Newsletter 18/2015

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Friends

This past week we are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Annika Beer, dearly loved daughter of Signora Beer, our much loved Italian Teacher.  Sue is not only a staff member in our community but is also part of our wider community, with all of her children, including Annika, being ex-MPPS students.  This is devastating news for Sue and her husband Jan and siblings Toffa, Catinka, Linnea and Carl-Oskar.  I am sure you join us in grieving Sue's loss and sending our love and thoughts to her and her family.

EDUCATION STATE

Recently the Victorian Government released their plan for making Victoria the "Education State".   A key part of the Education State is to provide schools with clear direction and priorities to focus on student learning. It is an exciting time for education and we welcome the direction and support that this will give Mentone Park to continue our journey of school improvement. 

The Education State outlines a framework for improving student outcomes, with four key priorities and six key initiatives at its core:

• Excellence in Teaching and Learning - Building practice excellence; Curriculum planning and assessment
• Professional Leadership - Building leadership teams
• Positive Climate for Learning - Empowering students and building school pride; Setting expectations and promoting inclusion
• Community Engagement in Learning - Building communities

At Mentone Park we have been focusing on teaching and learning, leadership and developing a safe and orderly climate for learning for the past 4 years.  As reported in the newsletter previously, this year our leadership team have been developing our knowledge of a program that we will implement over the next few years.  "Powerful Learning and Teaching" is a program that will focus our whole school on more precise teaching.  This will be a terrific supplement to our current practices and allow us to layer a framework over our teaching and learning.

WORLD TEACHER'S DAY

On Wednesday our staff were treated to a lovely morning tea, courtesy of the PFA, to celebrate World Teacher's Day.  This day began in 1994 to celebrate teachers and build support for teachers to ensure that the needs of future generations will continue to be met by teachers.  World Teachers' Day represents a significant token of the awareness, understanding and appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development (UNESCO).
On behalf of all the teachers at MPPS, thank you to the student and parent community for this acknowledgement of our dedication and commitment to educating your children.

PFA

The Parents and Friends' Association had their monthly meeting yesterday.  Unfortunately due to other commitments, many of our members were unable to attend.  We have decided to re-schedule our next meeting to Thursday 26th November and would like to extend a welcome invitation to all parents and friends to attend our meeting, which we will hold as a social event at Seed Café in Mordialloc.  At this meeting, along with general PFA business, I will present to parents more information on the Education State and its implications for MPPS, as well as an update on our junior playground plans and our building works that will occur in 2016 - including (finally!) our new toilets.
Please join us for a coffee and catch up on the school news.

DISCO NIGHTS

As we finalise the newsletter the year 3-6 students are over in the hall having a wonderful time at the school disco, as did the Prep- year 2 students earlier.  What a wonderful night, with Mr Hardie taking on the mantel of DJ-extraordinaire!  Thank you Mr Hardie for your wonderful work playing "tunes" for the kids - they had a ball (and some of your dance moves are pretty slick too!).  Thank you also to Mrs Sampieri who attended and supported both the junior and senior disco.

The disco is an annual event run by the PFA - one of the most loved events on the student calendar! Thank you to Wendy Davis and the parent representatives and helpers that volunteered their time to assist on the night.

Kendra Parker

PRINCIPAL

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

SCHOOL TRANSITIONS

How exciting it has been to have our 2016 foundation students here for some classroom, art and Italian lessons over the past weeks, having a taste of ‘big school’ life! The Positive Start to School initiative of the Department of Education notes that transition to school is not a point-in-time event, but rather an experience that starts well before, and extends far beyond, the first day of school. Starting school is a major life transition for children and their families. It’s a time of change that can be both challenging and exciting, in which children and families adjust to new roles, identities and expectations, new interactions and new relationships.

It is worth noting that transition to school for foundation students is just one of the many transition phases that will take place throughout a child’s years at school. Each year, children transition from: one year level to the next; one class to another; one group of children to a new group of children; and one teacher to a different teacher.  While most children make effective transitions, we know that some children and their families might need extra support.

One way we make the transition process easier for our students at Mentone Park, is by having several “up” days during November, whereby students spend afternoons in the next year level, learning about what to expect the next year, experiencing the physical environment and working with the teachers who are currently teaching in that year level.

Effective transition approaches recognise the central role that families and communities play in supporting children’s learning and development. Research evidence highlights that transition experiences are most positive when:

• educators acknowledge children’s strengths and abilities, and what they have learnt and experienced prior to that school year

• families share information about the child with the new teacher

• children are given the opportunity to provide their own views about their learning and what they need to prepare and adapt to their new class

We ensure that all of these things are in place at Mentone Park to ensure a seamless transition is possible for every child in the school. Start talking with your children about how they’re feeling about moving on to the next year level, the exciting things they have to look forward to in 2016 and the possibilities and challenges that may lay ahead!

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Congratulations to the pictured students who received certificates celebrating academic achievements last week! Well done and keep up the great work!

Alison Lough

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Congratulations to our JMSS Little Scientists!

