councillors found the
training informative and it gave them further insight into their role on council.
On the topic of staffing, most people are aware our grade 5/6 teacher Brett
has been on leave for the past few weeks. Brett has made the decision to
take leave for terms 3 and 4. In Brett’s absence Jessica Franklin will be
joining us on staff for the first six weeks of term 3. We are in the process of
appointing a replacement teacher for the remainder of the year.
Over the past few weeks I have been working with our architect/project
manager and the Department of Education on the plans for our building
works. After going out to tender the price of the works came in well over
budget and I have been collaborating with project manager and potential
builder to bring the costs back under the budget. We are now back on
budget following some modifications to the original works/designs.
Desperately needed-parents/carers to cover new readers with contact. The readers cannot be put into classrooms
until they are covered so it would be fantastic if they could be done over the holidays. Please let Debra at the
office know if you can help out.
The works to the building are due to commence in week two or
three of term 3 and it will be completed in three stages. During
each stage different classes will be moved to the library and the
administration will be relocated to the portable.
Stage one: Gr 1/2 and Gr 3/4 will decant to the library at the beginning of
term 3. Admin decants to the portable for the start of term 3.
Stage two: Classrooms in the library return to their refurbished
classrooms. Gr 5/6 and Gr 4/5 decant to the library
Stage three: Admin returns to the main building. Classrooms in the
library return to their refurbished classrooms. Prep/1 decant to the
library.
Please be mindful that during term 3 there will be building works
around the school and some programs will be modified. Music and
Art will occur in classrooms next term due to space constraints and from
day one of term 3 John and Alisa’s classes will be located in the library.
Our school office will be set up in the portable and will function as
normally as possible. We will also have a shipping container located at
the back of the school to store equipment and resources whilst the
works are happening.
Today your child will receive their learning portfolio that contains work samples, a progress report and checklists highlighting what
your child has achieved and what they need to work on .
When teachers complete the checklist all students are assessed at the appropriate academic level for them. The top of the checklist will indicate the AUSVELS or Victorian Curriculum level your child is being assessed at. Some students are assessed above or below the average level depending on their academic level and their individual learning needs.
In Mathematics we use a Topic Based approach where we work on three topics per term, spending three weeks on each topic including completing pre and post testing. Therefore only five or six of our twelve topics for the year have been covered and we thought that it was important to highlight on the checklists that some areas of mathematics are yet to be taught.
Just a reminder that we require the portfolio to be returned along with the checklists in week one of term 3. The Semester 1 report (with the dots) is intended for you to keep, so you can take it out of the portfolio. There will be an opportunity at parent teacher interviews next term to discuss your child’s progress. If you have any questions in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.
We are very fortunate to have some enthusiastic parents who are very
passionate about gardening. Jess (Conrad and Reuben’s mum) and
Marvic (Jacob’s mum) have been very busy researching and planning
their ideas and thoughts for in and around the wicking bed. They will be
working with our garden club to landscape and plant in the big wicking
bed and make the area around the chook yard and garden beds more
inviting. Go up and take a look at what they are up to!!
On Friday 10th June our school community raised $320 toward the
Community Generation project that Hugo and his mum Lauren are
working on in Cambodia.
Here is a kind thank you from the organisation:
Thank you kindly for your generous donation and support of our
Community Generation Crowd funding Campaign.
We are thrilled to have raised over 15K with our campaign. We have a
large School Clean Water Project, a School Sanitation & Hygiene Health
Birthdays
Back row L to R: Jacob, Callan, Tarkyn
and Alice
Front row L to R: Sophia, Zav and Abi
Whole school behaviour awards
Back row L to R: Sophia, Tarkyn,
Sonya, Liam and Abi
Front row L to R: Rex, Jack, Lillian,
Alannah and Essie
Creativity awards - Alice and
Xavier
Come along cup and Early birdie
award - 3/4A
Program and a Household Clean Water Project all commencing construction and implementation at the end of
June. We couldn't have done it without you
Warm regards Jodie
School community
Before and After school care: A reminder that the before school care program will cease at the end of this
week. A decision has yet to be made on the after school care program and whether it will continue however
numbers are not looking good at this stage.
Wanted:
Does anyone have a trailer they would be willing to lend the school for a week or two in August? We are
running a wood raffle in conjunction with our Maldon Market fundraising on August 14th and need to display
the wood in a trailer and then deliver the wood to the winner. Please let Debra at the office know if you have
a trailer we can use.
We have had a run of children needing to use our spare clothing supply and it is now very low. If you have
some clothing at home which belongs to the school please return it to the office by the end of this
term. Also, if you have spare clothing, particularly small sized pants, that you are willing to donate to the
school it would be very much appreciated. Donations can be left at the office.
