Mount Macedon P.S. Newsletter

TERM 4

NOVEMBER

Thursday 23rd - Yr 3-6 Sea Living & Growing Program

Monday 27th -  PUPIL FREE DAY

Tuesday 28th - 2024 Foundation Transition Session Time: 9-10 

Tuesday 28th - Guitar concert (Aaron Moar students)

Thursday 30th - Yr 3-6 S.E.A. Living & Growing Program

DECEMBER

Friday 1st - Make up Yoga session (due to Monday 27th Nov pupil free day)

Sunday 3rd - FOS Family Bike Ride - 11am @ Kids Track Wombat State Forest

Tuesday 5th - 2024 Foundation Transition Session Time: 9-10 

Thursday 7th - Yrs 3-6 Living and Growing Program

Friday 8th - Kids Rule the School Day

Monday 11th - Graduation @ Mt Macedon Trading Post

Tuesday 12th - State Wide Transition Day Foundation (9-11) & Yr 6 students ONLY. 

                           All other year levels step up

Wednesday 13th - Macedon & Mt Macedon Carols by Candlelight

Friday 15th - Final Assembly

                     - Parent Helpers Morning Tea 

Monday 18th - Picnic at Hanging Rock

LAST DAY - Wednesday 20th December - 1.30 finish

Hello everyone,

As I write this report today we have our Grade 3 students away on camp! In what would be perfect weather for horse riding the grade 3s got to spend the day learning the basics of horse riding while also enjoying the beautiful natural setting of Boomerang Ranch. I will be spending the day with them tomorrow and cannot wait to see how they are all travelling!

This morning saw the 2024 Foundation class have their first day of Orientation. It was wonderful to see a bunch of new faces to the school, new parents included. Next year’s Foundation class sits at 21 students and had a lovely, excited energy buzzing through the room this morning. Our 2024 Foundation students will be in each Tuesday morning for the next 3 weeks as part of the transition to primary school. If you see some unfamiliar faces in the yard on these mornings it would be a great chance to say hi and welcome our new families to our wonderful school.   

Next Monday the 27th of November will be a Pupil Free Day. This will give the staff the opportunity to develop and plan for our 2024 PYP Program of Inquiry. This document is absolutely integral in helping us deliver the most engaging PYP program we can. It is a day of collaboration and creativity and a great chance to get a whole-school view of the learning going on here at MMPS.

A big thank you to Steve Johnson who, with the expert help of Felix, helped complete a number of important jobs around the school. These jobs included restocking the sandpits and making sure there is clear access to our fire hydrants at the front of the school.

Thanks, Joe.

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's article, I hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Last week we updated the fairygarden and the sandpits by adding new toys and little trinkets in the fairygarden and utensils for the sandpit. This new reset is for all ages , but is mainly for the younger grades.

Yesterday the year 5/6s got a ping pong table that they can use at lunch and recess to make sure we have lots to do. The table is up on the steam deck. Everyone is really happy and excited about it .

Note: this is just for the year 5/6s.

The year 6s have started exhibition  and are really happy about it. We have gotten into groups and have started the early stages of it.

The year 5/6s have started a project out the front of the school. We will be painting the timber fence and chairs out the front of the school as a fun wellbeing activity.

Have a wonderful week everyone!!

Harriet Quinn

We have started this program because of two reasons. 

Every week at assembly we remind our school of ways we can better care for our school community.

Cienna and Ava (Grade 5)

On Wednesday 15th November, Jane Honey and I ventured off to Gisborne Montessori (now, Global Village Learning) to explore how they are significantly reducing their carbon footprint as a school community. After meeting some of the presenters, including Peter Hutton (the school principal), Emily Condon (Resource Smart Schools Facilitator, Sustainability Victoria), Shilo (a Grade six student from Gisborne Montessori) and  Kimberley Cook (Environmental Programs and Engagement Officer, Macedon Ranges Shire Council) those in attendance were taken on a tour of the school’s facilities.

It was a brilliant morning, where a number of the Global Village Learning team shared the goals, progress, challenges and successes that have lead them to their current level of sustainability. As we toured the school, it was fantastic to reflect upon the efforts MMPS are making to continuing to improve our carbon footprint. With the recently replenished soils in our school veggie gardens, and the creation and instalment of a selection of worm towers (thanks to the Quinn family), reducing the amount of food waste we send to landfill is well on its way. Last term, the Grade 3/4 students started collecting lunch scraps, which are sent home with Amy for her ducks. And, in response to a hand-delivered letter written by Eleanor and Flora (Grade 4), Brad from the Trading Post kindly donated some collection buckets, now used to collect brainfood scraps that will then be popped into the veggie garden worm towers for vermin-proof insect consumption.

It has been wonderful to see that many families are already sending their children to school with lunches packed in reusable containers, and we encourage all who are able, to follow suit. The Grade 5/6 students are also playing their part in this team effort, by continuing to run the paper recycling initiative, ensuring paper is recycled and not sent to landfill.

With the end of the 2023 school year quickly approaching, we look forward to continuing to investigate additional steps we can take to continue to reduce our school community’s carbon footprint from 2024 and beyond.

Mrs Probert

This week, the Prep / 1 students have been competing in a series of high-intensity, peak performance, endurance races.... with their fingers.

We have continued our exploration of all things typing and have graduated to using... wait for it... an actual laptop - with real keys (yes, this is very exciting for our Preps, trust me). 

We have been using Monkey Type, a neat little web app that lets you know your typing speed (that would be WPM for those typists at home).

The fun part, however, is after you have your go typing, you can race against your ghost (you, from your last attempt).

By swapping the laptop between pairs, the students could race each other to see who was the fastest typer!

Our Preps went from 2 words per minute up to 10 in a matter of, well, minutes (and Mia smashed it at 20 WPM). 

So, there you go, a little healthy competition is educational. 

You can try it at home and race your young person by going to the link below:

https://monkeytype.com/

Mr. Garcia