Dear MPPS Families,

Our school continues to be a calm and a happy place for our students, thanks to the incredible space we have at Mentone Park Primary School. We have plenty of room for our students to play their favorite sports ( soccer, basketball, netball, afl), along with our beautiful Indigenous garden and our junior & senior playgrounds. I have enjoyed kicking the football with students at lunchtimes, playing basketball and being asked by several junior school students to see their tricks on the money bars! 

I am pleased to share with you, on our recent student free day last Monday 12^th August, our teaching staff engaged in a series of professional learning sessions focused on enhancing our instructional practices. These sessions have been specifically designed to strengthen our use of learning routines and explicit teaching strategies across all classrooms.  These professional learning opportunities are part of our ongoing commitment to school improvement. By implementing consistent teaching practices across the school, we aim to create a more cohesive and effective learning environment for all our students.

Your child will benefit from a more structured and supportive learning experience. With the use of clear routines and explicit teaching methods, we are ensuring that every student can access the curriculum, understand expectations, and achieve their best. These practices also help us to better track student progress and provide targeted support where needed.

I would like to congratulate Jordy (Grade 6) who has been selected in the Victorian Primary School Softball team, this is an outstanding achievement. Jordy is a very talented Baseball player and has been able to switch codes and will represent Victoria in the National Champions in Cairns in October. Good luck, Jordy. We wish you and your family a wonderful time.

Thank you to all parents/carers for their efforts with the costumes for their child/ren for Book Week on Thursday. Our students all looked so amazing in their costumes, and the parade was a highlight of our week at MPPS! Each lunchtime our very dedicated teachers read their own favourite story to our whole school while they ate their lunch. This is another example of what a wonderful school community we have at MPPS.

Have a lovely weekend,

Leisa Higgins   

In the Spotlight 

Hello Foundation families! 

Welcome to the second half of Term 3!  What a term we are having, it is flying by. This week we have enjoyed celebrating the Potato Olympics, where there were many fabulous performances by our Potato Olympians. We measured how our Olympians could roll, how long they could spin for and timed how fast we could run with our Potato under our chin. We also loved our Book Week activities, particularly Daily Whole School reading by a different teacher each day and the Dress Up Parade where the children looked amazing dressed up as their favourite characters. 

Last week we had a great day at RipponLea Estate as part of our Unit of Inquiry, focusing on History. The students explored the mansion's rich past, guided by maids in period costumes, and experienced life as both the wealthy Sargood family and their servants. The students engaged in tasks like ironing, washing clothes and shoe-shining, gaining a new appreciation for modern conveniences. They also explored the estate's magnificent gardens, ran through orchards, peeked into the stables, danced around the pool deck, wandered through an exotic fernery, and played traditional 19th-century games like Croquet and sack races. This immersive experience brought history to life and enriched their understanding of the 19th century.

General Reminders: 

Daily Reading Helpers: 

This Term we have made a slight change to reading with parent helpers, due to a timetable change. We now warmly welcome grandparents/parents to come in from 8:50 - 9:05am each day to read with individual students from your child’s class. The importance of reading for children cannot be underestimated. Reading can benefit a child’s education, social and cognitive development, their wellbeing, and their mental health. Some children take to reading and some struggle, for lots of different reasons. A little extra help can make all the difference to a child by helping them to learn to love reading and reach their potential. Please ensure you are signing in at the office and have an up-to-date WWCC that is provided to Jen in the office. 

Arriving At School on Time: 

All children arriving at school after 9am must be signed in by a parent/guardian at the Office according to the following procedure. Sign your child in via the tablet at the office and please take your child to their classroom. Please be mindful that the late arrival of students inhibits the beginning of a productive morning at school for the entire class. This is due to having to take the time to repeat instructions to students that have arrived late, therefore the children that have arrived at school on time, lose valuable lesson time. Please help us to keep the lessons on track, by ensuring your child is not late to school. If you do not enter an attendance note advising us that your child will be late and your child arrives at school after 9:30 am, you will receive an ‘Attendance Notification: Student Unaccounted For’ email asking you to enter an approval note on Compass.

Independence: 

As we are nearly approaching the end of Term 3, it is important that you are dropping off your child at our class line outside and allowing them to unpack their bag independently. Ensuring you say goodbye to your child outside and allowing them to walk in with their class promotes valuable independence skills for your child. We will support your child as they unpack their bag and undertake any other morning tasks. Unpacking their own bag and sorting their belongings is a highly valuable part of your child’s development and your support in this area is greatly appreciated.

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

Letters/Sounds: f, r, w, a, e, i, o, u, ck

Vocabulary: Pounding, twirling and gleaming

Writing: This fortnight we have been focusing on Narrative writing and have even published a book to read to our buddies.

Maths: We have been looking at Australian Money and ordering coins and dollars from smallest to largest. 

