Macedon Primary School Newsletter

18 August 2021

School Values: Respect, Responsibility, Creativity, Integrity, Teamwork

Principals Report

Dear parents,

The ongoing nature of the current COVID outbreak in Victoria has meant that a number of school events have had to be cancelled this week.  We are currently not allowed to complete the Year 1 and Year 2 swimming,  the Year 3-6 IMAX excursion has been postponed and the school disco has been postponed for now.  We hope to re-schedule these events for later this year if the restrictions allow.

School Photo Day, new date 16th September.

We have rescheduled our whole school photo day to the 16th September, due to the current restrictions. 

Parent Survey

You will all have received an email from the school with our unique school survey link last Friday.  I understand that we all suffer from survey fatigue in our modern lives.  I don’t want to pretend that finding the time for these surveys is easy but I do want you to know that we take the results seriously and they help inform our plans and programs for the future.  It is always a good check-in point for us each year and the results inform the success we’re having against our school strategic goals. 

International Competitions and Assessments for Schools – (ICAS) – University of NSW testing

The annual ICAS assessment period is approaching and parents and carers of students from Year 3 to Year 6 may register their children to sit a range of assessments to challenge their children.  This is an opt in and pay as you go program and the assessments will be run before school between 8am and 9am in October by myself.  Please follow the link below to register your child’s interest.  Registrations close on September 19.  The participating students receive certificates for participation and the various levels of success which will be presented at assembly in celebration of our students who strive for academic success. The link is https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps the school code is: FQS757

In last weeks newsletter have provided a range of services available to parents and students for a range of mental health support.  I have put these numbers in again this week as I feel it is important to know there is help available. Please feel free to reach out and contact us about any concerns that you have.  Often, myself or your child’s classroom teacher will be a good place to start for support.

Private Counselling at Macedon PS – Heidi

Children may need the guidance of a counsellor to help them deal with anxiety, friendship issues, behaviour issues, grief, or many other reasons. The form on our website contains the steps that you need to take to start your child with Ms Heidi Winchester who visits the school regularly to consult with students.  Please read the information at the link below and then see me if you have any questions, or need help to fill in any of the forms.

https://macedonps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MPS-Intake-forms-and-information-final.pdf

TWEENS – Macedon Ranges Health - Gisborne

TWEENS is a referral service for students in the senior years of primary schooling (5 & 6) who are struggling with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.  

The TWEENS Clinic can have your student seeing their doctor within days and an appointment made with a psychologist or counsellor within 2-3 weeks. We are supported by Louise Beer, a registered nurse.  Please note that children on a mental health plans can only be linked in with one counsellor at a time, not multiple counsellors.

Parentline – 13 22 89

Parentline is a phone service for parents and carers of children from birth to 18 years old. They offer confidential and anonymous counselling and support on parenting issues. https://services.dffh.vic.gov.au/parentline

The qualified counsellors are available to:

·         talk about any issues to do with parenting and your relationships with your child

·         help you with ways to cope and be a positive parent

·         help with your family's wellbeing and resilience

·         connect you with services in your area.

Some reasons to ring Parentline

·         child behaviour and development

·         parent / carer child relationships

·         education

·         bullying

·         living with teenagers

·         family violence

·         family breakdown

·         parental stress and anonymous counselling and support on parenting issues.

Triple P Online Program

​The Triple P Online program has resources specifically on parenting during coronavirus (COVID-19). 

The COVID-19 Module includes information on:  

  • how to answer questions your children may have 
  • the importance of sticking to usual routines during the pandemic, and  
  • the importance of looking after yourself so you can better care for your children. 

To find out more, visit Triple P Online and select your child’s age range to register.  Triple P Online is free for all Victorian Health Care Card holders.

For parents of student with a disability - Strengthening Parent Support Program

The Strengthening Parent Support Program is for parents and carers with a child from birth to 18 years with a disability or developmental delay.

This free program assists parents to connect with other families and local community through:

  • Peer support groups
  • Education or information sessions
  • Individual support from a qualified coordinator.

