Our MFG Newsletter

Principal's Message

Welcome to 2018

Hello and welcome back everyone to 2018, which will no doubt prove to be another year full of challenges, learning, risk taking, mistakes and lessons learned at MFG.

 

Thank you to the parents and community members who attended our whole school assembly on 31 January, it was lovely to have you share the magnificent smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country from Corina a local Wathaurong representative.

 

Below is my welcome to speech tour community:

Good morning Invited Guests, Parents & Carers, Staff and Students

I would like to formally welcome you back to Matthew Flinders Girls, our wonderful school.

 

To all of your new staff, students and parents today I welcome you too and hope that today you feel welcome to our school community.

We were so fortunate this morning to have Corina representing the Wathaurong peoples, the Aboriginal people who belong to and are the custodians of the land upon which Matthew Flinders is built. Thank you for coming along this morning to support our school.

 

The purpose of our ceremony this morning is to pay respects to the local Wathaurong people and to be thankful about the fact that our school is on their traditional land.

 

It is also to symbolise the acceptance of new people (students, staff and parents/carers) into our school community and an invitation for you to embrace our school’s culture.

 

Know that you will be accepted for who you are, just as you are. You need to know that your ideas, questions and contributions to our school will be valued by everyone. This is our expectation of each other as a sisterhood at MFG – that we accept each other (we are inclusive) and look out for each other (we are supportive). In addition, we strive to have our own original ideas, pose thoughtful and intelligent questions and be creative in our thinking (we are innovative). Inclusive, supportive, innovative.

So welcome everyone to our school.

 

To our returning students I ask that you take the time to look out for our new students and staff. I know that you will help them to find their way and make them feel welcomed in our school.

In addition, today , I would like to remind you about the principles of permaculture that we are endeavouring to embrace here at MFG:  Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share.

 

Earth Care is about our commitment to constantly improving the way that we care for our environment. It is about being mindful of what we do. These can be little things, like using less plastic, turning lights and fans off when you are not in a room and making sure that you recycle properly.

People Care refers to the way that we treat each other. It is a commitment to being kind to each other. It is about forgiving ourselves and others. It is smiling and saying hello in the morning. It is being courteous on the stairs and in doorways. It is about how we show respect for one another.

 

Fair Share is the component of permaculture that reminds us that we exit in a community beyond MFG and we, as a school and as individuals, need to share what we have with others. That may be our resources or it may be our kindness.

 

So everyone, I wish you a wonderful year full of learning and fun. I encourage you to embrace the challenges and to persist even when your brains hurt.  Speak often with your teachers and support staff, they really care for you and want to help.

 

And finally, as our school motto says, keep “looking forward”:

  • stay positive
  • seek adventure
  • strive for a better tomorrow
  • and to keep learning.

Good morning and have a magnificent year of learning.

Together we can help our charges to “meet life”.

Key Foci 2018

As a school we will have the following FISO foci:

Positive Climate for Learning – Intellectual engagement and self-awareness

With a focus on:

  • Improving school attendance
  • Improving how students wear our new school uniform
  • Exploring ways to raise the academic commitment of our students

Excellence in Teaching and Learning – Building practice excellence

With a particular focus on:

  • Dylan Wiliam’s Teacher Learning Communities – as a forum for trialing high impact teaching strategies (HITS) and formative assessment strategies and techniques to improve student engagement and learning and evaluate our impact on learning.

New Staff 2018

We formally welcome the followign staff to our school in 2018:

Tammy Hanson (Learning Mentor)

D’Arcy Crossely (English)

Alana Harper (Science/Maths)

Melanie McNamara (English/Hums & PE)

Imogen Brough (Voice)

Kerry Trounson (Woodwind)

Phillipa Weetman (Operation Newstart)

Nick Sack (Operation Newstart)

Ben Popovski (Maths & Science)