A warm welcome back! I hope your holidays were filled with fun, excitement and hopefully some relaxation. There are a few people I would like to thank for helping out over this last holiday break. Firstly, I would like to thank Scott Kircher for fixing the retaining wall and moving the sand into our sand pits, and secondly, a special thanks to Callum, Fiona and Josh for hosting our chickens and taking such great care of them. 🐔

School Swimming Program

What a fantastic first swimming session! The students returned from their lesson full of enthusiasm, excited to share all the fun they had and the new skills they learned. It was wonderful to hear such glowing feedback from the pool staff, who described our students as “extremely kind – especially to each other.” We are so proud of how our students represented our school with kindness, cooperation, and positivity. What a great start to the swimming program!

Just a quick reminder to please make sure you label your child’s clothing items just in case they go wandering at the pool.

School Values

INTEGRITY – RESILIENCE – PERSONAL BEST – RESPECT – KINDNESS

Week 1 Focus Value: RESILIENCE

Our work on embedding our new school values has begun—both in and out of the classroom! 🌟

We’re starting with Resilience, with students learning what it means to demonstrate resilience in their daily school life. From tackling challenges in learning to showing persistence in play, our students are already making great connections!

Each fortnight, our Wellbeing section will highlight the current value focus. You’ll also find simple ideas and activities to try at home, helping to strengthen the link between school and home learning. I am also looking forward to delivering our first value awards to our deserving students at assembly tomorrow. Together, we can help our students live our values every day!

Thunderstorm Asthma – be prepared this pollen season

Grass pollen season, which typically runs from October to December each year in Victoria, brings an increase in asthma and hay fever symptoms. It also increases the risk of thunderstorm asthma. For people with asthma or hay fever, especially those who experience wheezing or coughing with their hay fever, thunderstorm asthma can be sudden, serious and even life threatening.

Menzies Creek Primary School will implement a range of measures to keep our school community safe as the risk of thunderstorm asthma increases. Many of our staff are trained in asthma first aid. We will monitor the VicEmergency app to receive thunderstorm warnings and, where appropriate, keep students indoors when weather forecasts identify greater risk.

During the season, there are some things you can do to prepare and protect yourself and your family:

- If your child has ever had asthma, talk to your doctor about what you can do to help protect them from the risk of thunderstorm asthma this pollen season, including updating your asthma action plan. Taking an asthma preventer properly and regularly is key to preventing asthma, including thunderstorm asthma.

- If your child has hay fever, see your pharmacist or doctor for a hay fever treatment plan and check if you should have an asthma reliever puffer. These are available from a pharmacy without a prescription.

- If your child has hay fever and experiences wheezing and coughing, it is important to make sure they don’t also have asthma. Speak to your doctor about an asthma action plan.

- Where possible, avoid being outside during thunderstorms from October to December, especially during the wind gusts that come before the storm. Go inside and close your doors and windows. If you have your air conditioning on, turn it to ‘recirculate’.

Protect yourself this pollen season – managing asthma and allergies matters.

For more information, click on the following link: Thunderstorm Asthma

Hats

A big thank you to all our families for supporting our SunSmart policy and ensuring students are wearing their hats this term. Just a reminder, if your child needs a new hat, they’re available from the office for $9.50.

Mobile Phone reminder

As you are all aware, students are not to use mobile devices (any phone and/or smartwatch connected to a cellular network) during school hours at any state school in Victoria. We appreciate that some circumstances require students to carry mobile phones for before and after school use.

Students bringing mobile phones to school need to bring them straight to the MCPS office where they are kept securely and able to be picked up at the end of the day. Please make sure that your child undertakes this process as soon as they arrive at school.

Assembly

Our first assembly for Term 4 will be held tomorrow at 3:00pm.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Nadja

Plot to Pot