newsletter 19.3.15 - Mount Eliza North Primary School

Mount Eliza North Primary School No. 5140
Moseley Drive, Mount Eliza 3930
Tel. 9787 6611 Fax: 9787 6754
MAIL:
[email protected]
KALORI
Issue No. 4
Inquirer
Thinker
WEB ADDRESS: www.menps.vic.edu.au
Communicator
19th March 2015
Risk-Taker
Knowledgeable
MENPS students aspire to become life long learners who take pride in their
ability to make a difference by taking action within local and global communities.
Principled
From the Principal’s Desk:
Student Leadership
On Monday we had our citizenship
assembly which unfortunately I was
absent from. I would like to congratulate
all students who were acknowledged.
What has impressed me so much at
MENPS is the vast number of students
across the school who display leadership
skills. So what defines a leader? There
are many and varied attributes which
make a good leader. Some might include
being
caring
and
compassionate,
dedicated and passionate, curious and
enthusiastic and most importantly doing
the right thing and helping others.
Year 6 Camp
Only 4 sleeps to go before our Year 6
students head off to Canberra early on
Monday morning. I trust all the students,
teachers and attending parents have a
great experience and we look forward to
hearing all their stories next Friday.
Fire Drill
Last Friday we had our first fire drill for
the year. Being a Code Red school it is
most important that we have these drills.
The students responded extremely well
and all students from the portables were
in the multi purpose room in just over 4
minutes.
One aspect which we became aware of
was that parents who were at school at
this time had not signed in the Visitors
Book. It is most important that if you are
at the school for a meeting or helping in
the classroom that you sign the visitors
book as everyone must be accounted for.
We hope we never have a ‘real
emergency’ but these drills are designed
to prepare everyone just in case.
Homework
In last week’s Sunday Age there was an
interesting article about the varied
approach by schools in Victoria with
regard to homework.
Caring
Open-Minded
Balanced
I know as a parent it is often a challenge
to develop a routine with my son as he
would rather be doing something else.
Michael Grose writes that rather than
homework being a headache for your
child and for you, he suggests some tips
to help minimise the hassles and for you
to stay sane during the process!
1. Establish homework time and stick
to it each day. If children tell you that
they don’t have any formal homework
then they can read, revise or organise
their work. Sticking to a routine despite
the fact that no formal homework is set is
extremely useful and helps avoid battles.
2. Put the onus back on your children
to take responsibility for their work.
Ask children at the start of a homework
session to state how much homework
they will do. At the end of the session
check it to see if it matches with their
intentions as well as yours. You need to
make sure it is not you but your children
who is responsible for homework!
3. Homework is as much a time
management issue as anything else.
Encourage students to work reasonably
quickly and efficiently. Have a set time
limit, which they should stick to. There is
generally little point slogging away once
they become frustrated or tired. A little
work each night is more productive than
packing it into one weekly session.
Holidays
Never has there been a truer statement
than times flies. Although it has been a
very short term it has as always been
extremely busy. On a personal note I
would like to thank everyone who has
made me feel so welcome at the school.
I wish everyone a happy holiday with
family and friends and trust the Easter
Bunny is kind to you!!
Mark Watters
Principal
Reflective
DIARY DATES
March
20
23
23
23
24
25
25
27
27
27
PFA Picnic 5pm
Year 6 Canberra Camp
MA Group 2 Swimming
Program all week
Year 3 Incursion
Mothers’ Day Stall
ordering day
Year 4 incursion
School Council Meeting
Earth Hour 9am - 10am
PFA Easter Snack
Last Day of Term
2.30pm Dismissal
April
13
15
17
24
First Day of Term 2
Mothers’ Day Stall
PFA Meeting
PFA Walk - O - Fun
27th March is the last day
of Term 1
2.30 dismissal
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
It is hard to believe but we are at the pointy end
of Term 1 already!!
All students across the school have settled in well
to their new grades and are working hard. The
Preps are just gorgeous and have settled into the
school routines beautifully.
But it is not only the students who have been
working hard, classroom teachers and specialist
teachers have been working hard too. This week
is Planning Week, where all sub schools meet on
one day to plan for next term. Students have all
their specialist classes on this one day. MA
swimming has begun and will conclude next
week, PMP has begun every Tuesday &
Thursday mornings, the Year 6 students are
preparing for their annual camp to the nation’s
capital Canberra and the Middle School have a
science incursion next week!
Our parents have been busy too. We have had
School Council elections with new parent and
staff representatives elected. I would like to
congratulate our new parent representatives and
thank our departing parents for their hard work
and dedication. The PFA have met and had an
AGM electing a new President and community
member to the School Council. The Mothers’ Day
stall organisation is well under way and so too is
the Walk-o-Fun one of our major fund raising
events!
This week is Cultural Diversity Week at MENPS;
this year’s theme is ‘Strengthening Community’.
Each grade will collaboratively create one unique
piece of artwork that reflects this year’s theme
and represents the strength of Victoria’s diverse,
multicultural communities.
To continue to develop an understanding of the
Filipino culture and make connections to our
sister school Dampas Elementary, classes are
encouraged to play Filipino games, create art
pieces and read the picture story books that were
purchased last year. It is important that our new
students are educated about our sister school
and the purpose behind developing a relationship
with a school overseas.
Each class is asked to write a letter to our sister
school, Dampas Elementary. This task could
take the form of a shared/ modelled writing
session. Once we have all classroom letters, we
will post then to the Philippines. We will remind
our students that our sister school will be unable
to respond to the letters due to the costs
associated.
As this will be the final Kalori for Term 1, I would
like to take this opportunity to wish you all a
wonderful holiday and enjoy your Easter break!
Julie O’Brien
Assistant Principal
Congratulations to the students who represented Mt
Eliza North at the Southern Peninsula Division
Swimming Championships last Wednesday.

