Dear Students, Parents, Carers and Families

Bike Ed 2024

Students in Years 3 to 6 participated in the Bike Ed program, as part of the Outdoor Education program. Our students had the opportunity to learn about safe riding behaviours, correct riding position, scanning, signalling, slow riding, sharp turns, riding on different surfaces, road rules and riding in a shared environment. Bike Ed uses practical lessons to ensure riders have the physical abilities to ride safely and independently. It also reinforced the need for all students to wear a helmet at all times when riding a bike.

Foundation Excursion

Maramba Foundation cohort had their very first excursion of their school year to Myuna Farm! The students were enthusiastic as they began their journey on the bus, which was a new experience for many of them. It turned out to be a wonderful day filled with activities such as petting animals, taking a train ride, watching a show, and even milking a goat. I am sure the students will narrate all the wonderful experiences they had from the day.

Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

Our Semester 1 reports have been finalised. We extend a heartfelt thank you to all our teachers for their dedication and hard work in preparing these reports. They will be emailed early next week to ensure families have ample time to review them before our Parent Teacher interviews scheduled for July 16th and 17th. Please schedule your appointment through XUNO or reach out to your child's classroom teacher if you are having any difficulties.

Hot Chocolate and Fight MND: Big Freeze

As winter sets in with its cold and chill, the Student Representative Council (SRC) has arranged hot chocolate to celebrate the Winter Solstice. In line with our sustainability efforts, students are encouraged to bring their own cups to minimise waste. Thank you to the parent volunteers who gave up their time in organising the hot chocolate for the students.

Additionally, in support of the fight against MND, the SRC has initiated a fundraiser where students can wear beanies to school, with donations benefiting The Big Freeze campaign. The students raised $369 in donations to help find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease (MND). Congratulations to our students for contributing to such a worthy cause!

Student Spotlight

Congratulations to Kravitz Vailoaloa for qualifying to the Victorian Schools State Under 12 Rugby League team, a feat worth celebrating! Kravitz will showcase his exceptional sportsmanship skills in the upcoming State competitions scheduled for August. We are extremely proud of Kravitz and wish him the best of luck!

Please let Mrs Ehsan know if you have been involved in something fabulous outside of school for our next 'Student Spotlight'.

Little Learners Love Literacy - A Comprehensive Phonics Program

The Minister for Education, Ben Carroll, has announced last week that all schools will be mandated to undertake the teaching of synthetic phonics in Foundation to Grade 2. This decision stems from compelling evidence demonstrating its effectiveness in teaching reading and spelling. This is quite exciting because Maramba Primary School has already implemented a comprehensive phonics program to support our students to learn to read. The Minister's mandate to provide explicit phonics and phonemic awareness instruction aligns with our current work at Maramba Primary School, supporting improvements in our literacy through the Little Learners Love Literacy program. It also reinforces our approach to intervention and the 'Big 6' (Konza, 2014) of Reading: oral language, phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Our use of DIBELS assessments provides information around these skills and is then used for Tiered 2 and 3 interventions. As student progress through the primary years of schooling, the focus shifts from learning to read to reading to learn.

Assemblies and Newsletters

Please see the schedule below for our assemblies and newsletters:

School Newsletter	Whole School Assembly
Friday, 21st June	Thursday, 27th June (All the Values badges will be presented at this assembly
Friday, 19th July	Thursday, 25th July

Foundation 2025

We have had a lot of interest in enrolments for next year with several school tours already taken place. Do not forget that applications are open now and close on 26th July. Any new families interested in a school tour are also encouraged to book one through contacting the school office.

Swimming notifications have been sent out via XUNO and QKR for next term. Please contact the school office if you have any questions.

Term 2 has been a busy term and I know the students and staff are all ready for a much needed break. Please remember that this school term finishes at 2:30pm on 28th June. I hope everyone enjoys the Discovery afternoon and has a wonderful weekend!

Kind regards,

Moniba Ehsan

Acting Principal

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the Students and Staff who will celebrate their birthdays this and last week.