ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

Milgate Primary School would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land of the Wurundjeri People and we would like to pay our respects to the elders both past and present. Staff, students and the school community understand that we thrive, learn and live on Wurundjeri Country and we stand with all cultures united as one.

CELEBRATING FIRST NATIONS CULTURE, HISTORIES AND PEOPLE

CALENDAR

FORTNIGHTLY WOI WURRUNG WORD

NAPLAN

This week, our Year 3 and Year 5 students participated in the annual National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). NAPLAN tests skills that are essential for every child to progress through school such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. NAPLAN tests are one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process; they do not replace the extensive ongoing assessments made by the teachers about each student’s performance. As IB PYP students, our students are critical and creative thinkers, show curiosity about the world around them, are risk-takers in their learning and have a deep conceptual understanding with a global perspective. These too are essential for every child to learn and flourish.

We would like to thank and acknowledge our Year 3 and 5 students and teachers for their work in preparing for the tests. Students should be really proud that they did their very best and we as a school are proud of them, no matter what the result.

FUN RUN

Parent Volunteers Required

Our Fun Run is only one week away! We are asking for parent volunteers to assist with various roles including counting laps, marshalling, and assisting with the activities as the students run the course.

If you are able to assist on the day, can you please complete the Google Form:

Fun Run Parent Volunteer Registration Form

Running times:

Year 5- 9:10-9:40

Foundation - 9:40-10:10

Year 1 - 10:10-10:40

Year 3 - 11:15-11:45

Year 4 - 11:45-12:15

Year 2 - 12:15-12:45

Year 6 - 2:00-2:30

Also, a reminder to sign your child/children up for our Milgate Primary School Fun Run if you haven’t done so already. Funds raised will be going towards new playgrounds.

https://milgatefunrun.goraiseit.com.au/

We have currently raised $15,685. Keep up the great work everyone!

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Next Wednesday 19th March, we will be having our class and individual student photos. The photographers will then be back on Monday 24th to take School Leader photos and sibling photos. We kindly ask that you ensure your children are wearing their full school uniform on the day.

HARMONY DAY DRESS UP | THURSDAY 20th MARCH

Harmony Day is a day to recognise and celebrate the country's many cultures. We will be celebrating this special event on Thursday 20th March (Week 8) and encourage all students to come to school dressed in their traditional/cultural clothing or wearing something orange.

YEAR 4 SOVEREIGN HILL EXCURSION

On Wednesday, the Year 4s spent a BIG day at Sovereign Hill! Linked to their current Unit of Inquiry (Where We Are In Place and Time), students were able to see the past come alive as they stepped back in time to life on the goldfields in the 1850’s. Students had lots of fun trying their hand at gold panning, exploring an underground mine on the Red Hill mine tour and watching gold being smelted. During an education session, they learnt more about what life was like back in the 1800’s, why many people have migrated to Australia over the years and how the goldfields attracted many prospectors. The students are looking forward to further drawing on what they learnt from the day back in the classroom.

TRASH FREE TUESDAY

STARTS NEXT TUESDAY

Each Tuesday we ask that students do not bring any wrapped food for their recess snack and lunch as we are trying to reduce the amount of waste we produce at Milgate. Trash Free Tuesday was initiated several years ago by the Environmental Leaders. The class that has the least amount of rubbish get to have our Trash Free Tuesday mascot Ernie Earth in their classroom for the week.

NEW BASKETBALL BACKBOARDS & RINGS

On Friday, we had six new backboards, rings and nets installed on our basketball courts. These will be a great addition to our facilities and will be available for students to use during the day and families to use out of school hours.

STARTING OUR IB PYP INQUIRIES

Students have recently started their second unit of inquiry for the year. When planning how to “TUNE IN” the students into the learning, teachers think about how they can provoke the students thinking, the goal is to spark curiosity and encourage students to engage deeply with the content. Some strategies that can help provoke learning are:

Creating Engaging Central Ideas, that are broad, thought-provoking, and open-ended so students can explore multiple perspectives. For example, instead of "The environment is important," we might pose something like, "Human actions can affect the balance of nature". This encourages questions and exploration, allowing students to take ownership of their learning.
Provoking Questions that challenge assumptions, provoke thought, and spark curiosity. Some examples might be, "What would happen if we ran out of natural resources?”, "Why do people need to communicate with each other?", and "How do communities respond to challenges?"
Experiences, excursions, incursions, guest speakers, or hands-on activities can provide an authentic context for inquiry. Year 4 students when to Sovereign Hill this week to provoke their thinking around Australian history, to explore the central idea of “Discoveries lead to opportunities, change and new understandings”.
Visuals Images: powerful images, videos, or artifacts related to the inquiry theme. A photo of a deforested area could provoke a conversation about environmental responsibility.

Teachers then activate the prior knowledge of the students and ask them about what they already know, what they wonder about, and how they feel about the topic. This encourages students to connect new learning with what they already understand, making it more meaningful.

Reflection is key in IB PYP. After each provocation, allow time for students to reflect on their learning journey. How has their thinking changed or evolved?

Throughout the inquiry, teachers seek to connect to real-world Issues. Using real-life situations and problems to drive the inquiry. This could include current events, global challenges, or local issues that students can connect to personally.

Sarah Brown | IB PYP Coordinator

PEER MEDIATION

This term, Year 6 is implementing the Peer Mediation Program. This program is designed to support students in developing conflict resolution skills and building positive relationships across the school.

Please see the poster, created by Kate A and Isabella W of 6SB, for an explanation of Peer Mediation.

JUNIOR SCHOOL COUNCIL - STATIONERY DRIVE

The Junior School Council is holding a Stationery Drive to assist Stationery Aid and support children who need assistance with school supplies.

Stationery Aid is a not-for-profit organisation, that helps to create opportunities for disadvantaged school students and their families by donating environmentally sustainable educational resources.

They minimise our environmental impact by reusing and recycling stationery that would otherwise go to landfill. Stationery Aid aims to achieve a circular economy by continuing to renew, reuse and recycle where possible.

They collect, sort, clean, renew and donate excess and used education resources by creating booklist and stationery boxes for disadvantaged students.

The Junior School Council would appreciate it if you could donate any excess stationery you have to their Stationery Drive. Please DO NOT purchase any stationery, as the aim is for excess stationery that you may have at home to be recycled and reused.

Each classroom will have a collection tub for your donations - thank you!

PROJECT ROCKIT - Parenting in a Digital World

Free parent and carer online session

When: Tuesday 18th March 2025, 7pm-8pm AEDT

Timing: 40 minutes + Question Time

In this session you will learn how reframing your family’s relationship with technology can help in developing protective factors that help you in our tech-saturated world. In the process, you will learn how can we all deal better with the mindless scroll, and support our children to develop healthy habits and values in the use of digital technology. We will talk about the approaches and messages we use within our workshops and share stories, approaches, strategies informed by the latest research that can help guide us to be better parents in this digital age.

The Parent & Carer Education Sessions are designed to empower families to tackle cyberbullying and digital challenges effectively. Each session is led by Daniel Donahoo, our Manager of Digital Innovation, who brings over 20 years of experience in enhancing student outcomes through technology and ethical practices.

Parents & Friends