Thank you for reading our Foundation Newsletter! 

We are over the halfway point of term 3, and it’s flying by! We had our excursion to Rippon Lea this Monday where we explored the rich history of the estate and what it was like to live over 150 years ago. Students had a tour of the mansion exploring the different rooms that the family and servants lived and worked in. They were also able to get a taste of what a servant's job was like and what kind of tools and equipment they used. We got to enjoy playing old-fashioned games from croquet to drop the hankey and finally, we were able to explore the incredible grounds and go on a scavenger hunt to collect rubbings on our map of all the different creatures that lived on the grounds. It was a fabulous day! A BIG thank you to our parent helpers, we couldn’t have done it without you! Much appreciated!

We have our performing arts program STOMP running until the end of term, with a performance to be held on the last day of Term 3.

.  General Reminders:

• Students are to bring their black reading pockets and reading diaries to school with them every day, signed by a family member. We’ve noticed a decline in diaries being brought to school and we strongly encourage nightly home reading as this is an essential part of their reading development.
• 1/2A and 1/2C attend the library on Tuesdays and 1/2B on Fridays

Book Fair: Thank you to everyone who made a purchase at the Book Fair, it was such a fantastic turnout! It was wonderful to see so many excited students with their books and goodies. All money raised will go towards the school. Thank you!

Book Week: To celebrate book week, each child has produced a storybook. The students have worked so hard to plan, draft, and publish these fabulous books. The Year 1/2 students will share these with the Year 3/4 students today. It was the perfect way to make connections with students from different year levels. We hope your child/ren enjoyed dressing up for Book Week. They looked fantastic and it was such a fun day!

Literacy: Our InitiaLit sessions include daily use of student whiteboards to practice the explicit skills being taught each day. We are now implementing whole-school consistent language when using these whiteboards: Park it, Chin it, and Wipe it. Ask your child what these terms mean. 

InitiaLit Year 1:

Tricky Words (sight words): about, ask, our

Split Digraphs: aw (claw), au (launch)

InitiaLit Year 2:

Trick Words (sight words): decided, were, know

Digraphs/Trigraphs: Silent letters ‘k’ like knee, ‘b’ like lamb and ‘w’ like wrap

Grammar: Adverbs and Prepositions

Writing:

Create a narrative storybook!

Students are hard at work drafting and publishing their narratives to be turned into a storybook for book week! We have focused on ‘banning the boring’ and following the pebble, rock, and boulder format for developing an interesting problem in our stories to engage the reader. We start with a small problem (pebble) that leads to a larger problem (rock) which then unveils the big problem of the story, following this up with an exciting way to resolve the problem and end our story.

Numeracy:

Identify fractions, what is a half, a quarter, and an eighth, and what is a half and a quarter of a collection of items

Solve addition sums using the strategy, Make to 10

The students have been completing fraction activities to find a half, quarter, and eighth of an object. We then used hands-on materials to make a half and a quarter of a group, with a focus on making equal groups and using colours to show one-half or one-quarter.

This week we have begun our unit on addition. We have explicitly taught the strategy ‘Make to 10’ using counters and ten frames. The students are putting into practice their ability to split a number into two parts e.g. 7 is made up of 3 and 4, 6 and 1 and 5 and 2, to correctly use this very useful strategy. 

Thank you for reading our newsletter and keeping up to date with what’s happening in Year  1/2.

Hello Middle School families,

The 3/4s have been busy over the last two weeks, and are getting ready for a number of exciting events coming up over the remainder of Term 3! The students enjoyed participating in Book Week this week, dressing up as their favourite characters for the parade on Thursday, exploring the Book Fair, and sitting down for a whole-school storytime while eating lunch each day. 

In Literacy, we have also just finished reading our current class novel ‘Storm Boy’, as well as researching, drafting and publishing an information text on an Olympic sport. We have seen a great improvement in students’ research skills over the term! In Maths, we have been focusing on fractions, decimals and money, and exploring the connection between each of them. 

Reminders

Reading diaries
Please remind your child to complete their spelling book homework and reading logs and to bring them to school with them every Friday. We’ve noticed a decline in homework being handed in. Reading regularly builds language skills, vocabulary and comprehension skills, so we strongly encourage all students to read every day and write 2–3 detailed reflections in their reading diary each week.

Labelling personal items
We have been finding a lot of unlabelled lunch containers, drink bottles, jumpers and hats jumpers around the classrooms and playground lately. Please ensure personal items are labelled so that they can be clearly identified and returned. This is a great reminder to also make sure everything is labelled ready for camp!

Living Culture
Living Culture will be visiting us next Tuesday 27th of August. They will be sharing insight and understanding about Indigenous culture. Students will be encouraged to delve into the teachings of this ancient culture and consider the cultural environment of the present day. Living Culture will be educating us about Traditional Bush Tucker & Medicines, then presenting some Indigenous artefacts. Please provide consent on Compass and payment of $8 on Qkr by 23rd of August.

