Mansfield Primary School

Mansfield Primary School

Apollo Street, Mansfield 3722

Telephone 5775 2325

Fax 5775 1914

Principal: Paul Volkering

Assistant Principal: Hazel Bell

Email:

mansfield.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

Website:

www.mansfieldps.vic.edu.au

Newsletter 8

16th May, 2013

IMPORTANT DATES:

20th May School Council Meeting

7pm

20th—24th May Education Week

22nd May District Cross Country

—Botanical Gardens

23rd May Grandparents/Special

Friends Day P-1 10am

24th May S2S Yr 4 Autumn—

rescheduled

24th—25th May School Ski Sale (see

pg.4)

25th May Parent & Friends Cake

Stall, Farmers Market

31st May Motivation Day—wear

red & Walk To School

Day – Junior School

Council

7th June Curriculum Day—Pupil

Free Day

10th June Queen’s Birthday –

public holiday

21st June Student mid-year

reports home

24th—26th June Parent Teacher

Interviews

28th June Last Day Term 2

almost brought tears to my eyes reading

about why the students felt that their mum

or dad was their hero. Some wrote about the

Black Saturday Bushfires, some wrote about

how their dad had saved them from snake

bite and one or two just wrote about how

much love they received from their mum or

dad or both and that was a good enough

reason for them to receive an award.

So, congratulations to all our lucky parents

who have such great kids, that they are seen

as heroes by their children and why their

hero deserved an award.

CATCHING ON EARLY

Sincere thanks to all those parents who made

the effort to attend the Parent Information

Evening concerning the positive relationship

building and sexuality education program,

“Catching on Early”.

As was mentioned at the meeting, schools

have a responsibility to educate and inform

children about the facts concerning sexuality

and relationships. Parents can be assured that

delivery of this program is done

professionally with complete regard to the

children’s overall safety and welfare and that

all questions from the students are answered

openly and honestly, following strict

protocols. If any parent is concerned about

any aspect of the program, please make sure

you contact the Principal.

SCHOOL FUNDRAISER

On Saturday May 4th, courtesy of Marks’

IGA store, we conducted a successful

fundraising event for the school. $610 dollars

was raised for the school from a very

successful sausage sizzle. Loads of fresh

onions and beautiful freshly cooked snags

were being dished up by Charlotte and Rick

Lindsay with their trusty “helpers”, Mr V and

PRINCIPALS REPORT

NAPLAN.

Naplan testing took place this last week and

went relatively smoothly. The Year 3

Persuasive Writing paper was about Heroes.

The Year 3 children had to choose a Hero

and explain/persuade to the reader why

their chosen hero should be granted an

award.

After reading several of the persuasive

writing pieces, I can report that many of the

students felt their mums and dads were

regarded as heroes by the students. It

Eadie Lindsay. Well done and a special thanks to Marks’s once

again for donating everything to make this fundraiser such a

huge success. This fundraiser is part of the 60th birthday

celebrations at Marks’s. What a wonderful gesture and

another reminder of the way that this family has continually

responded and supported the Mansfield community. Thanks

also to Charlotte Lindsay and daughter, Eadie for their

friendly service in helping to keep the queues in order!!!

STUDENT SAFETY

From time to time we need to contact parents in an

emergency. This happens infrequently, however, when we do,

we often find the contact details are not those that we have

on record. Shortly you will be receiving an “Update Student

Records” form. It is vital that you update your contact

information in case we need to contact you in an emergency.

PROPER UNIFORM

Thanks to those families who have supported our request for

children to be in correct school uniform. The response this

year has been outstanding so far. As we head into the cooler

time of the year, there has been a tendency to let our

uniform standards slip, by allowing students to wear “hoodies”

and track pants that aren’t part of the school uniform. Please

ensure that students are in correct school uniform at all

times. Jewellery of any kind is not part of school uniform.

FREE OLD FURNITURE

All families should have received advice about the availability

of some old school furniture.

We intend to get rid of anything that is still there on

Wednesday May24th. So please feel free to take anything

that may be of use. TIME IS RUNNNIG OUT!