On Monday 26th October Daisy, Natalia, Julian and Adam presented their projects at the JMSS Science Fair at Monash University. They shared their projects to the community and celebrated all their hard work by enjoying their time at the fair. There were many amazing projects from students at different schools and different year levels that had our minds engaged in the big world of science! Thank you to the parents, grandparents and friends who came along to support our Little Scientists on the night! Hope you all enjoyed the evening. 

Marine Life Presentation Night

Congratulations to our Marine Ambassadors! Taite, Bella, Aaron, James and Mia represented our school at the presentation night on Thursday 15th October. We were the lucky recipients of the Fundraising School of the Year Award. Fantastic effort! This is our first award from the program after participating for 4 years. Thank you to everyone who got involved on Marine Dress Up Day and made a donation.

TERM 4 CALENDAR 

Here is the calendar of events for this term. It will be updated fortnightly.

Term 4 Calendar

There have been a couple more changes to the menu this week with macaroni cheese no longer being available and fried rice being offered in its place. We also have some frozen watermelon slices available for purchase over the counter at 50 cents each.
This week we have 1B and 3/4H on the roster and next week we have 2O and 5/6S. If you are a parent in one of these classes please could you volunteer some time to help the cafe` out. It makes such a difference when there are enough people and the kids love seeing you there. This week a couple of our regular helpers are unavailable so we could really do with some extra help!
Please note there will be no after school counter sales this week.

TERM 4 ROSTER

30th - 1B & 3/4H

November 

 6th - 2O & 5/6S
13th - 2R & 5D
20th - 1/2U & 6W
27th - prep to 2
December

4th - grades 3 to 6
11th - clean up - all welcome

If you can spare any time to help out, please come and join us - we'd love to see you.

Many thanks

The Kids' Café Team

COMMUNITY SERVICE & ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Department of Education & Early Childhood Development and Mentone Park Primary School do not endorse the products or services of any private advertiser. They accept no responsibility for accuracy of information contained in advertisements or claims made by them.

Newsletter 17/2015

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Friends


Welcome to term 4, I hope you all enjoyed the break from school routines and managed to have some family time together in the 2 weeks. It has been a big crash landing for me after a wonderful 7 weeks away from work, with 6 of those in Europe (2 of which were spent on a ship cruising the Mediterranean!). I had a fantastic time, the highlight of which was attending a family wedding in Turkey – a wonderful 2 days of celebration, starting with a henna night, which was held at the bride's house in a small rural village, with a few hundred people. There was live music, food, dancing and the tradition of painting the bride's hand with henna. The wedding itself was another exciting event – I was especially impressed with the money and gold pinned on the bride! It really was a cultural experience I will never forget.
Welcome back to Mrs Unwin who was also in Europe for 6 weeks, though we didn’t bump into each other once!

What a wonderful start we had to the term too, with the launch of our new Unit of Study “Curiouser and Curiouser”, based on Alice in Wonderland. This is a creative thinking and curiosity unit which is being looked at in many ways across the school, from fairy tales to brain power! Throughout the unit, students will begin to develop the 7 curious characteristics that support learning:

• Engagement
• Accepting the unexpected
• Setting goals – despite uncertainty
• Being optimistic that we can work things out
• Building on what we already know
• Taking time to consider new ideas
• Persistence

We are all very excited about this term – hopefully you have seen it at home also!

ART SHOW

Congratulations to Mrs Searles on another wonderful Art Show on Wednesday night. The school was abuzz with family and friends admiring the creative talents of our students. It was lovely again to have our students perform as well, combing the night into a festival of arts! Our community artists were terrific and we thank them all for coming along and supporting our school. We have seen this part of the Art Show grow over the last few years and hopefully will continue to do so.

A huge thank you also to Robin van den Berg who very generously donated her time to do the catering for the Art Show.

TIQBIZ

I think most of our community are now on line with the new Tiqbiz app. Did you know you can turn off the notifications if you do not want to be alerted to each new message? Simply go into your phone’s settings and change through the option that allows you to manage your apps. Then you can just check your phone at a time that suits you for any new messages.

CAMP OUT

On Saturday 10th October we held our first ever school camp out. This terrific event was initiated and run by 3 very enthusiastic year 6 boys - Aaron, Dan and Bailey. They worked for many months to put the details together and gather the support from their parents and friends. The oval looked great with tents pitched around a central area and excited children running around. The boys had organised some activities as well as a movie and night walk. Congratulations to them for showing such initiative! Thank you to the families that supported the event, especially the Harpers, Nancarrows and McKinnons who were willingly "roped" into the event! We hope for this to become an annual community event on the school calendar.

Kendra Parker

PRINCIPAL

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

THE CHILL OUT ZONE

This term we have opened up a lunchtime Chill Out Zone – a place for children to have some quiet time away from the yard. In the Chill Out Zone, students can play quiet games, read books, complete drawings or mindfulness colouring sheets, use the puppets, make puzzles and jigsaws or other quiet activities.