To find out what Strengthening Parent Support Program services are available in your area and how you can access these, please contact a provider close to where you live.  These are the two closest providers to Macedon.

RIAC

122 Queen Street Bendigo VIC 3550

0491 203 955

Mackillop

118 Commercial Road Footscray VIC 3011

03 9680 8444

 

Finally, please don’t hesitate to call and we can support you to get the supports in place for your child.

 

Sampai jumpa (until next time)

 

Matt Forrest

Principal

Qr Codes / Facemasks

Face masks at schools

Children under 12 years of age and students at primary school are not required to wear face masks while at school (or when attending an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) program).

For communication purposes, teachers and education support staff are not required to wear face masks while teaching.

All other staff and visitors must wear a face mask at all times, unless a lawful exception applies

Visitors and parents must observe indoor face mask requirements. Face masks continue to be worn outside at all times.

QR Codes

The use of Service Victoria QR codes for electronic record keeping is now mandatory in all schools to enable the effective contract tracing of any COVID-19 cases.

QR Code check in are required to be used by:

  • All visitors on school site (including contractors, external Department staff and building maintenance staff)
  • All parents who enter school building when on school site.

QR code check ins are not required to be used by parents who come onto school grounds for drop off or pick up, but do not enter buildings.

Please be reminded that:

Existing sign in and out process should continue to be used to record visitor attendance, therefore visitors still need to use the visitors book at the office, for legal and regulatory obligations.

Important Dates

12 August - District Athletics - postponed, new date TBC

20 August - Glow in the dark dance night (postponed to term 4)

23 August -  Year 3 - 6 IMAX Excursion - Postponed

23 August - Yr 1 & 2 - Swimming Program - Postponed

26 August - Book parade (Thursday morning)

10 September - Foundation - Yr 2 Zoo Excursion

10 September - Winter Solstice Evening; 5:30pm-7:30pm 

16 September  - Whole School Photo Day (please note new date)

17 September - Last day of Term 3 (2:30 dismissal)

TERM 4:

5 October - First Day of Term 4

13 October - 15 October - Grade 3/4 Camp Weekaway

25 October - 29 October - Grade 5/6 Cape Bridgewater Camp

2 November - Melbourne Cup public holiday (school closed)

17 December - Last day of year (1:30pm dismissal)

From the Office

Absent Notifications

If your child is late or absent from school without explanation from parents, an SMS will be sent to Adult A at around 10:15am. Please respond to the SMS promptly. Please note the following: 

If your child is LATE FOR SCHOOL, a parent must accompany the child to the office when you arrive, sign your child in the Early Leavers/Late Arrival book and take a “Late Pass” for your child to hand to their teacher. Rolls are marked promptly at 9am. If the music has finished and your child is not yet in class, they have probably missed the roll.

If your child will be ABSENT FROM SCHOOL, we ask that you either:

  • Log onto Skoolbag and record the absence
  • Phone the school on 5426 1518 and leave a message on the absence voicemail; or
  • Send an email to the school’s email address; macedon.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Please make sure you leave a reason for the absence so we can record these accurately to the Department of Education

Emailing the class teacher as the only means of absence notification is discouraged.  Please email the teacher to provide further information if necessary but also advise the school office by using one of the options above, as teachers aren’t always able to check emails prior to the SMS being sent out.

If you need to take your child EARLY FROM SCHOOL we ask that you:

  • come to the office to sign your child out, we will then arrange for your child to meet you at the office. Please do not go to the classrooms.

Where possible, parents should inform the school in advance of upcoming absences.

To ensure a child's education and wellbeing are supported, parents are encouraged to communicate openly with the school where a child has an ongoing medical condition that may result in ongoing absences or medical appointments during school hours.

Wet weather clothing

Please pack an extra set of clothing (particularly socks) for your child during the Winter months. We try to get outside to play if the weather permits and sometimes extra clean clothes are required - even for the older students.

