Welcome back to term 3!
Camp Action
How fortunate I was to spend three days of the last week of term two with our wonderful staff and Year 5 students at Falls Creek. This is the first time we have participated in a ski camp, and due to the fabulous organising abilities of both our staff, and the staff at Hailey’s Lodge a terrific experience was enjoyed by all.
To our great delight, snow began to fall as our bus arrived. We unpacked quickly and then had time for some snow play just outside the lodge. This experience will remain as a most positive memory for all of us particularly the snow ball fights and incredible Snow Folk!
All students managed the chair lifts and had a go at skiing or snowboarding, the instructors were so very positive, encouraging and supportive. Some of the gloves didn’t quite cut the cold – however we discovered that rubber gardening gloves were pretty good – at least the hands were not wet on the inside from cold snow, just warm perspiration!
Night two was also a wonderful opportunity for tobogganing, more snow ball fights and more snow folk creating!
Our second attempt up the mountain was hampered by bad weather, but we all managed to get off the mountain safely in very bitter conditions!
The food and accommodation was of a very high standard and all special needs were catered for.
I would like to thank the students for only loosing left hand gloves and being generally patient about getting their GEAR ON; and the staff who worked tirelessly to ensure everyone had a wonderful adventure.
This term the Year Two sleepovers at Scienceworks will be the major camping activity, hopefully with more sleep than in 2015 when they took over The Library/Hive.
Staffing
Welcome to Eric who is our new Maintenance Person, as Rob is on extended leave. Also Metta is our new Music teacher who will be working on Tuesday and Thursday.
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July |
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22 |
North Melbourne Athletics, Years 3-6 at Uni of Melbourne |
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25 |
Student Led Tours of the school |
9-10am |
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29 |
Senior Assembly-Athletics Presentations | 3.15pm |
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August |
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1 |
Emergency Evacuation Drill |
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| School Photos | ||
| 5 | Junior Assembly-Year 1 Presentation |
3.15pm |
Photo order forms (with online payment details) were handed to students yesterday Monday 18 July.
Family (sibling) photo order forms were also provided.
Please ensure your child is not late on the day.
“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.”
― Roald Dahl
Planning for 2016 Bookweek Celebrations are underway. This whole school event is always exciting with parades, displays and best of all lots of reading. We have copies of all the nominated titles so come along and take a look.
The Premiers’ Reading Challenge rolls on for 2016. Students in Foundation – Year 2 need to read and experience 30 books and students from Year 3-6 are required to read 15. Students who complete the Challenge will be able to take part in our Reading Challenge Party.
Jeannie Baker was born in England and studied art in Australia. Jeannie uses miniature collages to produce beautiful and meaningful books suitable for all ages. She uses both natural and artificial objects to produce her books. The images can take as little as a few days or many months to produce. This means she can only produce a complete book every 5 years. Many of her works are now part of a travelling exhibition. Her latest book is called Circle its focus is on the migratory pattern of the Godwit. This book takes the reader on an amazing visual journey across the world.
School Security
At the last School Council meeting, members considered the matter of gate locking and school security. Although the importance of keeping the school grounds secure was acknowledged, it was also noted that this must be balanced against the need to comply with emergency evacuation requirements. Both the Department of Education and the relevant emergency services recommend against keeping all gates locked during school hours.
The ideal is to minimise the number of gates left open during the day, so Council resolved to adopt a policy of gate locking based on this approach, and to distribute a map of the grounds to the wider school community, detailing which gates will be open. The map is provided at the start of this report.
21st Century Learning Presentation
School Council also enjoyed a fascinating presentation by Year 4 teacher, Anna-Marie Low, a member of the NMPS leadership team, concerning 21st Century Learning, and the New Pedagogies for Deeper Learning ideals that are being adopted as the new school curriculum is evolved and implemented.
This included an in-depth look at the ways in which the school is striving to teach the skills that will be needed by our children in the technologically transformed society of the near future, grounded in the latest evidence based pedagogies. Interested parents can read further at:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/Pages/deeplearning.aspx
http://www.hewlett.org/programs/education/deeper-learning
School Council Meeting on Enrolment Pressures
In the wake of recent media attention concerning the school’s enrolment pressures, Council also convened an extraordinary meeting, and the recommendations of that meeting were brought to the wider Council. The Council acknowledged that, while the imminent provision of new portable classrooms would alleviate immediate pressures, longer-term solutions are still required. To that extent, Council finalised a letter to the Minister, highlighting our situation and inviting him to visit the school to discuss our situation.
The best result for NMPS would be a new school in the inner North, and Council urges parents to continue to advocate for this, by writing to the minister and voicing your concerns. Contact details for James Merlino are:
Postal Address
MINISTERIAL OFFICE:
Level 3, 1 Treasury Place,
East Melbourne Vic 3002
GPO Box 4367,
Melbourne Vic 3001
Ministerial Address
Ministerial Office, GPO Box 4367, Melbourne Vic 3001
Ministerial Email: james.merlino@parliament.vic.gov.au
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Follow these how to instructions:
This school now has the ability to email family statements/invoices. Your statement will be emailed to the email address we have on file.
Statement of Intended Purpose
When you receive your statements/invoices online, the email and any attachments will be confidential and will be intended solely for the information of the individual to whom it is addressed.
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No, I do not agree to receiving my statements/invoices via email.
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We would like to share a sibling sporting success story with you all where 2 brothers have teamed up to compete and succeed in an event where they regularly play against kids years older than them and their team mates.
Recently Alex Connaughton 6C and Luca Connaughton 3B and their fellow Tennis World team members competed in the Grand Final of the Bayside Regional Tennis Association Section 12 Junior Sunday competition. This competition is open to junior players 17 years of age and under. Their team won the grand final 6 sets to 0. They also went through the 14 week season unbeaten and have since been promoted 3 levels up to section 9. During the season both Alex and Luca had more wins than losses in their doubles and singles matches and both played in the Grand Final.
Following on from this success, Luca has been selected to represent the Bayside Regional Tennis Association in their under 11's Junior Pennant team to compete against the other Melbourne Metro Regional Tennis Associations in the annual 12 week home and away competition.
It would be nice for Alex and Luca if this story is shared with the school through the newsletter. It demonstrates how individuals in the school achieve in their extra curricular activities and also demonstrates the diversity of success that the staff at NMPS always encourage.
