Dear Parents and Carers,

Since our last newsletter, our Year 3 – 6 students have returned to school and it has been a very busy time indeed. On their first day of return, the playground was buzzing with children talking, playing and running around together. The games of choice were hide ‘n seek or ‘chasey’ and the yard seemed to be filled with students running and having fun!

Our focus last week was to settle our middle and senior school students back into the routines of school life and to carefully monitor and support their wellbeing. Most students arrived back to school very enthusiastic to reengage with their friends, teachers and their learning. For those few students who found returning to school a challenge, their teachers and extra staff on duty ensured a smooth transition back into the classroom. Our focus over the remaining weeks will be to assess student learning to inform our current planning and teaching, and importantly to ensure students are engaged and learning from day one of Term 3.

As with some of our students, some parents have found the return to school a bit of a challenge, having spent the past 2 months working with their child or children. Rest assured, once the students are through the school gates, they are happy and settled. If we have any concerns, your child’s teacher will be in contact with you.

Now that all students have returned to school, we will continue to implement a range of precautionary measures to protect the health and safety of your children, your family, teachers and staff, and our local community. These measures will remain in place for the remainder of this term.

To adhere to social distancing requirements and reduce the number of adults attending on site or congregating outside the school parents and visitors are reminded not to come on the school site. Thank you all for doing an amazing job remaining off site, I have only had one encounter with an adult who did not seem to understand that these rules apply to everyone!

The staggered drop off/pick up times and extra staff on duty are keeping the traffic at the front of the school flowing. I have noticed that we have a lot of students riding and walking to school too which has also helped to minimise traffic.

This week staff commenced professional learning on Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships. The curriculum has been designed for teachers to develop students’ social, emotional and positive relationship skills. Efforts to promote social and emotional skills and positive gender norms in children and young people has been shown to improve health related outcomes and subjective wellbeing. It also reduces antisocial behaviours including engagement in gender-related violence.

The Department of Education and Training has adjusted the expectations of Student Reports for Semester 1 in recognition of the transition to remote and flexible learning during Term 2. While our school has continued to deliver its teaching and learning program and monitor the achievement and

progress of each student, there have been some unprecedented changes to our usual program.

At Mount Eliza North Primary School, we know it is vital to involve students and their parents/carers in learning. This process includes providing reports on student learning.

Mount Eliza North Primary School will provide a written report for the parent/carer of each student enrolled however there are some changes from our usual reports. Semester 1 Student Reports will not include teacher judgements and a five-point scale due to the unprecedented changes to our program due to COVID-19. We will report on student progress in the Semester 2 reports.

Student Reports for Semester 1 2020 will include:

A description of the areas of the Victorian Curriculum F-10 taught

A general comment regarding student learning achievement, based on the Victorian Curriculum F-10

A comment on how the student has adjusted to the remote and flexible learning environment.

Student Home Learning reflection (approximately 150 words) – students reflect on their learning in Semester 1

This Semester, students Home Learning Reflections will be printed in their student reports. A reminder that we will hold Parent – Teacher interviews early in Term 3. As this most unusual term comes to a close, I would like to thank you again for your support as we all experienced remote-learning for the first time. I would like to acknowledge the enormous effort made by our teaching and education support staff to support each other, our students and our community. This world-wide pandemic has meant a huge shift for everyone but I believe it has given us an opportunity as a school to strengthen our relationships and partnerships, with families and teachers gaining a greater mutual appreciation of their shared contribution to the education of their children and students.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best over the remaining week of this term. Enjoy the two week holidays with your children and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to normal school operations on the 13th July.

Kind regards,

Julie O’Brien Principal

It has been wonderful welcoming back our student to school and I’m enjoying my new role as IB PYP coordinator. Below are a few updates.

Due to Covid19, we’ve had to alter our yearly planner in terms of what units each sub-school will be covering in Semester Two and what curriculum connections will be made. Events like Exhibition, assemblies, excursions and open afternoon/evenings all need to be considered when planning for these units. Teachers have been busily planning in PLCs, Sub-schools and dedicated planning days to ensure they are prepared and taking all of these things into consideration.

We are still in discussion about the best time to hold our review and at this stage, we have been allocated March 2nd -4th 2021. This will involve an onsite visit from IB evaluators who will meet with key stakeholders: students, staff and the wider community. We are part way through our current self-study and will resume this in Term 4 this year. In early 2021 we will finalise our documentation and prepare for the visit.

