Melton Primary School NewsletterP: 9743 5335 E: melton.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au W: http://www.meltonps.vic.edu.au

Monday 29th October, 2018

From the Principal's deskDear Parents/Guardians,

Regional Athletics Congratulations to our students who represented the Melton District at the Regional Athletics. Our students are to be commended on their efforts and sportsmanship. A special thank you to Mrs Partridge and the parents that supported the students on this day. Thank you to Mr Carty Cowling for his organisation of the event. A huge congratulations to Alyssa, Manafo, Zac, Isaiah, Mitchell and Dylan on now competing in the State Athletics. We wish you all the best!

World Teachers’ DayThank you to all of the families that acknowledged and helped our teachers celebrate World Teachers’ Day on Friday.

Sports Team Dress Up DayThank you for supporting the Sports Team Dress Up Day by sporting it for our Aussie Farmers. We raised a total of $650 towards purchasing bales for our Aussie Farmers. Thank you for your support.

African DrummingCongratulations to our senior boys for sharing the skills that you have recently acquired with your weekly African Drumming program at a mini concert. Thank you to Miss Timpani and Mrs Guest for your organisation of this event.

Melbourne Cup HolidayStudents are not required at school on Tuesday 6th November due to it being the Melbourne Cup Public Holiday. Monday 5th November is a normal school day.

Divisional Basketball TournamentCongratulations to our students who competed in the Divisional Basketball tournament. It was a nail biting final and our students are to be commended on their efforts. A special thank you to Mr McCabe for attending and supporting our students at this event.

From the Principal's desk2019 Book BoxesLast week we sent home to families the the order process for your child/ren’s 2019 book boxes. If you order before December 2nd you will not incur a delivery fee. Orders placed after 2nd of December will incur a delivery fee of $12.95 and will be delivered before the beginning of term 1. Orders placed after 31st December 2018 will also incur a delivery fee of $12.95, however they cannot guarantee they will arrive before the start of Term 1, 2019.We suggest that after the 2nd December that you do multiple orders on one login so that you only incur one delivery fee. If you do not have a debit credit card or credit card, you can go to the post office to purchase one. If you need assistance ordering your pack/s or you do not have access to the internet, one of our friendly office team are available every Friday morning commencing Friday 9th November from 8:30am-9:30am to assist you in the first aid room. If you are not available during this time, please contact the office to make a mutually agreeable time.

Planning for 2019Planning for 2019 is well underway. Apart from grade 6 students, if there are any other students who are not going to be returning to Melton Primary in 2019, please ensure that you notify our office as soon as possible so that we do not count your child/ren in all of our preparations for 2019.

Save the date - Tuesday 11th December, 2:10pm for our picnic to meet your child/ren’s 2019 teacher.

Save the date - Our School Concert Our School Concert is booked for Thursday 20th December from 5:00pm - we are hosting it on the school oval. We have hired a stage and will be hosting one concert. Families will be able to participate in a picnic tea prior to the concert. Further details are to come, but we encourage you to save the date.

From the Principal's deskParent Opinion SurveyLast term 170 families were invited to participate in the DET Parent Opinion Survey. Thank you to the 24 families that completed this survey, we thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. Unfortunately we would liked to have received more than 24 responses. Below are the key responses from the survey.

Areas that families believe are working well:- General satisfaction - School connectedness - School improvement - School pride and confidence - Promoting positive relationships

Areas identified to build the school capacity:- Non experience of bullying- Physical environment - Student agency and voice - Teacher communication

The staff will analyse the data and celebrate the successful areas identified. They will also utilise the FISO improvement cycle to develop plans to build the school’s capacity in the areas identified requiring up levelling.

Vanessa HarrisonPrincipal

December3rd Grade 2 Werribee Zoo Excursion5th Foundation Fairytale Incursion6th-7th Grade 5 Camping Experience11th Grade 6 students visit to Secondary Colleges11th Whole School Picnic - meet the teacher 2:10pm14th End of semester reports available on Compass14th Attendance Awards Day (selected students)18th Grade 6 Graduation20th School Concert from 5pm

21st Last day of term 4, 1:00pm dismissal.

