MEPS NEWSLETTER
MOOROOLBARK EAST PRIMARY SCHOOL
Taylor Road, Mooroolbark 3138
Phone: 9726 9422 FAX: 9726 9833
Website: www.meps.vic.edu.au
Wednesday, 15th October, 2014
[email protected]
MEPS CALENDAR
TERM 4
October
Thursday
16th EMR Athletics (Burwood)
MEPS Kids’ Club, 2.30-3.30pm (Preps 2015)
Saturday
18th Working Bee
Monday
20th SOS morning tea POSTPONED to 27th Oct
M/bark Children’s Film Festival (Grade 4J)
Tuesday
21st Screening of “Red Herrings”
Wednesday 23rd Screening of “Red Herrings”
Friday
24th Cakes to be delivered for the Fete stall
Saturday
25th FETE
Monday
27th SOS Morning Tea (after assembly)
Thursday
30th Interschool Sport
Highlights of the Week:
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Yimba Uganda Incursion
ALPOS
Hooptime
Global Education Conference
SICK BAY LINEN ROSTER
Friday, 17th October
Penny Harvey
BANKING ROSTER
Thursday, 16th October
D West, T Hutt
Principal’s Comment
Hi All,
I have settled into the school term. Hats are now compulsory as the weather begins to improve. We have a “no hat no play”
policy. Please make sure that your child’s hat is a school hat as this is part of our uniform policy. Our hats meet the guidelines for
Sunsmart. Hats are available at the uniform shop if you need to purchase a new one. The Prep children still wear the red MEPS
Prep hat for this term. Thanks for your assistance with ensuring that our children are all in a consistent uniform that meets their
safety and health needs. We do random uniform checks and most of the time they are fine but we do have some students who
seem to think that the uniform policy does not apply to them. As they are young, it is their parents who are responsible for
endorsing our school uniform policy. At times there may be issues but if you send a note with your child we are fully
understanding. If money is an issue we have secondhand uniforms available for $1.00. All children should be in school uniform.
Chinese Language Assistant:
Liping is now fully immersed in the Australian culture and commenced her Moostars lessons yesterday. She is working with small
groups of highly able and keen students across all school levels on a Tuesday. They are learning basic Mandarin. It was delightful
to hear Grade 3 students counting to 10 and using familiar greetings in Mandarin after one 45 minute session. They can already
speak more Mandarin than me. Liping is a great asset to our school and is providing our students with another dimension to their
education.
Yimba Uganda:
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, in keeping with our theme of Global Education, the Grade 4 – 6 students are currently
participating in an incursion based around life and culture in Uganda. During the session every child was able to participate in
traditional jewellery making, ask questions about life in Uganda, listen to Emmanuel’s story of growing up in Uganda and
participate in drumming lessons with African music. Emmanuel is a professional musician in Uganda but is in Australia spreading
awareness of his culture and country and the role that foreign assistance has in supporting the development of his country. Anne
Marie is an Australian who spends six months of the year here and six months in Uganda. Next year she is moving permanently
to Uganda to continue her work with the women and children who live in the slum areas. Our students have thoroughly enjoyed
the sessions and learnt more about the world around them and how fortunate they are in comparison to many others. On
Monday Emmanuel performed at assembly and he was sensational. The whole school was up dancing and singing along in a
language they couldn’t speak. The adults were really into it too. He is currently the No. 1 male artist in Uganda. As the senior
students brought along a gold coin as a donation, we were able to present Emmanuel with a cheque for $500. It was greatly
appreciated.
Kids Club:
The last of the informal Kids Club sessions is being this Thursday, October 16 th from 2.30pm to 3.30pm. All children who are
commencing school in 2015 are invited to attend. We would love to see them all here if at all possible. The formal orientation
program begins shortly after.
Hooptime:
Aaron Palmer, our PE teacher, has written a full account of the Hooptime results from last week. I just wished to congratulate the
team who have made it into the state finals in November. They won the grand final with a score of 22 to 0. Congratulations to all.
All the best to our other teams who still need to compete this term.
Global Education Conference:
Laura Beaton, Matt Mulcahy and I will be presenting at a conference in Sydney this coming weekend. It is an international
conference based around the theme of countries learning about different and improved educational strategies from each other.
Only two schools in Australia have been selected to present. These are the Knox Grammar School and ourselves. This is a great
recognition of the work which we have undertaken based around developing global citizenship and learning from other cultures.
There are three staff also attending the conference, in addition to our three presenters, to improve their knowledge base and
expertise. Again, this is a reflection of our staff’s commitment when they are prepared to forego their own weekends with their
families to further their educational knowledge. Thank you. I will let you know next week how it all went.
