Gater Gazette
Mountain Gate
Primary School
Adele Avenue
Ferntree Gully 3156
Ph: 9758 2811
www.mountaingateps.vic.
edu.au
DATES TO REMEMBER
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Monday 23 March
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Easter Raffle drawn
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Friday 27 March
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Last day of Term 1 – 2.30pm dismissal
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Monday 13 April
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First Day Term 2
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Thursday 30 April
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School Photos
19th March 2015
-4FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK
How quickly Term 1 is coming to the end. As always it has been action packed with many extra curricula activities making
for a very productive and busy time for all. Highlights have been –
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Back to School Week
African Drumming
Tribes Multi-Age sessions
Swimming classes for Grades 4 – 6
Swimming Sports
MGPS Student Leadership Workshop
Guitar and Keyboard lessons
Gater Games
Dance Competition
Ride2School day
If that’s not enough, next week we have a Tribes Gardening activity, Gelati to celebrate Italian studies and there is a
whisper that maybe the Easter Bunny will visit.
SCHOOL COUNCIL
Last night School Council held their Annual General Meeting. Grant Dihood was elected President and Sharon
Blackwood Vice President for 2015. We are very lucky to have such a supportive group of parents working voluntarily for
the benefit of the entire Gater community. At this meeting the 2014 Annual Report for the community was presented.
If you would like to read this, copies can be obtained from the office and it will also be available on our school website.
PTFA
Our PTFA held their Annual General Meeting last week and Cosette Murphy was elected as President for 2015.
Lots of parents attended the meeting which is a great endorsement for what a vibrant group they are. PTFA is not only an
excellent way of assisting with fundraising activities but also a terrific way of meeting other parents. I would like to publicly
thank Cindy Stewart, outgoing President, who has been the driving force behind many of the fundraising and social
activities over the past few years.
NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
We are registered to take part of the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. The actual National day is
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Friday 20 March, however, as we are having a busy finish to the term we will march to our own beat and participate on
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Thursday 23 April. This will be done in our TRIBES groups at 10.00am.
REMINDERS
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Last day of Term is Friday 27 March with an early finish of 2.30pm.
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First day of Term 2 is Monday 13 April.
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School Photos is Thursday 30 April.
Enjoy the holidays everyone.
Go Gaters
CHERYL SAMPSON
PTFA NEWS
STUDENT ACCIDENT INSURANCE
Bakers Delight Mountain Gate
No parent or guardian likes to dwell on the prospect of
accidents or injuries to their child, but the reality is that
accidents can happen and families often struggle to
cope with the financial pressures that follow.
Don't forget to mention Mountain Gate Primary School
when you make any purchase at Bakers Delight
Mountain Gate. 5% of every purchase is donated back
to the school.
For information regarding affordable Accident Protection
for your child please refer to: JUA Underwriting Agency
Pty Limited at www.studenthealth.com.au or EBM
insurance Brokers at www.studentcover.com.au
Please also be aware of the importance of having
Ambulance Cover for your family. Should an Ambulance
be required by a child at school this cost is not covered
by the school.
EASTERN METROPOLITAN REGION
SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Easter Raffle Tickets
Please send back your raffle tickets ASAP and your
donation for the Easter boxes.
PTFA
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On Friday 13 March our successful 11 year old girls
relay swimming team and Bethany Koster in the 10 year
old Freestyle event competed at the Eastern
Metropolitan Region Finals at Nunawading Aqualink
Swimming pool.
EVERY DAY COUNTS – SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
We all want our students to get a great education, and
the building blocks for a great education begin with
students coming to school each and every day.
Missing school can have a major impact on a child’s
future – a student missing one day a fortnight will miss
four full weeks by the end of the year. By Year 10 they’ll
have missed more than a year of school.
There is no safe number of days for missing school –
each day a student misses puts them behind, and can
affect their educational outcomes.
Coming to school every day is vital, but if for any reason
your child must miss school speak with your classroom
teacher and find out what work your child needs to do to
keep up.
Remember, every day counts. If your child must miss
school, speak with your classroom teacher early as early
as possible.
New laws from March 2014 mean that parents can be
fined for not sending students to school without an
acceptable reason.
If you’re having attendance issues with your child,
please let your classroom teacher know so we can work
together to get your child to school every day.
These championships had the best 16 individual
swimmers or relay teams from across the region vying
for a chance to swim at the State Finals. Bethany swam
in her individual event in the morning and although she
didn’t make the final she swam the 50m freestyle in a
time of 42.11 seconds. Well done.
