Principal's Report

Dear Monty South community,

It was wonderful to see and hear about our school community getting in the spirit of the Olympic Games and following our Aussie athletes as they competed in Tokyo. Some of the moments we witnessed were truly inspiring.  My favourite moments, apart from those in the pool and the Boomers taking bronze, was when decathlete Cedric Dubler encouraged his teammate, Ash Moloney, to a bronze and when Peter Bol gave it everything in the 800m. It certainly emphasised winning isn’t everything and it is all about how we participate. 

And of course, it was a nice, positive distraction with many of us learning new things about different sports, countries and athlete's personal stories of resilience and commitment to overcome injury or hardship to get them where they are today. So motivating and inspiring! I’m looking forward to the Paralympics where we will see even more moments of inspiration. 

Remote and flexible learning (R&FL)

As a school we are continually reflecting, learning and improving. This is true of our R&FL model as well. While every school has the same end goal of providing continuity of learning with a focus on student well-being, connectivity and engagement, the way each school goes about providing it is varied due to their own context, structures and needs. 

At MSPS, we are trying to ensure there is balance. A balance of online and offline learning, a balance of supported and independent activities and a balance of academic and extra-curricular offerings.

While no model is going to completely suit every student and family circumstance, we are more than willing to work with families to ensure that balance is achievable for your context. Please let classroom teachers know if there are things you need that might help support your family. 

We'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank our staff, students and families for their hard work, understanding and phenomenal ability to pivot in and out of the R&FL environment. Well done and thank you.

Postponement of junior concert

After careful consideration, the performing arts team (Jude Barry, Emily Kilkenny and Andy Coates) and I have made a decision to postpone our Junior Concert, ‘Beyond the Beanstalk’ in September.  

With the periods of lockdown this year, rehearsals for lead performers have been interrupted and once onsite, we felt it was more important our students reconnect during lunchtime, our usual rehearsal period.

Additionally, the uncertainty around audience members permitted and the fact we are not sure we would be able to hold it, were vital factors in our decision making.

With no bookings available at our venue in Term 4, we are currently shifting our focus to the end of Term 1, 2022. The current Prep-Year 2s will still be involved as Year 1-Year 3 students and the lead performers would remain the same, giving them the much needed time to feel confident and successful in their roles and have even more fun!

Please retain the costume items you may have already gathered so we are well prepared for the performance next year. Watch this space for the new date as it becomes available.

Sickbay Compass Chronicle  

For some time now, our school nurse and office staff have been extremely busy contacting numerous parents after lunch and recess times. With 30+ students visiting sick bay each day, it works out to be a fair number of parents to contact. After a lot of discussions and hard work on behalf of our IT technician, Marco Angeles, Compass Chronicle will now send parents an email any time their child has been in first aid.

In the email, you will find what happened to your child, what their injuries were like and how they were treated. In the case of head bumps, we will send the email but also as a backup, a note will come home as well. 

We will continue to call parents when it is serious, or anytime we think you should be very aware of what has happened.

Rotary Eltham’s Schools’ Seedling Project

Eltham Rotary has kindly invited MSPS to participate in their free seedling for every student program to raise awareness of National Tree Day. As a result, every student will be given a seedling to take home, plant and care for. Edendale Farm will provide the seedlings. The school will also receive some seedlings to plant at school. Thanks to Eltham Rotary for their generosity and the awareness their program will bring to our young people. 

Teaching and Learning

Did you know when teaching writing, we focus not only on the secretarial aspects but also the authorial? What does this mean? It means that students are guided and scaffolded to understand the importance of spelling, punctuation and handwriting as secretarial skills but they are also taught and supported to develop their writing knowledge through a focus of authorial aspects of text structure, sentence and grammatical structures and vocabulary and word choice.

Being a writer with great secretarial skills but no ability to apply authorial understandings is like having a reader who can read all the words but cannot comprehend what is being read. 

