Our Incredible Education Support Staff
On Tuesday 16th May we celebrated our incredible, knowledgeable, friendly, patient, hard-working, creative, down-right fabulous Education Support Staff and the significant contributions they make to our community every single day!
We have twenty-two incredible ES staff who support our students and teachers in many ways across our school. They do an outstanding job whether it is in the classroom, the office/admin area, first-aid, the library, learning support or maintaining our school grounds. They are all extremely committed to our students and to the work they do. Many of their jobs are often unseen however our school and students wouldn’t be the place it is without them.
Students were involved in filming short messages of thanks to share, acknowledging the different roles ES play across the school. Many students thanked them for:
“Keeping the library such a beautiful place”
“Helping us understand and solve our problems”
“Helping us outside in the yard with our games”
“Pushing us with our work in class so that we work to our limit”
“Helping us with our reading”
“Helping us at the office to make phone calls or solve problems with lunch orders”
“Helping us in first aid with ice-packs and making us feel better if we are hurt”
Thank you, ES, from the bottom of our hearts for making this school such a tremendous place!
Student-Led Conferences and Open Afternoon
As part of Education Week this year, we held Student-Led Conferences.
It was wonderful to witness the independence and confidence last Tuesday afternoon as students led parents through their learning. A big thank you to the students, teachers and parents for making this afternoon possible. The SLC is a big highlight for our students who are always so excited to bring their parents and carers into the school.
Student reflections:
‘I liked showing my mum the Chinese classroom and what I had learned.’ – Mark Year 3
‘I enjoyed sharing my artwork connected to my unit of inquiry and my research into Henri Matisse’. – Nishka Year 3
‘I think it was very fun to tell our parents what we learned this year. I was very proud of how I explained my learning.’ Riva Year 2
‘It was great to share my learning and explain to my parents different maths games’ – Aila Year 3
The SLC encourages our students’ voice, agency and ownership of their learning and we thank you for your support.
A reminder that SLC do not replace parent teacher interviews which will also be occurring at the end of this term. If you enjoyed the SLC or want to give feedback on any part of the process we welcome parents and carers to complete a short survey. We had a few hundred parents attend the night but only four people so far give feedback using the link, so any feedback you could offer would be of great help with gathering thoughts of the community.
Mothers’ Day/Special People’s Day @McKinnon PS
On Sunday the 14th of May we spent the day thinking of and honouring those who have cared for us and kept us safe as we grow up. Typically, this day allows us to show the appreciation we have for our mothers, however, some of us may also spend this day with others that we love who have helped raise us – whether this be a grandparent, a single parent, a friend, or an extended family member. At McKinnon we were lucky enough to have three special events to celebrate.
On Friday 12th May, the Parents’ Club did an absolutely outstanding job of putting together a Mothers’ Day Stall for students to purchase gifts. This is always such an exciting time thinking about what they will choose to show their mums and loved ones just how much they care. A huge thank you to all the helpers for the Mothers’ Day Stall. Thank you to the many volunteers that formed a working group to plan and prepare for the day and for working hard in the lead-up, setting up the stall and supporting our students to choose wonderful gifts to show their appreciation.
On Friday 5th May we had a new, exciting event to now add to the annual calendar in the form of a Mothers’ Day High Tea. This special event took place at McKinnon Public Hall with sixty of our McKinnon parents attending. This was a social event that we are so happy to see come back into the McKinnon parents and carers scene. A huge thank you to Brianna Wood for coordinating this event and the extended team of volunteers. We look forward to seeing this event on the calendar next year!
On Wednesday 17th May, Foundation Mothers and Special People were invited to a memorable afternoon with our youngest McKinnon students. They enjoyed craft activities and making flower cookies together, threading bracelets, bookmarks and drawing portraits together. High tea in the form of lemonade and fruit was served.
From McKinnon PS we say thank you for everything you do mums and special people. We could not be the tremendous individuals we are without you.
International Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination (IDAHOBIT) Day:17th May
On this date in 1990, homosexuality was removed as a disease by the World Health Organisation. IDAHOBIT Day acknowledges this history of discrimination. This day is acknowledged in over 130 countries and aims to minimise the ongoing discrimination that unfortunately still occurs. LGBTQIA+ people in Australia still today experience disproportionate rates of bullying, harassment and discrimination. At McKinnon, we stand up for inclusion and diversity for all and you may have noticed that we are supporting this diversity through recent updates to posters, entry stickers and staff lanyards around the school. We have also purchased a range of books to add to our library collection.
Reconciliation Week 27th- 3rd June
Reconciliation Week begins on the 27th of May and McKinnon Primary School wants to recognise, educate and celebrate the week with our students and community. This year, the theme for Reconciliation Week is “Be a Voice for Generations”. This encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives- where we live, work and socialise.
In preparation, students will be inquiring into what reconciliation means, making connections to past and current units of inquiry and building their own personal understandings. We are asking students to give their feedback and ideas to their Student Representative Council so we can celebrate the week in a way that is meaningful for our students.
We will keep you posted on the students’ ideas and activities in our next edition of the newsletter. You can investigate Reconciliation Week yourself at https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/.
Parent Experts
Parents, families and friends in our community provide a rich layer of knowledge and experience and we are always looking for opportunities to invite parents, families or friends into classrooms as a ‘knowledgeable other’. Having a parent share their experiences and understanding with the class is very memorable and helps build understanding in different contexts. Please look for the upcoming ‘Curriculum Newsletters’ sent by Year Levels to see how you may be involved. Units of inquiry we have coming up include lifecycles; goods, processes & materials; recycling and sustainability; energy and conservation; influence and intention of media; systems of government.
REMINDER: Rights, Resilience & Respectful Relationships Parent Night
As previously advertised we will be having an RRRR parent night on Tuesday 23rd May at 6:30 pm. Thank you to those of you who have already saved the date for this event. It will be a very informative night for all parents across the school. This is a free event but please use the trybooking link to RSVP. https://www.trybooking.com/CIISR
Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships is a mandated program run at all government schools across Victoria. The Respectful Relationships program has been developed by Deakin University and the University of Melbourne. These programs consist of age-appropriate resources to support curriculum delivery and include lesson plans and activities that help students learn and practise social skills and apply them in a positive way to learning, life and relationships. While we have been running this at our school for a number of years, we have identified this as a priority to further support our students in 2023 and to do this well we need to involve the whole community. Paul Zappa is an incredibly passionate speaker and all our staff and families from other communities that have attended his sessions over the past couple of years have spoken very highly of his ability to inform and educate in such an important space for our children.
This is a parents only event. We look forward to seeing you there.
IMPORTANT NEW ENROLMENT PROCESS AT ALL VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
New state-wide processes mean that a shorter application form with proof for evidence of address must be given to the school prior to being offered an enrolment form to complete. Families can only be given enrolment forms once sufficient evidence proves their address.
For families living within the McKinnon Primary School Zone, there is no change to the boundary for 2023/2024. Please see the school boundary on findmyschool.vic.gov.au
However, all Foundation 2024 application forms must be submitted to the school by Friday 28th July 2023. Please see our school website for further details. Enrolments | McKinnon Primary School (mckinnon-primary.vic.edu.au)
Wishing you all a lovely weekend,
Suzanne, David and Andrew