Staffing

We welcome Mrs Melissa Gibson to our school and she will be the classroom teacher in 34A for the remainder of the year. We would also like to welcome Mrs Janique Hankins to our school and she will be the classroom teacher for 12C on a Thursday and Friday. We farewelled Ms Dillon last week and wish her all the best in her new role at another school.

Parent Teacher Interviews

You will be able to make a booking for a Parent Teacher Interview from Wednesday 19^th June. You will be notified via Compass when the bookings are open and the Parent Teacher Interviews will take place on Wednesday 26^th June between 2:00pm and 6:30pm.

Ms Smith

We would like to congratulate Ms Smith who has achieved 40 years of service within the Department of Education. Monica’s milestone achievement was recognised at a recent official presentation. Her passion and contribution to the education of many students throughout the years, has been greatly appreciated.

Attendance on Compass

If your child is going to be away from school for any reason then please add an attendance note on Compass. You are able to add them in advance if you have appointments pre booked or on the day if your child is unwell. It is a DE requirement to have every student accounted for on each school day.

Foundation Enrolments

A reminder that if you have a younger child starting Foundation in 2025 then please complete an enrolment form and drop it into the office. Our next Foundation Experience session is on Wednesday 19^th June from 2:40-3:20pm.

Last Day of Term

The final day of Term 2 is Friday 28^th June and students will be dismissed at 2:30pm.

PFA Update

Let's give a big round of applause to our amazing Parent and Friends Association who have raised a total of $2,938.80 for our school so far this year. Here's the breakdown: $1,789.48 from the Easter raffle, $102 from hot cross buns sales, $352.45 during Harmony Day Recess, $78.33 from the Mother's Day stall, and $629.54 from the Mother's Day breakfast. Additionally, their support for charities has totaled $1,066.25, with $887.80 for the Biggest Morning Tea and $178.45 from A Day in May. Your contributions make a significant difference in our school community, and we want you to know how much you are appreciated. Thank you for all that you do!

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In the Spotlight

Hello Foundation families! 

The term is flying by!  Just a reminder that tomorrow is a school closure day and Monday is the King’s birthday public holiday.  We look forward to seeing you back on Tuesday.

The School Disco will take place next Friday, I am sure we have some very excited little dancers.  

Planning for next term has begun and we are looking at how things have changed and how things have stayed the same.  We will focus on schools and toys and therefore will be seeking some wonderful brave people who may like to come and share about what school was like for them or what toys they played with, maybe you still have some of those toys.  This will fit nicely with our 100 day celebration in week 3 or 4.  

Please find important reminders and helpful information below for the Foundation area: 

Reminders: 

Student Illness: 

Thank you to those who are supporting us with keeping their little ones home when they are unwell.  

School Disco: Friday 14th June 5:00 - 6:15, please return permission slips if you are wanting your child to attend.

More literacy tips: 

Thank you for your continued partnership with us in your child’s learning journey, here are a few more tips to support your child/children at home.

• Read together every day and read to your child every day. 
• Give everything a name. Build your child's vocabulary. 
• Tell your child how much you enjoy reading with him or her. ...
• Read with fun in your voice. 
• Know when to stop. 
• Be interactive, this may include using silly props or voices. 
• Read it again and again. 
• Talk about writing, too.

Mathematics Tips: 

Ask your child/ren to help you make dinner or baking with you, this supports hands on knowledge of measurement

Ask them things in the home like is this book or this jumper heavier?

Go on a shape hunt in the natural environment

Get children to assist you with sharing out items in the home, for example I have 8 cookies and there are 4 of us how many cookies each, get them to show you.

Continue searching for numbers in the everyday environment.

Staff Car Park:

We again respectfully ask that you please do not drive, walk and bike ride through the school staff car park, directly in front of the Foundation classrooms. This is to ensure the safety of our school community. Thank You for your understanding in this matter. 

Below are our current focus letters/sounds and words. Your child would greatly benefit from practising these at home!

Letters/Sounds: s,m,t,a,i,p,r,f,o,c,h,d

Vocabulary: lumpy, dare and tender 

Writing: reading fiction mentor texts and then using this as inspiration write a narrative with a beginning, middle and end. 

Maths: Children have enjoyed comparing items mass through using balance scales and hefting and discussing which item might be heavier or lighter.  

Thank you for reading our Foundation newsletter! 

 

 

 

 

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The end of term is fast approaching! Next Friday, June 14th, is our annual School Disco! Reply slips were due today. Please return on Monday if your child would like to attend, and you haven’t done so yet. It is always such a fun event and a great experience for the children.

