Macedon Primary School Newsletter

3 November 2021

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

Principal's Report

Dear parents,

Macedon Village Farmers’ Market

On Saturday the Macedon Village Farmers’ Market was held at Tony Clarke reserve.  There were 37 stalls and many of them sold out of stock and had a great day of trading.  I would like to thank the volunteers from Macedon Primary School and Briohny Lebbink for her efforts in coordination and running the market. Proceeds from the stall holder rent goes directly to the school to support our programs and initiatives.

2022 Prep Transition

Today we met our first group of 2022 prep students for their first transition visit.  We’re excited for our next generations of Macedon PS students to begin their time with us and wish them and their families preparing for their first day in early February 2022.

Inclusive Education Workshop

On the student free day on Monday 1 November the staff were led through a workshop focused on inclusive education by our Inclusion Leader Olivia Desormeaux.  The themes included developing a psychologically safe learning environments, high impact classroom engagement strategies, Brene Brown’s daring classroom and daring leadership resources and collecting some data on how inclusive our current school culture is for a benchmark to measure our improvement.  All these new interventions are backed by the latest research, and it is exciting to begin the important work in this space.  Olivia is a high energy and driven educator with a passion for creating inclusive school environments. 

Thank you to Stephanie Rocard and the team at The Flying Pidgeon in Gisborne for gifting us a lovely lunch of dumplings. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Term Four Activities

We have a busy second half of the term planned for the students and hope to resurrect several the Macedon PS experiences.  We have a two-week bike ed program running in PE culminating in the Hanging Rock bikes ride, the Year 6 amazing race excursion is being planned as well as graduation and the billy cart derby.  We’re involved in a fisheries fish release at the Macedon Reservoir and have activities week and camping for the whole school in the first week of December.  Please check the school calendar in the newsletter to stay across all the diary dates.

Visitors Onsite

From the 1st of November, parents and visitors will be allowed back on site at school. All parents who enter the school building are required to check in using the QR codes or visitor’s book.

Vaccination Requirements for Parent Helpers

There may be activities later in the term where we seek parent helpers, these can go ahead from now.  Any visitor or volunteer performing work in schools are required to be fully vaccinated by 29 November (unless a medical exemption applies) to attend on site.

Under the COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination (Specified Facilities) directions issued by the Victorian Chief Health Officer schools must ensure that all visitors and volunteers who attend the school must comply with vaccination requirements.

Parents that wish to volunteer on camp, excursions or school activities must supply vaccination information to the school indicating their vaccination status. This can be in the form of the following;

·         a letter from a medical practitioner confirming the person’s vaccination status or confirming a person is medically exempt.

·         A certificate of immunisation

·         An immunisation history statement obtained from the Australian Immunisation Register.

The school will maintain a vaccination register for visitors and volunteers.

 A visitor or volunteer attending a school site as a parent or carer for the purposes of collecting or dropping off children is not considered to be attending for work purposes and will be subject to the same requirements as all other parents collecting and dropping off children.

 Kind regards and Sampai jumpa (until next time)

Important Dates

3 November - Foundation 2022 orientation session #1

10 November - Foundation 2022 orientation session #2

16 November - School Photo Day

17 November - Foundation 2022 orientation session #3

19 November - Whole school transition Session - 10am, literacy

24 November - Foundation 2022 orientation session #4 

26 November  - Yr 5/6 Hanging Rock bike ride

30 November - Y 3 & 4 Camp at Middle Gully

1 & 2 December - Yr 5 & 6 Camp at Middle Gully

2 December - Yr 3 & 4 - excursion to Hanging Rock

10 December - Foundation - Yr 2 Zoo Excursion (new date)

10 December - Macedon Primary Billy cart races - 2pm start.

14 December - Grade 6 Graduation Dinner

16 December - Year 6 excursion to the city

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

From the office

Request for Credits / Refund /Donation

A reminder to please return the forms for credit / refund / donation as soon as possible so Julie can process these requests. 