October30th 1,2,3 Magic Parent Program for opted in parents

November1st 2:00pm Colour Fun Run Explosion

6th Melbourne Cup Holiday, no school10th Djerriwarrh Festival12th Grade 3 Bike Education Excursion14th ¾ Basketball Round Robin (selected students)19th 2019 Foundation Orientation session20th Gr 4 Polly Woodside Excursion29th ¾ Cricket Competition (selected students)30th Grade 1 Sovereign Hill Excursion

Key Dates for Term 4

Tuesday 29th January – staff commence, no students required at school

Wednesday 30th January – Curriculum Day, no students required at school

Thursday 31st January – All students commence school. Foundation students finish at 12:30pm - however selected students are given interview times for the English Online and Numeracy Online Assessment in the afternoon.

Friday 1st February – All students at school and Foundation students to finish at 12:30pm – however selected students are given interview times for the English Online and Numeracy Online Assessment in the afternoon.

Every Wednesday for the entire month of February Foundation students are not required to attend – however selected students are given interview times for the English Online and Numeracy Online Assessment on these days.

2019

2019 Term Dates

Term 1: 29th & 30th January (teachers start) Students commence on Thursday 31st Jan.Term 1 concludes on Friday 5th April

Term 2: 23rd April to 28th JuneTerm 3: 15th July to 20th SeptemberTerm 4: 7th October to 20th December

Public Holidays 2019Monday 11th March - Labour DayFriday 19th April - Good FridayMonday 22nd April - Easter MondayWednesday 25th April - ANZAC DayMonday 10th June - Queen’s BirthdayTBA - AFL Grand Final FridayTuesday 5th November - Melbourne Cup Holiday

School Banking Program.

To earn some of these awesome prizes please see the Office for information on how you can start your

Dollarmites Account

Congratulations to the following students for

receiving banking prizes!Thomas H FA, Max C FA, Hunter C 1A and

Breanna C 1C.

Responding to the absence text message from CompassNew department guidelines require the school to contact the parents/carers of all students marked as not present on the first day of an absence. All parents/carers will receive a text message at 9.45am on the first day of the absence with a link that will allow you to provide consent for the absence directly through Compass. Please refer to the process below:

Step 1: click on the link in the text message that you receive.

Step 2: enter the reason for the absence and any details that are necessary.

Step 3: click add approval. The details will be updated in Compass.

Year 1

MULTICULTURAL DAY!

Reminders

Colour Explosion will be happening on 1/11/2018. Keep on fundraising!

Sovereign Hill excursion payments are due 23/11/2018.

On the 10th and 11th of October, our grade 1 students participated in our multicultural day celebrations! Here are

some photos of the grade 1 students on those days.

Year 3What has been happening in Grade 3...

Maths - Over the last 2 weeks we have been focusing on Measurement. Students have been working in groups looking at strategies to solve problems and using hands on materials (measuring devices) to solve these.

Reading - This week we have been looking at ‘analysing the difference between texts’, discussing what the different genres are. Students have been listening to and reading books to identify the various features these books have.

Writing - Students have been working on writing procedural texts.. They have been trying really hard to use verbs to introduce each step, and include sequenced ideas.

Inquiry (Civics & Citizenship) - Students have been learning about the rules and laws we have in our school and community. We are learning why these rules and laws are important.

G R A D E 5Jump on Compass to give permission and pay for the Camp Experience. It is happening this term and will be AMAZING!

Students will be camping out on the oval in tents over 2 days - the students will be divided into 4 tribes and participate in Survivor style team building activities and games! We will even have the ‘Life Be in It’ program as well!

Camp Experience is Thursday 6th to Friday 7th of December.

Permission and payment due 29th of November!

