TERM 4 Week 8 Thursday 28 th November 2013 What s Coming Up? Dec Mon 2 MSPS Step Up program begins Chooks 3H Tues 3 Step Up Session 2 Wed 4 Fri 6 School Council 7.15pm 4 th Kinder Transition 12 noon 2014 Prep Parent Barbeque 6pm P & F Casual Dress Daydonation Christmas Hamper Mon 9 Step Up Session 3 Tues 10 Wed 11 Year 6 to & Transition Day Whole School Step Up Day Year 6 Dinner 6.00pm Whole School Christmas Carols 6.30pm for a 7pm start Thurs 12 Helpers Morning Tea 11.00am Final Graduation Meeting Tues 17 Wed 18 Graduation-Planetshakers Lower Plenty Senior Students (5/6) to roller skating Whole School Picnic to Eltham Little Train Thurs 19-Final day for students. Dismissal 3.30pm Fri 20 2014 Mar Fri 14 PLANNING DAY PUPIL FREE DAY TERM 4 ENDS School Photos From the Principal s Desk Dear Parents, Students and Friends 2014 Booklist The booklist for students returning to our school in 2014 was sent home on Tuesday, 26 th November. As in previous years, the booklist will be online and the items will be delivered to the school on January 29 and then distributed to your child s class teacher. Last year, our School Council made the decision to have the books delivered to school directly, after encountering a number of difficulties with the home delivery service. We have also found that many children come to school without essential items such as pens, pencils and exercise books. Hence, they are not prepared for learning and spend valuable time borrowing items from other children or the teacher. Additionally the Prep and Junior staff like to colour code the children s books before they are covered. Thus the booklist that was distributed to students on Tuesday has a cut-off date for ordering of Friday DECEMBER 20 th. This allows the book sellers (Office Max) to get all the books to the school by the end of January. As it is near Christmas and I am concerned that this is an expensive time for families, I have asked for an additional week extension to the Friday DECEMBER 27 th. Furthermore, we have noticed that there is section on the bottom of the booklist that discusses packing and handling and gives two different dates. One for orders up to the 31 st and then for orders placed after December 31. We have been advised by the booksellers to DISREGARD this date and just use the process and the 27 th December date. Books can still be ordered after this date but delivery to the school will not be by the 29 January. Furthermore, we have noticed that there is section on the bottom of the booklist that discusses packing and handling and gives two different dates. One for orders up to the 31 st and then for orders placed after December 31 st. We have been advised by the booksellers to DISREGARD this date and just use the process and the 27 th December date. Books can still be ordered after this date but delivery to the school will not be by the 29 th January. The school levies can be paid online up until the 27 December but after this date they will have to be paid directly to the school. This is just the levies NOT the booklist. We do not take payment for the books. This year there are four parts or sections, two of which are COMPULSORY and the other two voluntary. The Section C items are both tax deductible. Voluntary contributions really help us to finance the additional items around the school. For instance, the leasing of the laptops and the school bank of ipads, the purchase of furniture, the installation of interactive whiteboards and updating the grounds are not funded by the Department of Education and Early Childhood and so we have to find the funds within our own school allocation and any additional funds.
Birthdays I am happy to answer any further questions relating to this matter and I thank you for your continuing support of this school. Nov 29 Dec 6 30 Phoenix Jewell Hudson Varley Chloe Jepsen 2 Will Bowman 3 Seb Francis-Perkins 4 Lily Cameron 5 Madeline Johnstone Patrick Zhang MANY HAPPY RETURNS Transition Step Up The purpose of the Step-Up program is to provide a smooth transition from one year level to the next. In previous years at our school, we found many students and parents were anxious over the Christmas period worrying about the forthcoming year. Students focussed on what their new class teacher would be like and they also worried about the difficulty of the work in the next level. So we made changes in 2009 and implemented a number of programs to ease the transition process. We have the Bridges program for the Kinder to Prep students as well as the more formal Prep Transition program in November and December. We also have the Step Up to the next grade program. This program commences on Monday December 2, followed by the second session on Tuesday December 3. The next session is Monday December 9 and the final session is on Tuesday December 10 which is an all-day session. This is the day that the Year 6 s go off to their new secondary placement and we have the 2014 Preps visit us for a few hours. At each of these sessions the children are placed with their new teachers and their new classroom peers and in their new class location. During the session, TRIBES activities and activities from the next grade level are used. We currently have some positions advertised and we have not yet finalised this process, so we may not have these staff members on board for the whole Step Up program. We also are awaiting a new portable so the classes allocated to these rooms will be located in the library for Step Up. The whole Transition process is designed to achieve two significant outcomes for our children. 