From the Principal
WHAT’S COMING UP -
The Easter Raffle
One of the highlights of Term 1 is the Easter raffle which will be drawn on the last day of the term. Parents are welcome to join us to watch another wonderful performance from the Arts group as they kick off the assembly and prior to the raffle draw. The action commences in the hall at 1:40pm.
Thank you to all those who supported the Easter raffle through donations and raffle ticket sales.
CURRICULUM DAYS
The first two days next term are Curriculum Days where teachers will be working with accredited presenters with the International Baccalaureate. The two days will concentrate on 'Creating a curriculum for transdisciplinary learning'.
We look forward to applying our new knowledge with particular emphasis on incorporating mathematics into our units of inquiry.
Students will commence Term two on Wednesday 17 April.
SCHOOL COUNCIL 2024
Last Monday we held our first school council meeting for the new council members. The meeting provided an overview of the sub committees and members were elected as office bearers in the various roles.
Our school has 5 sub committees:
Finance - oversee the monthly income and expenditure of the school and adherence to finance policies
Education – update policies on a cyclical basis, review school performance data and communicate / consult with parent community on a needs basis.
Canteen and Uniform – review school uniforms, second hand uniform stall, uniform policy and the running of the canteen including profit and loss statements, menu items and adherence to Council guidelines.
Social and Fundraising – organise and run a range of fund raising events to supplement the school budget (including the biennial carnival) and social events to maintain community connectedness.
Facilities - review general school maintenance and future development both in the short and long term, organise and run working bees.
We welcome and introduce our 2024 School Council Members:
President: Luda Unitt
Treasurer: Jenks Guo
Secretary: Liz Maplestone
Finance: Convenor: Jenks Guo Members: Narendhar Sunkisala, Nimit Aggarwal, Helen Georgitsopoulos.
Education: Convenor: Fiona Sewell Members: Fiona Boyer, Mitchell Houston.
Canteen and Uniform: Convenor: Fiona Boyer Members: Susan Hunt, Helen Georgitsopoulos.
Social and Fundraising: Convenor: Vanessa Lee Members: David Funston, Elle Avery, Deb Nhuch.
Facilities: Convenor: Bianca Baker-Smith Members: Oliver Johnson.
The School Council President and I look forward to working with all sub committees throughout the year.
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
When students return from the school holidays, you will notice a verandah extending from the hall to the path. This will add shade from the sun and protection from the trees.
ANXIETY AND SELF MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS (Presenter Karen Young)
Following the highly regarded workshops held last year by psychologist Karen Young, we are bringing Karen back in Term 2 to once again run workshops for our teachers and parents but this time our students will also participate in age appropriate workshops.
While all workshops will continue to support us with learning more about anxiety, the content for the workshops will build on from what we learned from Karen’s last visit.
PARENT WORKSHOP: Titled ‘Big Feelings, Behaviour, and Regulation’ is a workshop relevant for all parents. It will support parents with kids with anxiety and it will support all parents to understand and manage all big feelings and the behaviours that are fuelled by that. It will explain how best to support the social-emotional growth generally of all children. This talk is super-practical, and it will present different information for parents who might have already heard the anxiety talk. It still talks about the amygdala (because it’s relevant for all feelings). Parents will be able to place an order for a book titled, ‘Calming Your Amygdala’ when the Try Booking link is sent through Compass.
STUDENT WORKSHOPS: Titled ‘Who Doesn’t Get Anxiety?’ Children are powerful when we empower them. This presentation will provide children with the information and strategies they need to strengthen against anxiety, move through challenges, and build their capacity for calm, courage and resilience. A flyer will be sent through Compass to outline the content of this workshop in more detail.
STAFF WORKSHOP: Titled ‘The Brain based Classroom.’ Staff will learn more about the neural foundations of behaviour, regulation, relating and learning. By applying this knowledge to the classroom, educators are in a unique and powerful position to provide the relationships and experiences that will support regulation, strengthen students against anxiety, reduce challenging behaviour, support social and emotional development, buffer and heal against the effects of trauma, and maximise the learning potential of all children. This workshop will translate the latest neuroscientific theory into actionable, relatable, practical strategies and insights to support the strengthening of all children.
LAST DAY OF TERM
Don’t forget the last day of the Term is Thursday 28 March, closing at 2:30pm.
Thanks to all of our families, students and staff for a wonderful Term 1 and we look forward to whatever Term 2 may bring, with new learning styles and plenty of action.
Please all look after each other, be kind and I look forward to when we are together again at MPS next term.
Chellee Plumb