RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS – EXTENDING TO THE WHOLE COMMUNITY
As we continue our focus on creating a learning environment that fosters respectful relationships between everyone in the school community, it is important as members of our community to model respectful relationships in all areas of the school.
Parents and carers can create a positive environment for learning and work by:
- modelling positive behaviour to their child/children and to the school community
- communicating politely and respectfully with all members of the school community
- working with the school to achieve the best outcomes for their child/children
- communicating constructively with the school
- making use of the expected processes and protocols when raising concerns
- following the school’s processes for communication with staff and making complaints
- treating all school staff, students, and other members of the school community with respect.
Please ensure that you are speaking with respect to all our staff and community members whether that be in person, via phone or email. This also includes during pick up and drop off times when collecting your child/ren.
This is easy to do when things are going well, but of course much harder when communicating around a difficult issue. Please understand we are all doing our best every day to provide a supportive and welcoming learning community for everyone.
CHILD SAFETY AND WELLBEING AT MCKINNON PRIMARY SCHOOL
The Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safety across organisations, including schools. The new standards recognise the critical importance of families and the broader school community in maintaining and promoting child safety and wellbeing.
McKinnon Primary School has reviewed and updated our child safety policies and procedures to ensure they meet the requirements of the new standards. These are available to view on our school website.
We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices.
If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please contact the school at mckinnon.ps@education.vic.gov.au
FOUNDATION – YEAR TWO SCHOOL CONCERT
We were incredibly proud of our students who performed in our Junior F-2 School Concert on Friday 1st September. The Performing Arts Team, classroom teachers and students had worked very hard preparing for this event and we wish to thank them again for all their effort. We would also like to extend our thank you to the school community for their support, especially for those who could attend and be such enthusiastic and supportive audience members.
A final big thank you to our amazing Performing Arts captains who did a fantastic job hosting the event as well as Miss McCullum and Miss Shan for organising the event around the theme of Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships.
YEAR SIX EXHIBITION
The PYP exhibition is an exciting time for our school. Year Six students have been exploring the transdisciplinary theme of ‘How the world works’ and creating their own central idea to investigate during Term Three. Topics ranged from DNA, robotics, mental health, the future of communication, technology in sport, cloud computing and many more. Students worked in teams to research, write and model and share their learning. This week students shared to the whole community, starting on Tuesday afternoon and finishing Thursday.
‘I loved researching my topic and learning new things’ Eleanor Ho 6B
‘Something I liked was being able to interact with the other students and share my knowledge’ Amelia Lavery 6B
‘I really enjoyed the hybrid text and creating the glossary’ Ryan Julka 6D
‘I enjoyed the challenge of working with a group and solving things together’ Jacinta Parry 6D
Congratulations Year Six students, teachers and mentors!
STUDENT LED CONFERENCES
Tuesday afternoon was also our Foundation to Year Five Student Led Conference. To prepare for the conference, students reflect on the term and co-construct with their teacher how they would like to demonstrate their understanding and next steps in learning. Classes practise sharing and asking questions to simulate the conference and give feedback and suggestions on how they could improve. It is always a very positive event for our students and they enjoy the increased responsibility the conferences promote. Thank you to all the parents, carers and family members who joined in with the art, sport, dancing, language, maths, writing and measuring!
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL CELEBRATIONS
We are delighted to send our warmest wishes to everyone celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival –– here in the McKinnon Primary School community.
Students across the school experienced some of the joys of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration last week. We were very fortunate to have witnessed a fantastic dragon parade performance at school and enjoyed a delicious dumplings and mooncake lunch.
There was also a lantern parade all around the school so that students could embrace this cultural celebration. A special thank you to Mr Meng for his organisation in putting this event together, for providing students with a precious opportunity to immerse in the language-speaking environment as well as experience the cultural products and cultural practices.
Thank you to all the staff and parents who supported this event to make it special for our students.
At a time when we have much to look forward to, it is our hope that the moon of this year’s festival shines brightly to uplift and inspire you.
GO FOR GOLD 2023 — ONE LUCKY STUDENT WILL WIN A FITBIT ACE
We have joined Glen Eira City Council’s Active Schools – Go for Gold program for the month of October (2-27).
Students will receive a Golden Ticket and each time they walk, ride or scoot to school, tick one of the boxes on their ticket and record it on their classroom calendar. At the end of the month the Golden Ticket can be entered for a chance to win a Fitbit Ace!
The more active we are, the better our school’s chance of becoming Glen Eira City Council’s Active Schools Champion for 2023. Be active and help us win!
For further information, please visit www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/active-schools.
SPORTS COLOURS DAY
Staff and students had a great day supporting their favourite sporting teams by wearing their team’s colours. Good luck to the teams participating in the AFL Finals series as well as any other teams in different sports competing over the holidays.
CLASS PLACEMENT- PLEASE EMAIL THE OFFICE BY 15TH SEPTEMBER WITH “CLASS PLACEMENT” IN THE SUBJECT HEADING.
Each Term Three we ask for any requests for class placements for the following year. The reason we ask so early is that the process for formulating the 2024 classes is a long and complex process involving many factors. If you email us, we will take this into consideration, if you do not email the school we cannot change classes for your child after they are formed.
This information is crucial for us to have while we are forming the classes as last-minute switches are not able to happen. Our teaching and support staff spend a long time considering all the needs of students when forming the classes, however, if you feel there is something you would like taken into consideration (e.g. separations, pairings or complex needs or experiences) then please email the school at mckinnon.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Every year we a handful of families that are upset with where their child has been placed. Please do not put yourself in this situation and instead email the school this term with your class placement request information. Do not wait until after the classes are formed or into the following year to say that your child needs to be separated from another as this will not be able to happen.
Hope you all have a wonderful break,
Suzanne, David and Andrew