ALPOS:
ALPOS is an abbreviation for Assessment of Learning Partnership Online System. We have been participating in this program for
three years. It is done in conjunction with Melbourne University. Each year all Grade 3 to 6 students are assessed on line in the
areas of literacy and mathematics. The tests are conducted by the University of Melbourne and we receive the results of each
students’ testing the day after the test has taken place. Each child is placed on a learning continuum which explains where the child
is in their learning and where they need to move onto next. It also details the skills that need to be taught to continue the progression. Teachers then meet in their year levels each week to develop activities for children at the appropriate level to keep them
progressing. The children are then all tested again six months later. This program has provided great results for our school. The
second round of this year’s testing has commenced this week. It will continue for three weeks. All the best to everyone with this
process.
Fete:
This is happening on Saturday week, October 25 th. Not long to go. We only have this event every second year and we require a lot
of parent helpers to assist. Separate notices have gone home begging people to help. I received this email earlier this week:
I just wanted to share this with the school families just in case it makes a difference.
As a parent, I wanted to thank all of the people that helped at the fundraising BBQ on Saturday. Many parents, staff and even a
few of the kids put in some time to help the school. This weekend is the working bee and then we have the fete. I have found that
there are always the same faces helping at all of these. Thank goodness we have some very dedicated families because we seem
to have many that don't do much at all.
I am struggling to understand why families can't even spare one hour to help at their children's school. One hour out of a whole
year really isn't very much when you think about it. The school does so much to help our kids, I just don't know why we ALL can't
give that small piece of time instead of leaving all the work to the dedicated few.
I hope to see some fresh faces when my family are at school helping again this weekend.
I am hoping that we receive a lot of volunteer notices back this week for either the fete, working bee or both. One hour makes a
massive difference. We have 370 families in our school. If each family donated one hour per year that would be the equivalent of
nine weeks of full time work. Imagine what we could achieve.
Thank you to those people who assist regularly. It is the students who benefit from your commitment and enthusiasm. Thank you.
Mooroolbark Film Festival:
This is taking place next Monday. Grade 4J have made a film which is being screened at the festival. It is called ‘Red Herring’. Grade
4 J will be going to the festival to view the premier screening of their film. This film will then be shown to students next week at
lunch times. All children from Grades 3 – 6 are invited to attend with a gold coin donation. Thanks to Peter Johnson for all his work
with the film making in our school.
Enjoy your week.
Debbie Nelsson
PRINCIPAL
UNIFORM SHOP
Mondays & Fridays 8:45 - 9:45am
Grade 6 Bomber Jacket :
Orders with payment due by October 10th. Thank you!
Size 10 & 14 Bomber Jackets are out of stock at the moment.
Preps 2015
Avoid the rush!! Come and shop now as all items are available.
Penny Spencer
Uniform Co-ordinator
STUDENT OF THE WEEK
GRADE
STUDENT’S NAME
REASON
Prep C
Lily Cubitt
For using a loud, clear voice in reading
Prep D
Jack Larsen
For a fantastic first week in Term 4!
Prep O
Cody Clarkson
Patient support of a new student
Prep CS
Chloe Warr
Fantastic painting
1L
Siana Faber-Holland
Excellent listening skills
1S
Silas Luri
For producing excellent handwriting
1T
Rabecca Zathang
For working really hard on her maths
1/2S
Heidi Wilson
Persisting with work
2J
Reyce Gay
For making great progress with reading
2M
Tegan Garratt
Writing a fantastic description of a dragon
2W
Blake Cartwright
Always having a positive attitude
3H
Alyssa Leaver
For working beautifully and very patiently with another student on their maths
project
3T
Miss McCasta
For being an amazing ‘Bindi Irwin’ and collecting our tadpoles
3KB
Grace McGrath
For a great improvement in her reading
4E
Tanner Matheson
Working so hard on his handwriting
5B
Sang Cung
For settling in brilliantly to MEPS
5/6P
Salena Johnson
For consistent high efforts in all areas
6B
Ben Fiedler
Fantastic attitude to class tasks
Art
Andrew Whitlock [6B]
Great help
PE
Mary Gai [Prep D]
For showing excellent fielding skills in cricket
Cynthia
Lily De Petro [1/2S]
Terrific reading
Jody
Grace Wigraft [1T]
For happily extending friendships and for being a great help
A.P. (Sandra)
Hayden Tocknell
For beautiful manners!!
A.P. (Brant)
Mikki-Rose Delahunty [1L] For always smiling
Sustainability
Alex Jackson [4J]
For being an enthusiastic and reliable environmental leader.
