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MEREDITH PRIMARY SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 8
2015
Friday 20th March 2015
Principal’s Report
Calendar
March
Monday 23rd—

Pupil Free/Curriculum Day
Friday 27th March

Last day of term 2.15pm
finish Easter Raffle draw
April
Monday 13th April

First day of Term 2

Garden Group 1.30—3.15pm
__________________
Mr G’s Maker Group
Please note that next week’s session has
been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday. Times remain the same 3.00pm—4.00pm
Easter Raffle
Thank you for donations to date.
The hampers are looking very
healthy and we are hoping to have 3 prizes
again. Tickets are due back on Wednesday
25th March and will be drawn on Friday
27th at assembly.
Outstanding Accounts
Thank you to all the families
who have paid their $150
Student payment. Please note
that the first $50 is due
before the end of this term.
Students have had their
classroom supplies since the
first day of term. Please note
that EMA is no longer available
to cover this charge.
Hello everyone,
Cross Country
Thanks to everyone for coming out for our cross country day. We had a great time
and it was terrific to engage in fun and healthy exercise and activity on the day.
Well done kids, you all ran really well and it was great to see you all push yourselves
and get the most out of the day.
School Council Office Bearers
I’d like to congratulate the following—President-Stefania Parkinson, Vice PresidentJames Knight, Treasurer-Linda Burnett and Secretary-Fairlie Pritchard
Staff Leave
Moya Elvey will be taking long service leave from the start of term 2 and will be
absent until the 3rd of November. Kerrie Brown will replace Moya in her absence and
fill the same role within the school team.
Staff resignation
I regret to inform you that Carol Cations has decided to retire from her position as
Business manager at the end of this term. Carol has served the school with
distinction over several years, and it is with a heavy heart we wish her well. To
celebrate Mrs. Cations last day we are having a fancy dress-up day on Friday, March
27th We are inviting children to come dressed up as something beginning with ‘C’ to
celebrate our wonderful ‘CC”, Mrs. Cations.
Staff Employment
I am very pleased to announce that Belinda Gear has been appointed to the position
of business manager replacing Carol from the beginning of Term 2. Belinda comes to
us from Lal Lal Primary School where she has worked for the previous 3 and a half
years. Belinda will work every day except Wednesdays.
Choir Expression of Interest
I’m excited to announce that we are running an extra-curricular choir activity for
the first six weeks of term 2. Beginning Wednesday, April 15th at 3.15—4.15pm.
The teacher will be a local resident, Kim Ivory. We will be accepting Grade 2 children
and up for this activity (as they need this level of reading skill), we only have 15
places. Should we receive more than 15 expressions of interest we will choose names
out of a hat. There will be no charge for these sessions as we are getting funded by
the shire. Please fill out an expression of interest form attached to the newsletter.
If this proves a successful activity we may extend it after the trial in term 3 or 4.
ICT (INTERNET) Use Policy
Today all students have been given a copy of the Meredith Primary School policy
relating to the use of internet at school. All parents and children are required to
have an understanding of this policy and students are required to read, sign and
return the attached Student Agreement before they will be permitted access to the
school internet. Please spend the time with your child/children going through the
agreement as it is mandatory and contributes to the safety and awareness of
potential consequences and dangers of inappropriate usage.
Ph: 5286 1313
FAX: 5286 1484
Email: meredith.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au
Website: www.meredithps.vic.edu.au
Christian Brown
Principal
Meredith Primary School
Early Finish Next Friday
There will be an early finish to term next Friday. Students
will be dismissed at 2.15pm and Outside School Hours Care
will operate from that time.
Cricket Result
Congratulations to the Elaine U/13 boys cricket team who
have made the BCA Grand final this weekend. The team is
chock full of Meredith PS kids past and present. If you’re
not doing anything turn up at Wendouree 2 on Saturday and
Sunday to cheer the boys home—Go Elaine!
Christian
Student Achievement Awards
P/1
TASTES OF MEREDITH
FRIDAY 27th MARCH 6PM ~ 8 pm.
MEREDITH INTERPRETIVE CENTRE
MIDLAND HIGHWAY, MEREDITH
Discover more about the produce our great
Meredith Region has to offer.
Tastings of our local cheese, wine, lamb, beef, pork,
vegetarian and sweet delights.
GOLD COIN DONATION at each TASTING POST.
Organised by ADVANCE MEREDITH ASSOCIATION
AND LOCAL BUSINESSES
Musical entertainment and activities
An exciting new venture in our town
Macaulay Buchanan
For his excellent attentive listening skills
Grade 4/5/6 News of The Week
Emma Downie
For her happy smiles and enjoyment whenever
we sing
Pictures of the students doing their
ANZAC Centenary ilearning projects,
and enjoying a session with visiting
local children’s author Matt Porter.
1/2
Dustin Perry
For approaching all set tasks with a smile and
positive attitude
Natalie Cochrane
For being a kind and caring friend to everyone
2/3
Isabelle Wood
For her awesome work on her tourism
advertisement
Sebastion Raftery
For his fantastic effort during the cross
country
4/5
Kynan Munday
For his excellent effort in the cross country
Kirsty Roberts
For showing leadership during iLearning
6
Angus Bigmore
For being a caring and encouraging team
leader on our cross country day
Stone Tighe-Marshall
For showing great determination in the cross
country run
Principal Award
Seth Ludowyk
For being a great helper with the
younger students
As part of our ANZAC Centenary unit,
we are asking if any families have
copies of old photos of relatives who
fought during the war, to be part of
our
Meredith Primary School
School Council Update—March 2015
The School Council Annual General Meeting (AGM) was
held on Thursday 12th March at 7pm, followed by the
first meeting of the new council on Monday 16th March.
It has been a very busy couple of weeks for council and
I would like to welcome new members, Jimmy Knight,
Kerrie Flood and Virginia Cooper. I would also like to
congratulate the Office Bearers (which Christian has
already announced) on their positions.
The AGM was a terrific night. We kept the formalities
to a minimum and used the evening to highlight some of our
collective achievements throughout the year. Helena Lindorff tabled the Environment Plan for 2014 which is available to view on the notice board in the school foyer. It is a
