MOORESVILLE
Welcome to 2021.
A very exciting year I hope, although I said that last year, so hopefully this year it will really happen. It was so lovely seeing all our students with fresh faces and eager to start their learning present at school. My heart breaks for my friends and colleagues in Canada, the USA, Argentina, the UK and Ireland who are facing various levels of restrictions with their personal and work lives. And worse, those who have been covid positive. We are very fortunate that the sun is shining on us.
New Wellbeing Leader
There are a few role changes at school this year. We welcome Emily Murcott who will be leading wellbeing across our community. I will be supporting the curriculum and teaching and learning across the school.
We will be starting Tribes this week and our focus for Term One is our school song, our houses and how they connect to our Tribes Agreements of Mutual Respect, Personal Best, Appreciation, Right to Participate, Safety, Attentive Listening and our RHPS Values - Responsibility, Honesty, Pride, Support. Our houses are Bradman [Green], Thorpe [Blue], Freeman [Red] and Rafter [yellow].
Super Siblings
At Rolling Hills PS, we run a program called Super Siblings. This is for children who have siblings [not necessarily at RHPS] who have additional needs or have experienced grief and loss. We meet once or twice a term at lunchtimes and enjoy art activities, sometimes hot chips or ice-cream, and share support for each other. I know we are all Super Siblings. This is just an opportunity for those with additional needs in their families to get some extra support. I share my story - I had a brother who passed away, and 3 siblings with intellectual, medical and mental health additional needs and another brother who doesn't have additional needs. How we all care for each other is part of our RHPS value of SUPPORT. Please let Mary, Belinda or Emily know if your child would welcome being part of Super Siblings. We are planning a lunch session soon.
35 years of educating
At the end of last year, I received a certificate for 35 years of service. Time really flies. I still remember my first day at Drouin Primary School where I stood alone in my classroom, scared and excited, wondering what on earth I was going to do. I had 27 Grade 6 students who really taught me how to teach. Several were from Jackson's Track, an indigenous community, others had learning difficulties and others were ahead of the game. I learnt so much that year and am forever grateful to those students who set me on a path of inclusion, cultural awareness and differentiation [it wasn't called that back then, but there was no way the same teaching suited every child in that class]. The next year, I was in Preps. What a difference!
Those first years, I learnt how to use the Gestetner to make individualised worksheets, an overhead projector and there were school readers. John and Betty was the expected ‘reader’ for all of Term One and Term Two [there were three terms back then]
I am putting together a booklet about my 35 years in education to highlight some of those changes. My highlights have been working as a School Community Development Officer where I was based at Mirboo North High School and worked with 10 feeder schools on curriculum, governance, district activities and transition. School Councils were being introduced at that time and Regional Offices came into being rather than everything being decided in Melbourne. I also loved being a Curriculum Consultant for the Shepparton/Kyabram districts - it was the time of "Schools of the Future" and I supported around 90 schools to get their head around what schooling would like regarding literacy and numeracy and policy development. I’ve loved being an Art teacher [Mrs Granger is WAY better!] I've been a social worker, and of course, RHPS is deep in my heart.
I think I've been to practically every school camp in Victoria and it was almost obligatory to do the Canberra trip with Grade 6 in my earlier schools.
The opportunity to teach in Minnesota, USA; San Rafael, Argentina; Ontario, Canada all broadened my outlook on global education and again, honed my teaching skills.
So many years, so many students, so many schools - I am so very lucky. Hopefully, a few more years til my 40 years certificate : - ) Then I really will be old!
Curriculum
I look forward to bringing you curriculum updates in future newsletters. Whilst I am not leading wellbeing, you can rest assured, student and family wellbeing will always lead my actions. After all, if a student has a positive growth mindset and is in a place of wellbeing, they will be much better learners. And it takes a whole community working together to understand a child, so I look forward to working with you in my capacity as Assistant Principal.
Our Info Nights are coming up and "Getting to Know You" interviews. They are both a great way to share information between home and school. Strong connections build confidence. Confidence builds community. : - )
Here's an idea that came up this week with a couple of families to help make learning fun at home:
Helping your child’s memory for sight words and then finding them in their take home books.
M100W memory game. Write out a dozen words from their word list twice to make pairs. Cut them up and place them face down. Shuffle them around. Take it in turns to turn up 2 words. If they match, you keep them. If not, return to the same spot. Keep going until there are no words left facing down. This helps memory, helps recognise words – get excited when you see them again in any take home or home library books.
See you at the school gate. I love seeing those smiles each day.
Have a great week,
Mary
