- Page 1 -

TERM 1: MARCH 2017

IMPORTANT DATES

Message from Executive Principal

Dear Parents and Friends, Assalaam Alaykum to all of you. It gives me great pleasure to write to all of you once again and share some exciting news in the area of communication. A strong and healthy partnership between the school and parents is critical to meeting the needs of every child and this partnership can be strengthened through transparent and timely communication. To ensure parents are kept up to date with all necessary information regarding major events and announcements, the Minaret College App is now fully functional and available to be downloaded for free. Instructions on how to down load the College App is detailed on page 2 of this newsletter. In addition to the College App, the official facebook page of the College is now fully functional and will be updated regularly to provide our parent community with activities and updates around events taking place at both our campuses. The College’s upgraded website at www.minaret.vic.edu.au complements these two social media platforms and contains the most detailed information about all aspects of the College and College life. I also believe, a strong partnership between the school and parents is a key contributing factor towards our students’ academic success. Therefore, I encourage our parents to be more involved in this positive communication and will always work closely with you on the progress of your child. As well as our academic efforts, our student wellbeing initiatives will nurture your child to become strong confident individuals who contribute to their families, and communities and society at large. A strong and well-functioning pastoral care team is one of our greatest strengths and will continue to offer services to the students that benefits the school community.

Our caring and dedicated staff make up a vibrant and committed group of educators who hold a deep passion to foster quality teaching and provide our students with engaging learning opportunities. We look forward to provide your children with an engaging, caring and challenging experience which will, Insha-Allah, help them learn and fulfil their aspirations and make a positive contribution to society. My team and I look forward to being of service to all families at the College.

Mohammed Taksim Executive Principal

Thursday 30th March Parent / Teacher Interviews (4pm – 7pm)

Friday 31st March Last Day of Term 1 (School finishes at 2:15pm)

Tuesday 18th April First day of Term 2

Tuesday 25th April Anzac Day – Public Holiday (school closed)

- Page 2 -

NOTICES & INFORMATION

Calendar Events

Message from the Principal Dear parents/guardians Assalamu alaikum, After an excellent start to 2017, the second half of Term 1 is permeated with a positive vibe. Alhamdulillah, I can share some of the achievements with you. NAPLAN and Tertiary Offers We recently received a letter from Mark Randall, CEO of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in which he stated: “I am pleased to advise that ACARA has identified your school as having demonstrated substantially above average gain in NAPLAN results. On behalf of ACARA, I would like to extend my congratulations to you and your school community on this achievement. Gains of this magnitude are significant and worthy of highlighting and acknowledgement.” Victorian Tertiary Admission Centre also updated its offers in late February. Excellent VCE results in 2016 ensued a record number of tertiary places to our students: 97% of those who applied received an offer, or 92% of all VCE graduates from last year. Undoubtedly, these successes are a result of joint effort by students, parents and school staff. I am confident that all of us will continue to create the best environment where all our students can fulfill their potential, insha-Allah. Child Safe Standards From January this year, all organisations working with children must implement new strategies in regards to child safety. Minaret College is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all students, from Foundation to Year 12. Every child has the right to be safe and feel safe in a supportive learning environment. Our students will be treated respectfully and fairly at all times. More information on current policies is available on our web site.

Recently the Department of Education selected Minaret College as one of the leading schools to implement a program called “Respectful Relationships”, which will focus on gender equity. A good education is more than getting good marks. Minaret will collaborate with eight leading schools from Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia Shire to promote the importance of building respectful relationships in our society. Over the next few months, the school will work with various agencies and run a range of activities to raise awareness among students, staff and parents. Attendance – Every Day Counts The following information taken from the Department of Education web site, highlights the importance of regular attendance.

“Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind. Parents are required to ensure their child attends school and to provide an explanation for their child's absence from school.” On a final note, I would like to remind parents who drop off and pick up their children, to use the designated areas, observe traffic signs and be mindful of our neighbours. Wassalam, Sead Omerovic Principal - Springvale Campus

College App: E-Communication

The Minaret College App (Skoolbag) is designed to provide information to parents & the school community in ‘real time’. Via this e-application, the Minaret community are notified about upcoming: activities, information evenings, events, news, etc. Parents, staff & students are encouraged to download the App onto their phones. The following link provides methods for downloading Skoolbag onto various devices. http://www.skoolbag.com.au/forparents.php

30th March Parent / Teacher Interviews

(Primary & Secondary School) 4pm – 7pm

31

st March Last Day of Term 1

(School Finishes at 2:15pm)

18

th April First Day of Term 2

25th April Anzac Day (school closed)

9th – 11

th May NAPLAN

- Page 3 -

Minaret College Official Facebook Page

Dear Minaret Community, It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Minaret College Facebook page (see above). Through our official Facebook page, we are establishing a network for our community where the College can communicate: news, activities, important dates, media articles, newsletters and much more. In response, we would welcome you to ‘like’, ‘comment’ or ‘share’. We are looking forward to embarking on this exciting journey with you and hope that many will participate. Please ‘like us’ and follow on https://www.facebook.com/MinaretCollege/

Life Matters Program (LMP) – The Minaret Model

Dear Parents / Guardians Minaret takes pride in looking after the individual needs of its students. We believe that the emotional, physical and spiritual development of a child is of great importance. Accordingly, the newly introduced area of study called Life Matters Program (LMP) involves a coordinated effort and contribution of the curriculum team, school counselors, teachers and senior staff to provide an environment in which every student is challenged to reach their best potential. The LMP will help students become responsible citizens of the school community and the wider Australian community as well. At Minaret College, the four general capabilities mandated by the Victorian Curriculum, i.e. Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical, Intercultural, Personal and Social, would be covered under the LMP along other important strands like wellbeing, leadership training and environmental sustainability, starting 2017. At each year level, students will experience a well structured LMP that nurtures their social, ethical, physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual development. Importantly, all teachers, through their role as Subject or Form Teachers, will be directly/indirectly involved in a weekly delivery of the LMP. They would be assisted by School Counselors and senior students who would not only teach aspects of the program, but mentor and guide students in younger grades as well. The LMP combines large and small group activities, either in Year Level or Form Group. A form group will have a 35 – 40 minutes session per week to discuss issues relevant to their age group, whether it be study skills, values education, creative and critical thinking skills, bullying, cyber-safety, future careers or community responsibilities. This is part of the school curriculum and, as such, attendance is compulsory. If you have any queries regarding this program, you may contact Mr Salifu Baba, Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning at salih@minaret.vic.edu.au. Salifu Baba Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning

- Page 4 -

Kidsmatter

KidsMatter is aiming to provide more opportunities for parents and carers to work with the school community. Other than the Foundation Information Night, ‘Meet & Greet’ sessions organised in Junior and Senior Primary will be an excellent opportunity to communicate with the parents. Class Dojo is another effective communication tool. Blogs and wikis have given students the tools to express themselves as well. In Term1, the students will continue to develop their skills to understand the emotions of others, analyse and evaluate their core values, nurture good relationships and form friends. ‘Harmony Day’ celebrations, also, provided our students an opportunity to appreciate and respect the diversities around them.

HIGHLIGHTS Meet & Greet Session

On Tuesday February 14th, the Year 5 form teachers

held a Meet & Greet session. This session was organized in order to give parents the opportunity to meet their child’s form teacher. It was a great way to have open discussions about the educational processes in Year 5 classes, to go through school rules & policies and get to know each other better. InshaAllah we look forward to having a productive and positive year ahead.

HIGHLIGHTS Learning About Their Identity

Year 1 students are now well settled into the new school year, Masha’Allah. They have been learning about their Identity as young Australian Muslims while focusing on the Prophet Muhammed PBUH as their role model. The students are involved in reading & writing every day and enjoying hands-on numeracy sessions. We have been looking forward to our excursion to the Royal Botanic Gardens on the 24

th March. This

will be a day where students can enjoy new aspects of the wider world and share in the beauty of nature.