Can we please ask that you email, phone, or come and chat with us in person if there are any important messages that your child’s teacher needs to know. Thank you.

Literacy:

In Year 1/2 we start each day (8:50-9:05) with students silently reading their take-home books. During this time, we read with two students each day and focus on decoding skills, expression, fluency, phrasing and comprehension. We also read with small groups of students four to five times a week during our InitiaLit sessions. As part of our InitiaLit program, we are continually assessing our students' reading ability, and this involves short
assessment tasks that are completed one-on-one with their InitiaLit teacher. These fabulous reading moments allow us to monitor and celebrate their reading achievements.
We welcome all parents to join us during this time (8:50-9:05 am)! Please ensure the school has a copy of your Working With Children Check and that you have signed in at the office before entering the classroom. Thank you so much!

Writing:

Self-reflect on our personal strengths and areas to improve on.

Students have been completing self-reflection on our wonderful and busy semester 1. They have been focusing on strengths, areas for improvement, their favourite subject, and who they enjoy playing with. Teachers will be transferring this information into their semester 1 report for you to read and enjoy! Students will shortly be bringing home their storybooks to share with you!

InitiaLit Year 1:

Tricky Words (sight words): two, three, four, why, house, because
Digraphs: ar (star), or (storm), ore (more)
Terminology: Adjectives, suffixes/plurals
Wow Words: gazed, peculiar, strolling

InitiaLit Year 2:

Trick Words (sight words): across, mother and brother
Digraphs/Trigraphs: Looking at base words and what a ‘prefix and suffix’ are and how they can change the meaning of words.
Grammar: Learning what a noun group is. (a group of words, relating to, or building on a noun)
Wow Words: Generous, Stumbled and Paced

Numeracy:

Recognise multiplication as repeated addition, groups and arrays.
Students have been introduced to their 2s, 5s and 10 times tables and have been practising them in our maths warm-ups. We have begun work on how multiplication can be rewritten as repeated addition, equal groups or as an array. We have been using our special think boards to show our thinking when breaking down multiplication number sentences. For example, breaking down the number sentence 3x5 = 15 to show 3 groups with 5 in each group, an array as 3 rows and 5 columns and repeated addition as 3+3+3+3+3 = 15.

Thank you for reading our newsletter and keeping up to date with what’s happening in Year 1/2. Stay warm and have a great long weekend

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Hello Middle School Families,

Thank you to everyone who supported our fundraising efforts last week with our Biggest Morning Tea and ‘A Day in May’ to support families who are affected by cancer. With a number of families within our school experiencing this disease head on, we are proud to have supported both the Cancer Council and Challenge.

In some exciting news this week, we would like to warmly welcome Mrs Melissa Gibson to our Middle School team. Joining us to teach 3/4A full time, Mel brings with her a wealth of both educational and life experience.

Mel is very much looking forward to meeting everyone over the coming days and weeks.

Welcome Mrs Gibson!

She writes:
Hello, I’m Mrs Gibson and I will be teaching 3/4A for the rest of this year. I am very excited to get to know everyone and learn more about Mentone Park Primary School. I previously worked at Parktone Primary School for over 10 years, teaching across all grades from Prep to Year 6. Before I studied to become a teacher, I worked as a graphic designer, and lived in Malaysia for eight years where my children grew up and went to primary school. I am married to Scott and have two daughters, Jessica (23 years old) and Samantha (24 years old).  We have just adopted a new blue Staffy puppy called Roy, who is 3 months old and very cute. I love to travel and explore new places with my family. We also enjoy swimming and in the warmer months we all participate in open water swimming races like the Lorne Pier to Pub. I love travelling, art, design and architecture, and would love to design my own house one day. I look forward to meeting you all!

 

The students enjoyed learning about shapes last week, building 3D shapes with sticks and blue tac. They are continuing this week with hands on learning tasks, investigating and measuring angles.

Reading - Make connections between a text and something that is occurring, or has occurred, in the world.

Writing -Write a procedural text using correct structure and verbs and editing with a focus on punctuation, spelling.

Maths – We are learning to compare and classify angles.

Inquiry - Research information about our chosen Australian state or territory.

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Weeks 8 and 9 are both short due to a Curriculum Day (Friday 7th) and the King's Birthday (Monday 10th), however there are still plenty of exciting things happening across the Senior School! Below are recent highlights from the fortnight or upcoming events and reminders to be aware of. We hope everyone has a safe and relaxing long weekend. Enjoy!

