SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Week 7, Term 1 2023
Principal's Report
School Tour for parents interested in enrolling students in future years
As mentioned in last week's newsletter, we will be holding a school tour next Friday 17 March at 10:00am. This tour is aimed at parents who live in the Mudgee PS catchment and have children that may be starting school in the next few school years (not just 2024). The tours aim to showcase Mudgee PS and also demonstrate some of the programs and initiatives that we are proud of and make our school extra special. The tour will highlight things such as the way we teach literacy, numeracy, technology, creative and performing arts as well as seeing performance groups, yarning circle and our wellbeing hub, plus more. Please encourage people you know who fit this target audience to attend.
Stage Visits: This fortnight, I have really enjoyed visiting Stage 2 classrooms. Such brilliant learning taking place. Every classroom I visited saw high levels of student engagement, wonderful behaviour and just a fabulous learning environment created in the classrooms. Congratulations students and teachers!
Yarn and Cuppa Afternoon: What a wonderful afternoon at our Yarn and Cuppa. It was lovely connecting with our families and students, working together to understand and develop relevant goals for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Thanks to Ms Liddle and the Aboriginal Education team for their organisation this afternoon. Amazing work !!
P&C AGM: Our P&C AGM is this Monday night at 5:30pm. As you are aware, all Office Bearer positions will be declared vacant at the AGM and nominations taken for the positions in 2023. If we have more than one nomination for a position, a secret ballot will be held and run by myself.A nomination form (where someone is nominating you) or a self nomination can be either returned to this email address prior to the meeting or bring on the evening of 13 March. To assist with an understanding of the roles, I have attached a helpful one page structure overview of the MPS P&C.A General Meeting will immediately follow the AGM. If you have any items for the general meeting agenda, please email through to the P&C via email. For nomination forms or more information please make contact using the email address: mudgeepublicschool@pandcaffiliate.org.au
School Photos: Monday 13th March is school photo day. If you have not already returned your order envelope, please bring it along, to the photographer, on Monday. You may order online or make cash payment in the envelope provided. Family (sibling) photos will also be taken, only students at our school or the high school can be included. A separate envelope will need to be completed for a family photo, these can be collected from the school office.
Parent Teacher Interviews: are scheduled for Wednesday 5 April. Teachers will also make themselves available at times that week, and also the week before. Like the last few years, bookings will be made online. A booking link will be sent out later next week, as well as a time to go live for bookings to be made. Stay tuned to communication from the school in regards to how to book in for these bookings. Please note, some staff and classes have leave and other events on Wednesday 5 April, and that will mean their interviews are at an alternate time - this will be made clear in each classes booking availability.
Oscar Clay - World's Greatest Shave: We look forward to watching Oscar Clay shave his head for the World's Greatest Shave next Friday 17 March at 2pm under the Primary COLA. Some of our primary classes will be coming out to witness this event. If you would like to donate and sponsor, please see information in the flyer below. Well done, Oscar!
Harmony Day: Happening at Mudgee PS on Tuesday 21 March. Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Day. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Mudgee PS students can choose to wear something orange on this day to show their support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia.
Vale Anne Cumberland
I would like to take the time to write with some sad news and pay my respects to Anne Cumberland who sadly passed away on the 16th of February. Anne is a parent and aunty of children at Mudgee Public and has had a long association with our school. Anne was a highly valued parent member regularly giving of her time for anything required such as helping in the classrooms, volunteering in the canteen and being a strong advocate for the school itself. Anne was a mother who cared deeply about her children and always worked harmoniously with the school. Anne will be sorely missed by many. On behalf of Mudgee Public School I pass on my condolences to Anne's family and I know that our memories and her legacy will always live on.
Wishing you all a fabulous fortnight. Remember to take care and value time with family and friends.
John Carters
Principal
Dates for the Diary
- 13 March - School Photos
- 13 March - P&C & AGM - 5.30pm
- 15 - 24 March - NAPLAN Testing Window Open
- 17 March - School Tour - 10am
- 17 March - Oscar Clay - World's Greatest Shave
- 20 March - Zone Rugby League Trials - Glen Willow - 2pm - 4pm
- 21 March - PBL Awards due to teacher
- 21 March - Harmony Day - Orange Day!
- 22 March - Boys & Girls Zone Soccer Trials - 2pm- 4pm
- 27 March - Netball Trials Zone - Glen Willow -2pm -4pm
- 28 March - Western Touch
- 31 March - School Tour - 10.00am
Principal Awards
Congratulations to the following students on receiving a Principal award over the past fortnight.
Principal's Awards
1/2E - Louis Esnault / 3S - Arkie Gordon / 4W - Grace Rayner, Lilah Rayner, Savannah Campbell / 5/6H - Talon McKay, Sophie Brentnall, Emily Carter, Kassi Curtis
Students of the Week
"Move Safely and Sensibly."