Lily Heard finished 4th in her freestyle and
backstroke events.

Liam Atkinson came 3rd in the butterfly and 4th in the
relay along with Nash, Reuben and Daniel.

Helena Herman finished 3rd in her butterfly and
freestyle events.

Luke Byrne finished 1st in both his freestyle and
butterfly events and is now competing at the next
level of competition. Good luck Luke!
District selection:
During the week a number of senior students have
represented Mt Eliza North at the District basketball, tennis,
cricket and soccer try-outs. The following students have
been selected to play in District teams.

Maud Verheij and Ashton Limpens – tennis

Declan Jackson and Harry Scott – soccer

Jordan Goggin and Joshua Howells – basketball

Declan Jackson - cricket
Well done and good luck at the next selection round.
Enjoy the experience!
TRYATHLETES:
Five students from Mt Eliza North competed in the recent
Weet-Bix TRYathlon held at St Kilda;
Sam Easterbrooke, Madeleine and Chloe Fell, Andrew
McLaren and Max Versluis. All students need to be
congratulated on their efforts.
Good luck to the students who will be competing in State
Life Saving carnivals and Little Athletics Championships
over the next couple of weeks.
Sue Harris and Kailani Johnson
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR
CITIZENSHIP AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR TERM 1
MAD
MAE
MAF
MAH
MAJ
MAK
MAL
MAM
MAO
MAT
MAV
MAW
MAY
Ava Crawford
Olivia Anderson
Bella Pouponneau
Eden Sacker
Mila Pickup
Ellie Ryan
Maya Doraisamy
Harry Watson
Aaron Hagland
Oliver Hunter
Alexander Tykhyy
Olivia Sartitsis
Jesse Garbers
3B
3C
3K
3S
3W
4D
4P
4V
Lucinda Lang-Gowing
Luca Gathercole
Olivia Payne
Taylor Keating
Oscar Clelland
Hugo Derriman
Oscar Hanson
Danniella Georgiou
5G
5M
5T
6C
6P
6R
Rhonda Chan
Zeke Washington
Nina Plishka
Sian Scott
Kiah Derriman
Ellie Beth Turner
VANDALS AT MENPS
Last weekend some vandals smashed two large windows in our main building and left behind a variety of cans in
the yard for us to clean up. The windows were replaced immediately and the total cost was close to $900. I am
sure you will agree this is money is better spent elsewhere!
Vandalism is generally not a problem here at MENPS.
As a school community we work hard to keep our buildings and facilities well maintained and safe for our children
and the general community.
HOW YOU CAN HELP?
If you are a neighbour or if you live in the surrounding streets, or even if you just bring
the kids down to play on the facilities over a week end or the holidays, a quick walk
through the school grounds will go a long way to deter potential vandals.
Remember, if you can see them, they can see you! If you do see someone vandalising
the school do not approach them directly but ring 000 immediately.
Thank you everyone for your support in helping to keep our school a safe and beautiful
environment.
Julie O’Brien
Assistant Principal
To all Grade 5 Netballers, no matter
where you play.
We are going to start training
together and getting our own
team again in Term 4. Next term
we have been invited to play with
other Netballers from around the
area and guest Grade 5
netballers from New Zealand.
This event will be held at Toorak
College and further information will be provided as
the date approaches.
Bonjour tout le monde.
We are beginning to complement and combine our
manners focus at school with the introduction of “Les
bonnes manières” - good manners (in French.) Here are a
few for everyone to use at home to start with.
S’il vous plait silvooplay - please.
This is formal or when talking to more than one person.
When you are talking to each other at home, you should
use:
S’il te plait silter play
Merci mair see - Thank you
Merci beaucoup mare see bow coo -Thanks a lot
The response is:
De rien der reeann which means - for nothing
Excusez-moi escoozay mwa is excuse me when wishing
to interrupt and
Pardon padon (You don’t actually finish the consonant
sound on the n) is for when you have bumped into
someone, been rude or have burped.
À tes souhaits art ay sway means “To your wishes” (may
your wishes come true) and must be said when someone
sneezes.
Voilà!