Recent/Upcoming Events:

• National Reconciliation Week - Over the last week we have acknowledged National Reconciliation Week (27th May-3rd June) and researched its significance and history. Students created flipbooks that collated key information/milestones along with ideas to continue honouring and fostering an inclusive Australia.
• Parvana - We are almost at the conclusion of our novel study for Term 2, ‘Parvana’ by Deborah Ellis, with only 2 chapters to go. The book has given students a fascinating insight into life in Afghanistan from the perspective of an 11 year old girl who is forced to become the breadwinner for her family. We hope in the coming weeks to watch the animated graphic novel version of this, however it will require permission as some scenes depict violence. Permission will be sent out on Compass shortly.
• Girls Footy Gala Day -  Late in June, our Senior School girls have the wonderful opportunity to participate in a Girls Footy Gala Day. This will be a round robin of mini AFL matches against other schools in our District. It would be amazing if we could enter a team this year as we haven’t had the numbers or female interest in years past. More information will be available on Compass and Qkr soon!
• Mixed Netball Team - This year Mentone Park is entering a mixed senior netball team into the Netball Victoria School Championships. Our team will compete with schools from around the state in a round robin competition across one school day in August. The top teams advance to the state championships with the final rounds played at the State Netball Centre in Parkville. After holding trials in the Senior School, the team has been announced. Congratulations to the following students:  Patrick, Pippa, Hazel, Amelia D, Skye, Isla, Annabel, Kenzie and Asha. All those who tried out for the team, but were unfortunately unsuccessful are still encouraged to participate as training partners during Thursday lunchtimes. 

Reminders:

• Disco - The Olympic themed school disco is coming up early next term. Please ensure permission slips are signed and returned as soon as possible.
• Winter Interschool Sport – The Winter season has almost come to an end, with only one more scheduled game. Win or lose, we are proud of everyone for having a go and encourage you to discuss with your child the importance of being a good sport.
• Homework - To ensure consistency and accountability among the Senior Students, homework will be handed out on a Monday and due the following week, on the Friday. This allows students 2 weeks to complete ALL tasks neatly and ensure that they are responsibly managing their time in preparation for Secondary School. Homework will be posted digitally to Google Classroom on a Monday to save printing, however students are required to complete the tasks by hand in their homework book so that we can correct them collaboratively on the due Friday. We have discussed the expectation of neatness and setting out, along with the importance of using a ruler, headings and subheadings. Tasks include spelling (our SMART spelling list is included as the first page), reading comprehension, grammar, number, measurement/geometry and/or statistics/probability & STEAM. Depending on their year level (5 or 6), all SMART spelling words in that list are to be written out 5 times across the 2 weeks. We do not recommend the students writing the list all in one night as it can cause them to repeat a spelling mistake. Nightly reading is encouraged (at least 4 nights a week) and should be recorded in their homework books. If you require a printed copy, please email your child's teacher.
• Health – Ensuring our students are happy and healthy is our number one priority. As you may be aware, we currently have a student and 2 parents in the Senior School who have either recently completed or are still undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Due to treatment, their immune systems are compromised, making them highly susceptible to infection and illness. In the event your child or a close contact of theirs is ill, we encourage you to please consider the following:

• Keep your child at home until recovered or advised by a health professional
• Inform the school of any contagious illnesses such as Covid or chickenpox
• Discuss the importance of personal hygiene and hand washing

Further information regarding infectious diseases and the recommended exclusion times can be found here at: https://www.health.vic.gov.au/infectious-diseases/school-exclusion-table#exclusion-periods-table

We appreciate all efforts to help keep everyone here at Mentone Park safe!

 

Reading: Identify details and information from a different social, cultural and historical context. We continue using the text ‘Parvana’, to achieve this.

Writing: Create informative texts directly linked to our inquiry topic. This time focussing on structuring Newspaper Reports.

Maths: Strengthen our ability to divide and to solve problems requiring sharing.

Inquiry: Identify countries and geographical features of Asia.

Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships (Wellbeing): Recognising positive, negative & mixed emotions.

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Foundation	Kate W
	Bailey J
Grade 1 & 2	Annabelle H
	Sofiia C
	Billie H
	Scarlett M
	Zara S
Grade 3 & 4	Maisie D
	Macie M
Grade 5 & 6	Annabel A
STEAM	Aston O
Art	Indigo L
Auslan	Indigo L
PE	Mackenzie O

Foundation	Arlo JVW
	Cara K
Grade 1 & 2	Eddie W
	Tyler B
Grade 3 & 4	Henry B
	Tate F
Grade 5 & 6	Aston L
STEAM	Hutch G
Art	Billie Halder

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Fri 7th June	Student-Free Day
Mon 10th June	Monarch's Birthday
Fri 14th June	School Disco
Fri 28th June	Last Day of Term 2
Mon 15th July	First Day of Term 3

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