Term 1 - WEEK 6
INFANTS KC - Chad Mataka / KF - Chase Gallagher / KL - Jon Littley / 1N - Malachi Darlington / 1RD - Saskia Schrover / 1S - Ollie Begg / 1/2SR - Marissa Smith / 2E -Victoria Temessl / 2GP - / 2M - Jayde Sharpe / AB - Noah Grosse / AL -
PRIMARY 3D - Katie Conroy / 3L - Addison McDonell / 3S - Isabella Doyle / 4H - Evie King / 4W - Louis Forgione / 4/5A - Georgia Chase / 5B - Abigail Cooper / 5/6H - Bonnie Scicluna / 5/6T - Grace Bungate / 6J - Ruby O'Brien / 6S - Helena Johnson / JC - / LL -Lockie Cox / MW - William Morris Belpitt / OL - Lilly Hill / SM - Ryan Platt
"Take Care of Our School, and the things in it."
Term 1 - WEEK 7
INFANTS KC - Charlotte Saliba / KF - Sage McDonell / KL - Elena Carle / 1N - Georgia Wallace / 1RD - Lily-Rose O'Kay / 1S - Rosie O'Regan / 1/2SR - Charlotte Carr-Doherty / 2E - Aston Stott / 2GP - Ella Grosse / 2M - Laralee Taylor / AB - Raiden Blunt / AL -
PRIMARY 3D - Kyesha Riley / 3L - Tylor West / 3S - Angus Blackman / 4H - Rocco Berry / 4W - Marcie Grosse / 4/5A - Zeke Langton / 5B - Scarlet Pendlebury / 5/6H - Harper Stevens / 5/6T - Oscar Clay / 6J - Levi Miles / 6S - Amelia Northey / JC - / LL - Makayla Buckman / MW - Ciannon Crew / OL - Jaiden Vella / SM - David Drewe
SRC News
MPS students had their first meeting on Friday 3rd of March after being inducted into our SRC. The students discussed events concerning the SRC taking place in the near future at MPS.
They started collating Easter Egg raffle tickets which were sent home with the eldest student in each family on Monday 6th March. A note was included to explain that Tuesday 4th of April is the last day students can return their raffle tickets and money. It is also the last day for Easter Egg donations. Students from K-6 are encouraged to bring in Easter Egg donations. They can bring them to their classroom in the morning and their teacher will choose students to take them to the office. The raffle draw will take place at the Infants Easter Hat Parade on Thursday 6th April. We will hold prizes for winners not attending. Please make sure those who purchase your tickets write their first and last name as well as their contact number.
On Friday 17th March Oscar Clay is participating in the World's Largest Shave and will be having his head shaved at MPS. Primary Students and Year 2 SRC members will be invited to watch and support Oscar. Oscar continues to raise money to have his head shaved for the Cancer Council. We are very proud of Oscar for being brave and showing great empathy for other people in need.
All Stewart House donation envelopes need to be returned to school by Thursday 6th April. The donations will then be forwarded onto Stewart House and the amount raised announced.
Thank you,
Mrs Julie Tito,
(SRC Coordinator)
Embedding Sustainability at Mudgee PS - Waste Pilot Program
We are excited to share with you that our school is participating in a pilot looking at how to embed sustainability into schools. In 2022, the Department of Education launched Our Commitment to Sustainability. This pilot will help inform the first goal of embedding sustainability into school practice. As one of twenty schools participating in the pilot, we have the opportunity of shaping the overall sustainability program that will be rolled out across the state in 2024.
Over the next 12 weeks, we will be working through a series of activities focused on waste and litter reduction and using an online tool to capture and track our progress and achievements.
So far we have trained our lead teacher/s and students driving the initiative with the support of DoE’s environmental education centres staff.
We will be doing a school waste and litter audit which will demonstrate what we could be recycling that currently goes into landfill. We will then develop a Waste Reduction Action Plan which will help us increase our recycling and decrease our waste. As part of this, we will be installing new bin infrastructure across the whole school.
Why WASTE?
The impact of reducing litter and waste are immediately obvious.
As part of the NSW Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041, targets of “80% average recovery rate from all waste streams by 2030 have been introduced and the amount of organic waste sent to landfill by 2030 needs to be halved. Under this, schools are subject to mandatory waste separation practices from 2025.
So there is no time like the present to act now and get on the front foot!
We will have access to DoE environmental education teacher support for our school on this journey and new teaching and learning materials and staff training that have all been adapted to the NSW Curriculum, enhancing the teaching and learning experiences at our school.
Ultimately, the sustainability program will look at more than just waste. A similar program that has been running in Victoria, has saved more than $41 million on bills, planted 5,271,038 trees, saved more than 118,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, diverted 194,000 cubic metres of waste from landfill and saved 1,884,783 kilolitres of water.
