Education News
Show Day
One of the most anticipated events on the MPW calendar, Show Day, is just one week away! (21st September)
Show Day will commence at 11:30 and run through until lunchtime at 1:30. The community is welcome to join in the festivities and we ask that you sign in at the office and get a yellow sticker first.
To prepare for the day, students have been busy preparing a range of activities. As part of the activities, students have the opportunity to win prizes. We are asking that students donate any small toys they no longer want to be used as these prizes. There is a strict ‘NO FOOD’ policy for prizes at this year’s Show Day, therefore we ask that you do not bring in any food.
Lastly, JSC will be running two competitions: ‘Best Dressed Teddy’ and new to MPW, ‘Best Dressed Pet’ (shown in a photo).
If students would like to enter either competition, they will need to bring their teddy and/or pet photo to room 9 on the morning of Show Day.
Our JSC judges will choose the winners at the end of Show Day and announce the winners the next day at assembly.
Good luck!
Room 5
Last Friday, 8th September as part of our Inquiry Unit, Room 5 did some cooking. We made some German biscuits, called Amerikaner. We got the recipe from Room 4. Together we read the recipe, put the ingredients together, taking turns in measuring, adding and mixing and then spooned the mixture onto the tray to put into the oven. We then enjoyed our biscuits at lunchtime. We really love cooking in Room 5.
Nude Food Lunches and Rubbish MPW:
Last week, as part of Nude Food Lunches (ran by Green Team), Room 5 noticed that there has been lots of rubbish around. We decided to spend 20 minutes to see how much rubbish we could collect around our school. In that time we filled 7 plastic bags filled with rubbish! We were so surprised that there was so much rubbish around! As part of the Nude Food Lunches challenge, we have had 14 out of 22 people in Room 5 bring nude lunches.
Parent/Carer Speakers:
This term we have been learning about communities and different cultures as part of our Inquiry Unit.
- Earlier in the term we had Tory, Harper’s mum speak to us about their family background. She spoke to us about Switzerland. We learnt about the flag, the country and even learnt a short song.
- Last week we had Rosa, Logan’s mum come and talk to us about Vietnam. We learnt about the flag, foods that are popular in Vietnam and we even saw some traditional dresses.
Thank you Tory and Rosa for coming to speak to Room 5.
Student Banking
A reminder to parent/carers that there will be no student banking next week. Student banking will resume on the 19th October 2017.
Grade 5/6 LEGO Robotics Incursion
Following on from our Technology inquiry unit, Grade 5/6s were visited by TechKids for a LEGO Robotics incursion.
Students were given the task of building a robotic giant out of LEGO and making him stand up using coding.
Students worked in small groups and followed instructions on laptops to find LEGO parts and build their giant. The next challenge was to build a bulldozer which moved when the students wrote lines of code. 'It was fun and interesting to learn about the engine, belts, and gears', said grade 5 student Soleil . 'It was nice being able to be creative with things and invent things that you wouldn't be able to invent by yourself', said classmate LeNoir.
Grade 3/4 Artist in Residence:
Bell Shakespeare
At the beginning of Term 3, the Bell Shakespeare Company came and worked with the Grade 3/4's for a whole week. We learnt all about how William Shakespeare created so many of the English words and phrases we know today, played lots of drama games and performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“My favourite part was when we performed a mini play and had to memorise lines and actions that we made up.” Charlotte
“My favourite part was when we played a drama game called ‘Enemy and Protector’. I enjoyed it because we had to stay away from a particular person and it could be anyone.” Xavier
Back in our classroom, we made comics about A Midsummer Night’s Dream that represented the story told in the play.
Grade 5/6 camp 1 at Camp Curumbene!!
The Grade 5/6 students from rooms 11,12, and 18 attended the 5/6 camp from the 4th-8th September at Camp Curumbene, at Corop, near Echuca. It was five days of intense activity, sunshine, rain, hail (!), paddle steamers, abseiling, campfires, climbing, horse and carriage rides, canoeing, teamwork, laughter, gaga ball, red faces… and even more. Next week look out for a camp report from Camp 2.
Some comments from the kids:
Adam: “It was fantastic! Really enjoyable.”
Aiden: “The activities were fun – my favourites were canoeing and archery.”
Chantal: “Canoeing was amazing.”
Some Haiku Camp Writing....
Higher and higher.
My heart races as I'm clipped.
Forward run, then fly.
Paddle left, then right.
The race goes on, as canoes glide.
Paddling forever.
They say “Ga Ga ball”.
Dodge, Dodge. Some people get hit.
Out, out, one by one.
Act eleven now.
We start act. They laugh.
Red Faces? Success.
Student, Staff and Community Wellbeing
At MPWPS we have a strong commitment to our values of respect, inclusiveness and rights and responsibilities. We know that the Marriage Equality Postal Survey may be a difficult time for some in our community and we would like to take this opportunity to extend our support to staff, students and families. We will do our best to ensure everyone feels respected and included during this time.
With extensive media coverage of the Marriage Equality Postal Survey your children may have questions about what it all means. You may find the following resources helpful in talking with you family:
Parenting Ideas (Michael Grose) https://www.parentingideas.com.au/2017/08/acceptance-of-differences-begins-at-home/
It's Cold and Flu season
During this time, it is important to remember important steps to keep us all healthy and happy.
How can we respond best?
We should consider the following these points when responding to influenza:
- Students with cold or flu-like symptoms should be encouraged to seek medical attention, limit contact with others and stay at home until symptoms have passed.
- If a student becomes ill at school with these symptoms, we will contact the family and arrange for the collection of the child.
- Good general hygiene remains the best defence against infection. We encourage students to regularly wash their hands, cover their noses, and mouth if sneezing or coughing. One of the most important ways to reduce the spread of disease and keep staff and students healthy is with proper handwashing.
Thunderstorm Asthma – be prepared
Every year during grass pollen season there is an increase in asthma and hayfever symptoms and during grass pollen season, there is also the chance of a thunderstorm asthma event.
What causes thunderstorm asthma events?
Thunderstorm asthma events are thought to be triggered by an uncommon combination of high grass pollen levels and a certain type of thunderstorms, resulting in large numbers of people developing asthma symptoms over a short period of time.
Those at increased risk at this time include:
- People with asthma, people with a past history of asthma
- Those with undiagnosed asthma (i.e. people who have asthma symptoms but have not yet been diagnosed with asthma)
- People with hayfever who may or may not have asthma
Having both asthma and hayfever, as well as poor control and self-management of asthma, may increase the risk further.
Further information see Asthma Foundation of Victoria https://www.asthmaaustralia.org.au