Dear Monty South Community,

Firstly, Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mums in our school community for yesterday!

And secondly, a formal welcome back to Term 2 as we move into Week 3 of Term 2. I hope that all our families enjoyed a restful and fun filled holiday break! The arrival of Term 2 has seen the revision of many of the COVID Safe measures we have previously had in place, including the masks no longer being mandatory in school settings; students/staff who are close contacts no longer needing to isolate, and parents, carers and other adult visitors (not performing work) are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. We will continue to run air purifiers in all classrooms and maintain an emphasis on hand hygiene. The children have received Rapid Antigen Tests for the first four weeks of this term and are encouraged to test twice a week. I hope that our community stays healthy and well during the winter months ahead.

MSPS Achievers

Swimming Achievers - Our amazing swim team competed in the state last week. Hope Christian swam in the 50m freestyle and came ninth where she achieved a personal best, Ben Van Dijk came fourth in the 50m freestyle, also swimming a PB time. Our medley team (Jessika Blair, Ava Coombs, Annabelle Lowe, Ava Thickins) finished in seventh and our 11 year old girls team (Jessika Blair, Ava Coombs, Hope Christian, Charli Walters) came second in the 4x50 freestyle relay and were overjoyed to make the podium! What an outstanding achievement from our swimmers to make it to this level. We are very proud of all of them all!

Congratulations to Oscar Whitmore who won at the Regional Tennis Championships. He won his early rounds 6/1 6/0, then won the Semi Final 6/3 and the Grand Final 6/3. He now goes through to the state finals in May.

Pupil Free Day – Monday 23rd May

Within the new Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA) 2022, the Dept. of Education has granted teachers a Professional Practice Day as a pupil free day this term. This is a one-off additional day for this term only.

As this day was only granted in the latter stages of Term 1, we have looked at several dates and found the most suitable date, that being Monday 23rd of May. Semester One student reports are due soon after this date, so this is an ideal opportunity to offer our teachers some report writing time. We cannot make it later than this date as we already have School Council approval for Friday 10th June (the Queen's birthday weekend) as a Curriculum Day and again a pupil free day.

Chess Club will be affected on Monday 23rd May, and a make-up session will be held on Friday 27th May. Camp Australia is offering a day program for those families requiring their service and bookings can be made with them directly.

School Enrolments for 2023 and Open Day

School tours are currently underway and enrolments are coming in for 2023.

School tours are limited but we encourage anyone interested to come along to our Open Day on Wednesday 25th May from 9.30 to 11.15am.

Enrolment applications should be submitted by Friday 3rd June and places for Prep 2023 will be announced by 30 June.

NAPLAN 2022

This week our Year 3 and 5 students will participate in the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy.

NAPLAN tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that NAPLAN is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress. This year, all tests will be completed online, except the Year 3 Writing, which will be pen and paper. We know our students will come with a positive, growth mindset ready to do their Personal Best.

Tuesday 10 May- Yr 3 & Yr 5 Writing

Wednesday 11 May- Yr 3 & Yr 5 Reading

Thursday 12 May- Yr 3 & Yr 5 Conventions of Language

Friday 13 May- Yr 3 Numeracy

Monday 16 May- Yr 5 Numeracy

*Catch up opportunities for students who are absent will occur between Monday 16- Friday 20 May

SAKG – Garden Update

Volunteers are needed to assist in our garden. Please contact Jenny Farrelly on Jenny.Farrelly@education.vic.gov.au if you are interested.

Composting Station

The year 5s were busy during Term 1 learning about composting and helping to create a Compost Station near our school garden. The year 5s have created posters to explain what the bins are for and what can be added. Teachers have been encouraged to share this information with their classes.

Bathroom cleaning

Last term we commenced extra toilet and bathroom cleaning over the lunchtime period. In addition to our main school cleaning team, this cleaner ensures bathroom cleanliness during the day when they are being used most. This is working very well, the toilets are clean and the bad behaviour we experienced last term has largely ceased.

Parents’ and Friends’

The Mother’s Day stall was held last week and was a great success. Thank you to Parent’s and Friends group for all their hard work. It is always an exciting day for our students.

A Sausage Sizzle and Cake Stall will be held at MSPS on Election Day, Saturday May 21st - We are asking families to assist with cooking the BBQ and/or donating delicious treats, baked goods and produce. It would be great to have cupcakes, slices, muffins, cakes, pies, scones, meringues, tarts or biscuits – whatever takes your fancy! All contributions would be greatly appreciated.

It is essential that we have plenty of volunteers to help with selling and packing up (from 3:00pm). If you can help with part of the stalls, please place your name on the Stall Volunteer List via this link https://signup.com/go/nxkZGzG

To find out more

https://www.facebook.com/MSPSParentsandFriends/posts/519844386513142

Leanne Sheean

Principal

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Montmorency South Primary School acknowledges traditional owners of country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to elders both past, present and future.

‘Montmorency South is an inclusive learning community where students are inspired to be respectful, creative, curious and independent learners.’

Our Belief:

We believe that every person in our Montmorency South school community has the capacity to assist each student in attaining our vision.

Motto - Together we learn, lead and achieve

Community Information