Our Senior and Grade 4 French extension groups are
moving into the art room next term as Ms Minogue is
proving a guiding light in our pursuit of art (poursuite de
l’art!)
Feliçitations encore- Congratulations again to all our
attendees, your enthusiasm is contagious and your
contribution excellent, as is your work.
On to other matters – thank you
all very much for the
contributions of English books
for classroom libraries. We have
received bags of them from the
Meyer, Smith, Harkness and
Scarpella families amongst
others, and the books have been
swallowed up by eager teachers.
Merci beaucoup.
We are meeting at the start of lunchtime on Monday
23rd March in the hall to begin our training sessions.
Venez tous!
Finally, on a more personally Francophonic note,
The French speaking world wishes to support our
neighbours in Vanuatu who have really suffered
from the effects of Cyclone Pam, especially the
schools which have all been either destroyed or
severely damaged. The French Ambassador’s letter
is attached and if you would like to help out, as my
family has, please contribute to the fund the French
Consulate has established or I can do it for you if
you prefer. S’il vous plait.
Merci Beaucoup et Bonnes Vacances
Chris Sutcliffe
Vanuatu Solidarité Francophone
The magnitude of the recent Cyclone Pam in
Vanuatu has caused devastation across many of
the islands of Vanuatu. The first images emerging
from the islands show serious damage across the
nation. The capital Port Vila was subjected to heavy
rains and strong winds exceeding 240 kmph. The
other islands of Vanuatu have also been greatly
affected. However, the lack of information does not
allow for a complete picture of the situation and the
number of victims could be much higher than
currently known. Cyclone Pam is one of the worst
cyclones to have occurred in the history of this
Pacific nation.
The Francophone Network of Australia (the
Embassy, charitable associations, the Alliances
Françaises and French schools) will rally together
and request the generosity of all to support the
actions of the Alliance Française, the French school
in Port Vila and also all the French speaking
schools in Vanuatu (primary and secondary
schools, university).
Thank you for your generosity.
Christophe LECOURTIER
Ambassador of France to Australia
To make a donation:
Account Name: French Emergency
Assistance of NSW
Bank: Westpac, Cnr Market & Clarence
Streets, Sydney NSW 2000
BSB: 032016
Account No: 481394
SCHOOL COUNCIL
Executive Officer:
President:
Mark Watters
David Smith
[email protected].
Vice President:
Liz Wenham
Secretary:
Russell Gilchrist
Treasurer:
Julie O’Brien
Parent Representatives:
Kate McKenzie
Liz Wenham
Ryan Irwin
Mithran Doraisamy
David Smith
Scott Doughty
Leah Davidson
Sophie MacKinnon
Margaret Coughlan (PFA)
Teacher Representatives:
Melissa Wisniewski
Russell Gilchrist
Julie O’Brien
Dear Parents,
Just a reminder that if your child needs to
take medication during the school day, a
medication sheet must be
filled out for
each medication your child is taking.
Medication Authority forms can be located on the
schools
website
at
http://menps.vic.edu.au/
noticesforms-2/whole-school/.
A special thank you to the parents who have donated
clothes and underwear to the first aid room.
TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE OF VICTORIA
There are still a couple of positions available for the
Business/Computer training course starting in
Mornington next week. The first of 14 sessions is
next Tuesday 24th March at 9.30 am at the Royal
Hotel Mornington.
If you are interested contact the Technology Institute
of Victoria directly on 9888 3599 or register your
interest at www.tiv.com.au/parents
National Day of Action against Bullying
and Violence Friday March 20th
Although as a school we will not be participating
directly in this National Day of Action it serves as a
very important reminder to everyone in the
community of the role everyone has in creating safe
and supportive places for children and young people.
This day is an initiative of the Safe and Supportive
School Communities Working Group and is
managed by the Queensland Government on behalf
of Australia’s government.