Enrolments and students leaving in 2021

We are now accepting new enrolments for Foundation students in 2022. If you have a child or know someone with a child that is wanting to enrol at Macedon Primary next year, please return your forms to the office. A link to the form is available here 2022 Enrolment Form

Alternatively, if you child is leaving Macedon Primary at the end of this year (not including year 6 students), can you please let us know, so we can start planning for next year.

Thanks,

Julie  and Emma

We want our parents/caregivers/guardians to tell us what they think!

All Macedon PS families have been invited to participate in the 2021 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey (previously known as the Parent Opinion Survey) this year.  Results will be used to inform and direct our future school planning and improvement and are also used as measures of our success against our school’s strategic plan.

 We ask you to please take the time to complete the survey as your opinions are important to us and will contribute to the future management and organisation of our school.

The survey will be conducted online and should take 20 minutes to complete.

The survey can be completed on any internet enabled device (iPad, Desktop or Laptop, Smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.

The survey will be open from Friday 13th August to Friday 3rd September.

Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential. The survey is conducted anonymously, and it is important to us that you complete the survey as honestly as possible.

 Please follow the instructions below to complete the survey. NOTE: Only one parent/caregiver/guardian from your family is invited to complete the survey.

 

To complete the survey, simply:

1.       Click on the link below, or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to the survey.

https://www.orima.com.au/parent

2.       Select the School and Campus name below.

        Macedon Primary School

3.       Enter the School PIN below.

(the school pin was sent to you in an email on Friday the 13th, please contact the office if you have not received this email.)

 4.       When complete, please click on the tick button at the end of the survey to submit your answers. Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity.

Thank you for taking the time to participate. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Questions?

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any general queries about the survey. For specific technical or participation-related queries, you may also contact the Department or the supplier administering the survey, ORIMA Research.

¨       Should you have any technical queries regarding the Parent Opinion Survey, please do not hesitate to contact ORIMA Research on 1800 654 585 (toll free), or by email: pos@orima.com

¨       Should you have any participation or survey-related queries, please contact the School, or the Department by email: parentopinion.survey@education.vic.gov.au.

 

Student Achievement Awards

Due to current COVID19 restrictions, we are unable to hold whole assemblies, however, the following children will receive these awards on Friday afternoon.

F/1TT - Seb L - For a terrific effort with his directed drawings.

F/1MS- Isabella M - For being kind and considerate towards others.

1/2KB - Isla F-S - For being much more confident in contributing in class discussions.

1/2KB - Ruby F - For improvement in all aspects of her learning.

1/2KB - Clio F - For always being a happy and positive class member.

2RG - Bella D - For outstanding work in mathematics.

2RG - Indi M - For wonderful problem solving skills (division)

2RG - Maggie M - For great work in mathematics!

3VW - Kai F - For a great information report using Book Creator.

3VW - Estee F - For fantastic effort with division in math.

6AB - Kody S - For excellent behaviour and awesome writing.

6AB - Jasper R - For excellent work ethic and responsibility.

Visual Art - Evie Mc (4CS)- For innovative thinking in visual art.

Visual Art - Jessica B (5/6SK)- For positivity and focus in Visual Art.

School Photos - New Date - 16th September

School photos have been re-scheduled to take place on the 16th of September. 

Each student must have their own personalised separate envelope.

If anyone would like a family photograph, we have separate family envelopes available at the office.

Spare envelopes are also available if you misplace your envelope.

Please make sure your child is in correct school uniform on photo day, if you need to purchase new uniform, the uniform shop is now through Beleza, in Gisborne or at www.beleza.com.au


2021 ICAS Exams

ICAS is open to all students in Yr 3 - 6 to gain a measure of their own achievement in an external situation. This year we are offering English and Mathematic assessments.

The assessments will commence at 8am. with the test time ranging from 30- 60 mins.

PAYMENT: $17.05 per test per child.

Parents need to pay directly using the following link and code- by the STRICT cut-off date of 19th of September.