We made a great start to our whole-school vertical grouping unit addressing the transdisciplinary theme of ‘Who we Are’. Unfortunately, we have been unable to continue with these sessions and have decided to postpone this unit until 2021. We didn’t want to lose the value of this great opportunity and try to fit it in quickly, rather than allowing the time required to complete an authentic inquiry with a mixed-age group. We look forward to recommencing this unit in 2021. Peita Cooper Assistant Principal

As parents are currently not able to come onto the school grounds, we have a very large amount of lost property mounting up. To make sure your child’s clothing is returned to its rightful owner, can you please ensure ALL clothing is clearly labelled with your child’s name.

As there will not be a Cross Country for 2020, School Sport Victoria (SSV) have developed a Virtual Cross Country.

All you have to do is run a three kilometre course around your house or neighbourhood and send it in to the link below with your time. It's that easy.

https://www.facebook.com/SchoolSportVictoria

Also, please note that the Swimming program, has been cancelled for the year .

Good luck and run well.

Kind Regards,

Josh Hunt Physical Education & Sport Co-ordinator.

Learning from home is a big change for schools, teachers, students and families. With Year 3 – 6 students now returned to on-site learning, we are inviting parents and students in Years 4 – 6 to please take the time to complete the Learning from Home Survey. The information you provide will be used to drive school improvements.

The survey will be conducted online and should take 10 minutes to complete.

The survey can be completed on any internet enabled device (desktop or laptop computer, tablet, smartphone)

and is compatible with most browsers.

The survey will be open until Friday 26 June 2020.

Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential. The survey is conducted anonymously and it is important to us that you complete the survey as honestly as possible. Your comments in the final, open-ended questions will be provided back to the school.

Please follow the instructions below to complete the survey. Please note that there are separate instructions for parents and students. To complete the PARENT survey, simply:

1. Click on the link below, or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to the survey. NOTE: Only one parent from your family is invited to complete the survey. https://www.orima.com.au/lfh/parents

2. Select the School Name: Mount Eliza North Primary School

3. Enter the School PIN: 938540

4. When complete, please click on the ‘FINISHED!’ button at the end of the survey to submit your answers.

Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity.

To complete the STUDENT survey, simply ask / assist your child to follow the instructions below:

1. Click on the link below, or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to

the survey. NOTE: Only students in Years 4 to 6 are invited to participate in this survey.

https://www.orima.com.au/lfh/students 2. Select the School Name: Mount Eliza North Primary School

3. Enter the School PIN: 8968

4. If you don't know what a question means, please ask your parent or teacher to help you.

When you have finished the survey, please click on the ‘FINISHED!’ button on the last page to submit your

answers. Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity.

A reminder to all parents, if you have a sibling of a current student who will be attending in Prep next year you will need to complete an intention to enrol form. Please note, all sibling enrolments are guaranteed a place, you just need to get your form in! Due to social distancing restrictions 2021 Prep Tours have been postponed until early Term 3.

Hello and welcome back to onsite learning for our whole school community! I would like to introduce myself to you all, although I already know many of you very well. My name is Kirsten Edbrooke, and I have just taken on the role of Acting Assistant Principal in charge of Wellbeing. I have been a teacher at MENPS for about 8 years, although I have been teaching for 20 years now. I taught Multiage for 7 years, and then moved to grade 6 and took on the Senior School Coordinator role at the beginning of 2019. I have 3 children myself who have all attended MENPS, although only my youngest is still here in Year 6 this year. Prior to my teaching career I studied Social Welfare at Monash University, and when my own children were very young I worked as a Welfare Officer at a primary school in Dandenong.

The main focus of my role as the Wellbeing Assistant Principal is to ensure all of our students are engaged and safe at school. We have a clear process to address any concerns from parents, starting by contacting your child’s classroom teacher, Sub School Coordinator and then me. You are welcome to make an appointment by contacting the office on 9787 6611 or emailing the school address. I am a strong believer in the importance of clear and prompt communication. If you have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child in regards to their learning, behaviour or social issues I would encourage you to seek support from the school. It is important that you bring your concerns to us so that we can address them.

Our younger students are now in their fourth week back to onsite learning and the Middle and Senior School students are into their second week. It is such a delight to see all of the happy faces arriving each morning and filling the classrooms with life again. School was a very quiet and lonely place to be during the period of remote and flexible learning.

Our primary focus as the students have returned to onsite learning has been on the wellbeing of students. As a staff, we have been incredibly proud of all of our students and you, their parents and carers, for the work you all did during this unprecedented time. We know there have been countless challenges for many families and an incredible number of successes too. The teachers all put a lot of time into prioritising and adjusting their teaching and learning plans to cater for what the students have missed. They have also spent time preparing to support your children going forward as they have transitioned back to onsite learning. The planning for the first couple of weeks has taken into account the need for teachers to reconnect with your children and to support students in reconnecting with their peers. This has ensured a very calm and smooth return.