Facemasks for Yr 3 -6 

It has been great to see the students wearing their facemasks to school.  We encourage students to bring their own facemasks to school, however, if their mask becomes damaged or lost we do have some supplies here in the office.

There are a number of lawful reasons for not wearing a facemask, including for staff and students who are unable to wear a mask due to the nature of their disability, medical or a mental health condition. If you have any concerns, please fell free to call the school to discuss.

Students feeling unwell

Students are required to stay at home if they are feeling unwell. Even the mildest of flu-like symptoms should be followed up with a COVID19 test. Students who present with or develop flu-like symptoms at school will be isolated at school and sent home.

Julie  and Emma

Student Achievement Awards

The following awards will be read out at our virtual assembly on Friday at 3:00pm https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/j.php?MTID=m153068e262b8e84d0d58d48fd9e8765c

1KH - Caitlin L - for being so confident in answering which coin has the lowest value.

1/2KB - Joshua M - for always doing his personal best at school.

1/2KB - Aahil B - for showing great improvement in his writing

1/2KB - Millie C - for excellent understanding of placing fractions on number lines.

3/4MS - Chelsea B - for her beautifully presented, descriptive writing about Middle Gully. Well done!

3/4MS - Gemma A - for her lovely descriptive writing about Middle Gully. Well done!

3/4MS - James M - for the fantastic book reviews he gives to the class. Keep up the great reading!

4CS - Harrison H - for his terrific 'show don't tell' writing.

4CS - Niamh Mc - for her terrific 'show don't tell' spooky story.

Scholastic Book Club - Term 4

The bookclub orders have arrived. We will endeavour to hand them out tomorrow. Thank you for your support.

Finally, a big thank you to Lisa Hall who has been coordinating book club for the last two years. This is Lisa's last year as a parent at MPS, so she is looking to pass this job on to a new parent helper. If you would like to help, please contact the office.

School Photos - Postpones - New date 16th November

School photos have been postponed again due to COVID restrictions. We have confirmed Tuesday the 16th of November with MSP Photography.

Please hold on to your original envelopes.


Remember to be SunSmart

With the change of seasons we remind all students to please wear their hats when they are outside. UV radiation cannot be seen or felt , can be reflected off surfaces, can pass through light clouds and varies in intensity across the year (it is highest in Victoria from mid-August to the end of April). 

At lunchtime and recess we ask that children seek shade, slip on protective clothing, slap on a sun protective hat, slop on some sunscreen and slide on some sunglasses!

Hats are available to purchase from the Beleza Store in Gisborne

Outside School Hours Care

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.

Bike Safety reminder

It is great that our students like to ride to school, however, we would like to remind all road users of the 1m rule that came into effect recently.

The new law requires drivers to leave at least one metre when passing a cyclist in speed zones 60kmh or lower and 1.5 meters when passing at sped limits over 60kmh.

Can all drivers who are driving near the school please make themselves aware of these new laws.

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/cyclist-safety/sharing-the-road 

Community News

Macedon Junior Cricket

Macedon Cricket Club is running Woolworths Cricket Blast again this season. It’s a fun and fast programme for kids of all abilities to learn the skills and play Australia's favourite sport.

 5 - 10 year olds. All welcome. 

It doesn't matter if you've never picked up a bat or ball. (We use rubber balls - not hard cricket balls).

Learn some skills, meet some other locals and most importantly - get out there and HAVE FUN.

 Come and join the fun at Macedon Cricket Club (Tony Clark Reserve), Sunday mornings from 9:00 - 10:00, starting November 14th.  

 Registration will be online via the Playcricket website.

You can find general details at playcricket.com.au. Any queries please contact Andrew (andrew.jeanes@robertbird.com.au)

Other Age Groups

For any budding cricketers 10-12 years of age Macedon Cricket Club would welcome enquires to come and join our U11 or U13 sides.  Please contact Todd (todd.c@qubedadvisory.com.au) or Clint (clint.grobler@gmail.com).

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.