The recognition of the writing process engages students in writing for specific personal or social purposes and alerts students to the conscious and considered creation of texts. It focuses their attention, even in the very early years of school, on the need to be attentive to authorial and secretarial aspects of writing. Daffern and Mackenzie (2015)

Data reporting conferences

Thank you to our staff and families for collaborating online for our data reporting conferences. This was a fantastic opportunity to reflect on student achievement in Semester 1, share learning goals for Semester 2 and discuss personal and social capabilities. I also appreciate your support in between lockdowns. We acknowledge our timing was not ideal and we will be more mindful when making decisions about pupil free days in the future. 

100 Days of Prep

Last week, our Prep students excitedly celebrated their 100th day of school. They dressed up as 100-year-olds and generally worked on lots of '100' themed activities. It was great to see their excitement while having fun together. A couple of Preps asked if can I add braces to the uniform list! 

Enrolment for 2022I have been pleased to see so many inquiries for enrolments in Prep 2022. If you haven’t already, please reach out to us via phone 9439 6201 or email montmorency.south.ps@education.vic.gov.au to get the process started. Our preference is for all 2022 enrolments to be submitted by September. Similarly, if you are moving out of the area, please notify us as soon as possible so we can update our records.

Offers for Secondary School

Our Year 6 students have received first-round offers from State Government Secondary Schools. We are fortunate to have outstanding local education close by to us here and available to our students. I am excited for the opportunities that the schools will provide our students.

Staffing

We wish Mady Thomas well as she begins to pursue a teaching career. Mady completed her teaching degree some time ago and has stayed on at Monty South initially as an education support officer and then as a tutor and organising the Student Support Group meetings. She has resigned to take on CRT (casual relief teacher) roles, which will enhance her experience. We thank her for all she has done for us and we wish her every success. We hope we see her as a CRT here in the future.

I would like to also welcome Robyn Hamilton who has just been appointed to the office and will be working two days a week. We have also employed Jenny Vergers to assist in the OHS and emergency management processes that schools are required to undertake. It is a lot of work and quite complex.  We have been well supported in this work by Kirstie Lay but Kirstie is currently on leave after a major operation and Jenny is stepping into this role. 

And finally, we have also employed a maintenance worker, Tino Di Paolo, two days a week to keep up the grounds and facilities work. 

Another reminder re dogs on school grounds

As stated last newsletter, whilst many people can’t go past without talking to or patting the dogs, it is important to remember that not all people, including children, have that same comfort level or love.

We kindly request dog owners be mindful and considerate by having dogs remain on a short leash, held by an adult at all times and waiting away from entrance and exit points and busy walkways. 

We have purchased some signs to place at the entrances as last week we had a number of dogs come into the school-during school hours and also not with an adult. One dog took to chasing our much-loved chooks. 

Facilities update

We are moving closer to erecting a pathway joining the Reichelt Ave path to the Prep area, which will allow prams and wheelchairs access. Plans are being drawn up now. Additionally, we can start to reconstruct the embankment area just up from this path and make it into a playground area. It is currently out of bounds for our children. We recently met with architects who will be constructing our large play equipment area next to the SAKG and Year 3 portables. The date of completion for this work is 2022. 

Book parade

We are holding our fingers crossed that we will still be celebrating the magnificent annual Monty South Book Parade. As always, it will be a colourful and fun filled event which the children (and staff) always look forward to, especially Clare Bear.

At this stage, we are still aiming for Wednesday 25 August from 9.15am to about 11:00am.

It would be great if the students could come to school dressed as their favourite book character. There are plenty of websites to help with some easy and inexpensive ideas, by searching “book parade cheap costume ideas”. 

SCHOOL COUNCIL & SUB COMMITTEES- MEETING DATES 

The School Council aims to meet on the second Tuesday of each month. 

(Public holidays and school holidays impact this).

Thank you for your ongoing support and keep doing your personal best,

Leanne Sheean