From the Principal

Whole School Cross Country 

What a glorious day for a run!  Thank you to all of the students for giving their best efforts today and to all of our volunteers who came along to support the event.  Thank you especially to Fiona Pumpa for all of the planning (not once but twice) that goes into making this a safe and enjoyable event for everyone.  These events do really bring our community together and we look forward to many more in the future.  Congratulations to Hunter for hitting the top with scores today.  Check out these photos:

Mother's Day Stall

We really hope our parents loved their Mother's Day gift, purchased lovingly from our stall last week.  Thank you to Clare Capon for her organization of this event, coordinating the items to sell and the team of volunteers who came along the night before and on the day to help children make their choices.  Thank you also to families who donated items for the stall.  Overall, the stall made $1390 a great effort from everyone. Here are a few snaps from the day:

Return to onsite collection of students

From Monday 17 May we will be asking parents to make adjustments to the drop off and collection of their children at school.  If parents would like to they are invited to come onsite each morning, gather on the basketball court and attend a 8:50AM assembly each morning.  At about 8:55AM students will make their way to classrooms.

In the afternoon parents, and Norwood Secondary College siblings, are invited to collect their child/sibling from the middle level of the school, entering via Panfield Ave.  At 3:30PM students will be dismissed from their classes and make their way to the middle level to meet their parent or to move to the oval or Panfield Ave gate to go home.  Teachers are on duty in the afternoon, however, parents are expected to collect their child at 3:30PM.

Downball Australia Visit

This week all classes from Foundation to Grade 6 have been learning the "Old School Rules" of Downball.  Nathan and Andrew, from Downball Australia, have been teaching the rules of the game and running championship play offs during Physical Education lessons. There is renewed enthusiasm for the game with our brand new courts marked out and students from all grade levels participating.  Winners of the playoffs from Grade 4-6 are invited to attend an event on Sunday 27 June, where students from across Maroondah will join together to determine the champion downball players in Maroondah.  Check out the action yesterday: 

Morning Classroom Visits and Biggest Morning Tea

On Thursday 27 May we will be hosting Morning Classroom visits in your child's classroom followed by Mullum Primary School's Biggest Morning Tea fundraising event for the Cancer Council.  We invite parents and guardians to join us in our classrooms from 9:00 to see classrooms in action.  You are then invited to join us undercover for a performance assembly followed by the Biggest Morning Tea fundraising event.  We are calling all home cooks to support this event by baking a batch of scones, recipe and notice to go home very soon.  This is a fundraising event for Cancer Council and donations can be made directly through this link:

https://www.biggestmorningtea.com.au/fundraisers/Mullumprimaryschool/vic

Working Bee - Saturday 22 May @ 10:00AM

We are calling all families to join us at Working Bee on Saturday 22 May from 10:00, followed by a sausage sizzle.  We will be weeding, mulching, planting throughout the garden beds and hope you will join us.  A Compass notice will be sent through tomorrow.

Return of the Canteen Service

We are pleased to let the community know that the canteen service we have with Norwood Secondary College canteen will resume again next week. This year the service will be available on Thursday lunch time.  To order a lunch:

1. Check the menu (will go home on Compass tomorrow) and select the items you want your child to eat for lunch
2. Write the order on an envelope with your child's name and class
3. Send along to school, or drop off at the office on Wednesday mornings
4. Remember to pack morning tea for recess on Thursday as the food does not come across from Norwood Secondary until 12:50PM
5. On Thursday we will collect the lunches and distribute them at school

What's been happening in Foundation this week?

Foundation students have been very busy; going on scavenger hunts with their buddies, learning new activities in PMP and creating fairy-tales with a twist. It was very exciting for the buddies to explore our new play area, working together to find a range of objects in their surroundings.  PMP kicked off this term with a buzz. All students got involved and loved learning new activities. With a bear crawl on a ladder to throwing hoops on a stick, everyone worked on and improved a skill.   Investigations this week involved students cooking porridge making connection to our fairy-tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. All enjoyed watching the process, but only some enjoyed eating the finished result. 

Pirates of the Curry Bean

We hope you have all set aside Monday 26 & Tuesday 27 July in your calendars for the whole school production of "Pirates of the Curry Bean".   We will be setting sail on the stage at the Karralyka Centre in Ringwood, with tickets going on soon. .  All students have been rehearsing their dance moves with Karen from Studio O.   We won't give too much away but here are a few snaps of the rehearsals:

Grade 5/6 Clubs continues

Student wellbeing and student advocacy have been a focus this term with students devising groups that focus on skill sets they possess. Each week in small groups, students share with their peers everything from fitness sessions, Rubik’s cube algorithms to online coding methods. Throughout these sessions’ students have an opportunity to present concepts and practical activities to their peers, gaining leadership skills and practicing the ability to modify their sessions based on the needs of their audience. 

Foundation 2022 Tours

If you have a child due to start school next year we encourage you to collect an enrolment form from the office, or ring and we will send one home.  Applications are due back to us before the end of this term.  If you have friends, neighbours or kindergarten friends ready to start school next year, please let them know that tours are available now and we would love to share with them our school.  

Our current families with students starting in 2022 may like to join us in the Open Session leading into Education Week.  We will be opening up the Foundation classrooms from 4:00-5:30 for an afternoon of activities.  Call the school office to book you and your child in for this session.

Bread bags and bread tag collection

We are currently collecting bread bags and bread tags to earn reward points to get new sports equipment.  We have set a target of 25kg of bread bags and 10kg of bread tags to collect.  These bags and tags do not need to just be Wonder bread, it can be any bread bag or tag.  Being these along to the office for collection.