Leadership @ Monty

What's been happening @ MPS?

Our play spaces have taken on a whole new meaning over the last 2 weeks! The students have clearly enjoyed playing proudly  (and carefully) around our new plants.   These types of school/outdoor upgrades certainly do not happen overnight! Many people contributed during the many stages of this project which actually began  3 plus years ago.  It is a joy to finally see everything come together.

Thank you to Michael Smith (former B&G chair) who has played an important role in both the design stage and the labour stage and David Koolstra (current B&G chair) for his drive and expertise around all things planning and building! Thank you also to those  that attended the many meetings that have been held. Thank you to Elliot, our landscape architect from Polygon Play Spaces and a special thank you to our in-house “Garden Guru” Melissa King (mum of Noah – Grade 1). Both of these people have amazing knowledge and we are grateful for their contributions. Thank you to those that assisted in the building of the deck and adjacent rockery. Thanks also to all that attended the working bees- without your practical help, this couldn't have happened!  And finally, thank you to all that have supported MPS in our quest to fund raise. To date, our community has raised over $19000, all of which has gone directly towards the play spaces, with the remainder of the costs coming from the school budget. We will continue to fund raise in 2020 for the lower play space that adjoins the small adventure playground. Thank you!

Our School Council and Building and Grounds committee have been busily applying for grants to provide much needed upgrades to the Castle and Kitchen areas. We are also in the middle of applying for a shade sail grant, as well as a grant for an outdoor learning space near the 5/6 classrooms, which if we are successful, will be an extension of our current Indigenous garden space.  We are currently in discussion with a solar panel firm, looking at ways we can reduce our energy costs as well as reducing our carbon footprint.   Thank you to the many people that are involved in all of these projects. 

All of the above has been happening alongside the fabulous learning that has taken place in the classrooms this term! Many of the children have written Term 3 reflections and a common highlight for our students seems to be the Student-led Conferences that were held recently, as well as the learning through the many different Inquiry topics that were a focus throughout the term.  Of course the excursions, camps and lunch clubs got many a mention as well! Thank you to all our wonderful teachers for the dedication and energy that they have all shown this term to ensure that learning is relevant, engaging and challenging. 

Best of luck to the teachers that are representing Team Monty at the annual teacher games in Geelong over the weekend.  Your spirit is amazing! 

All the best for a wonderful break. I hope that you an enjoy some "down time" with your child/ren and recharge, ready for an extremely busy Term 4!

Hats

A reminder that children must be wearing hats during play times. Please ensure that your chold applies sunscreen before they arrive at school. Children are encouraged to reapply using their own sunscreen at break times.  No Hat, No Play. 

Payments

Thank you to those people that hastily paid outstanding Fees and Term Planners last week after our friendly reminder.  We want to continue to offer the abundance of programs that currently take place each term, however if the school is left to pay outstanding balances owed by parents, we will need to reconsider whether certain activities are continued .

Edendale Farm Excursion with Miss Lauren

On Friday the 13th of September, eight of our fabulous Grade 5/6 students made their way to attend the 'Kids Teaching Kids Conference' at Edendale Farm in Eltham. The focus of the conference was all about the ‘War on Waste’. We all had a fabulous day of learning and even taught students from other schools all about Boomerang Bags, by helping them decorate their own bag to include an environmental message. We got to spend time with students from other schools, as well as some gorgeous baby animals (the baby goats were our favourites!). We did MPS proud and look forward to sharing our knowledge with our classmates. We hope to head back to the conference next year.  Miss Lauren

Find out more information here!