Thursday 10th August

It is hard to believe that we are at the halfway of this term. We have lots taking place across the school so please ensure you are checking your compass news feed for any events or information that you need to be aware of.

Tomorrow is student free day. Staff will be offsite working alongside other Dandenong Ranges schools on student voice and agency.

Should you require assistance with supervision TheirCare are available.

School Values

This year we have been working as a school to revisiting our values this year to complement our guidelines of do your best, help others succeed and respect our environment. Staff, students and school council have decided upon the following:

At Menzies Creek we strive to maintain a strong sense of community through the following values:

Respect – to understand, consider and have regard for the rights of others
Persistence – in working hard to overcome challenges
Kindness – by showing understanding and care to others
Gratitude – by being thankful for what we have and get to experience

We will be making these a focus in Care Groups as part of our social and emotional relational learning. When awarding student of the week awards we will be having a highlighted focus – this fortnight has been on respect.

Student Voice Team (SVT)

This term has seen some new members join the SVT to be an active representative of their classrooms. These students have been chosen by their peers and meet regularly with Erin Carter.

Congratulations to the following students:

Bronte (FM), Issy (12A), Saffron (12E), Ella & Charlotte (34S), Lilly-Anne (34B), Erin, Luke and Dash (56S) and Georgia W (56D).

Trivia Night

Last Friday evening was a wonderful opportunity for our school community to connect as we enjoyed our 2023 Trivia Night. A huge acknowledgment to our Community Relations subcommittee of School Council for organising the night. Particular thanks must go to Dani Pearce for her overall coordination and making sure everything ran smoothly. Thanks also to Laura Lane for her efforts on the night. The feedback received has been overwhelmingly positive which is always nice to hear. You may notice some drawings of Puffing Billy in the windows along the corridor classrooms – these were drawn on the night and needed to be showcased.

Book Week – dress up day on Monday 21 August

This year the theme is Read Grow Inspire. Staff and students are invited to come dressed as a favourite character or book or author.

Head to the website Children’s Book Council of Australia more information on shortlisted books that you might to share at home

EDEC Hurdles

Back in March when we had the EDEC Athletics Day we couldn’t complete the Hurdles event due to the inclement weather. We made this day up on Monday and had our students do a great job representing our school.

Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Maths Games day

Yesterday we had 4 students from Year 5/6, Bryce, Leo, Archie and Flynn participate in a wonderful day of challenging maths activities where they had to work together creatively against other like-minded students. The aim was to challenge high ability students in a fun, challenging, collaborative, and competitive mathematics-based games day. Lateral thinking was a must. Our students had a great day and described the opportunity as ‘awesome, fun, complicated and challenging’.

Pre-Service Teachers

We are pleased to be hosting some pre-service teachers this term in 56S, 56D and FM. They are enjoying working alongside our mentor teachers and getting to work with our students. Welcome to Jeannie, Bec and Katherine.

Staffing update

This term Janaki has been unable to teach Auslan to our students as she recovers from surgery to her wrist. This has been very challenging for Janaki. We have been able to find some replacement Auslan teachers who are following her planning. We wish her a speedy recovery.

Do you like to garden?

We have some parents in our community who are wanting to do some weeding before the end of the school day when the weather improves. If this sounds like something you would like to do please contact the office. It will provide a chance to catch up with other parents and help the school! We are working with Bunnings in Fountain Gate to have a native planting day in September too for the students which should be good for our gardens and the environment.

Take care,

Dale McInerney

Thank You!