MKPS News

Middle Kinglake Primary School Issue 6

RSD 1, EXTONS ROAD KINGLAKE CENTRAL

Phone: (03) 5786 1295 - Fax: (03) 5786 2090 Email: middle.kinglake.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Website: http://www. mkps.vic.edu.au Principal: Ms Meagan Callander

7th March 2019

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

Middle Mates focus: Addressing people by

name when talking to them

P/1 Hannah For being polite and using names when talking to adults and peers.

2/3/4 Phoenix For always being polite and addressing adults and his peers by name.

5/6 Dylan For always addressing every teacher by their name.

Dates to Remember:

Monday 11th March Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 12th March PFA 2.15PM. All welcome

School Council AGM 6.30pm

Wednesday 13th March Preps attend full time

Sunday 17th March Kinglake Fair

Monday 18th March Young Leaders’ Day for School Captains

Wednesday 20th March Grade 6 Year 7 Reunion 6-8pm

Thursday 21st March Last Sporting Schools for term 1

Tuesday 26th March PFA AGM 2.15pm. All welcome

Wednesday 27th March Murrindindi Shire Meeting to recognise school leaders. Yea Council Chambers 6pm

Wednesday 3rd April Drumming Showcase afternoon

Friday 5th April End of term, 2.30pm dismissal

Tuesday 23rd April Term 2. Parent cuppa after assembly

Wednesday 24th April School ANZAC Day service 10.30am. All welcome

Thursday 25th April ANZAC Day public holiday

Tuesday 29th April School Council 6.30pm

Thursday 9th May Mothers’ Day High Tea

BE SAFE, BE RESPONSIBLE,

BE RESPECTFUL

Next week’s Middle Mates social skill

focus is: “Including others.”

SCHOOL FEES: Just a reminder that the 2019 requisite fee is $180 per student. This covers all school supplies including books, pencils, glue, art and printing supplies. Please see Carolyn in the office to arrange payment. We ask that all school fees be paid by the end of term 1. CAMPS, SPORTS AND EXCURSION FUND: Eligible families (Veterans Affairs Gold card or Centrelink Health Care card holders) can apply for this payment of $125 per child to be used for camps, sports and excursions. Please contact the office for an application form. STUDENT ABSENCES: I have included this information (see next page) again this week because it is very important. Please ensure you have read it. Please contact the school if you have any questions. SCHOOL UNIFORM: It has been terrific to see nearly everyone in school uniform each day. Please keep it up. If you need additional pieces of uniform come and check out the second hand cupboard. Alternatively Target and K Mart have the essential pieces for between $4.50 and $6. They also offer a quick online service. WELCOME: We welcome past student Max Westwood to MKPS. Max is completing a Diploma of Teaching at RMIT and is volunteering each Wednesday at MKPS. Great to have you here Max! YOUTH OUT LOUD: Students from Grade 5/6 have spent the last 4 weeks working with Jen and Steve from Youth Out Loud on a Resilience program. Staff participated in a staff session on Tuesday night. The simple language and philosophy between this program is fantastic. Parents of Grade 5/6 students have been invited to a parent session on Tuesday 12th from 2.30-3.30pm, where students will share what they have learned throughout the program. MOUNTAIN MONTHLY: Steph is now the author for the Mountain Monthly articles from MKPS. Steph and I wrote last month’s article and sent it in early. Unfortunately, as many people have commented, it wasn’t published in the March edition. We are very disappointed as it had lots of news from the start of the year plus our Black Saturday 10 year anniversary celebrations. Hopefully the editors will remember our April article! WORK QUOTE: We require some quotes for the remainder of the outdoor seats to be sanded and stained. If you know of anyone who would be interested in this work, please contact us. YOUNG LEADERS’ DAY: Congratulations to School Captains Charlotte and Mickayla who will be accompanying me to Melbourne on Monday 18th for Young Leaders’ day. We will join over 2000 other school leaders and listen to inspirational leaders speak. Thank you to PFA for funding this day.

ICY POLE WEDNESDAYS $1

School attendance remains a focus of the Education Department in 2019 and we need your help! The attendance data at MKPS is alarming! The average amount of student absences have shown very little improvement over the last 4 years. See table This puts us in the yellow section below which presents many challenges. Many students are already in the bottom 2 red sections after only 4 weeks of school! We have worked hard to provide a challenging, varied and engaging curriculum for all students, we have many programs and resources in place to assist with school refusals/school anxiety, we have built a school culture that values and shows pride in our school, we have included Attendance and Punctuality as a Middle Mates focus, we follow up absences with phone calls and we have initiated the Sentral text message function. We are very grateful to the parents who contact us first and let us know of the child’s absence. When students are sick, being at home is the best place for them. They can rest and not pass on their illness to others. Occasional family holidays are also very valuable and beneficial. The absences we are trying to address are days off for birthdays, shopping etc. Please try and arrange appointments outside of school time. If your child is going to be away from school please speak with the classroom teacher to organise any catch up work. There is an Attendance Policy at the school. If anyone would like a copy please let us know. At the end of term, if your child have under 90% attendance you will be notified by letter.

YEAR AVERAGE ABSENCES

2015 21 days

2016 22 days

2017 15 days

2018 22 days

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

Sustainability News: MKPS– A 5 Star Resource Smart School Clean Up Australia Day: We had a great time on Friday 1st March for Clean up Australia Day. All classes searched the grounds for rubbish. We found a small amount of rubbish compared to other schools. Well done! Cooking Classes: Cooking classes resumed this week. Grades 2/3/4 and 5/6 made zucchini and banana muffins with pizza pinwheels. Delicious! The P/1 grade chopped tomatoes and juiced lemons as we will be selling chutney and lemon cordial at the Kinglake Fair on March 17th. Gardening: We have been planting seeds and picking yummy tomatoes in our vegetable garden. Donations: If you have any extra produce in your garden or are happy to donate items such as flour, butter or eggs, please let me know or drop them off in the prep/one classroom. A huge thank you to the Strubing family for donating a box of vegetables! The tomatoes will be a great help for the chutney! Guinea Pig Carers: Can you look after the guinea pigs next term? They come with their own house and food. You just need to provide a cool spot that is safe from dogs, foxes, etc. There is a timetable displayed on the PFA bulletin board near the office. Please let us know if you can help. Thank you to the families who have volunteered so far. Oral Care Products/ Cartridges 4 Planet Ark / Mobile Phone Muster: Recycle yours at school. Nude Food Fridays: Due to the swimming carnival, we did not have Nude Food Friday last week. We will resume this week with our new sustainability leaders helping out. Congratulations to Nick, Lucinda, Josephine, Brianna, Isabel D and Hamish! Thank you, Olivia Clark

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Last week we were all about managing waste, how you ask? Check out the blog: http://sugarloafstem.global2.vic.edu.au/category/weekly-s-t-e-m-summary/

Congratulations to the students who received

STEM awards this week:

Willow- for her moving boat design during our water

design challenge.

Brianna– for always brining an amazing attitude to STEM.

Chloe– for applying great design thinking to her water de-

sign challenge.

AWARDS

Tesselaar

Bulb Fundraiser

Catalogues out week of 25/02/19 Extras available from the office

MKPS Receives 40% of Sales

Ask work colleagues, neighbours and friends if they would like to order some too!

Orders due back Thursday 14th March

Delivery will be during the last week of term

Aaron is a former student and has worked with Ander Louis to publish his first book. Congratulations Aaron from all of us at MKPS!