CANTEEN NEWS
BEING POSITIVE
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The way you look at a situation can be either
positive or negative, e.g. a game
When things don’t go as planned be positive by
saying to yourself “I can get better” or “I’ll try
harder next time”.
People like to be around others that are happy
and positive. Nobody likes to be with a grumpy
person.
When you speak to others be positive and say
encouraging and thoughtful things. Don’t be
negative or mean.
Roster: Term 4
October
Thursday
16th
Friday
17th
Tuesday
21st
Wednesday 22nd
Thursday
23rd
Friday
24th
R Ralph
P Leslie, S Tyzack
P Dawe, K McDonald
SOMEONE NEEDED
2 SOMEONES NEEDED
H Taylor, S Tyzack
PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN ORDERING LUNCHES, THERE IS
A 10c CHARGE FOR THE PAPER BAG.
Hot Milo is only available with lunch orders not counter sales.
Anne McKnight
Canteen Manageress
MEPS SPORTS REPORT – October 15th:
Well done to the 22 Grade 3-6 students that competed in the Division Athletics Carnival last Thursday. A
huge congratulations to the following students that have progressed through to the Regional Athletics Championships this Thursday:
Tahlia Rowe – Triple Jump
Brodie Atkins – Hurdles
Lily Philpott – Hurdles
Jared McCann – 200 metres
Jasmine Jackson – Discus
Lachlan Breen – 100 metres & 800 metres
Paige Chuah – 800 metres and 1500 metres
If any of the above students finish first or second in their events they will qualify for the State Athletics
Championships – which would be a fantastic achievement!
Last Friday one of our Grade 3/4 Future Stars Hoop Time team competed in the Regional
Finals at Kilsyth. They were undefeated for the whole day and eventually won their final
22-0. Well done to Oscar McCallum, Sam Gai, Will Spencer, Zac Sposito, Charli Bromley,
Kayla Villarreal and Keely Stirling. They will now compete in the State Hoop Time finals at
Dandenong Basketball Stadium on the 27th of November.
It’s an exciting time of year with many of our students competing in various elite sporting competitions. We still have three other Hoop Time teams that will compete in Regional Finals and at
the end of November we are also sending 20 x Grade 5/6 boys and 20 x Grade 5/6 girls to
compete in the Easter Regional Lacrosse Championships. We also have the Grade 6 Interschool
Sport round robin day coming up on the 30th of October.
Finally – congratulations to those MEPS students that have recently been selected in representative basketball teams outside of school with the Kilsyth Cobras. And good luck to those that have their final
try-outs for the Ringwood Hawks this weekend!
Aaron Palmer, Sport/PE Teacher
2014 Melbourne Marathon
Congratulations to everyone
who participated in the 2014
Melbourne Marathon last
week-end in support of
CPEC.
Our very own Ariella is seen
(right) walking with her
friend, James and some of
our MEPS staff star in the
other photos.
CPEC (Cerebral Palsy Education
Centre) provides education and
support for people with Cerebral
Palsy and was one of the major
charities being supported by the
Melbourne Marathon.
Hi MEPS,
This month, I am taking part in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer! I will be pedalling throughout
October and my goal is to ride at least 10km or more.
Why am I doing this? Because cancer is the largest killer of children from disease in Australia – 3 children die
of cancer every week!
It will be tough, but nothing compared to what these kids face every day of their lives as they battle this terrible
disease. Kids should be living life, not fighting for it.
And so I am taking on this personal challenge to raise funds to give these kids the brighter futures they
deserve. But I need your help. Please sponsor me to support my challenge and join me to fight kids' cancer!
Simply follow the link below to view my personal fundraising page and make a donation:
http://greatcyclechallenge.com.au/Riders/BraydenCleary
All funds raised will support the Children's Medical Research Institute to continue their work in
developing treatments and finding a cure for childhood cancer.
Thank you for your support. Wish me luck! Brayden Cleary, 4J.
COMMUNITY NOTICES AND ADVERTISEMENTS
PLEASE NOTE: SUCH PUBLICATIONS DO NOT IMPLY SCHOOL ENDORSEMENT OF THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE
FETE SPONSORS
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO SPONSOR ONE OF OUR STALLS AT THE FETE. SEE
THE FETE NEWSLETTER WHICH WILL BE SENT HOME THIS WEEK.
MYM Ensemble Program 2015
Are you a talented musician aged 8-25? Join over 400 young musicians from around Victoria in Melbourne Youth Music’s
2015 Ensemble Program. Expand your music education, play engaging and varied repertoire and take part in unforgettable ensemble performances. Visit mym.org.au to find out more about our orchestral, string and band programs. Applications close 17 October 2014 so apply online today!