Welcome to Term 1 2019

Welcome back to our 2019 school year. I truly hope that this year is both challenging and fun for everyone.

On the holidays I took the opportunity to read an eclectic mix of books including: ‘Happiness” by Matthieu Ricard, ‘Infinite Air’ by Fiona Kidman‘, The Anti-Cool Girl’ by Rosie Waterland, ‘The Great Zoo of China’ by Matthew Reilly and ‘Spaces Imagined, Spaces Remembered’ by Carla

Pascoe. I can recommend them all for very different reasons but would like to comment here on ‘Infinite Air’ by Fiona Kidman.

This was the story about an extraordinary woman called Jean Batten. Jean was the first woman to fly by herself across the South Atlantic and in 1936 she became the first person to fly directly from England to New Zealand.

A few things struck me about Jean. The first was her absolute belief that gender did not matter when it came to flying, well anything really. Rather, determination, a willingness to learn and an ability to learn from mistakes was what is important.

The second, was that Jean’s life was not easy. She struggled with depression, which affected her a number of times throughout her life. Again, I was struck by the fact that she did not allow this to define her, instead, she learnt to take time to heal when she needed it and learnt strategies to manage her illness.

These lessons resonate with the traits we are trying to foster in our students at MFG. In particular the following:

After reading the book I was left wishing that I could have met her and spent an afternoon chatting about life with her. She seemed like such a gutsy woman.

Leadership 2019

Staff News

We formally welcome the following staff to MFG:

Daniel Peacock – Psychology teacher
Lauren Welsh – VCD teacher
Cindy Robinson – Leader of Student Achievement / Humanities teacher
Emma Moffat – Instrumental teacher – brass
Amelia Leichnitz – Instrumental teacher – voice
Tim McEvoy – PSD & VCAL

We also welcome back to MFG:

Ryan Bonner – Science / Digital Technologies
Annie Mullen-Walsh – VCAL

School Council Elections

One of the key foci of our new strategic plan is focussing on fostering our relationships with parents/carers and the school community. As a school, we know when parents/carers are engaged with school and their child’s learning that student learning outcomes improve.

One way that parents/carers engage with our school is by joining school council. Parents/Carers on School Councils provide important perspectives and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school. Councils provide important governance or oversight of the school and have a key influence over its strategic direction.

It is also important to have staff representation on School Council.

I would like to formally thank the following council members who are finishing their tenure on School Council this year:

Parent members: Kelly Darkes, Vincent McBurney, Michelle Verso and Juliet Williams
Staff members: Robyn Cameron and Damien Toussaint

In addition, I would like to alert you to school council election process for 2019.

Information about school council and school council nominations for 2019 is available on Compass in the section titled School Documentation/School Council/School Council Elections 2019 and on the notices section.

You can also email: mfgsc@edumail.vic.gov.au or phone the school on 03 4243 0500 and we can send you the information.

We would welcome your participation on Council and encourage you to nominate yourself or another parent/carer (with their permission) for this important governance role.

Attendance

Our MFG attendance policy is attached.

Did you know that missing one day a fortnight is the same as missing 4 whole weeks of school a year? From prep to Year 12 that adds up to 1.5 years of school.

The main reasons for absence are:

Sickness – There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. Please ensure they’re only away on the days they are genuinely sick but, if they are sick, it is better that they are at home and not infecting their friends at school. Setting good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference.

Family holidays – It's important that holidays are planned during school holidays where possible, and not during the term.

“Day off” – Think twice before letting your teenager have a “day off” as they could fall behind their classmates – every day counts. A “catch up day” does not help, but rather makes “catching up” even harder. If you allow a “day off” then the next time it will be even harder to say no. Try to find other ways to have “down time” or to catch up.

Truancy – This is when students choose not to go to school without their parent’s permission or skip out of school during the day. There can be many reasons for truancy; the best way to address this is for us to work together to have a united approach to support your child to come to school.

School refusal – School refusing children experience significant emotional distress not only when going to school but also at the thought of going to school; they may be absent from school for weeks or even months at a time. School refusal differs from truancy as children generally stay home with the knowledge of the parents and despite their best efforts to encourage their child to go to school. See: My child or teenager has anxiety . In such cases it is also vital for us to work together to support your child.

Uniform

The school’s uniform policy is attached.

Please be mindful of the following:

School Blazers are to be worn unless the advertised temperature is 25 or above.
School blazers are worn for formal assemblies and school photo day.
- School Photos – 6 February 2019
- Whole School Assembly Term 1– 19 March 2019
Boots are not part of the school uniform.
Hair colour is natural.

Academic Focus

This year in the newsletter we will include some tips to help your child to build good study habits at home.

The Study Space

Help your child find a quiet place to study away from distractions. If they are in their bedroom keep the phone on the kitchen bench and have clear times for social media, so it does not distract study time. Studying in front of the TV is never productive so perhaps there is a discussion you can have around quiet study time and relaxing TV time. As your child gets older these study places may need to change. We have some students who use the Geelong Library and set up study groups, some students elect to stay back after school and use the library or a spare room to complete their work before going home, others come early in the morning and do the same.

Don’t expect your child to make good study decisions even when you all agree on them. They will need reminding, encouraging, cajoling, praising and sometimes enforcing.

Year 7 Parents/Carer Welcome Evening

On Thursday February 14th, between 4 and 5 pm we invite you to a Welcome to MFG session which will be held in your daughter's home group room. The main aims of this session are:

for you to meet the teachers of the class
for you to meet other parents and carers
to outline a few essential steps in how to use Compass
to have time for general questions and chat

This session is designed for parents & carers and our Year 7 students, but please know that your other children are very welcome to come along.

We hope that you will be able to come along and look forward to seeing you then. Please register on our Facebook Event.

Feedback and Complaints

Last year School Council developed a feedback and complaints policy to assist parents and carers to:

provide an outline of the feedback and complaints process at Matthew Flinders Girls (MFG) so that parents/carers and members of the community are informed of how they can raise complaints or concerns about issues arising at our school
ensure that all complaints regarding MFG are managed in a timely, effective, fair and respectful manner

Please see the attached policy.

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Pupil free Days for 2019

Pupil Free Days 2019!