From the Principal

Autumn is a beautiful season around the school with the changing colour of the leaves, the cooler weather but sunny days and students having fun throwing leaves like snow.  Students are also having fun with the activities organised in the celebration of Education Week.  

EDUCATION WEEK

Education Week is an annual celebration of education in Victoria.

In 2024, Victoria will celebrate Education Week from Monday 13 May to Friday 17 May. Our school however, is acknowledging Education Week this week due to our Year 5 and 6 students being on camp next week. 

This year’s theme, Spotlight on STEM, highlights the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in our everyday lives, in the classroom and beyond.

Throughout our Education Week, Mr Johnson (our STEM teacher) has organised a weeklong schedule of activities encouraging students, parents/carers, teachers, and organisations in our broader community to become involved. On Monday ‘Engineers without Borders’ spoke to our students and engaged them in a floating house design challenge. 

Mr Johnson has also involved many MPS parents in our Education Week. Did you know we have parents who are genetic researchers, authors, software & civil engineers and many other fascinating careers.  How exciting for our students to learn more about these interesting careers.     

On Tuesday, our junior students were enthralled with a ‘Fire Snake’ demonstration and while the experiment didn’t quite go as planned, it had the students thinking, wondering and chanting for the ‘snake’ to emerge from the flames.

Today the Monash High Power Rocketry Team had students making rockets which they tested on the oval.   

Mr Johnson has certainly evoked ‘curiosity’ in our students, which is a core component of our mission statement. ‘ … to foster an environment where students’ curiosity flourishes…’

JAPANESE DAY

Sensei Briggs, arigatoo gozaimasu ありがとうございます. Thank you for organising a day for our students to celebrate Japanese culture supporting our language program. The day commenced with a parade where we saw students dressed in traditional kimonos through to pop Japanese clothing and then students enjoyed traditional activities from origami to zen gardening. 

MOTHER'S DAY

The Mother's Day stall was once again a top hit with our students today. Not only did the students enjoy their shopping today but it was also a fabulous opportunity to explore the value of the dollar. The discussions were priceless, especially from the younger students. 

To those who are attending the special Mother's Day evening at Cityfields, we know you’ll enjoy your night out.  To all our school mums and mother figures, we wish you a very heartfelt Mother's Day this Sunday.

CONTINUOUS REPORTING

It has been just over 12 months now since we introduced ‘Continuous Reporting’ which came about because of parent feedback. Parents wanted to know more about what their children were learning, expected to learn and how they were going. Continuous Reporting uses the Compass ‘Continuum’ and is where teachers share with parents and carers the outcomes students have achieved at the end of each unit of inquiry. If you don’t know how to use the Compass Continuum, please pop in to the office so we can show you. We know you’ll be impressed with the information provided to you about your child’s progress.

In addition to the Continuum, parents are invited to attend a ‘Unit Share’ where students proudly show their parents what they have been learning about (eg. tasks students have produced) and share how they are going (process of learning, eg. their learning goals).  The Compass continuum is ‘opened’ at the same time so parents can review the educational outcomes students have gained through their unit of study. We still provide parents and carers with a formal report at the end of each semester indicating the student’s progress against the Victorian Curriculum supported by standardised assessments, only a general comment is written. 

FUNDRAISING UPDATE

All fundraising dollars this year is allocated to enhancing the play areas on the senior side of the school. The SRC (Student Representative Council) have met with playground companies to share with them the type of equipment they’d like to have in the yard. As a result of their feedback, there are three designs students will now be providing feedback on. The School Council Facilities committee, who are meeting this week, will also review the playground designs and determine the process for attaining broader community feedback. We look forward to inviting your input over the next couple of weeks.   

ATTENDANCE

Did you know that 22 is the average number of students who are ‘late’ each morning arriving to school. The first bells rings at 8:52am so students are in their class ready for a 8:55am start. We understand that there will always be some difficult mornings, but if you are regularly late, can you please endeavour to adjust your routine, so students are at school on time.  The teacher will mark the roll at 9:00am. Please do not sign your child in on the compass kiosk if they arrive prior to 9am. 

Thank you for your continued support and positivity

Chellee Plumb