Hi Everyone,

I really wanted to start the newsletter this week by acknowledging our wonderful Year 6 students who have shown over the course of the year, how incredibly capable they are in so many ways. They have organised and run a range of school activities for students in younger grades both during lockdown and back at school and their latest work for their Exhibition demonstrated their academic abilities. These beautiful people have truly been role models for the rest of the school.

YEAR 6 EXHIBITION

Last week the year 6 students presented their Exhibition to their parents and to students within the school. The students commenced their Exhibition inquiry during Remote and Flexible learning so there was a need to explore new ways to collaborate with peers using technologies and apply critical thinking for maintaining a solution based focus whenever new challenges arose. With restrictions also in place, the students explored how they would share their final presentations. This resulted in students creating multimedia Google sites where their information was shared to an invited community with forums used to encourage feedback. The Year 5’s and I were fortunate to visit the ‘Exhibition’ booths that the students had set up and listened to and viewed their work. The students’ knowledge of and passion for their chosen inquiry was simply outstanding. I encourage the school community to read some of their work and perspectives included later in this newsletter.

Congratulations to the Year 6 teaching staff who facilitated the effective use of a wide array of digital technologies and encouraged student collaboration which clearly motivated and engaged our students to such a high level. Congratulations also to our highly able students for their commitment, perseverance and achievements.

BYOD – Bring Your Own Device

Last week an information session was held which provided parents the opportunity to ask questions related to the use of ipads in the school. Commencing from 2022, Year 3 - 6 students will BYOD (ipads) for use at school. Naturally there was a great deal of discussion around ‘screen time’ which is understandable given the amount of time students were sitting in front of screens during remote learning. Fortunately, ipads are not used in the same way at school. Technology is a tool used to develop skills such as information literacy, collaboration, creativity and innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, and of course ICT (Information and Communication Technology) literacies, all which have become an integral part of the education process.

As part of the Victorian Curriculum and as a PYP school, it is important that we begin to prepare students to become inquirers, problem solvers and responsible digital citizens.

SCHOOL CONCERT

Since the return to school, students have been participating in dance lessons run by ‘Kinect 2 Dance’. Next Tuesday (30 November) , students will don colourful costumes and perform their routines in front of the camera. Families will be provided a recording of our mini school concert to enjoy at home (and for years to come).

WHOLE SCHOOL TRANSITION DAY- STEP UP

Whole School ‘Step Up’

Commencing this Friday and over the next couple of weeks, students will be involved in our ‘Step Up Transition Program’.

Teachers will prepare activities that allow students to learn more about the programs and events to look forward to in the next year level and mixing students from across the grades provides them with an opportunity to reconnect with peers from other classes and meet potential new classmates.

Our Year 6 students are currently enjoying ‘Murrumbeena High’ which provides them with insights into what they can look forward to when they move to secondary school. On Tuesday 7 December, when the year 6’s visit their new schools, the rest of our students will have their final ‘Step Up’ session (9:15 – 11:00am). The groups that students are placed in for ‘Step Up’ sessions are mixed and NOT necessarily their grades for next year.

Parent Requests

Over the past month, parents have been invited to place any special requests in writing to the school. These requests are taken into consideration when developing new classes. Due to the complexity of matching various criteria when considering which class to place a student in, it is not possible to accept further parent requests, as this has a roll on effect which impacts on a range of students. Our class Placement Policy is listed on our website for parent perusal.

Parents will be informed of their child’s class placement and 2022 teacher in the final week of school.

STAFFING NEWS FOR 2022

There are a few changes in our staffing next year and for different reasons. We farewell Meagan Atkins (year 1) and Peter Bucher (music) who will be enjoying a year of leave and we farewell Joshua Woollan, Samantha Nasreddin and Kirsty Seares who are pursuing new opportunities in schools closer to their (new) homes.

LOTE teacher Miss Shin Maki, is extending her leave to continue to travel (halted due to the pandemic) so Mrs Josie Briggs will continue as our Japanese teacher.

We have a number of new staff who will join us at Murrumbeena next year. After interviews this month, we welcome the following new teachers to our team:

Michelle Nugent who will be running a ‘Performing Arts’ program and classroom teachers Brianna Newbond, Joe Calderone and Julia Kantor.

We are sure they will enjoy being a part of our Murrumbeena Primary School community as much as we do.

We’d also like to welcome back from family leave the following teachers: Tracey Nelson, Steph Protektor, Jess Maya, Gabbi Menche and Melanie Short.

Our 2022 teaching staff will be joining us on our Transition ‘Step Up’ day to meet our students.

END OF YEAR ORGANISATION

Staff are currently busy finalising student reports. These will be sent home on Tuesday 14 December via Compass.

Class allocations will also be distributed on the same day via a hard copy.

SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Over the past fortnight, many of our Year 5 students have prepared and delivered high calibre speeches showcasing their skills and capability to become School Captain. It was evident from the high standard presented that we have a group of very capable students all of whom display leadership in different ways. Students and staff placed their votes and, from these, students are soon to be shortlisted for an interview. We will finalise the process over the coming fortnight. We would like to thank all of the candidates for putting in the time and effort to take part in this process and congratulate them on representing themselves and the school with pride. With so many capable students, 2022 will be a year to look forward to.

WHOLE SCHOOL INCURSION- Kaboom Sports Wednesday 1 December

Kaboom Sports is back by popular demand. Students will be dancing and actively engaged in a range of fun filled novelty activities with music pumping to enhance the mood. The cost of this is incorporated into the incursion levy.

2022 PREP PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT

An information evening will be held for the parents of our new 2022 preps on Wednesday 1st December at 6:30pm in the hall.

The information evening will be an opportunity to:

find out how to prepare the child for prep
hear from our first aide officer,
learn about before and after school care program (TheirCare),
find out about school uniforms from PSW (Primary School Wear)
meet the School Council President
learn about who our parent representatives are and how you can be involved
understand how the school canteen operates and more
learn about our ‘Care and Share’ program

EASING OF RESTRICTIONS AND SUDDEN CHANGES

The staff and I, would like to say a HUGE thank you to our parent community for the wonderful way you have supported the school and our students by ensuring that when covid symptoms appear students (or family members) are getting tested and following the advice for close contacts.

We really are blessed to have such a positive and strong community.

Thank you

Chellee Plumb

MPS Japanese Day

Nagoya, Japan

MURRUMBEENA NINJA SCHOOL!