From Marie

The term is well underway and students have settled well into their classroom routines.  We welcome Aarvie (Foundation S) and Amber (Foundation L) and their families to Mullum Primary School.  We hope you are all settling in well.  

Essential Agreements

At the beginning of each year our teachers work with their new classes to establish and Essential Agreement about how we operate together as a classroom community.  These Agreements are established early in the year, agreed to by all students, published and posted in the classrooms.  Throughout the year the Agreement is referred to and students are reminded about the commitment to working together collaboratively.  Here are a few examples to look through:

New Playground Open

We are very excited to let our community know that we have opened our new playground and it is getting a very good work out at the moment.  This work has been made possible by the generous donations from families through our fundraising efforts over the last two years.  

Fathering Project

Mullum Primary School is excited to again partner with the Fathering Project for 2024. Digger Randle and Jon O'Neill (parents in 1M) are heading up the organising committee for this and have their first night for dads and fathering figures to come along and enjoy a night of lawn bowls.  Check out the designated page in this newsletter.

Parents' Association

Yesterday we held an information session directed to families who were interested in finding out more.  Sixteen families attended, some of them new to Mullum Primary School and others new to the Ringwood area.  Everyone was keen to hear about the work of past Parent Associations and had some great ideas to share about what the 2024 Parents' Assocation could look like.  Check out the designated page for Parents' Association in this and future newsletters to read about what is happening and for opportunities to join in.

Drum Teacher

Last Friday Zach Smith, our new drum teacher performed at our assembly.  Zach is teaching drums to individual students or small groups of students and can be contacted via the attached flyer.

School Council

Nominations for School Council are now open.  We have five positions in total available, two are for one year and three positions are for two years.  We encourage all members of our school community to consider nominating for School Council and contributing to the overall workings of the school.   School Council meets twice per term on a Monday evening at 7:30pm.  

CSEF - Camps, Sports, Excursions Fund

Many of our families are eligible to apply for CSEF funds.  This equates to $125 per year for eligible funds and can be used to pay for school events.  This week Kelli Heriot sent out the paperwork for families to complete.  If you are not sure, please pop into the office for more information.

Bunnings BBQs

With every Bunnings BBQ we raise about $1000 for school fundraising.  We love the fact that the outside community are contributing to our fundraising efforts.  We have decided that this year we would use the BBQ to help our school community to build connections with each other and are getting dates from Ringwood Bunnings so each year level can run one BBQ in the year.  So far we have two dates, links to put your name on the roster have gone out to these families:

• Saturday 27 April - Foundation
• Saturday 18 may - Grade 1

Headlice

With warm, humid conditions we are noticing recurring outbreaks of headlice across the school.  We encourage all families to check regularly for evidence of nits or lice and commence treatment immediately.  Headlice, although embarrassing for some, is not a reason to stay home from school, once treatment has commenced then students should be back at school.  It is a good reminder for students with long hair tie up their hair, making it more difficult for these creatures to crawl from one head to another. To learn more about the symptoms, what to look for and how to treat these pesky critters, please check out the link below to Kids Health:

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/head-lice.html

A Student Canvas

Two weeks ago our staff created a representation of a Mullum Primary School student, using the pointillism technique of French Impressionist artist, Georges Seurat. Dots of colour were layered to create the image, which is best seen from a distance.  We discussed that like a pointillism painting all of the interactions, conversations, greetings, check ins, care, smiles, feedback and support we give our students everyday, are the small dots that contribute to the overall canvas of a students' life.

We then asked each class to answer this question: "What can I (the teacher) do to help you learn?"  ...this is what they said:

Foundation S - Teach us to read.

Foundation L - To help me when I don't know what to do.

Grade 1T - Help me with things I find hard.

Grade 1M - Learn how to write amazing stories.

Grade 2R - Support us to work in teams to help each other.

Grade 2K - Make learning really fun.

Grade 3/4E - Give encouragement when we are stuck.

Grade 3/4M - To be aware of how we are feeling.

Grade 3/4Y - Help us when we don't understand.

Grade 5/6B -Talk to me about what I need help with and give me feedback so I can improve.

Grade 5/6C - Make learning more engaging and enjoyable.

Buddies

Our Foundation students had their first session with their Grade 5 and 6 buddies this week and it was a lot of fun! The older students took their buddies on a Scavenger Hunt to show them around the school and get to know them better. We're looking forward to our next session together!

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

Each week our Grade 3/4 students spend an hour in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program with Bek Mitchell and their classroom teacher.  Work on planting, weeding, mulching, harvesting, composting, managing the worm farms, looking after the chickens, cooking in our student kitchen are all part of the Grade 3/4 week.

Bush Talk

Each year our Grade 5/6 Bush Talk program is quickly snapped up by students who are keen to spend time each week, in nature, in reflection and working towards developing skills like making their own cordage, responsible fire making, weaving, navigation and appreciation of natural beauty.  Ten students per term are able to participate in this program led by Bek Mitchell and Deanne Lawn.