1. To provide a well-structured and well supported introduction to Montmorency South for those who are new. 2. To support our students through change as they progress to a new level, class, group and teacher. Rather than being anxious, the children have an opportunity to go on holidays knowing what is ahead of them next year. Best Birthday Wishes to all of the above students Volunteers and Helpers Morning Tea As we fast approach the end of the year celebrations, our traditional Thank You Morning Tea will be held for our many and varied helpers and volunteers. We are sending out invitations but please keep the Thursday 12 th December (morning after Christmas Carols) free. The morning tea will start at 11.00 am in the gym Montmorency South Values-What do we stand for? As you are all aware there has been a steady growth in the number of students and families in our school community over the last few years. In 2014, we will
School Banking The Commonwealth Bank have announced some changes to the school banking program for 2014. There will be a whole new range of prizes and all tokens will be automatically tracked in the system each time you bank. The money boxes are going to be phased out, but we still have some in stock, so if you were wanting one, this is the time to put your order in. The new online token system means that everyone will be starting with 0 tokens at the beginning of the year, so it s best to order things now to use any tokens you have saved. We have a number of prizes in stock still, so don t worry if you don t quite make it to 10 tokens at the end of term we ll do our best to make sure that everyone gets something for their remaining tokens. Last day for school banking will be Thursday, 12 th December. As school banking is done by parent volunteers, we need to work around peoples work commitments, so next year, school banking will be done on WEDNESDAYS. Sorry for any confusion! Thanks to everyone for another great year of saving and we look forward to seeing you back in 2014. Kind regards, The School Banking Team! have close to 450 students. With this growth comes both exciting possibilities and challenges such as where to place everybody. One of the exciting possibilities is the opportunity to reflect on core beliefs, values, philosophies and curriculum. We believe that the TRIBES program has been a strong feature of our school with the staff, students, and wider community having a common language and set of agreements that we can follow in our everyday lives. A Tribes Learning Community provides a safe and caring environment in which kids can do well. Students achieve because they: feel included and appreciated by peers and teachers are respected for their different abilities, cultures, gender, interests and dreams are actively involved in their own learning have positive expectations from others that they succeed The clear purpose of the TRIBES process is to assure the healthy development of every child so that each one has the knowledge, skills and resiliency to be successful in a rapidly changing world. The TRIBES process will continue to be at the core of our teaching philosophy but we also want to develop a set of values that reflect our school as a whole. We will be sending out a survey monkey early next year to ascertain from parents, students and staff what they see as our core values. We would really value your input into this process as we want to know what is REALLY important to each of you. Colouring Competition Winners Congratulations to the following students who entered and were the successful winners of the National Recycling Week competition run by Mackie Scales in 5N Prep Year 1 Thomas Tutera Olivia Walls-Moran Emily Cook Finn Lewis Toby Simons Karmen Apperley Year 2 Year 4 Jimmy Timmons Val Pham Grace Fisher Year 5 Will Jones Ellie Hardin Carols Night. A highlight in the lead up to Christmas is the Monty South Christmas Carols evening commencing at 6.30pm for a 7pm start on our oval on Wednesday 11 th December. This is an opportunity for our community to collectively come together to celebrate the spirit of Christmas before the end of the school year. Each class performs and we also have the Ensemble Band and our choirs. The Parents and Friends Christmas hamper is also drawn on this night.