Overall the students have done an outstanding job of settling back into the routines of school and playing respectfully and fairly in the yard. Classroom teachers have been revisiting their Essential Agreements to ensure that all students have a clear understanding of expectations, both in the classroom and the yard. As always, we encourage our students to be resilient and problem solve and we also want them to learn how to effectively communicate so that they can work through problems and seek the support they need.

Now that the weather is really getting cold and we have spent much of the term rugged up at home in our warm hoodies and slippers, it is a good time to remember the importance of wearing our correct school uniform. Overall the students have been doing a brilliant job of wearing their uniform with pride, but here are a few reminders after the first full week back for our whole school:

No hoodies or items from football/netball clubs House t-shirts must only be worn on House Sports Day (Year 3 - Tuesday, Year 4 - Wednesday,

Year 5 and 6 – Friday) Only nave blue or red hair accessories. No large bows or decorative head bands.

Once again I would like to remind all members of our school community that our doors are always open (metaphorically at the moment due to COVID) so if you have any concerns about your child please communicate them with your child’s teacher, the Sub School Coordinator or myself.

Kirsten Edbrooke Acting Assistant Principal

Everyone has been very busy in the Art room finishing artwork they started before Remote Learning and starting new work. The Multi-age students have been working hard to create a Rainbow Serpent, experimenting with different types of lines. They had to use pencils, crayons and textas to draw multiple patterns and they found patterns in magazines in add too. Cutting out their work was not an easy task due to the twists and turns of the serpents. To finish their creations we broke out the glitter! It was a delight to watch the excitement glitter creates and to hear students singing whilst adding glitter to their artwork.

The Middle school students have started their Aboriginal dot art inspired bookmarks. They designed their pictures in grey lead before using the handle end of a paint brush to make their dots. Never has the Art room been as quiet as when they were concentrating on their careful work.

The Senior school students have been finishing the upsizing drawings they started in Term 1. They are doing a magnificent job and should be extremely proud of their efforts. Mrs O’Brien is on the lookout for more artwork to frame and display around the school so keep an eye out for some of these pictures on display later in the year.

As always, please ensure all students have arts mocks. There are a large number up for grabs in the hamper in the Art room if your child needs one.

Susan Procter

Emily 4P and Christian 3T Valentina 6C

Aria MAH Zahn 6C

Restrictions will apply on access to the school site for anyone other than immediate school staff and students. Strict social distancing of 1.5m between all adults will apply.

To reduce the number of adults attending on site or congregating outside the school the following school health and safety measures will be implemented:

Junior School students to be dropped off between 8.45 – 9.00am & pick up 3.30 – 3.45pm Students Years 3 – 6 drop off 8.30 – 8.45am & pick up 3.45 – 4.00pm Families with students in more than one sub school can choose either time to drop off & pick up Extra staff on duty in the yard at the four school entry/exit points during drop off and pickup times Students who are feeling anxious about returning to school can be escorted to class by a teacher on duty – parents as asked not to enter the school grounds If your child is feeling anxious about returning to school, please inform their teacher via email so that we can put support measures in place

Parents are asked to adhere to the following:

Parents are asked not get out of their cars at drop off or pick up – kiss & go Parents are asked to avoid or minimise time in or around the school grounds If parents need to contact the school or a teacher, you can do so by calling the office or via email

We are encouraging students to walk to school Every step counts so if you live close to the school students can walk all the way. If you need to drive consider dropping off and picking up at one of the 4 entry points. There are 4 entry points into school:

1. Moseley Drive 2. Walkers Road kinder track 3. Fulton Road 4. Taroona Close. Try one of the following options……….

Park in Marie Court and walk down Moseley Drive (or Esme Court and follow the path to Marie Court)

Park in Taroona Close and follow the path next to the creek up to the back of school

Park in Sunset Crescent or Moorna Court and walk through the Fulton Road reserve

Park in Pennington Close and school is only a short walk up the hill with no roads to cross

Park in Meribil Close and walk to school via the kinder track

Park at Eden Gardens and walk to school via Taroona Close

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 Reports to go home

26 Last Day Term 2 2.30pm finish

27

28 29 30

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13

Term 3 Start 14

Middle School Poetry Incursion

15

Middle School Poetry Incursion

16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19

House Athletics 20 21 22

23 24

Year 5 Camp Coonawarra

25

Year 5 Camp Coonawarra

26

Year 5 Camp Coonawarra

27

Year 5 Camp Coonawarra

28

Year 5 Camp Coonawarra

29

30 31

Term 1: 28 January (Teachers start) to 27 March Term 2: 14 April to 26 June Term 3: 13 July to 18 September Term 4: 5 October to 18 December *See next column for student start date

26 May: Junior school return 9 June: Middle/Senior school return 17 September: Curriculum Day 18 September: Curriculum Day