The relay was up next which Bethany Koster, Alicia Fox,
Mia Davies and Bethany Weinbergs competed in. They
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finished 5 in their heat and 12 overall with a time of
2.59.81.
I was really pleased with the way the girls swam and
swimming at such a high level. Congratulations
NATIONAL RIDE2SCHOOL DAY
On Friday it also happened
to be National Ride 2 School
Day. Students were
encouraged to walk, ride,
skate or scoot to school and
leave the car at home.
Almost 200 students made
their way to school using
some form of active
transport. Families could try
and make it a weekly occurrence to walk or ride part of
the way to school as it is a great way to start the day and
feel fresh and alert to start your learning for the day.
DANCE COMPETITION
Mountain Gate Primary School
OSHC Times are:
OSHC Phone:
OSHC phone: 9758-0531
BSC - 7.00am – 8.45am Monday – Friday
ASC – 3.30pm – 6.00pm Monday – Friday
9758-0531 Call anytime and leave a message
Hello parents,
 This week and next week we are working on Easter activities.
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 We currently have two hampers for our Easter breakfast, which will be drawn on the 27
March in BSC.
 Thank you to the parents who have brought in something for our hampers. If you haven’t
already, please do so. Be ‘in it’ to ‘win it”
 We wish everyone a safe and happy Easter break and we look forward to seeing everyone in
Term 2.
Kind regards
Samantha and Jenny
How to get started before using our programs register online for an account. Registering is quick and easy. Visit
our website to begin www.campaustralia.com.au
Once registered you can make bookings and cancellations, view your statements and manage your details
anytime of the day online.
Save on Care You can save 50% or more on Before and After School Care fees with the non-means tested Child
Care Rebate. Almost all families are eligible. To find out more call our Customer Service Team on 1300 105 343
Monday to Friday.
Program Costs
Out of Pocket
Opening Hours
Before Care
$7.14 - $10.11
7.00am – 8.45am
After Care
$9.37 - $13.61
3.30pm – 6.00pm
To find out more call our Customer Service Team on 1300 105 343 Monday to Friday
Emergency and Same Day Bookings
To ensure we have the correct staff:children ratio of 1:15 could you please book your child/children in prior to the day of
care. If this isn’t possible please contact Franca at BSC prior to 8.45am on the day of care. If you need to book care
after this time please contact Camp Australia Head Office who will know the staff ratio for the session you require and
organise an assistant for the session. The Department of Education (DEECD) has very strict guidelines on staff:
children ratio. Also please leave a message on our answering machine so we are aware you child/children will be
attending and chase them up if they forget to attend.
Non Attendance of child/children booked for the session
Please leave a message on our answering machine if your child/children won’t be attending as we require under our
Duty of Care to account for all children booked in.
Permanent and Casual (Not same day bookings)
All other bookings via Camp Australia
Our answering machine is on 24/7 no matter what day or time so you can leave us a message.
STAR OF THE WEEK
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Week Ending 6 March 2015
GRADE FB
Will Bence
GRADE 3S
Ben Chan
GRADE FH
Alice Picanco
GRADE 4D
Terri Pratt
GRADE FV
Ava O’Shea
GRADE 4H
Courtney Charleton
GRADE 1B
Lukas Brammall
GRADE 5H
Olivia Minney
GRADE 1D
Eliah Sehler
GRADE 5S
Logan Allen
GRADE 2M
Kiara Wood-Dawson
GRADE 6G
Emily Cooper
GRADE 2Y
Jared Darren
GRADE 6W
James Hill & Whaita Martin
GRADE 3H
Madisson Dorn
Art Awards
Grade 2M
P.E. Awards
Grade 1B
Library Award
Grade PH
STAR OF THE WEEK
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Week Ending 13 March 2015
GRADE FB
Mia Burridge
GRADE 3S
Bailey McArdle
GRADE FH
Eric Murphy
GRADE 4D
Connor Newton
GRADE FV
Boston Cao
GRADE 4H
Riley McIntyre
GRADE 1B
Max Gerrard
GRADE 5H
Harley Meerten
GRADE 1D
Jake Harris
GRADE 5S
Alysha Blackwood
GRADE 2M
Sienna Reese
GRADE 6G
Ashton Feltham
GRADE 2Y
Trevor Lee
GRADE 6W
Ella Pile
GRADE 3H
David Grace
Art Award
Music Awards
Library Award