Joyce's message
Tis the season to be jolly!
A time to count our many blessings!
A MEMORABLE YEAR 6 DINNER & EVENING OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
We had another memorable dinner and prize giving. The year 6 children gave well delivered, articulate, humorous and heartfelt speeches about their journey through MNS. Some speeches will be shared at the Final Assembly.
Our school’s acknowledgement ceremonies are based on the theme that everyone is successful and deserving of praise; In keeping with this, all our children were acknowledged for their efforts.
DEBI MEADOWS:
During their year 6 farewell speeches, many children mentioned the kindness, guidance and help Debi has provided them. From next year, Debi will be moving to a part-time position so she can have more of a work-life balance. We thank Debi for her efforts over the seven years she has been a full time teacher. Debi’s flexibility and multi-level skills means she has been able to teach at any level throughout our school. We are really thankful to Debi for her responsiveness in meeting the needs of our school. It's not everyday we find people who are able to achieve this. We are thankful for her leadership in literacy and being one of the lead teachers for the Positive Behaviour For Learning Initiative. Well done Debi.
PARENT HELP
At this time of the year teachers need a lot of help, tidying classes, putting books away etc. If you have any spare time to help, please get in touch with your child’s teacher
PARENT POP-INS
Monday 30th January 2023 between 1pm - 3pm
Pop-in’s are an informal opportunity to say hello to your child’s teacher and to drop off any stationery before school officially starts.
BoT SECRETARY: PAID POSITION
The Board Secretary role may be just right for you!
This is a paid position. Our current secretary is giving up this role which she has done so well. Thanks Anna Kibblewhite, we appreciate all your work!
Our meetings are held just twice per term from 6:30pm-8:00pm approximately. Some are Zoom meetings.
We have drinks and nibbles at our meetings and they are held in a relatively relaxed manner alongside also making serious decisions for the benefit of our lovely school!
The secretary gets us all ready for the meeting by sending out the agenda and making sure the minutes have been typed up. All our information is shared electronically. If you want to find out more about the role, please reply to any of the following emails.
PRINCIPAL’S COMMENTS ON END OF YEAR REPORTS:
I really value the opportunity to read all Reports and to make a comment on the children's Final Reports for Year 1 and Year 6. Gosh our children have improved! My thanks to all our teachers for having strong expectations for student achievement whilst keeping the development of the whole child at the forefront of their thinking and planning.
Congratulations to our children and to the parents who have all worked hard to make excellent progress!
CLASSES for 2023:
We value the feedback we get about class placements however, we have been directed by wide professional consultation followed by sound judgements as to where a child should be placed.
We will only consider a change in class if there are special circumstances surrounding your child e.g. your child has been placed in a class with no friends or that both the home and the school believe they will be placed in a harmful situation that will have a negative impact on their learning.
Other than the above, you will need to trust our judgement. Class placements are one of many things our school does well. The important thing to remember is that children thrive on challenges and they do well in spite of our worries as parents.
INDIVIDUAL CHILD EMERGENCY CARE PACKS IN THE CLASSROOM:
We request that parents provide an individual emergency ‘care pack’ for their child. This could contain long lasting items such as a muesli bar and a small drink of choice. If these could be placed in a labelled, medium sized snaplock bag, that would be great.
These will be stored in the classroom for use during an emergency event where children are required to stay in their classroom or at school for a period longer than expected. We will remind you of this in the new year too.
FINAL ASSEMBLY:
Assembly 1: Thursday at 11.20am - 12.20pm
Assembly 2: Friday at 11.20am - 12.20pm
You are all welcome to attend our Final Assembly. We will:
-Celebrate all that’s wonderful about our school
-Listen to the fabulous music at MNS: Band & choir
-Sing songs & Christmas Carols
-Talk about the things we’re thankful for
Due to the confined space in our hall and the reappearance of covid in our community we will have masks available in the hall foyer.
REMINDERS:
Seniors bring back permission slips for Year 6 trip.
Please pay your school Activity Donation if you haven’t already.
LOST PROPERTY:
This will be out on the verandahs before & after the Final Assembly, so it’s there for all to see! The day after it will be in a charity shop!
EARLY CLOSING TIME LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
It has always been a tradition to close our school at 12:30pm on the final day of the school year. Children love the thought of getting away early, it’s so exciting for them! Please make arrangements to pick your child up then. Please note Kidshub will be closed then and therefore we cannot offer you their service.
WE ARE THANKFUL FOR…..
Our children
They come from caring homes and families. They work really hard and follow our school’s values each day. They have a great sense of humour! Who needs to wait till Christmas when we already have such great gifts.
Office staff
My thanks to Belinda Campbell our Office Manager and Anna Kibblewhite our Office Executive for the wonderful work they do in keeping our school ticking over smoothly and for using their initiative in the myriad of situations which arise from day to day. I admire their incredible work ethic and the dedication they have to serving our parents, children and staff.
Teacher aides, caretaker
Our teacher aides support our teachers by teaching individual children or small groups of children. They work under the guidance of our teachers and are well trained and dedicated to their groups of children.
Our caretaker Barry Wood. Barry works in a part time capacity and manages to support our staff where needed.
Teachers
Ever-dedicated, teachers are here for the children and put 100% effort into their teaching day after day. We recently celebrated some fabulous improvements in our children’s achievements. A well -deserved pat on the back for all our teachers.
Board
Led by Cherida Fraser and earlier by Louise Poynton, this Board’s decisions are always in the best interest of the children and teachers. A Board has the unenviable task of representing the community and being an employer too! They carry out their roles by being inclusive, intelligent and logical. They are prolific planners and doers! What a blessing to have a board with these qualities.
Home & School
What a great bunch of people. They’re smart and have savvy & creative ways to raise funds for our school. They have a strong sense of what’s good for our school. They have put in many hours to organise events. Their focus on the true meaning of community is to be commended.
Our community
Congratulations for helping your school to meet its goals in 2022. Our thanks pale in comparison to your incredible input. Thank you for the positive way in which you approach us to discuss issues and for the ways in which you support our staff. When we have such an inspiring community we are inspired to do better and better each day. Most of all, good on you for supporting your children to learn well and to see their school in a good light.
I am indebted to you all.
Merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year to all of you.
Joyce Adam
Principal