The parent access page address is: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Code: FQS757


Outside School Hours Care

IMPORTANT: Before and After School Care Bookings. Please read!

Spaces are filling up for OSHC.  Most spaces are taken up by permanent bookings and we are unable to book casuals in (they will have to be placed on a waiting list).  If you have a permanent booking and do not need the service for After School please advise the program as soon as you know, preferably before 11.00am on the day so we are able to give that space to another child.  For Before School, please call before 6.30pm the day before or email the service on oshp@macedonps.vic.edu.au

Late cancellation fees apply if your child’s place is cancelled after 11.00am.  Further, if you do not cancel your child and they do not attend, fees may still apply.

Our rates are: $15.00 for Before School Care (7:00am - 8:45am) and $22.00 for After School Care (3:30pm - 6:30pm). All you need to do is call the school 5426 1518 or email oshp@macedonps.vic.edu.au to book.  If the unexpected happens and a casual booking is required within 24 hours, please contact the school via phone, we cannot accept walk-ins after school.  Please note that enrolment forms need to be completed at least one business day before the first session of care.

Please pay through the school via Direct Deposit, using the following details (not BPay):

Account name: Macedon Primary School

BSB: 063-840

Account: 1003 4330

Vicki, Helen, Karen & Marie.

New School Club - TAF - Talking About Fishing!

Hi students, our names are Jackson and Vera, and we are in Grade 4. We have started up a fishing club and are inviting you all to become members.

Our club is open to everyone and the best part is, you don’t even need to know how to fish!

If fishing is something that you want to know more about and want to learn then we are here to help.

Are you someone who already enjoys fishing? If so, then this club is perfect for you.

Our club is to encourage everyone to take up this sport and find something new.

We will have fun activities, competitions and even fishing events.

Come along and let’s talk about fishing! We meet every Wednesday at little play at the Rotunda near the Front Office.

See you there!

Ps. We may even let teachers join too, you’re never too old to learn to fish.

Vera C – 4CS & Jackson P – 3/4MS

Knitting Group - Tuesday lunchtime

Come and join in the fun at a new knitting and crochet group. Mrs Tulloch will be taking people through the basics of knitting and crochet. Please BYO knitting needles or crochet hook, we will supply the yarn. Tuesday lunchtime in the art room.

Book week Parade - 26th August

Each year we celebrate book week with activities, special guests,  reading our favourite books, voting in the book of the year competition and who could forget the book week parade.   This year we will be holding the parade on Thursday morning, we invite everyone to get their costumes ready for the parade.  We love to see the craft skills out in force and encourage homemade costumes from recycled materials to dress up as your favourite characters.  The theme this year is “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds”.  

Photography Fundraiser

We have organised a Photography fundraiser. This is an opportunity for families to have a family portrait session and help raise funds for the school at the same time.

When: Saturday 4th of September

Where: Macedon Primary, Middle Gully Reserve (weather permitting) or the JCB

Any questions? please contact Ronelle at ronellehutchinson@outlook.com or 0413900804

To make a booking, please go to www.averandline.com.au/book and enter the guest area password: hooray2 THEN select the Centre. Families will then select their session time and pay online.

Please book by Sunday 28th of August.

Please share with friends and family

Community News

Have your say

I would like to let you know that our draft Municipal Early Years Plan CREATE 2021-2025 is now open for community consultation.  There are a number of ways that the community can provide feedback on the plan, including completing a brief survey through the www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/yoursay webpage, or phoning, emailing or posting in feedback via 5422 0333 or mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au.  There are two online feedback sessions for community members, which they can register for through the Have Your Say webpage.

 Additionally, we are conducting an online feedback session for stakeholders on Tuesday 24 August from 1:00-2:00pm, which you can register to attend through this link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEqdO6spj0jEtQm8V4Jg8JCaq5EJ42s3X0j.

Macedon Primary School

Macedon Primary School acknowledges the Wurundjeri people as the traditional owners of the country upon which we learn and work. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community and pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.