To access the chill out zone, students need a cloud pass from their teacher or a yard duty teacher and if they choose, can take a friend along to the Chill Out Zone with them. A teacher is on duty in the Chill Out Zone each day. Students are supported by the teacher to talk through any worries they may have if they wish to.

Ask your child if they have been to the Chill Out Zone yet and to tell you about the activities they enjoyed while in there.

ANXIETY IN CHILDREN

Anxiety in children is a normal part of childhood development. But it’s estimated that 8-22% of children experience anxiety more intensely and more often than other children, stopping them from getting the most out of life. In most cases, anxiety in children and fears in childhood are fairly transient and short-lived. Different anxieties develop at different stages. Infants and young children don’t tend to worry about things. For children to be worried, they have to imagine the future and bad things that might happen in it – this is why worries become more common in children over eight years of age.

Children also worry about different things as they get older. In childhood, they might worry about getting sick or hurt. In older childhood and adolescence, the focus becomes less concrete – for example, they might think a lot about war, economic and political fears, family relationships and so on.

What causes anxiety in children?
Some people are more likely to be anxious because it runs in the family (just like eye colour). People can also learn to think and behave in an anxious way by watching others, or by going through scary experiences. Certain things in a child’s environment might also increase the child’s chances of becoming anxious – for example, if a parent is overprotective of a shy child it might help the child in the short term, but can increase the child’s anxiety overall.

Ways to support your child:
If your child shows signs of anxiety, you can support him in several ways:
· Acknowledge your child’s fear – don’t dismiss or ignore it.
· Gently encourage your child to do things she’s anxious about, but don’t push her to face situations she doesn’t want to face.
· Wait until your child actually gets anxious before you step in to help.
· Praise your child for doing something he’s anxious about, rather than criticising him for being afraid.
· Avoid labelling your child as ‘shy’ or ‘anxious’.

Types of anxiety in children:
Children experience several types of anxiety. A child might have only one type of anxiety, or he/she might show features of several of them.

• Social anxiety
• Social anxiety is fear and worry in situations where children have to interact with other people, or be the focus of attention.
• Separation anxiety
• Separation anxiety is the fear and worry children experience when they can’t be with their parents or guardians.
• Generalised anxiety
• Children with generalised anxiety tend to worry about many areas of life – anything from friends at playgroup to world events.

For more information on these types of anxieties, further ways to support a child who may be suffering from anxiety or places you can go to seek help and support, please visit the following website. Do not hesitate to talk with your child’s GP and teacher if you feel they are affected by anxiety.

Anxiety in Children – Raising Children Network

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

It has been wonderful to see so many students making such great progress in their learning throughout the year, with student excellence being recognised weekly at assembly by way of the Achievement Awards.

The following photos are of the Achievement Award recipients from the final week of Term 3 (there were two lots in the last week of term due to swimming) and also this week’s recipients. Well done!

Alison Lough

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

TERM 4 CALENDAR

Here is the calendar of events for this term. It will be updated fortnightly.

Term 4 Calendar 

It was a busy start to the term at Kids' Café last week as the return of pizza proved to be very popular. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped out both on Friday and during the week - we couldn't have done it without you! 

This week we have added a limited number of macaroni cheeses to the hot food options so if you wish to order one of these make sure you place your order early via Qkr to avoid missing out. In addition to the banana chocolate chip muffins, raspberry and white chocolate muffins are also available for order this week and we have added the fruit salad cups to the Qkr menu so these can be ordered online as well as purchased over the counter. The frozen Berri Quelch Fruit Sticks will also be available over the counter again this week.

PM & 3/4O are the rostered classes for this Friday. Here is the roster for the rest of the year.

TERM 4 ROSTER

October

23rd - 1O & 3/4S
30th - 1B & 3/4H
November 

 6th - 2O & 5/6S
13th - 2R & 5D
20th - 1/2U & 6W
27th - prep to 2
December

4th - grades 3 to 6
11th - clean up - all welcome

If you can spare any time to help out, please come and join us - we'd love to see you.

Many thanks

The Kids Café Team

OSCH

Dear OSCH Parents,
Welcome back to a new term. We hope you had a fantastic holiday. We had a fabulous set of holidays, with our numbers very high. We went to SuperZu and had a blast of a time just running and playing with our friends. We also did an arts and crafts day where we all used our imaginations and created things from jewelry boxes to spaceships, we even had our birthday bash for our company at YLV at St Mary's Primary, where we played special games and even football training games. Also Antic Andy's comedy show.  But wait, don't forget about our footy day - everything was just football. As you already know  it is term 4 and it is hat and sunscreen season. If you child/ren have their own sunscreen they are more then welcome to bring it to OSCH care. This past 2 weeks we have been having fun playing outside because of the beautiful weather and for the indoors we have been blessed with new dress ups and everyone is enjoying the dress ups and role playing, For the dress ups we do thank the Coroneos family for being so generous and donating them to OSCH

From Anicca and Joannah   

COMMUNITY SERVICE & ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Department of Education & Early Childhood Development and Mentone Park Primary School do not endorse the products or services of any private advertiser. They accept no responsibility for accuracy of information contained in advertisements or claims made by them.