HELP WANTED

During term 2 we need the assistance of a few people to help

keep our covered basketball/netball court clear of debris and

leaves. A quick 10 minutes in the morning with the mechanical

blower means the court is clear for the students. If you can

help, please let the school office know. Help wanted Blower

Vac undercover area each day.

A special “THANK YOU” to Heidi Cotterill for the brilliant

job she did raking up some of the leaves that have been

falling around the school. Well done Heidi!

JOLLY JOGGERS

Jolly Joggers has returned and it is good to see so many

students, parents, friends, siblings and family pets out having

a brisk walk, run or jog on Monday, Wednesday and Friday

mornings. Just a reminder that bikes are no longer allowed as

they are becoming a danger to others. Just come along and be

at the bus shelter each day at about 8:35a.m and spend some

time keeping fit and healthy.

PARENTING IDEAS

Parenting can be so challenging and these days parents are

confronted with a “virtual” world, which includes Facebook. I

was asked recently what I thought about sharing information

about children on Facebook. My immediate response was

something like this: What happens within my family stays

within my family”

Families are strong close knit units, they don’t belong to your

social network on Facebook nor do they belong to someone

who may be a friend of a friend on Facebook. What happens

when someone posts a comment about a child and then later

on, maybe much later on, that child reads the “post”. It could

turn out to be devastating for that child. This week’s

Parenting Ideas “INSIGHT” talks about how to use social

media in a safe way. These articles are from the Parenting

Ideas website www.parentingideas.com.au and are designed to

help give you some valuable skills and thoughts in that ever

important task of being a good parent.

To all our great parents, keep up the

good work and I hope you find this

week’s article of benefit.

Paul Volkering

Principal

HEADLICE

Our school headlice checks are well underway and it is

pleasing to report that there has been a very low number of

students found to have headlice. Thank you to all our families

who are continuing to do regular checks at home. It is also

important to note that if you do need to treat your child at

any time a follow up treatment 5-7 days later is essential in

order to break the life cycle of lice. Without doing a follow

up treatment your child is likely to become reinfested.

JUNIOR SCHOOL COUNCIL

The Junior School Council has two events coming up on Friday

31st May. Motivation Day, so where Red and Walk to School

Day to encourage awareness of a healthy lifestyle. Junior

School Council members will be tallying the number of

walkers.

ACTIVE AFTER-SCHOOL COMMUNITIES

The Australian Government's Active After-school

Communities (AASC) program is a national initiative that

provides primary school children with access to free sport

and other structured physical activity programs after school.

The program aims to engage traditionally inactive children in

sport and other structured physical activities and through a

positive and fun experience, develop a love of sport that

inspires them to join a local sporting club.

Funding is provided to cover costs associated with:

• community coach delivery

• supervision of children

• venue/facility hire

• transport

• sporting equipment for the school

• afternoon tea

Mansfield Primary School is in need of people who are

interested in being involved in this program so that the

children and the school can continue to enjoy the benefits of

the program. No experience is necessary as free training is

provided. All that is required is an interest in seeing kids be

active and healthy and a desire to be positively involved in the

school community.

Please contact Belinda Elliott on 0400 123 497 or make

contact with the office at the school with any queries.

Hayley Wilson successful at National Skateboarding Competition

Mansfield Primary School student Hayley

Wilson, 6LD, recently competed in the

National Women’s Street Skating competition

in Melbourne. The event attracted women

from all over Australia and New Zealand.

Hayley was granted a wild card entry into the

finals where she was competing against

women mostly twice her age. At the

conclusion of the competition she was ranked

7th in Australia in the open women’s division

and she came 2nd overall in the under 15’s

category.

Mt Timbertop - Training Hike

On Friday the 10th of May the Grade 6 students went hiking up Mt Timbertop it was really hard.

We also had fun at the same time. We would like to thank Miss Dunlop, Mr MacMunn, Mrs

Johnstone, Tina and also Mr Volkering for all the hard work. Bella and Ella

My favourite part was when I slipped and hit my group and then all of us fell into a tree. Aden Phillips

My favourite part was going downhill fast. Nick Scales

The view from the top was beautiful, I was so

proud to reach the top. Annie Lawson-Carden

The track was very slippery, the view was gorgeous and the leaders where amazing. Riana Allen

On the walk up to Timbertop we stopped a lot to get changed and eat. When we were walking in

the bush we worked out that it is important to have the correct equipment and lots of water. On

the way back down Mrs Johnstones group aka ‘Johnstones’ army shuffled on the grass even Mrs

Johnstone!!!! When we got to the bottom of the moutain Miss Dunlops group had lit a fire and Mr

Volkering’s group made hot chocolate for everyone. Each group made damper out of flour and

water and cooked little rolls on sticks we found.

