10 February 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Message

Welcome to another year at Mullaloo Heights. The start of the school year is always an exciting time with much to look forward to and many new things to experience. There are new teachers, new classrooms and new friends, as well as old. Our students have already made a great start. They have moved seamlessly into their new classes and are already working hard, showing enthusiasm for the tasks set. Their teachers are working hard too, setting up classroom routines and establishing expectations for the coming year. These will be outlined in a letter from each class teacher, which you will receive soon. This written communication will inform you of what is happening in your child’s classroom and replace the information parent evening usually held in the first few weeks of term. Later in the term, teachers will be offering individual parent interviews. This was something that was strongly requested through our recent parent feedback survey. We agree that such meetings will be extremely beneficial in understanding your child’s achievement and needs. More information will follow regarding the organisation of these meetings.

Talking of new, our school captains, Katie and Konrad, have made an excellent start to their new role. Their first 2 weeks have been spent organising announcements over the PA and helping their Year 6 peers organise sports equipment at lunchtime. Keen to make their impact, they have already organised and introduced a new birthday reward initiative. Read all about it in the article lower down. They will soon be joined in their work by a team of student councillors. Elections have taken place with potential candidates presenting speeches to students in year 3-6. All voters have cast their votes and 4 new councillors for semester 1 will be announced in Line Up on Monday morning. Although we can only appoint 4, all would-be councillors should be incredibly proud of themselves. Each individual prepared a well thought out and persuasive speech which they delivered calmly and confidently – a daunting task in front of such a big audience. Those who haven’t been successful will have the opportunity to try again when we appoint councillors for semester 2. In addition, other leadership roles, such as Faction Captains, Library and Environmental Garden Monitors, will be available later in the term. In the meantime, we will wait with bated breath to hear who our new student leaders are on Monday.

You will have noticed a couple of new names added to our staff profile this year. I would like to welcome Miss Polly Taberer who is teaching Room 9 with Mrs Nancarrow this year. Our year 3/4 students and parents have already given her a warm welcome. In addition, many of you will already know Mrs Sarah Zuchetti who has returned, after taking a break to have children. She is working with us on Fridays. Finally, Miss Rachael Nichol is now Mrs Edwards having got married over the summer break. Congratulations to her! All staff, new and existing, are looking forward to working with you this year to create the best learning environment for our students. Remember that if you ever have a concern or worry, visit your child’s teacher or pop into the office and have a chat. You are always welcome.

Caroline Booth
Principal

Dates to remember

Councillor’s Corner

Our new birthday treat initiative started last Friday. On their birthday, all students will not only get the usual birthday greetings during our daily announcement over the PA, but a $2 voucher to spend at the canteen as well. So far all January birthdays and a couple of February birthdays have received this special treat. This is just another good thing about our school. Thank you to our wonderful P&C for funding this birthday gift.

Our First Week at Mullaloo Heights

Our new Kindy and Pre Primary students settled into life at school with ease last week. Tears were few due to the wide range of interesting and challenging activities organised by our Early Childhood team. Every time, we visited, children were engrossed in their work. Here’s a taste of what they got up to.

Values Passports

Last year, an outstanding number of students achieved their 100 Club Badge for reading and Gold badge for Mathletics. These homework programs will continue this year and it is great to see how motivated our students already are: many have set themselves targets to do even better this year. Please support them in this endeavour by encouraging them to complete their home reading or Literacy Pro tasks and Mathletics. Talk to your child’s teacher to find out how best to this.

Sports Uniform Survey

The addition of sports polo shirt to our current uniform is something that has been discussed at recent P&C and Board meetings. It has been suggested that parents should be able to buy a school polo shirt in the colour of their child’s faction to wear at whole school sporting events. This means it would be worn at the Athletics Carnival and the Cross Country Faction Competition, but not during weekly school sports lessons; the expectation is that our normal school uniform is worn for these Phys Ed sessions. Alternatively, students can continue to wear any t-shirt/polo shirt in their faction colour for these whole school sporting events. As this is an additional expense, particularly as the sports shirt will be worn just a few times a year, we are asking for your feedback. Please click on the following link and vote for your preference. Thank you!