Mentone Park

Primary School Broome Avenue, Mentone 3194

Phone 9583 4935 mentone.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au

www.mentonepark.vic.edu.au

Teamwork Integrity Excellence Respect

Reaching Higher

Welcome to Cameron's Corner

WHAT A TERM

As I sit down to write my last newsletter for this term I must say that I feel a wonderful sense of

pride in the way that our entire school community has come together through the uncertainty of the

past few months. From the way our staff banded together to produce the online earning platform in

only a matter of days, to the resilience of our students and families as we strove to continue to

provide outstanding learning opportunities for our students.

We may had to forgo excursions to the park, local sport, family visits and days at the shops but the

strength of our community has shone brightly and given everyone an air of positivity of brighter days

ahead.

Next Monday School Council will look at the Department of Education guidelines regarding onsite

activities (eg. Instrumental Music) as well as the possibility of camps and excursions going ahead. We

have received some information but wish to apply this to our specific contexts before we make firm

decisions.

PICK UP AND DROP OFF PROTOCOLS

Thank you to all families for your understanding regarding the changes to pick up and drop off. This

is all based on the best medical advice available to reduce the potential spread of Covid-19. We

understand it is different to what you may be used to but I can assure you it has created a smooth

transition for students into class and a preparedness for learning promptly at 9am.

School operates on normal times, with and 8:50 starting bell for a 9am start. Please do not

be late.

Foundation families may drop students on the grass area outside the room.

All other parents are not to enter the school grounds. This is the advice of the Chief Medical

Officer.

Please remember all social distancing measures are in place and need to be adhered to.

School cleaning will occur twice a day, totalling 9 hours per day.

Drop off will be the busiest part of the day. Please ask siblings to collect each other and

meet at a predetermined place. Staff will be on duty after school to assist.

ENROLMENT FOR 2021 – THE WORD IS OUT. MENTONE PARK IS THE

PLACE TO BE.

It may seem strange to be asking for enrolment forms this early and in

the current climate but we have been receiving a number of enquires

and bookings for tours already. If you know of anyone who is looking to

start school next year please ask them to get in touch. I am offering

personalised phone calls for any families interested in our great school.

Of the 4 new family enrolments submitted just this week, 2 families

chose us from reputation alone. Fingers crossed we may be able to

offer personalised tours from next term.

ROAD SAFETY AND PARKING REQUIREMENTS

Since we have returned, some of you may have noticed the new

lollypop man on Broome Ave. If not ……… It’s me. It’s been wonderful

to greet the students as they cross the road and the surprised waves

from passing cares has made for a pleasant start to the school day. Thank you to our drivers who

proceed with caution through this area as our excited students file in. This is just one more sign of

the respect our families show for everyone in the community.

Please remember that the staff car park is not a safe place for student drop offs. We currently have 2

families with explicit permission to park in there due to ongoing medical conditions, however we do

ask all other families to drop off on either Broome Ave or Blackwood Ave.

BAM’S BEANNIES FOR SALE

One of the key features of our school in the

opportunity for students to get involved and make a

difference. Grade 6 student Bam Brickle wrote a letter

to our school council about the possibility of

producing a school beanie for the cold winter months.

Through consultation our council investigated

suppliers and the end result is this warm, smart MPPS beanie, with our logo on the front and

Reaching Higher across the back. Beginning next term these will be on sale from the office for $20,

with a contribution from each sale going to support our Grade 6 graduating class every year.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW SCHOOL STRATEGIC PLAN

As you are all aware, during Term 1 we completed our school review which is an analysis of our 4

year Strategic Plan against achievement targets. This was done by the Department of Education and

Monash University. We were assessed as having met, and in many cases exceeded our goals from

2016, which predominantly focused in student learning outcomes in Literacy and Numeracy.

Earlier this month I received our guidelines for the development of the 2020 – 2024 Strategic Plan

and this will be presented to School Council on Monday night to establish new goals and targets for

the next exciting period in the Mentone Park Primary School journey. My aim is to open this up to

families at the beginning of Term 3 so that we can all provide input into our new school direction.

Whilst the key areas of achievement in Literacy and Numeracy and student wellbeing will be

covered, an important new goal will be the area of student agency and social engagement. A

consistent whole school educational philosophy will guide us to what promises to be an exciting

future at Mentone Park Primary School

Kind Regards,

Cameron.

MPPS Calendar of Events

JUNE

Friday 26 Last Day of Term 2, 2.30pm dismissal

Reports made available via Compass.

JULY

Monday 13 First Day Term 3

Wednesday 22 Prep 2021 Transition Session: Prep Classroom Experience 9.15am – 10.15am

FOR SALE

POLO SHIRTS FOR SALE After the introduction of the new Mentone Park polo shirts, we have a small supply of

brand new old style polo shirts available for purchase here at the office.

Size 4 – short sleeved polos

Size 14 – short sleeved polos

If you are interested in purchasing one of these shirts for only $15 please contact the

office.

WELCOME BACK TO CLASSROOM CUISINE!

FOR THE REMAINDER OF T2 WE WILL BE OPERATING A REDUCED MENU

on FRIDAYS only!

We're going to maintain our 8.30am on the day cutoff, however if at all possible

it would help us enormously to PLAN and AVOID FOOD WASTE, if you could

PLEASE ORDER THE NIGHT BEFORE!

(Or even further in advance if you can!)

NEW LOOK MENU! Our Food Prep Kitchen is a hive of activity in the morning. We've often marvelled as our business has grown, what we can achieve in our 'tiny' space and how many people we

can squeeze in to do what we do! Obviously, a return post lockdown, with thoughts around social distancing, has forced us to rethink this and on a practical level there's

really no other option than to reduce the number of items on our Menu while we find our way. The idea of pairing back the menu was a bit sad, so rather than taking on this

negative - we're using it as an opportunity and we've come up with some cool new menu ideas! These are choices we think your children will enjoy, but also things that we can

prepare in a different 'time window' to the normal shoulder to shoulder setting of our Salad, Sandwich & Fruit Chopping kitchen. Our inspiration is the cooler weather and we've

created a new take on some old winter favourites. While there's only a small number of

children at school it's an ideal time for us to give them a whirl!

*SAUSAGE ROLLS, *GOURMET VEGIE PARCELS, *GF VEG (No sausage!) ROLLS &

*SAVOURY SCROLLS.

As you know we don't serve hot food so these recipes will be made in our kitchen & baked in

the morning. They've been tried out with much success on our 'home schooled, ISO

Children!' and are really good SERVED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. We've found the

healthier compromise by rejecting traditional pastry and instead are using wraps for the outer

casings. These new versions have all the comfort of the originals without the unhealthy

pastry! See the Our Menu page for more details!

We look forward to resuming our service and continuing to delight your school communities

with our Lunch Service.

kind regards, Geraldine, Alison and the Classroom Cuisine Team.

www.classroomcuisine.com.au

COMMUNITY MESSAGES & ADVERTISEMENTS The Department of Education & Early Childhood Development and Mentone Park Primary School do not endorse the products or

services of any private advertiser. They accept no responsibility for accuracy of information contained in advertisements or claims

made by them.