2013 School Council Members President Paul Munnings Vice President Ange Dewdney Minute Secretary Rita Fernandez Parent Members Jo Scott Meg Uren Stephen Longmuir Violette Saro Rachel Crick Year 6 Graduation This year s Graduation Committee have been meeting regularly and working tirelessly in preparation for the Year 6 Graduation Evening being held on Tuesday 17 th December. May I take this opportunity to thank all the parents who have allocated their time to assist on the committee. The evening planned for the Year 6 students will definitely be one of commemoration and celebration of the past seven years at Monty South for these students.. Have a lovely weekend perhaps putting up the Christmas tree! Look forward to seeing you all on Monday Regards Leanne Sheean Principal MSPS ACHIEVERS Staff Members Tracey Cole Kristian Walker Amanda McDonald Merriel Hayes Co-opted Members Rob Charlesworth Drew Salisbury Treasurer: Duncan McColl 2013 Maths Talent Quest Executive Officer: Leanne Sheean House winners for the Week
Prep News Level 1 Newsletter This term the Prep children have been focussing on creative writing pieces. They have been writing narratives and have been read stories that have given them inspiration for their writing. Prep R read the story Imagine by Alison Lester and after reading the book brainstormed possible creative writing ideas. They then went onto writing their own pieces. Some wonderful examples of these are below. Imagine I was stuck on a desert island with sharks circling around me. Coconuts were smashing on the rocks because the tall palm trees were swaying in the breeze. I could hear parrots squawking in the big bushes. Max Little Classroom Clippings Junior News The Junior level have almost completed their unit on Natural Disasters, learning lots of new information about bush fires, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and volcanoes. We have had lots of fun doing experiments to help explain how these natural disasters occur and their effects on the world. Here is a picture of the children in Grade 1 making a model of a volcano. From the Archives Monty South circa 1977 We're all very excited about the coming weeks and are looking forward to Step-up and having fun with lots of Christmas activities. Maybe Jesse can help us with some yummy Christmas treats. Imagine I was deep down under the amazing ocean. I could hear a dolphin swimming and splashing and I could see him doing tricks. Taree Burton Imagine you're in the dry and sandy desert with hot sand. I see lizards hiding in the sand and kangaroos jumping to get to the other side of Australia. The sun is burning hot like a fire burner! Maya Bennette Photo courtesy of Bianca Jewel (Phoenix 1N)
From the kitchen I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have donated home grown produce, kitchen equipment and books to the kitchen in the last few months. I often arrive to find donations on my desk. It is fantastic! A lot of these donations are anonymous and I just don t know who to thank. So a BIG THANK YOU for the white bag of lemons, the 4 zip locked bags of lettuce and the pile of cook books. Some donators may wish to remain incognito, however a little note on your goodies telling me who they are from means I can thank you and your child personally for your generosity. The last of those donated lemons went into a fantastic pumpkin and chick pea salad, please find the recipe in this Hoot. If your child will be part of the program next year (grades 3-6 2014) and you would like to participate or receive information on becoming a volunteer, please contact me on: 0419 322 782 or candchulme@optusnet.com. au Pumpkin and chickpea salad Serves 24-30 tastes Source: Taste.com.au Ingredients 1/4 jap pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, cut into 2cm pieces 4 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon coriander, ground 1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground 400g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed 1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced 1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped 1 large lemon, rind grated, juiced Salt and pepper to taste What to do: Equipment Measuring cups and spoons Mixing bowls Baking tray Knives Chopping boards Mortar and pestle Sieve Lemon juicer Preheat oven to 200 C. Grind cumin and coriander with the mortar and pestle Lightly grease a large baking tray. Combine pumpkin, 2 tablespoons oil, ground coriander and cumin in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to prepared pan. Roast for 20 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Allow to cool a little. Combine pumpkin, chickpeas, onion and chopped parsley in a large bowl. Combine remaining oil, lemon rind, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour over pumpkin. Toss until well combined. Serve
Student of the Week Ashwin Siva Prep R For consistently aiming for his personal best! Thomas Tutera Prep R For working hard to achieve his writing goals. Julia Brew 6C For her detailed map of Queensland, showing all the regions and towns. An amazing effort! Ellie Hardin 5R For always aim high and working beyond expectation, especially with her Car Rally work - very impressive! Lachlan Jones 6C For always doing his personal best and assisting others during the Car Rally project. Alex Smith 3R For his excellent narrative and persuasive writing - fantastic work Alex! Rody Sakr 3NT For making such great gains in his reading. Fantastic! Lachlan Wilkins 3NT For having a happy, enthusiastic and fun-loving attitude towards the camp at Billabong Ranch, Echuca. Matthew Tutera 3H Writing a fantastic first paragraph in his persuasive writing piece on why all children should go on school camp to Billabong Ranch. Sarah Hulme 3H Trying really hard this week to complete all tasks on time. Keep up the great work! Olivia Psaila Prep V For always trying her best when reading tricky words. Tommo Cooper 3H Fantastic concentration while preparing broccoli O'Dwyer Jessica Stuart 2H For the wonderful improvement she has shown in all areas of the curriculum Jessica D 2H For always doing her Personal Best! Ava Grzechnik 2H For the improvement she has shown in all her work
1 Para Rd, Lower Plenty, 3093. PH: 9434 6490 3 year old Kinder session times: Monday:8.30 11.00 am Thursday:9.00 11.30 am Places still available for 2014. Come and experience our unique, natural and nurturing environment.
Montmorency South Primary School