Principal's Message

Welcome back everyone!

I hope that everyone was able to take some time together as families, after two years of in and out of lockdowns, we are so grateful to have had a an amazing Term One. We finished with a great selection of community events and hope that you were able to be involved in some way, in at least one of these events.

Please find updates to our COVID Safe plans below. We welcome parents and adults back into our school grounds. Please be mindful of maintaining social distancing particularly when entering buildings to support our vulnerable students and staff.  We will continue to restrict adults entering school buildings at this stage, when social distancing cannot be maintained. Examples would include indoor assemblies.

Please remember that if you are collecting your children from in the school grounds of an afternoon, teachers on yard duty are supervising until 3.45pm, to ensure all students have been collected, please support this by supervising your children. A reminder also that OSH Club are licensed to use our grounds and facilities until 6.00pm meaning the grounds are not open to the public until after this time.

Staffing Updates

Congratulations to Emily Sutherland and Erin Bennetts on the announcement of their pregnancies. Both teachers will take family leave at the end of the term. 

Aidan O'Connor accepted a promotion as a Learning Specialist at a new school and welcome to Lauren Tillotson who is teaching the class while we advertise the position. 

After 10 years , is is with regret that I write to let you know that Kelly-Anne Cleggett has accepted a part time position closer to home and we are advertising. Kelly-Anne's last day will be the 18th May. We will be organising a farewell with details to follow.

Updates to our COVID Safe Plans as advised by DET

Face masks

From 11:59 pm Friday 22 April, face masks, while recommended, are not required in any school setting. This means students in grades 3 to 6, staff and visitors in primary schools are no longer required to wear face masks. Any student or staff member who wishes to wear a mask may do so, including those who are medically at-risk.

Screening requirements

Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, and have completed their 7-day isolation period, now do not need to undertake rapid antigen test (RAT) screening for 12 weeks after their release from isolation. This was previously 8 weeks.

Household contacts

Students and staff who are household contacts of a COVID-19 case are no longer required to quarantine. They can return to school as long as they undertake rapid antigen tests (RAT) 5 times within their 7-day period and wear face masks indoors if they are aged 8 and above unless they have a valid exemption. 

If any household contact returns a positive RAT result during this period, they must isolate for 7 days and not attend school.

Vaccination requirements for visitors to schools

Parents, carers and other adult visitors (not performing work) are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Community use of school facilities

Schools will no longer need to request evidence of vaccination of staff or workers from external community groups who use premises outside the school’s normal operating hours.

RAT screening program extension reminder

The supply of RATs will continue for the first 4 weeks of this term. The screening recommendations remain the same:

-mainstream schools – recommended to test at home twice a week

Further information

The roll-out of air purifiers to schools will continue with the additional winter allocation of units to be delivered by 1 June 2022.

Anzac Day

This morning we conducted our annual Anzac Day Service. Each class lay flowers at the flag poles, our Senior Choir performed, our School Captains and SRC Presidents presented and the whole school stood still for our minute silence. It was a beautiful ceremony and one we are proud to hold every year. 

Crazy Hair Day Fundraiser

On Friday May 6th, we will be running a Crazy Hair Day Fundraiser to raise money for the Northern Rivers Preschool Alliance, supporting Kindergartens that were impacted by the recent floods. Thank you to the Mount Pleasant Kinder for coming up with the idea to support this worthy causes. Dates for the kinder will vary depending on the group, please look out for communication from your teacher. Students are encouraged to colour, style or accessorise their hair and bring a gold coin donation. 

Guided Inquiry Showcase

In Guided Inquiry for Term One all students focused on the theme of Identity. The showcase at the end of the term was a wonderful way for parents to see what the students have been up to as well as for the students to present to the school their work. 

Colour Fun Run

We were finally able to run our Colour Fun Run.

Congratulations to Treesje Butterworth and her band of staff helpers. We had a number of parents helping out on the course, and are very grateful for your support.

A message from Treesje Butterworth:

What an amazing effort by our whole community with fundraising and participating in the school fun run. We are thrilled to announce the final total we fundraised was $15,134, this total is an outstanding result for our school. Not only did we raise funds, but we made a positive impact on our environment by planting 296 trees and 438 coral. A big thank you to everyone for making a difference to our school and the environment.

We could not have run the day without the amazing support by our enthusiastic staff and our wonderful parent helpers. Thank you to all the parent helpers that helped on the day to run our novelty activities and helped fill up our powder paint bottles. What an amazing community we have.

Treesje Butterworth

Physical Education Teacher 

On Wednesday the school leaders head off to Rangeview Primary to investigate their Gaga Pits as we begin to plan ours with the money raised.

Family Breakfast

The most successful Family Breakfast ever! Thank you to our Kinder and School families for your attendance and enthusiasm. Flip was ably supported by parents and staff but she did an amazing job of coordinating everything.

Our school band thanks to Erin  Bennetts and Andrew Shaw performed.

Easter Hat Parade

The oval out the front the Visual Arts Studio is our new place for the Easter Hat Parade and huge thanks to Yana Gil for her organisation and of course the school leaders, Ryan, Sophie Chris and Lachie for their compering.

Award winners were

Final Assembly Aussie of the Month

We finished the term with an Aussie of the Month from the Junior School and Senior School. The students are selected by their Learning Centre Teachers based on their display of the school values and consistently upholding classroom and school expectations. The award is supported by  Bruce Atkinson MP member for the Eastern Metropolitan Region. Congratulations to Wendy from 3/4M and Matilda from 1/2SS.

Wendy 3/4M Citation

Wendy is a respected member of our class and constantly upholds all of the school values. She is a responsible and reliable person, always willing to assist teachers and students across the Centre. Wendy is respectful, caring and honest and is always there to support her friends. She goes out of her way to help around the classroom, often tidying tables or packing away activities without being asked. 

Wendy is polite and kind to students and staff alike and is a great role model to the younger students in the Independence Centre. She collaborates excellently with students in her class and others across the Centre, and ensures that all members in the group have the opportunity to be heard. 

Wendy is an amazingly creative storyteller and constantly strives to improve her work and achieve her goals. She also loves to challenge herself during mathematics sessions and is able to make considered reflections about her progress when learning new concepts. Wendy is self-motivated and eager to improve her skills, demonstrating that she is definitely a life-long learner. 

Wendy has shown her dedication through her attendance to each SRC meeting and she confidently reports ideas and opinions to and from the class. She also keenly participates in a wide variety of Lunch Time Clubs. It has been an absolute pleasure to see Wendy grow in confidence and become such an important member of 3/4M.

Matilda 1/2SS Citation

Matilda is a kind and caring student who approaches learning tasks with determination and a positive attitude. She is always willing to help her peers and has time to support anyone who needs help. Matilda is an outstanding friend and shows respect to all members of the school community by using her manners, sharing a smile and ensuring that people are included.  

In class time, Matilda listens attentively and follows instructions showing her commitment to lifelong learning. She always displays the school values of respect, responsibility, and lifelong learning across all subjects and when playing in the playground. 

Matilda shows integrity by consistently doing what is right, even when they think that no one is looking. She is a responsible learner and  works effectively with their peers showing teamwork, patience and taking initiative whenever possible. Matilda displays leadership by taking risks when learning and regularly contributes to class discussions. She is a highly valued member of the Mount Pleasant Road community and has shown responsibility this term as an SRC. She participates in all opportunities offered at MPRPS and consistently shows kindness and respect to all teachers and students.