very detailed list of what has been completed and what is
still being worked on. This list however is always evolving
and changing but gives us something to work towards, our
vision and a wish list!
We also took the opportunity to highlight and thank our
outgoing members, Martin Peters, Matt Reichman and
Andrew Cooke. They have all made a significant and
valuable contribution to council and will all be sadly
missed. We concluded the evening with supper and lots
of chatting.
On Monday evening, Mr G presented the results of the
School Council Survey. Thank you to those who took the
time to participate. A copy of the results is available from
Mr G. or the office if you are interested however in a nut
shell you seem to think that things are travelling along
well. There were no areas of major concern or nothing that
stood out dramatically. I was thrilled to discover that you
all know about the ‘suggestion box’, so now I am hopeful it
will be full of your ideas and comments each monthJ
Our new councilors had some terrific ideas and thoughts
at our first meeting and one thing was brought to my
attention that perhaps some parents aren’t aware that
the fee for Outside School Hours Care can be as little
as $8 per child per session and for some families, even
less! It is all to do with the CCR (Child Care Rebate) and
CCB (Child Care Benefit). All you have to do is register for
these benefits which is as simple as making one phone call.
Chat to Carol in the office, Sharni, Janie or Christian, they
will be very happy to help.
We also had a discussion about extra curricula activities at the school. It certainly ignites passionate conversation for and against and is something I know parents feel
strongly about. It was interesting to hear that extra curricula activities are not always delivered after school
hours as I’m sure some of us may expect. For example, activities that the Year 6 students organize during lunch
times, the swimming program, school camps etc.
to give up their own time to deliver activities to our students outside school hours. It was also very interesting
to hear that other schools in comparison do not offer
any extra curricula activities at all.
As a council we will continue to work with the staff to
help provide our kids with the best opportunities possible to try new things and develop new skills through
activities organized at the school. In the meantime,
if you are looking for opportunities for your child to
socialize, participate, learn new skills and generally
have fun in a supportive and caring environment, why
not look at the Outside School Hours Program. It is a
very high quality program and great value for money and
the kids that use it, love it!
Fundraising was also a topic of discussion and some
really good ideas were raised. Fundraising isn’t for everyone, but it does allow us to purchase new things and
make improvements to the school that we could otherwise not afford. I am very certain that we have some
very passionate council members this year who are driven
and focused on making improvements to the school and
they are fully prepared to do what it takes and bring
back the fun in fundraising.
The school receives a significant amount of money
from the Music Festivals each year. I can’t even imagine
where the school would be without this money. The time
and effort the Tucker Tent Coordinator contributes
each year is very significant and possibly not acknowledged as it should be. With this in mind school council
has made the decision to appoint the schools Tucker
Tent Coordinator a position on school council. A special
motion was passed unopposed on Monday evening and
therefore I am very pleased to welcome Andrew Cooke
onto council. Andrew has coordinated the schools shift
at the music festival for several years and we are
pleased to welcome him back onto council in this capacity.
As you may be aware, the school is undertaking its
four year review and compiling a plan for the direction
of the school over the coming four years. On Monday,
I will participate in this process which I consider to be
significant and important for our school and in particular
our children and their education for the coming four
years. I plan to bring to the table a parent’s perspective
and hopefully from survey results and simply chatting to
other parents, a sound idea and understanding of what
direction you would like our school to take.
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 15th April
2015 at 6.30pm. And as always if you have anything you
would like to bring to my attention or chat about please
let me know via Carol or Christian.
Stefania Parkinson
President
Volunteers Needed
Council have had a request from the organiser of
the new Meredith Man Cave Madness Charity
Fundraising Event for community volunteers to
assist on the day.
The Meredith Mancave Madness event is on
Sunday 12th April at the Meredith Oval and volunteers are needed for roles that include traffic
control, sausage sizzle, money collection and
general cleaning duties. Volunteers are needed
anytime on the day from 6.00am to 4.00pm and
food, drink and all equipment will be provided.
The organisers also extending an invite to car
enthusiasts, local producers, local groups or vendors who may want to have a stall at the event.
The cost of stall sites are:
7m x 6m swap meet sites $40
Car boot sale sites $10
100% of all proceeds from this event are going to
charity.
To volunteer, book a stall or for more information contact Karl Hardy on 0408788897 or
meredithmancavemadness@yahoo.com.au
Chook House
Next term we are going to build a chook house in our school yard. We
are asking for donated materials ie chicken wire, star pickets, corrugated iron and timber
etc. We are also looking for any parents or friends who may be able to donate some time
and /or expertise during the construction. We are planning to use time on Mondays and
Tuesdays during next term to get the project up and running.
We are also running an outdoor learning activity next term and need square some of
the small rectangular bales of hay. If you are able to donate some hay, please see Mrs
Gargan.
Garden Group Just a reminder that our garden group meets on the 3rd Monday of the
month. The next session will be on the first day of Term 2, the 13th April.
Meredith Primary School Choir
Expression of Interest for students from Grade 2—6
I wish my child / children ______________________________________ to be involved with the Meredith School Choir during Term 2. I understand that the program
will be run starting on Wednesday April 15th from 3.15pm –4.15pm for 6 weeks.
Signed ________________________________
Date __________________