WORKING BEE

On Saturday 20th of May we are hosting our first working bee for 2023. There are a lot of jobs around the school that we would appreciate your help to complete.

Jobs include:

Removing cobwebs around school
Moving mulch to garden bed
Pruning rose garden
Cleaning up rubbish in garden beds
Cleaning up tree debris
Cleaning troughs & bubblers
Spreading sand in sandpit

Please bring along any tools that could help:

Shovels
Wheelbarrows
Rakes
Cobweb brushes
Secateurs
Buckets and Cloths

This is a great opportunity to meet the school community and get involved. We would love to see as many faces as possible. Please meet in the courtyard to register with the organisers, if raining the working bee will be postponed to a new date with notice sent out via Sentral the morning of the event.

Thank you,

Andrew Shaw, Nicholas Dix, and School Council Facilities Sub Committee

Please return your expression of interest by Thursday 18th May to Reception.

Scholastic Book Fair

This year as an alternative to the Great Book Swap we held last year, we are hosting a Scholastic Book Fair, from Thursday 18th May - Tuesday 23rd May.

It is a lovely opportunity to promote reading, with our school receiving commission on sales in the form of books to add to our library and classroom libraries.

It will be open each morning and afternoon for this week, with browsing and purchasing available from 8:15-8:45am and 3:30-4:00pm. Each class will also have the opportunity to visit the Book Fair during school time on Wednesday between 9:00-11:30am.

During this visit, students will be able to create a wishlist of books they are interested in purchasing which will be brought home. These items can be purchased online or in-person at the office. When making an online purchase, it will be for a voucher amount which you/your child can bring in to receive their product at school the following day.

For the Book Fair to run efficiently, we are asking if any parents/carers can volunteer their time for one or more of the sessions to assist with student browsing.

There will be a sign-up sheet available at the office or please email the school at mt.pleasant.road.ps@education.vic.gov.au to notify us of your availability. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Reception, Ros Walker or Katrina Chooi.

Managing illness in schools and early childhood education and care services – information for parents and carers

One of the most important things we can do to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in our community is to stay at home when we are unwell, even when we have the mildest of symptoms.

What you need to know

If your child is unwell, even with the mildest of symptoms, they must stay home.

If a child becomes unwell during the day, they should be collected from early childhood education and care (ECEC) or school as soon as possible.

If your child has any symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) below, however mild, they should get tested for COVID-19:

fever
chills or sweats
cough
sore throat
shortness of breath
runny nose
loss of sense of smell or taste

Some people may also have headache, muscle soreness, stuffy nose, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. For more health advice:

call the 24-hour COVID-19 Hotline 1800 675 398
call your child’s general practitioner (GP)
call Nurse on Call 1300 606 024

Your child can be tested with a rapid antigen test at home, or a PCR test. They must stay at home until they receive a negative result and their symptoms have resolved.

If you can’t get a rapid antigen test or if you’re still worried about your child, you can find and go to a testing site for a PCR test. Some testing sites have rapid antigen tests as well.
If a rapid antigen test is negative but your child is symptomatic, your child should have a PCR test done.
Find advice about getting tested, as well as parent and carer information about rapid antigen testing.

If your child has a negative COVID-19 test and their symptoms have resolved, they can return to ECEC or school.

You don’t need written medical clearance from COVID-19.
There are illnesses other than COVID-19 where your child must stay at home for a certain amount of time – these are listed on the Department of Health ECEC and school exclusion table.

A medical certificate is not needed, but may be helpful if your child:

has ongoing symptoms due to underlying conditions such as hay fever or asthma
- If their symptoms are usual for their condition, they can keep going to ECEC or school.
- A medical certificate describing their condition can help ECEC and schools better know your child’s health and care plans.
is younger (pre-school up to Grade 2) and has ongoing symptoms after a viral illness
- Children can still have a cough or runny nose after recovering from some common viral illnesses – if they are otherwise well, they can go to ECEC or school.
- Your ECEC or school might ask for a medical certificate from their GP to make sure your child is otherwise well.
Remember: if your child’s symptoms are different or worse than usual, they should stay at home, get tested for COVID-19 again, and seek health advice.

If your child has a positive COVID-19 test, they must stay at home:

Follow the checklist for people with COVID-19.
If a rapid antigen test at home is positive, report the result as soon as you can so your family can start getting advice and help:
- Tell the Department of Health by online form or COVID-19 Hotline 1800 675 398.
- Tell your ECEC or school (including other children at home who are household contacts).
Answer texts and surveys from the Department of Health.
You may be able to get financial help or other help to look after your family safely at home.
When your child finishes their quarantine period, you don’t need written medical clearance from COVID-19 to return to ECEC or school.

Further information

All families can plan and prepare ahead for COVID-19 at home using this checklist.
You can find information about COVID-19 in different languages.

This advice has been prepared by the Department of Education and Training and the Department of Health.

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

Mount Pleasant Road is again excited to be participating in the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge. The application offers a range of features including:

access to a library catalogue (including book images and blurbs)
a modern user-friendly interface
rewarding students with badges as challenge milestones are achieved
the option for students to mark books as a favourite, give them a star rating or complete a book review

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. Students may choose to read books in other languages to add to their challenge list. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 8th September 2023.

Students from Foundation to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books and their teacher will add books read in class. Students from Year 3 to Year 6 are challenged to read 15 books.

Students have been given a username and password to log into the Challenge website. It would be appreciated if Foundation to Year 2 parents could assist their child in recording books read. Year 3 to 6 students are expected to add their books independently. All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers.

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklists and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge

Happy reading!

Tania Hosken

EDUCATION WEEK OPEN MORNING

Timetable Change

With our 50 minute sessions and our new Specialist Class Science we will be changing our lunch time to 11:30 to 12:30 and recess to 2:10 to 2:40.

Students will have the 10 minute eating time at 11:30 to 11:40 and 5 minutes at recess from 2:10 to 2:15 (Often eating time is longer, particularly in Foundation.)

There will be a fruit break in the morning.