Fresh Fruit Friday: We have had only five people return their Fresh Fruit Friday forms offering help for terms 3
and 4 which does not cover the roster. It would be appreciated if you could check your calendars and offer to assist with the fruit cutting/popcorn making on one or more days in the second half of the year. Please return your forms to the office by the end of the week so that the roster can be completed and distributed in the first week back of third term, giving volunteers plenty of notice of their rostered days.
This week’s volunteers: Lee-Ann Smith and Genna Hines
Volunteers for July 15th: Lauren Wilbern and Patricia Gilbert
Volunteers for July 22nd: Nicole Funston and Lee-Ann Smith
Office info
Outstanding payments: If you have outstanding payments for fees, excursions, camps or uniform it would be
appreciated if you could make these payments before the end of the term. It is important to remember that in
the case of camps, excursions and uniform the school has already paid out for these items so we need
families to pay what they owe for these items NOW. If payment in full is not possible please speak to Debra
regarding setting up a payment plan.
Emailing of newsletter: A reminder that beginning with the first newsletter of term 3 all newsletters will be
emailed to families unless you have indicated that you would like to receive a paper copy. If you would like to
continue to receive a paper version, or you need to add an email address to our system, you need to return the
newsletter note to the office by the end of this week.
Voluntary contributions: Families are encouraged to make voluntary contributions towards buildings and
grounds maintenance and library resources if you haven’t already done so. At this stage of the year less than 40%
of our families have made voluntary contributions so we would love to receive a few more. Contributions can be
made by cash, cheque or BPay.
Permission notes to be returned:
Division netball permission slips and payment (selected students) are due this Wednesday 22nd June.
Oral Health Screening consent forms (if you would like your child to be screened in July) are due back at the
office by Friday of this week.
Grade 4 to 6 term 3 netbook lease instalment: If you have elected to pay the netbook lease fee in
instalments the term 3 instalment is due on Friday 15th July. Students will not be permitted to take netbooks
home if the instalment is not made by Friday 15th July.
What’s happening in the classroom?
Whole school behaviour this week: Being perserverant
Cooking helpers needed: Next term Prep to grade 2 students will be doing cooking as part of our STEM
inquiry: investigations that involve Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. We need a parent or two each week who can come and help in the kitchen, and work with Kay and a group of students to cook up a storm! If you are interested can you please contact Bernadette or John.
Young leaders:
This Friday, the last day of term, is a casual clothes day to raise funds for State Schools Relief. All students
can wear casual clothes and bring a gold coin donation to school with all funds going to State Schools
Relief which supports disadvantaged families with the cost of uniform, books etc.
On Friday all students will be watching a movie and enjoying popcorn. Students are asked to bring a gold
coin donation. All funds raised will also go to State Schools Relief.
Kids as Catalysts program: Kids as Catalysts is an in schools philanthropy initiative where kids get to make
an impact in their local community. Students choose an area of the community they are passionate about and
connect with a not for profit group to form a community partnership with. Through this partnership students
developed a project to donate their time, talent and treasure ($$$) towards. Below is an outline of five of the
groups we have at Maldon Primary school. The sixth group, Strive for Women, was awarded $160 towards their
project.
Animal Welfare Group
We are working with Landcare to help control the rabbit population. This will help farmers to sustain their crops
and help native animals maintain their natural habitat. We are working with our community partner to build bait
stations to donate to local farmers.
The panel awarded us $190 towards our project!
Young Leaders Friday FUNdraiser
Please leave orders with your classroom teacher.
Available each Friday are: Homemade Sausage rolls $2.50, Juice Box $1.50, Popcorn $1.00
Boys and Men
We are working with The Maldon men’s shed to build billy carts. This project will help us to connect with the
older generation and we will learn woodwork skills. We will hold a billy cart race and then donate the billy carts
to community groups.
The panel awarded us $145 towards our project!
Cultural diversity
We are working with “The meeting place” in Castlemaine to make connections with local indigenous children.
Our project is providing quality art supplies for the meeting place. We will also be sharing our creative talents to
help produce a calendar that the indigenous children will sell to raise funds to maintain their art supplies.
The panel awarded us $160 towards our project!
Disability support
We are working with the Maldon hospital as part of their garden rejuvenation project. We will be designing and
creating outdoor flags to install in the garden. The flags will be a colourful reminder of our partnership with the
hospital and the residents and will leave a lasting impact.
The panel awarded us $160 towards our project!
Kids expressing talent
We are working with the Maldon Pre School to install a percussion music wall in the kindergarten playground.
This will help the pre-school children to express their talents and create a happy play space.
The panel awarded us $150 towards our project!
3/4 Newshound pages: Here is another page composed by the Grade 3’s and 4’s as part of the Newshound
program.
Thank you
To Nicole Funston and Julie Symons for covering readers for use in the classroom.
Extra curricular catch up
Division netball training: Training for division netball will take place tomorrow night (not Wednesday as per
the original note) at the Bill Woodfull Recreation reserve courts from 3.20pm to 4.00pm.
Community