Grade 5s have been focusing on poetry this

term… have a read of our latest poems!

‘The Rotten Witch’The green, rotten witch was waiting for the kids to arrive.This will be the night no kids will survive.You will be the dinner of mine.You will be quite fine. This will be the last night of your lives.

Dianne

‘The Man in the Prison’There was a man in prison.Who made a bad decision.On the count of three,They set him free.Then he started to make good decisions.

Faga

Check out the colour investigations we did for our

colour poems!

Camp Experience

Physical Education

Congratulations to these students who recently

qualified to compete at the Victorian State

Athletics Championships! Everyone at Melton

Primary School is so proud of you! GO MPS!

Hat Reminder:As the warm weather

approaches us, a reminder that

students need to bring a school

approved hat to Physical

Education classes. Failure to do

so may result in having to sit in

the shade during outside

activities.

Djerriwarrh Festival Update

It’s not too late to sign up to take part in the Djerriwarrh Festival on Saturday 10th November. Compass will close off permission for this event on Thursday 1st November, so make sure you have signed your child up by then if they wish to attend.If you are joining us on the day, the arrival time is between 10:15 and 10:45am. We will assemble on High St between Arnolds Creek East Branch and Station/ONeil’s Rd. (We are entry number 22). Mr Roberts will Dojo the exact location the night before the event (when numbers are written on the road). Our finish time is now expected to be between 12 and 12:30pm. Please make sure you are available to sign your child out at 12pm should we finish then. Students can be signed out at the parade dispersal area on McKenzie St (between Smith and Palmerston St). The map below was sent out last week on Compass.

From Wednesday, we commence the School Run4Fun Colour Explosion which is as a major fundraiser this year so we do ask for your support. The more money we raise the more we can provide for the students through vital school projects, in particular updating and beautifying our facilities.

The School Run4Fun Colour Explosion will be held on Thursday November 1st starting at 2:00pm. We do ask that you bring a spare change of clothes to school, most importantly a plain white shirt as the students will be covered in powder from head to toe and we ask that you bring this to school before the day. The day’s focus is on fun and fitness with the added benefit of raising funds for our school.

Colour PowderThe colour powder used in our event has been sourced direct from India, the home of Holi Powder. It is made of high quality corn starch and permitted food colours. It’s non-toxic, biodegradable, skin safe and environmentally friendly. Toxicological Risk Assessment and ingredient listings can be obtained from the School Office upon request. Students with asthma are advised to be careful in their decision to participate and to have their asthma puffers with them on the oval.

How Does My Child Fundraise? This week, students will receive a Sponsorship Form with instructions on how to raise money and order prizes. Students obtain donations in cash using the Sponsorship Form together with online fundraising, the school’s preference would be for online fundraising.

All classes will meet on the oval. Students will sit on the oval until it is their grade’s turn to run. Parents can run with the students. Please refer to the timetable below for running times of classes.

2:00pm Teachers will mark students attendance and make their way to the oval.

2:10pm Festivities to begin. Welcome to all families and we will explain the ‘rundown’ of the session.

Students will make their way through the course in a variety of mixed aged groups and will also have allocated rest breaks.

Families are more than welcome to stay on the oval after the end of the day to continue participating in the run.

November 1st

Don't forget your runners, hat and water bottle for Friday

Monday 12th November - Friday 16th November

Location - Library

You will be able to browse and purchase books between these times;

Monday - After schoolTuesday - Before and After School

Wednesday - Before and After SchoolThursday - Before and After SchoolFriday - Before and After School

Mindfulness for Kids: Free Apps to help them be calm, focused and relaxed.

1. Smiling Mind

2. Stop, Breathe & Think Kids.

3. Super Stretch Yoga

4. Three Good Things- A Happiness Journal.

5. Sleep Meditation for Kids by Christiane Kerr

6. Stop, Breathe & Think Kids.

7. Wellbeyond Meditation for Kids