Mount Macedon P.S. Newsletter

TERM 3

AUGUST

Tuesday 1st - 31st - Gisborne Food Bank Drive

Wednesday 30th - District Athletics

SEPTEMBER

Friday 1st - Fathers Day Breakfast

Friday 8th - Production Full Rehearsal

Monday 11th - Dress Rehearsal

School Production - Monday 11th - Thursday 14th   TICKETS  https://www.trybooking.com/CKVIV

Thursday 14th - Castlemaine Chess Competition

LAST DAY OF TERM - Friday 15th September 2.30pm finish

TERM 4

FIRST DAY - Monday 2nd October

Term 4 Swimming Program - 2nd - 6th October

WHOLE SCHOOL WORKING BEE - Wednesday 11th October

LAST DAY - Wednesday 20th December

Hello Everyone,

I’d like to start this week’s Principal’s Repot with a quick update on how Trish is travelling. Trish is currently resting and recovering from illness at home. She came up to school yesterday for a visit and it was obvious just how much she misses MMPS and how much we all miss her! Trish will continue to take some time to get back to 100% so if you have any questions or concerns you would normally run by her please do not hesitate to come and see me.

An important part of a school’s review and reflection process is the annual Parent Opinion Survey. This survey is completed by parents and takes roughly 20 minutes to complete. Information on how to access this survey are listed below. It would be very helpful if you could take some time to provide this feedback. It really does give us valuable data for looking at how MMPS is travelling and what we can do to improve practice in the future. It will be open until the 8th of September.

This week is our final week of taking donations for the Gisborne Foodbank. Donations will be collected on Friday by Gisborne Foodbank and it would great if we could have one final push to build upon our current donations.

Production practice is well underway and we had our first ‘full school run through’ today. It was wonderful to see all of the scenes and songs and dances all performed together and it gave the students the chance to see the production narrative in full! We cannot wait to share it with you all! Tickets are currently on sale through TryBooking, if you have not currently purchased up to 6 tickets please jump onto the links above to do so. You may have noticed that ticket prices are a little higher than last year’s, this is due to rising costs of stage hire and things of that nature. The prices are set so that we break even and make the event as sustainable as possible. If there are surplus tickets we will make them available in the near future. WATCH THIS SPACE.

We will be running our second week of our Swimming Program during the first week of next term. Information regarding the ins and outs of the program will go home shortly but, in the meantime, can we ask you jump onto QKR! and provide permission and payment for the program. There is no need to fill in a new ability form if your child participated in the first week of the program.

If you get a chance please have a walk down to our veggie gardens by the school oval. They have been looked after by Jane Honey who has created beautiful garden beds full of lovely produce.

This coming Friday is our annual Father’s Day BBQ Breaky. There is still time to RSVP (By today, Tuesday 29th August) for a cooked breakfast and hot coffee or tea. The event will be held on the STEAM Room deck and will run from 8:15AM onwards. Supervision for children will be provided from 8:15AM.

As we race towards the end of term please remember to look after yourselves and take time to rest and recharge!

Thanks,

Joe

WE WANT OUR PARENTS/CAREGIVERS/GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

 Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

While the DET suggests a random sample of approximately 80 families or 30 per cent of parents/caregivers/guardians be selected to participate, at Mount Macedon Primary School all families are invited to participate in this survey.

The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be conducted from:

Monday 7th  August to Friday 8th September.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. Survey results will be collated by DET and sent to the principal who will communicate to parents/caregivers/guardians through annual reporting. The online survey will be available in English, and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Haka Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish and Vietnamese. Please speak to the school office if you would like more information.

Instructions to complete the survey have been sent to parents via email, so please look out for this in your email in box. If you need the survey link re sent, please contact the school office.

If there is one thing I know the Grade 2/3 students can do, it's talk, and talk a lot.

So, I thought I would harness that... um, gift and do something extra useful with it.

Yep, we made Podcasts.

Students were free to come up with any topic, as long as it was something they were passionate about and could discuss without needing to do any research.

After a quick audio recording session, we were away.

Below is a small selection for your listening pleasure (click on the link to listen):

 Cars:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZyNAr5JqoW64Tn3zsDOy38CEQQdH02Rg/view?usp=sharing

An ad break from Yash (and Campaspe Dental Practice):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14p5DtKC2vEX6Z4FrheuaERUaMneTB-JJ/view?usp=sharing

'What's Better?' Podcast:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IQz3Kl8flxD3e-OotEPeM32eWM9x2PeB/view?usp=drive_link

- ​Mr Garcia