Playground work to be completed tomorrow!

We are so excited to let you know that the playground will be finished tomorrow! That means from next week students will be able to play on it. Two hundred plants are on their way and a big planting session will be held with some classes next week. Here is a sneaky shot through the fence as the contractors are putting in the finishing touches.

Whole School Assemblies

Starting tomorrow we will be conducting our Friday morning whole school assembly in the hall. Parents and carers are invited to join us, please make your way in and find a seat at the back of the hall. In classes today, students are being instructed to a different arrival procedure for a Friday morning. When students arrive at school in the morning on a Friday, they are to go straight to the classrooms where they will hang up their bags (or line them up outside if they are in 3/4M and 3/4E), then they will make their way down to the play areas until the music commences, then they will line up with their teacher. There may be a few hiccups tomorrow as it is the first time, that is ok.

Twilight Sports

Next Thursday, 15 February from 6:00-7:15pm we will be having our annual Twilight Sports Night. This is a wonderful opportunity for our community to get together, meet new and old friends alike; encourage and participate in a night of games and activities together with your child. Please bring along your picnic at 6:00pm and we will be selling super doopers for $1:00 and cans of drink and water for $1:50 (cash or card). We will be collecting the refundable bottles and cans on the night for our fundraising.

Recycling 10c cans, bottles

Starting tomorrow, our school will be collecting cans, bottles, juice boxes, water bottles that have 10c refund label. We will be then taking them to a Container Deposit location and collecting the cash for our fundraising efforts for 2024. A bin will be placed outside the office each day and we encourage you, and your children, to deposit your items there. If you have a large amount already waiting to be refunded and you would like the school to collect them from you, just let us know.

Contacting teachers

Your child's teachers are here to help. If you have any query, question or wondering then please feel free to contact your child's teacher at any time via one of the ways listed below. Teachers will get back to you within 24-48 hours, during working hours:

leaving details at the school office for them to make contact
phoning the school and leaving a message for a teacher to get in touch
emailing your child's teachers directly through Compass
Catching them at the school gate in the afternoons

School Council Elections

On Monday 19 February we will be opening the nominations and election of School Council for this year. School Council plays an important role in our school as parents, staff and leadership work together around key elements of the school including financial managment, buildings and grounds, policies and Strategic Planning. When the nominations come out, please consider nominating for one of the positions. If you would like more infomation then please do not hesitate to speak to Kelli Heriot at the office, or our current School Council president, Lisa Beasley (E: lisa.beasley@education.vic.gov.au)

Privacy Notice

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice. Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy, describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education] safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education], please contact the school. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents.

This information is also available in ten community languages:

* Amharic * Arabic * Dari * Gujarati * Mandarin * Somali * Sudanese * Turkish * Urdu

* Vietnamese

Road use - parking restrictions (Maroondah City Council)

I just wanted to draw the communities attention to important information provided by Maroondah City Council about parking and crossing the road. Student safety is paramount when it comes to arriving and leaving school and our cooperation as a community to ensure this happens for all students is vital. I have included a separate page in this fortnight's newsletter on parking around the school for you to refresh your memory or read about parking and road safety around Mullum Primary School.

It is not ok to be away or late

Thank you to parents who use Compass to contact us when their child is going to be absent. This is the most appropriate way to communicate the absence, though you may also wish to let the classroom teacher know via an email. All the research says that we need to have students at school every school day, unless they are unwell or there are extenuating family circumstances. Being away more than 5 days per term can have a detrimental effect on your child's learning. Even being late each day, impacts on your child's ability to learn. Our lessons start at 9:00am everyday, with instruction in reading and writing usually at the beginning of the day when students are their freshest.

The hours of expected attendance at school, are as follows:

8:45 - Students arrive at school

8:55 - Music plays for students to make their way to class

9:00 - Lessons commence

3:30 - Students are dismissed

Check out this link for more information:

https://www.vic.gov.au/attendance-and-missing-school

Student accident insurance, ambulance cover arrangements and private property brought to school

The Department of Education does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents/carers of students, who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs. It is the responsibility of parents/carers to look into their preferred options for medical insurance in this regard. The Department of Education cannot provide advice to parents/carers on the purchase of individual student accident policy or ambulance cover.

Private property brought to school by students, staff or visitors is also not insured and the school does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage. This can include mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises. As the Department of Education does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and has no capacity to pay for any loss or damage to such property, students and staff should be discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school.

Chicken rosters

This week Kelli Heriot sent out a message to families about joining our Chicken Roster, an opportunity for your family to come over the weekend, look after the chickens and collect the eggs. This roster fills up very quickly and is already full for this term and the Term 1 holidays.

Optional Activities at MPS