If you would like to be involved please contact Miss Nikki Evans on 6372 2036 or Nicole.evans26@det.nsw.edu.au
Office News
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST 2024 HIGH SCHOOL – YR 6 INTO YR 7
A letter went home with each Year 6 student this week outlining the process for students going into Year 7 in 2024. An online expression of interest will need to be completed for each student by 31st March 2024. Here are the following links:
https://year7.enrol.education.nsw.gov.au/?schoolCode=2656
If no placement is required at a local Government High School, please use the following link to submit your NO PLACEMENT REQUIRED:
https://year7.enrol.education.nsw.gov.au/no-placement/?schoolCode=2656
If you are unable to submit your expression of interest online, a paper copy can be collected from the school office.
CHANGE OF DETAILS
Staff at Mudgee Public School need to stay connected with our families and it is of the utmost importance that parents/carers inform the office of any changes in a student’s details. This includes address, phone numbers, email addresses, emergency contacts and parental responsibility, including any Court Orders which may have been put into place. Please allow us to stay informed by forwarding any changes as soon as possible.
CHANGE OF AFTERNOON ARRANGEMENTS
If the home time arrangements change for your child, it would be very much appreciated if a phone call, to the office, could be made by 2pm. This enables us, to ensure that, the message will get to your child before the afternoon bell time.
PICKING UP YOUR CHILD EARLY
When needing to pick your child up early from school please come to the office and sign them out in the “Student Early Leavers” register. A printed early slip will be provided, and you can then go and collect your child from their classroom.
Your Friendly Office Staff
"We're here to help!"
Library News
Book Club - Issue 2 Brochures have been sent home this week. All online orders need to be completed by March 24th. No late orders can be accepted sorry.
PRC - The Premiers Reading Challenge has begun! This is a challenge that all students across the state have an opportunity to participate in. Students in K-2 have brought home a purple sheet to begin writing the books down that you have read. Once you have read the required books, and filled out the sheet, you can return the sheet to me in the Library. All books are specially marked in the Library to make it as easy as possible to participate. K-2 students need to read 30 books with red PRC stickers on the front. Years 3-4 need to read 20 books with green PRC stickers on the front, and Years 5-6 need to read 20 books with purple PRC stickers on the front. Years 3-4 and 5-6 students are logging their books straight online in Library time, but if you want a purple sheet to keep track, please come and see me in the Library. More information can be found at https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html
Students will need to know their computer login details to log the books online themselves.
Overdue Books - There are a lot of overdue books across the school at the moment. Please make sure you return all books on time so that others can enjoy our fabulous resources!
Happy Reading!
Mrs Siobhan Vitnell - Teacher / Librarian
Class Corner - KC
KC have settled into the routine of big school and are well on the way towards learning lots of new skills. During our Literacy activities each day, we practise our sounds and sight words, and enjoy using the whiteboards and markers. We have begun reading activites where students have the opportunity to undertake self-directed learning in small groups, as well as spending focused time with the teacher to practise reading and writing skills. In Maths this week, we are learning all about patterns! We have discovered patterns in the environment and we're now learning to create our own using a variety of materials. We love using the Lego to show our teacher what we have learnt. This week in Geography, we had to build a model to represent our favourite place and then practised our speaking, listening and turn taking skills by talking about what we had created.
Class Teacher - Mrs Caligari
Class Corner - 4H
4H has started to settle down well into school and classroom procedures. Each day, students are focusing on the two important principles of ‘staying on task’ and ‘trying hard to do your best’. Achieving daily Dojo points when these principles are achieved allows the class the chance to receive a period of ‘Reward Time’ on Friday afternoons.
Students have enjoyed developing their visual literacy skills in English. They have been analysing a variety of visual texts and discussing the various ways in which authors and illustrators convey meaning to their readers. Students even created their own short story through the use of different camera angles.
In maths, the class has been continuing to focus on whole number and additive strategies; while also improving their skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and length. This week has seen 4H begin work on understanding and representing fractions.
We have also started our Amplify music lessons which have seen students compose and perform 4 bars of music focusing on rhythm and beat.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for our next update later in the year!
Class Teacher - Mr Hough
JUNIOR BAND 2023
Dear Parents/Carers.
Junior band has started for 2023. If your child has been having instrument lessons in flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, euphonium or drums or electric guitar and their teacher says that they are ready to join Junior Band, we're waiting for you! We meet Monday at 1.30pm in the Primary Hall.
Thankyou,
Mr Featherby and Mrs Wheeler
Schoolzine App - Stay Connected
Have you followed us on Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/MudgeePublicSchool
Twitter? https://mobile.twitter.com/mudgeeps or @MudgeePS
Have you downloaded the Schoolzine App to receive all our newsletters directly? https://www.schoolzine.com/szapp-installation
Community Notices
DENTO RYU KARATE
Traditional non-contact Karate 6pm - 7pm Tuesday & Thursday
Mudgee Public School Hall $3.50 per lesson - Ages 5yrs over
For further information contact: Harvey Mb 0427 435 930