Primary School Clean Up Day

On March 3rd, the entire Primary School participated

in the annual National School’s Clean-up Day. We observed this day to create an awareness of litter and its problems. This, in turn, helps us to evaluate and develop strategies to prevent littering in the school grounds and our community. We used this time, also, to continue with educating students on the importance of reducing energy use within the school, by monitoring lights and air conditioner use, looking at ways to save water, and by monitoring leaking taps by informing someone - as soon as it is evident. Students were required to focus on ways in which they could “reduce, reuse and recycle”. With the Clean-Up Day, our students were enthusiastic and actively took part in the cleaning process. They felt proud to participate in this nation-wide event. Clean-up day belongs to each and every one of us and our school is a part of the wider community. I would like to thank Aaisha Quadri, parent of Sadiq Quadri 6A, in helping us with the creation of a bright & colourful School’s Clean-Up Day banner.

- Page 5 -

Discovery Play

On Wednesday February 1st, the youngest members

of our school community began their school journey. Starting school is a time of great anticipation and joy for some and great trepidation and concern for others, while many experience a mixture of emotions. Discovery Play, in the early days of Term 1, allowed students to feel relaxed and happy to be at school. They developed interpersonal skills by forming friendships as they interacted over ‘play’. They also learned to be respectful and caring of each other’s work as they moved from one activity to another.

Foundation Emu students enjoying ‘Discovery Play’

VCE Information Session

On February 23rd, Senior Secondary School

conducted a VCE Information session for parents. The program was attended by many parents and students – taking a keen interest in the information presented to them. We would like to give a special thanks to the father of Aamna Hameed, Dux of School for 2016, who shared his personal experience in supporting his daughter to achieve 98.05 ATAR last year. If there are any parents who were not able to attend the session and would like to receive the presentation slides, please contact Atif Khan, VCE/VASS Coordinator at 9574 0567 (Ext 415) or email him at akhan@minaret.vic.edu.au.

Learning to Pray

In the early part of Term 1, the Year 2 students have spent time in practising how to pray. Students were taught how to do their wudu, the duas and steps during their prayer. This practise has been very beneficial to students, as it gave them the chance to learn how to pray properly, step by step. Boys were also given the opportunity to make the azan. In addition, an Imam from Secondary School was there to lead them. The students were given an explanation on the importance of prayer and why we pray. This introduction was designed to encourage prayer to become an important part of our student’s lives and on a daily basis. We hope that students have been able to continue they daily prayers at home Insha’ Allah.

Visit to Parliament House

On February 16th, Year 6 students visited Parliament

House as part of our Inquiry Unit on Government. I thought Parliament House was going to be “old fashioned and boring”, but actually, it was a beautiful experience. We learnt about how laws are made and what happens in each of the Houses. We visited the Upper House, which is called the Red House. We saw many books that had every law written in it. Following the Upper House, we then moved to the Lower House, which is called the Green House. We visited the beautiful library that had great architecture. We really enjoyed our educational experience at Parliament House and would like to visit again.

by Fatima Eldabdab 6A

- Page 6 -

Investitures

for

Student

Leaders

at

Springvale

Senior Secondary Senior Primary

Junior Primary

Middle School

- Page 7 -

People and Their Diversity

During the first term of the year, Preschool children have been learning about People and Their Diversity. Australia is one of the most diverse countries in the world, with a broad range of ethnic and cultural groups. At Minaret, we believe that it is important to teach children a positive attitude, along with concepts & skills that enable them to function cooperatively in our diverse society. Recognizing the value and importance of each individual, while respecting and accepting each other’s cultures, is essential to maximise growth and development. Development and implementation of a perspective on diversity is, therefore imperative.

Learning To Be Safe Around Dogs

On Tuesday February 14th, Minaret Preschool had

an incursion from the Department of Environment and Primary Industries. This was in relation to educating our Preschool children on how to safely and respectfully interact with dogs. This included: the correct way to approach a dog, what to do if approached by an angry dog, times when a dog should be left alone, warning signs that dogs give, and behaviours that should be avoided. There are, on average, 140 dog-aggression incidents reported to councils each week across Victoria, with the most common victims being children in the 0-4 age group, followed by 5-9 years old. At Minaret Preschool, we believe that our children need to be aware of how to deal with dogs safely.

- Page 8 -