May - Mackellar Primary School

Mackellar Primary School
29-35 Goldsmith Ave, Delahey Vic 3037
Ph: 03 9364 0200 Fax: 9364 0644
Email: mackellar.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Website: www.mackellarps.vic.edu.au
Weekly Newsletter—19th May, 2016
Principal’s Message
3-6 Athletics Carnival
Congratulations to our amazing 3-6 students who participated in our Athletics Carnival at Moonee
Valley Athletics Track yesterday. I saw so many happy faces participating in the day and challenging
themselves during the activities. The staff and parent participation was also outstanding and I
would like to thank all the parents who attended and supported students on the day. A special
thanks to Matthew Karipoglou our PE teacher who organised the event.
th
Last Friday, 13 May, Mandy Donley who is the Department of Heath and Human ServicesPrincipal Practice Leader for Education. Mandy visits schools to look into and advise inclusive
practices. Mandy spent time touring the school and was very impressed by what she saw. She was
toured through classrooms while the students were working and gave us feedback regarding the
inclusive nature of the school facility and staff. She complemented the school on the programs that
we run for all students and the inclusive way we operate.
What’s happening this term in Year 4
READING
During Term 2, Grade 4 students have been learning how to make predictions before, during and
after reading using our prior knowledge, skimming, scanning and text clues. We learnt how to
clarifying new words and phrases and construct new understandings based on questioning
techniques learnt throughout Term 1.
For the later part of the Term we will be looking at character inferences through text and media
based on actions and dialogue. We will be inferring and learning the meanings of symbols that we
see in our everyday lives and advertising on TV and billboards. Building on from that we will study
the authors message looking at what the intent is.
WRITING
During Term 2, Grade 4 students have been writing to entertain. Mainly we have looked at the
structure of narratives, sizzling starts, descriptive language, verbs, adverbs and metaphors and
similes etc. The students are beginning to write their stories based on the above.
NUMERACY
Grade 4 students have been using the iPad as a tool to learn new concepts in addition,
multiplication, measurement and chance.
INQUIRY
Grade 4 students have been looking at Australian History, in particular, early discoveries, first
contact and the first fleet. We visited the Melbourne Museum on Wednesday 11 th May to see the
Bunjilaka Exhibition. Students explored the Bunjilaka First Peoples Exhibition, which took students’
throughout the voices and languages of Australia’s Koorie community. It told the story of boriginal
Victoria from the time of Creation to today. This major exhibition celebrates the history, culture,
achievements and survival of Victoria’s Aboriginal people.
Upcoming
Events
May
25th – Prep Fairy Park
Excursion
31st - Grade 6
Writer Workshop Incursion
June
1st — Grade 1 and 2
Yarrabee Excursion
8th- 10th Grade3/4 Camp,
Mt Evelyn
13th— Queen’s Birthday
Public Holiday
School Closed
14th— Curriculum Day
SCHOOL CLOSED
Term Dates,
2016
Term 1- Jan 28 – March 24
Term 2 - April 11 – Jun 24
Term 3 - July 11 – Sept 16
Term 4 – Oct 3 – Dec 20
Principal’s Message cont…
Meet the Teacher
Gabrielle O’Meara is the only teaching staff member who has been at Mackellar ever since it
opened in 1991. She fondly recalls the open and sweeping plains and the view of Mt Macedon
that could be observed from the school in those early years. Over the past 25 years Gabrielle
has seen may students develop into adults and has taught different generations of the Mackellar
community. She is a passionate teacher who has taught from grade 3 into Prep. Gabrielle is a
member of the Numeracy Strategic team and continues to contribute to
developing the curriculum to improve student outcomes.
At home Gabrielle enjoys spending time with her dog Millie, watching TV and playing games on her iPad. If
you see Gabrielle around the school be sure to say hello.
Grade 1 and 2 – Yarrabee
‘Yesterday’s World’ Excursion
Wednesday 1 June 2016
Whilst at Yarrabee the students will take part in a variety
of tasks that children in the ‘olden days’ would have had
to complete each day. As part of this experience, students are asked to come dressed in clothes that children
wore in the ‘olden days’. Teachers will be discussing this
with students in the lead up to the excursion.
Grade 6 Writer’s Workshop and Author Visit
Tuesday 31 May 2016
We have organised for author Cameron Stelzer to
visit Mackellar for the whole day to run a series of
Hands-on creative writing activities for our Grade 6
students.
Date:
Tuesday 31 May 2016.
Cost:
st
Date: Wednesday June 1 2016.
Cost:
$ 28.00 -Only if you have not paid the
‘School Activity Levy.’
Payment Due By:
$ 8.00 –Only if you have
not paid the ‘School Activity Levy.’
Friday 27th May 2016.
Payment Due By: Friday 27th May 2016.
Leaving the school at:
9:15am
Returning to school by: 2:30pm
PARENT MORNING TEA
Sincere thanks to our parents and carers for attending our
morning tea this week. It was such a pleasure meeting more
parents and grandparents, and introducing myself as Mackellar’s Primary Welfare Officer.
Privacy Awareness
Week
15-21 May
PLEASE COME ALONG TO OUR NEXT
MORNING TEA
DATE: Monday 6th June
TIME: 9.30am to 10.00am (after assembly)
LOCATION: Room 8
We hope that you are able to join us!
What sort of personal information are you willing to
share online? Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) is
celebrated on 15–21 May. In Australia PAW is run by
the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
and aims to highlight the importance of keeping our
personal information private.
Students of the Week
Congratulations to our Students of the Week!
Jesse Chartomatsidis, Cindy Nguyen, Lilyanie Medina, Wilson Le, Karvin Xiang,
Ben Lim, Haris Hot, Aiden Warren, Hannah Carthew, Olivia Underwood,
Jordan Logogalu, Andre Medina, Marcus Scarfo, Kamal Pothireddy, Ivan Tran &
Sasha Nguyen.
PEER MEDIATORS 2016
On Monday, twenty-five students from Grades 5 and 6, met with me for a day of training to become peer
mediators. Students were trained in conflict resolution strategies so that they can support students in the
playground to resolve difficulities which arise.
I am extremely proud of all students who completed the training as they showed empathy, active listening
skills and a strong desire to help others.
Grade 5 Peer Mediators
Jasmine Le-Nasser, Aleksandar Avramovski, Aleyna Aydinli, Patrick Lim, Lara Paneva, Teona
Dimitrijevska, Daisy Mizzi, Nathan Yang, Cindy Nguyen, Steven Natoli, Oscar Do & Trinity Mai
Grade 6 Peer Mediators
Lilyanie Medina, Ashnoor Kaur, Rebecca Scherer, Remi Fogg, Jaiden Sam, Antonio Dojkovski,
Sharleen Hossain, Emili Koneska, Meera Shah, Laian Koubar, Natasha Stojankovska,
Melissa Jong & Michael Stevoski
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES
Delahey Community Centre: www.delahey.org.au
Kids Help Line: 1800 55 1800
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Parentline: 13 22 89 Website: www.parentline.vic.gov.au
Care Ring: 24 hour counselling service 13 61 69
Relationships Australia: 8311 9222
Gamblers Help: 1800 858 858
Depression – you’re not alone - Website: www.beyondblue.org.au
Phone: 1300 22 4636
Mensline: 1300 789 978
Nurse-On-Call: 1300 606 024
Victorian Poisons Information Centre: 131 126
School Dental Service 1300 360 054
Women’s Domestic Violence: 9322 3555 or 1800 015 188