Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony

Last week, we were lucky to be joined by Wurundjeri Elder, Perry Wandin, for a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony to mark the beginning of the new school year and our new build.

A Smoking Ceremony is an ancient Aboriginal custom that has been used for tens of thousands of years. It involves burning various native plants to produce smoke. Aboriginal people believe it has cleansing properties and the ability to ward off bad spirits from the people and the land and make pathways for a brighter future.

Our students, teachers and parents were able to walk through the smoke, wave it over themselves and cleanse the past for a better future. We were so impressed with the respectful and thoughtful way our students participated in the ceremony. Our captains read an Acknowledgement of Country and thanked Uncle Perry for visiting our school (you can read their speeches below). We are grateful to Uncle Perry for performing this special ceremony for us and for sharing his family's history with us.

Introduction (Joel)

Montmorency Primary School would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Greater Kulin Nation as the traditional owners of the land on which we are gathered and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. I would like to welcome Wurundjeri Elder, Uncle Perry Wandin to our school today to perform a traditional Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony to mark the beginning of the new school year and our building project.

Closing- Thank you (Celina)

On behalf of the school community, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Wurundjeri Elder, Uncle Perry Wandin, for coming to our school today to perform this very important ceremony. We are so grateful that we have been able to have this important event in the life of our school to solemnise the beginning of our new school year and our building project on Wurundjeri land. It is a reminder of the spiritual significance this land our school is on for the Wurundjeri people of the past, present and future.

Building Update

Exciting progress so far! The demolition has gone as well as we could have hoped for. The excavation team even unearthed a time capsule from 1993 that contained work samples from students who attended MPS at that time. Our students will have an opportunity to organise our very own 2023 time capsule later in the year, to be placed somewhere in the grounds of the new build. The next fortnight will see continued earthworks and the site cut in preparation for the footings.

Colour Explosion School Fun Run

We would love your assistance with our Colour Explosion School Fun Run on Thursday, 23rd February! We require several volunteers to assist with the following:

All aspects of the BBQ including the set up, cooking, selling and pack up
Selling of soft drinks and water
Setting up and packing up of obstacles
Spraying of coloured powder

Please click here to add your name to an activity that you are able to assist with.

The running schedule for the event is as follows:

5:00pm to 5:15pm - Foundation

5:20pm to 5:35pm - Grade 1

5:40pm to 5:55pm - Grade 2

6:00pm to 6:15pm - Grades 3 and 4

6:20pm to 6:35pm - Grades 5 and 6

Students have received their sponsorship booklet and can now create their online profile at www.plantadifference.com.au

Annual privacy reminder for school community

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to read our school’s collection notice, found on our website.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information.

If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:

Amharic
Arabic
Dari
Gujarati
Mandarin
Somali
Sudanese
Turkish
Urdu
Vietnamese

The Grape & Hop Bar & Restaurant

Thank you to Lincoln and Melissa Burns from The Grape & Hop Bar & Kitchen for raising $391 - the incredibly generous team donated their tips over the last few months towards Lily's Library!

Have a great weekend!

MPS Leadership Team

Visual Art

This week in Visual Art: