Mansfield Primary School

Mansfield Primary School Apollo Street, Mansfield 3722 Telephone 5775 2325 Fax 5775 1914 Principal: Julie McInnes Assistant Principal: Tom MacMunn Email: mansfield.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Website: www.mansfieldps.vic.edu.au

Newsletter 5 23rd March, 2017

IMPORTANT DATES: March 24th Easter raffle tickets due March 27th Grade 6 Leadership Day March 30th Easter Raffle drawn March 31st Hot Cross Bun morning tea Last day of term. Students dismissed at 2:30pm. School Assembly 1:45pm April 18th Term 2 commences April 19th State swimming April 25th Anzac Day Public Holiday May 2nd-5th Grade 5 Melbourne and The Sea camp

message across that we have a zero tolerance for bullying at our school.

BUDDY DAY

By all accounts buddy day was a huge success as always. It really is a special day where the kids get to hang out with their buddy. Friendships are strengthened whilst the buddy relationship becomes stronger. Buddy get togethers are ongoing throughout the year.

HARMONY DAY

Unfortunately, we had to cancel Harmony Day due to the weather which would have impacted on the outdoor activities. Harmony Day will be rescheduled for a time that suits all schools sometime during Term 2.

SCHOOL FEES

Your child’s school fees are very important in providing and supporting the school’s financial situation which allows us to add to your child’s educational experience. Please arrange a payment plan at the office if you haven't already done so. Thank you very much to families who have already paid their fees or have arranged a payment plan.

WORKING BEE

A huge thank you to the families who attended the working bee. We had over 30 families attend which was wonderful. Together, we achieved so much! Gardens were weeded, trees pruned, sand pits moved, tables were oiled and painted, leaves were blown away and the list goes on. The difference these jobs make to the appearance of the school is very apparent. Even the children were telling me on Monday how much better everything looked. The next working bee will be held on Saturday June 17th. Let’s get together and make it a super working bee. We have developed a list of jobs which include further establishing the new sensory garden. Our fundraising pavers (ordered by families in 2016) have arrived and the furniture has arrived, so we are in need of some hands to put it together.

Friday 31st March is the final day of Term 1. Students

dismissed at 2:30pm

Happy holidays!

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Hello Students and Families,

Can you believe that it is almost the end of term 1! It’s amazing what we have fitted in to 9 weeks. I have worked in several businesses and tried my hand at many jobs, however I can honestly say that schools would have to top the list as far as being busy. If you have tired children it’s because they really do work extremely hard. It’s very true when we hear the term “crowded curriculum.” There is so much to teach these days and with only a limited time it’s all systems go once school starts. Having said that, we do have lots of fun along the way. For those of you who were privy to the viewing of our schools No Way Bullying Day video, I’m sure you will agree that the children’s response was priceless. If you would like to see the video, attend the last assembly this term and we will play it once more. I believe we successfully got the

One of my aims over the next few years is to establish an attractive and child friendly playground. Our Parent and Friends group have targeted fundraising towards new play equipment. School council has agreed that the area facing Victoria Street could be turned into a child friendly and attractive zone. If you have any ideas, we would appreciate your input.

MARKS IGA

Last week our school was gifted a cheque of $1886 from Marks IGA. This money is going towards providing a new piece of play equipment for our children. The play equipment we are hoping to purchase is approximately $20,000-$25,000. We can not thank IGA and the people of Mansfield enough for donating points from their shopping.

If you wish to help us collect points to go towards our new playground, you can either transfer your existing points, donate your points from now or donate for the months of August, September and October. Please see the office staff for further details or the staff at Marks IGA.

ABSENCES

The Department of Education expects all student absences to be explained by parents. This data is collected and forms part of our school review discussion. Our school has been identified as having very high unexplained absence data. In other words, students are missing school without a given reason. In 2017 and beyond, our school is focussed on making improvements in communicating reasons for absences. Please inform the school the reason for your child’s absence. A great way to do this is via the school app which comes directly to the school office and can be passed to the class teacher.

All unexplained absence will be followed up by myself, Mr MacMunn or Ms Comerford. You will receive a phone call asking to clarify the reason your child has been away.

I’m confident that as a school community we can pull together to improve our absence data.

DON’T BE IN A HURRY……ENJOY THE MOMENT

Today is my daughters 27th birthday. I can remember someone once saying to me enjoy every moment as they grow up so fast. I don’t think I appreciated the remark at the time. Possibly because I had three children three years and under; I had just been to the supermarket where child number two had dropped a carton of a dozen eggs on the floor; child number one had had an accident and mistimed her toilet stop and the baby was screaming as she needed a feed. It was not the best time to be enlightening me of the joys of parenthood! However, before I knew it the kids were at school and you’re in this fuzzy world of hearing, reading and magic words every evening, making lunches and separating children from throttling each other. You turn around and next they are at Secondary College where things get really interesting. They no longer want to hang out with you all the time. Friends become their world, (and not always the friends you would choose). They want to get a job but you worry about their time management versus school work OR they don’t want to get a job and you worry about their work ethic (or lack of it!). You seem to be a money machine that is constantly broke and you spend most of your time in the car transporting them from one sporting event to another or to one party or another (which opens another can of worry). By the time they turn 16, they are behind the wheel and you would give anything to be the one transporting them instead of handing your life over to a very confident, ill equipped driver. I still remember telling my daughter (on her first drive), to turn the corner. Her reply….. “Mum I don’t do corners or pedestrians!”

Next thing they are living away from home and you worry because no one looks after them as well as you do. You worry about if they are walking the streets of some random city on their own late at night. You worry are they eating okay and do they have enough money. AND the worry continues….

SO……enjoy this special moment in your child’s life, don’t be in a hurry to want them to grow up. It all goes way too quickly. I’m just happy to have my daughter return from overseas, safe and sound AND to know she still wants her Mum and Dad at her birthday party…. even at 27!

PARENT OPINION SURVEY

This week we look at:

SCHOOL CLIMATE: TEACHER MORALE

The most effective way to discuss teacher morale is to include quotes from our staff;

1. The teachers are not just talented, they are enthusiastic and fun (visiting teacher)

2. 2017 has a particularly “GREAT” vibe among staff

3. You can feel the staff building and growing each year

4. We are an interactive, friendly, cooperative team

5. We work well together and help one another

6. Staff at our school are willing to do a little bit more than their fair share

7. Morale at our school looks like teachers greeting students with a smile each morning

8. Our staff are so passionate and protective about our kids at MPS

9. Teacher morale is so high at our school, we are very fortunate to be part of such a great and happy staff

I hope you all enjoy the holidays!

Cheerio,

Julie McInnes

CALL FOR PARENT HELPERS Last year we had a group of wonderful parent helpers coming in to do whole school head lice checks. This was found to be very effective in the fight against keeping head lice under control in our school. We would like to give a huge ‘Thank you’ to Felicity, Clarissa, Andrea, Ella and Michele. We would once again like to call for parents who are willing to give a couple of hours of their time twice a term to join our head lice team. If you are able to help please contact Tina Stewart at the school on 5775 2325.

Registrations now open at www.auskick.com.au

Age: 4+ Start date: Friday 21st April (10 weeks)

Time: 4pm to 5pm Location: Mansfield Recreation Reserve

Contact: Al Kilgour 0407 004 609

FAMILY BUSHWALK

Come and join Landcare on the 2nd April for a family bushwalk to discover a Mansfield natural treasure. We

will meet at Carters Mill car park at 9:45am for a 3.5 km walk to where we will stop and admire

the treasure and have morning tea. We will then turn around and come back and share a picnic or BBQ

together at Carters Mill aiming to finish the event at 1.45pm. For further

information please visit www.up2us.org.au

or contact Kerstie Lee 5775 2770

landcare@up2us.org.au.

Junior school council

FREE dress day!

Friday March 31st

$$$ Gold coin donation $$$

Money goes towards new playground equipment!

MAD KIDS AND MAD STRINGS MUSIC GROUP

For the information of students who are involved in MAD kids music group, rehearsals will be postponed until term 2. For those involved in MAD strings, contact will be made with you in the near future. Could both groups please forward your email address and name to smith.richard.nm@gmail.com so that we can keep you updated. MAD orchestra started rehearsals again on Monday 20th March as usual.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE SCHOOL APP TODAY!

Our Free School App is a terrific tool that allows you to receive

push notifications, view the

school calendar, report a child’s absence, view the school

newsletter and the canteen order

price list.

Family Counselling & Parent Support

Parent Support Survey Winner

Lucie Hutchins was the lucky winner of the $250 supermarket voucher.

Thank you to all those who completed the survey we ran last year.

As a result of the survey a directory will be established to provide Parents with information regarding a range of issues relevant to

their children and family.

More details about the guide will be available soon!

Mansfield Family & Children’s Centre 10 Davies Street, Mansfield