The Millsy Flyer

Student Success:

Congratulations to Bayah who competed at the State Hockey Championships recently as striker for the Hunter team! Bayah played well and the Hunter team came 4th out of the 12 teams!  Congratulations! Well done to the girls’ soccer team who competed in the knockout gala day recently. The team came third in horrible conditions! Well done! Congratulations to our spelling bee winners from K – 2, Eden, Huxley, Anand, Declan, Eddie, Byron, Rona, Angus and Ziggy! The Stage 2 and 3 finals are being held today. Well done to our three aerobics teams! The teams, the Wildcats, Whirlwinds and Whip-Its, were set to compete in the Regional Finals recently, when they were cancelled at the last minute. A quick pivot from the teams, coaches and parents meant the teams were able to film their routine for the competition. We wish them well with their result. Our Year 6 students attended the GRIP Leadership Day in Newcastle last week. They have come back with some great ideas on how to be successful leaders in our school. Congratulations to the debating team in their first debate against Hillsborough. The team, Aela, Iris, Sophie and Will debated the negative side of the topic, “That homework should be banned for primary school students” and won! Congratulations to the team on a wonderful job! Our boys soccer team competed at the PSSA knockout competition last week. The boys played an amazing game and had a draw with Charlestown East 1 – 1. Unfortunately, after extra time, they lost on the penalty corner count. It was a fantastic game!

P&C Working Bee:

A massive thank you to our band of P&C helpers who were amazing in painting and gardening in our K-2 and SHINE areas last Sunday! The results look incredible, and I thank you for giving up your Sunday to come and support our school. The students love the new brightly coloured benches and tables and the tidy, beautiful gardens.

The Resilience Project Webinar:

For those parents who missed the Resilience Project webinar, here is a link to the recording: https://tinyurl.com/3dfn2wjv  From all accounts it is worthwhile viewing and talks about how meaningful connections and vulnerability improves happiness and overall mental health.

Starstruck:

Good luck to our Starstruck dancers who are performing at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre next week! They have been practising hard, and I am certain they will do our school proud! Thanks also to Miss Davis for coordinating and to the supportive parents who have been driving students to and from rehearsals!

Assemblies:

Our K – 2 and 3 – 6 assemblies are being held tomorrow. Parents are welcome to attend.

King’s Birthday:

Our school is closed next Monday 9th June for the King’s Birthday long weekend.

High Potential and Gifted Opportunities:

We have another new opportunity for students. A group of targeted Stage 2 and Stage 3 students, who have shown potential in writing, have been engaging in weekly lessons as part of the annual Write On competition. Through this competition, students develop skills in writing to express their ideas and have the opportunity to become published authors. Students create an imaginative text of up to 500 words, using the stimulus 'Could they be changing?' We can't wait to share their creations with the community.

Students in our mathematics enrichment groups have been engaging in the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads programs. They have been participating in a range of problem solving challenges, collaborating with peers and learning to share their mathematical reasoning with others. 

Students have been engaging in problem solving and mathematical puzzles where they have to find all the possible answers, establish the most efficient method to solve tricky questions and our Stage 3 students have even learned to solve some simple cryptarithms!

Our Stage 2 and 3 students have completed their first competition paper and demonstrated resilience and determination when faced with some pretty tricky questions! They will sit another competition paper in Week 7 of this term. 

During Geography with Ms P in Semester 1, Stage 3 classes have been studying the unit: Factors That Shape Places. In this unit, students have looked at environmental factors like landforms, climate, floods, droughts and fires. They have also examined how human impact can shape and change places around the world, with a special focus on indigenous groups across the globe and their impact and management of places over time. They have looked closely at the impact of global warming, mans over reliance on fossil fuels and over farming of land, our population explosion issues across the globe and ways humans are trying to correct these issues to save the planet for future generations.

Last week, all four classes participated in a STEM styled challenge where they looked at one form of renewable energy: how to harness the wind. Students examined online examples of how to create a wind turbine and then, in small groups, designed and collected materials to create their own. Their turbine had to capture the wind (from a hair dryer) and power a shaft that raised and lowered a bucket with marbles or rocks in it. All classes were well prepared by collecting their materials and working as a team. Ms P and the class teachers were all so proud of our students’ efforts when we tested them last Wednesday and Friday. We all celebrated the fact that we had a 95% success rate with all designs, and those that didn’t work initially, were tweaked until they did. Stage 3 had a fabulous time with this challenge, and we thank our families for assisting with the collection of suitable materials for use on the day.

Attached are some photos of the designs and a couple of videos. Enjoy viewing our student's great ideas!

From Semester 1, we’re introducing updated school reports.

The new format has been developed by the NSW Department of Education in response to feedback from parents and educators to make reports easier to read and understand.

Your child’s report will still show their progress across all subject areas.

Teacher comments will appear in English, Mathematics and the general comment section, in line with department policy. Kindergarten reports also include comments for all other key learning areas including, creative arts, HSIE, PDHPE, and science and technology.

A new achievement scale and descriptions are included in the report to provide a clearer picture of your child’s progress.

Student-led conferences remain an important way to discuss and celebrate your child’s progress and achievement in more detail.