You might like to discuss this day of action with your
children.
ART ROOM REQUEST
Recycling Supplies Needed!
During term two our focus will be on
PLASTIC.
Therefore we need more clean plastic bottles
(no dairy or chemicals though, thankyou).
Does anyone have any unused wallpaper or nail
polish that we can use for our art?
I hope everyone has a great Easter
break!
HAVE YOU MOVED RECENTLY?
ARE YOUR FAMILY DETAILS UP
TO DATE?
Tracey Cranch
Term Dates 2015
Term 2: Monday 13 April - Friday 26 June
Curriculum Day 19th June
Term 3: Monday13 July - Friday18 September
Curriculum Day 24th August
Term 4: Monday 5 October - Friday18 December
Have you moved recently, or changed
your mobile phone number? Perhaps
Dad has changed his job or grandma
is no longer available to come when
your child is sick?
If any of your details has changed, please let the
school office know so that we can update the
computer with the new information.
Often, we only find out when we have to ring home
and the numbers we have don’t work!
Please keep us informed. It is in your child’s best
interests.
Senior School Wild Animal Collage Artwork
Our senior school students are working on creating some fantastic wild animal collages.
They have been RECYCLING MATERIALS such as used cardboard boxes, paper
bags, egg cartons and donated butcher paper. The areas in the inquiry we focused
on are DESIGN/COMPOSITION (drawn design), TEXTURE (creating different texture
and looking at the texture/markings of an animal), COLLAGE (cutting and pasting) and
ORGANISATION (time management). As you can see we will still have a bit of work to
do, but they’re well and truly on their way to looking AWESOME!
Cindy Minogue: Art Teacher
LOST PROPERTY
Has your child lost something lately? We are gathering
quite a collection of items ranging from jewellery to teddy
bears to clothing.
There are even a variety of watches at the office!
Please check the lost property basket and
the office collection to see if
yours is there!
EARTH HOUR
MENPS Junior School Council
SCHOOL based group is organising
LIGHTS OUT— POWER SWITCHES &
ICT EQUIPMENT OFF
FRIDAY 27th March between 9-10am
Mother Earth will thank us.
DIGITAL REPUTATION
All internet users have a digital or online reputation. This is the opinion or view that others have about the user,
based on what they say and do online.
What are the risks?
When information is posted online it can be difficult to remove and can be easily and quickly passed beyond a
student’s immediate circle of friends. It can also be misused by friends they consider trustworthy.
Students should be encouraged to think about their digital reputation when interacting online.
In addition, images and words can be misinterpreted when removed from their original context.
When images and words intended for a small group of people are shared with a broader audience, it can
negatively affect the student’s relationship with unintended viewers for example, students might find it very difficult
to explain to parents why they are tagged in a photo posted online doing inappropriate things.
Managing the risks
To help students protect their reputation both online and offline, young people need to consider how they manage
their own and others’ messages and images.
Remember:

Be cautious if you have intercepted any content which could be considered inappropriate (sexualised images
of people under 16yrs of age). Forwarding on inappropriate images is considered a criminal offence under
most Australian Territory and State laws. Do not interact with the information, forward or share it in any way.
Immediately seek guidance from local police.
Important note:
This article was taken from the ‘Cyber(smart)’ website - under ‘Schools’ - ‘Digital Reputation’. It was slightly edited
in order to make it more inline with our primary school age group.
Mornington Peninsula Shire
Mornington School Holiday Program
Venue: Civic Reserve Recreation Centre
Monday 30th March – Friday 10th April
7.30am – 6.30pm
Bentons Square School Holiday Program
Venue: Bentons Square Community Centre
Monday 30th March – Friday 10th April
7.30am – 6.30pm
Bookings
can
now
www.mornpen.vic.gov.au
be
made
online
at