Stomp
Year 3/4 had an amazing first session with Keira from Stomp last Friday – we have some very talented dancers in our cohort! We are looking forward to our practice sessions which culminate in a whole school performance before assembly on the last day of term! More details will be coming soon.

Camp
We have begun the final countdown to our Sovereign Hill camp! We have started meeting to answer any questions students have, and have collected preferences for room buddies. The rooms have 7-10 bunks so we are sure everyone will be sharing with at least one friend. Please note that students will need to pack one main bag, which will be stored under the bus, and a small daypack that students will take on the bus containing their recess snack and lunch for the first day. Students need to be able to carry their bags from the bus to their rooms by themselves. 

If you have indicated that your child will be taking medication on camp, please bring back the separate medication authority form on the morning of camp and give it to Mrs Gibson together with the medication. 

Reading - Finish reading and responding to our class novel ‘Storm Boy’.

Writing - Write my report about an Olympic Sport for Book Week.

Maths - Be able to count Australian notes and coins and calculate change.

Inquiry - Investigate Pemulwuy, a First Nations person who tried to resist the take over of land.

It’s all happening up here in the Senior School! Camp is almost upon us, so please read the reminders listed below to ensure a smooth start to camp!

Recent/Upcoming Events:

• Book Fair/Parade - A huge congratulations to all of Senior School for their enthusiasm throughout Book Week. Seeing everyone’s efforts into dressing up as a well known book character was phenomenal. We have been working hard this week to edit and publish our own informative booklets to share with some Junior grades, filled with fun facts about all things Olympic Games. Well done to Ebony in Year 5, who won a Book Fair voucher for her wonderful poster celebrating the theme, ‘Reading is Magic!’ 
• District Basketball Gala Day - We have a very eager mixed squad of 17 students travelling to Parkdale Secondary next Monday the 26th, to compete in the District Basketball Gala Day. They will be competing in a round robin tournament, supported by Mrs Blom. We wish them the best of luck!
• Camp - This time next week we’ll be having lots of fun at Waratah Beach Camp! We have been meeting and answering excited student queries to help them feel more at ease as they prepare for camp. Please click here to view the packing list for camp (this is the edited version that was sent home in your original pack)
  • Bedding: It is camp policy that all students bring their own single fitted sheet and pillow to maintain the highest standard of hygiene.
  • Medication: If you have been given a Medication Authority Form, please hand this to Gail Pratt, along with the medication in a named and sealed bag/container, on the morning of camp. Do not pack it in their travel bags. Gail will be set up in the Chill Out Zone for parents to drop off medication on the morning we leave.
  • Departure: The bus will be departing the school from the front of the school on Broome Ave. at 9am sharp. We will have a designated area set up for students to come and check in with us and drop their luggage. Please be at school by 8:30am.
  • Luggage: When packing luggage, please ensure your child is able to carry it themselves and that all items (including sleeping bags) are labelled. 
  • Lunch: Students will need to have their own snack, lunch and drink bottle packed in a small backpack for the first day only. We will be stopping off in Korumburra to eat before arriving at camp. Please do not pack extra sweets with your child as the camp does not allow food in the rooms and we have already factored in our own extra treats for them!

Reminders:

• STOMP -  As part of our Performing Arts curriculum, we have partnered with STOMP to present a whole school dance spectacular on the final Friday of Term 3 (20th of September - more info to come). After an enthusiastic start last week, our Senior students are pumped to participate again! As we will be on Camp in Week 7, the session that we miss will be made up at a later date.
• Living Culture - Year 3-6 will be having a visit from Living Culture on Tuesday 27th of August, an Indigenous led organisation based on the Mornington Peninsula, that specialises in educational visits, cultural talks and workshops for schools. They will be sharing insight and understanding about Indigenous culture which links into our Inquiry units. Students will be encouraged to delve into the teachings of this ancient culture and consider the cultural environment of the present day. Living Culture will be educating us about Traditional Bush Tucker & Medicines, then presenting some Indigenous artefacts. Please provide consent on Compass and payment of $8 on Qkr by 23rd of August.
• 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: Reflecting on the social, cultural and historical context of our novel, ‘Boy Overboard’.

Writing: Planning and researching informative texts about the history of the Ancient Olympics, Modern Olympics & Paralympics.

PhOrMeS: Read, spell and define words with the Latin morpheme ‘rupt’, meaning break or burst.

Maths: Multiply and divide decimals using knowledge of place value in a base-10 system.

Inquiry: Identify and explore issues that caused problems for people living in 20th-century Australia.

Banqer: Explore how students can earn an income within the classroom and relate this to the real world.

Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships (Wellbeing): Reflect on the challenges of carrying out choices in social situations.