It is hard to believe we are already on the home stretch to the summer holidays and we have a lot of exciting activities planned for the students between now and then!

Year Six Camp

The Year Six students attended camp in Dwellingup last week, to kick off the term. I had the pleasure of joining them for some of the camp and was grateful for the opportunity to spend some time with this wonderful group of students. The camp focussed on the students (and teachers!) pushing themselves through many challenges, including kayaking, archery tag, a night walk and even crawling through mud! I was particularly impressed with the way the students supported each other through the challenges, recognising that we all have fears to overcome. Thank you to Mrs Robinson for organising the camp, as well as to Mrs Higgins and Mr Troiani for coming along to support the students.

Interschool Athletics Carnival

On Monday we hosted the interschool athletics carnival at MPS, with five other schools coming along to compete for the trophy. While we came in 6th place, our students did a wonderful job supporting one another and persisted to achieve some great personal results. Congratulations to the students selected for the MPS team - a great achievement in itself. A big thanks also to Mr Cutting, who organised the event, as well as all the staff who supported the students on the day. A big thanks also to the Lynda in the canteen, her volunteers, and the P&C who worked hard to keep us fed for the day.

Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) - Some pleasing results

This year we have had a focus on improving the literacy results of our students, by modifying the way we teach and review literacy across the school, particularly in spelling. This has been led by our Literacy Leader, Mrs Boardman. We have been keeping a keen eye on the results and are very pleased to see that many of our students are improving at a higher than average rate and in some cases double the expected rate! This is wonderful news for our students' future success and the result of hard work from our teachers and support staff, along with the students. We look forward to continuing to see improved results as we broaden our focus into other areas next year and beyond.

Quokkas Assembly this Friday, 28 October

We're looking forward to the Year One and Two students in Quokkas presenting the assembly this Friday morning, starting at 9am. We hope to see as many family and friends attending as possible.

Planning for 2023

We are starting to plan our class structures for next year and to do so we need to know of any changes. If your child/ren are leaving Marangaroo at the end of this year, or if you know of anyone who has not yet enrolled for next year, please phone the front office to keep us informed.

Peter Combe coming to MPS!

We are very excited to let you know that Peter Combe (children's entertainer) will be coming to MPS for an incursion on Monday 21 November. Those of us over 35 will likely have fond memories of his music (Wash Your Face in Orange Juice, Newspaper Mama, Toffee Apple...).

The cost per student will be $8.80 and a note has gone home with students today with payment options. Thanks to Mrs Battista and Mrs Boardman for organising the event.

Canteen Closure - November 2 to November 11

Lynda is taking some leave during the above dates, which means unfortunately the canteen will be closed for the two weeks. We look forward to the canteen reopening on Wednesday 16 November.

Staff Carpark Temporary Closure

If you've walked through our staff car park, you will have noticed some pretty impressive pot holes. These will be repaired between October 31 and November 8 and, as such, the car park will be closed and staff will be temporarily parking on the netball courts outside the Science/Music rooms. This should not have an impact to parents as they do not use the staff car park, but if you see the gates on Giralt Road open, please do not enter the driveway as this is for staff use only.

School Board Annual General Meeting - Wednesday 2 November

The school board are holding our last meeting for the year, which is open to members of the school community. If you would like to get an idea of what the board does, please feel free to attend the meeting as an observer. Please rsvp to the front office if you plan on attending.

End of COVID Transition

While COVID is not going away, it is relieving to see that the end of the peak is in the past and we are returning to normal. The new guidelines for schools are in line with the broader community advice, as follows.

First and foremost, students should remain at home if they are unwell and get tested if they have cold or flu symptoms. If anyone requires any RATs, please see staff in the front office.

If your child tests positive to COVID-19, you are strongly encouraged to continue to:

keep your child at home until the symptoms have resolved
register their RAT result
advise the school, via phone, that they are unwell with COVID and will be absent from school until their symptoms resolve

All community members are also encouraged to continue to practise healthy hygiene habits and stay up to date with vaccinations.

Adrian Keenan

Principal

School Health Nurse