Yum YUM YUM! Bella MacMunn and Talullah Madden

Maths Tips for Parents - 4 HAVE you tried these counting ideas at home? Count the food items as they are placed in the trolley or unpacked at home. Count each toss of the ball as you play a game Count the steps to the letter box, front door, clothes line. Does everyone take the

same number of steps? If not, why not? Count days on the calendar. Count days down to a special event eg. Birthday

For older children How does your favourite sport tally the score? How do other sports tally the score, eg. Tennis, golf, cricket, netball, football What maths do you use to find the total of the scores? Are there other ways to record the score? How long do your favourite sports games go for in minutes and seconds? Are they divided into halves, quarters or something else? How can you estimate the perimeter and area of a playing school?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND THANKYOU MARKS!!!

A massive thankyou to Marks IGA for donating all the food and supplies for the BBQ that we had outside the supermarket, Saturday 4th May. We made over $610 which is going to go towards much needed new readers. Mr V, the Appleton, Empey and Lindsay fami-lies braved the cool morning and the sausage and onion smoke to man the BBQ and the till. Thanks to all the MPS families who came by to support us - it was a great effort!

CAKE STALL!!!

The fabulous and famous (if we don’t mind saying so) Mansfield Primary School Cake Stall at the Farmers’ Market is happening again this month on SATURDAY 25th MAY. If everyone can pitch in and make or buy something it is a great way to help the school with its fundraising. Soooo…. If anyone would like to donate homemade (NO packets please) cakes, biscuits, cupcakes, meringues, fruit loafs and slices etc it would be fantastic. Savoury stuff always sells well (quiches, cheese biscuits) as do treats for the kids like toffee apples or gingerbread men. We can also sell any produce from your garden or chooks. The popular sellers are usually really wholesome cakes like carrot, lemon poppy seed or apple (for example), gluten free ones like the flourless chocolate cake and good old fashioned cakes like a sponge, yummy biscuits and slices. Basically if you have a favourite recipe in your family please get baking!!! As before, the Shire Councils Environmental Health Officer will waive all the fees for a fund raiser but an exemption from Registration is NOT an exemption from the Food Act and we are required to have a Food Safety Plan. Basically people need to cook in a clean kitchen and practise good personal hygiene when handling food. Whatever you make needs to be labelled. This isn’t a big deal. You just need to write on a sticky label or a piece of paper; the ingredients used, the date made and your name or initials. (Alternatively let me know what you have done and we can put a code on if you don’t want your initials there). For example Flourless Chocolate Cake

Chocolate, almond meal, sugar, butter, eggs 25/6/11 C.L. Please put cakes on a paper plate (or it is cheap and environmentally friendly to get some china ones from the op shop) and wrap them in gladwrap. Biscuits look good in cellophane bags or jars. They sell the cellophane bags at that packaging shop in the main street, next to the bike shop. Remember that presentation is really important! If you can’t get your goodies to our stall early (8-9ish on the Saturday morning) then can you drop them off at the school Friday afternoon at the office. Please contact us if you have any queries and thankyou in advance. Charlotte Lindsay 0408 053 805 or 57787797 Georgie Conan 0458 300 008 or 57764367 Janine Appleton 0428 150 800 Anna Francis 0409 884 459 EVEN IF YOU CAN’T COOK (OR DON’T HAVE TIME) YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SCHOOL BY BUYING SOMETHING INSTEAD! FILL UP THE PANTRY OR FREEZER WITH DELICIOUS THINGS!!!

NEWSLETTER DATES 2013

May 30th

June 13th & 27th

July 25th

Aug 8th & 22nd

Sept 5th & 19th

Oct 10th & 24th

Nov 7th & 21st

Dec 5th & 19th