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Mill Park Primary School

Issue 40 13th December 2018

Newsletter

2 – 10 Blamey Avenue (PO BOX 163)

Mill Park 3082

Telephone: (03) 9404 3337

Web: www.millparkps.vic.edu.au

Email: mill.park.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au

Our vision is to be a dynamic school, promoting lifelong learning and our school values of

respect, integrity, compassion and excellence.

TERM 4 COMING EVENTS

Week 10:

Thursday, 13th Dec: Prep Information Night at 7.00pm

Friday, 14th Dec: Year 6 Graduation

Week 11:

Monday, 17th Dec: Christmas Concert 6.00 – 8.30pm

Tuesday, 18th Dec: Year 6 Movies and Lunch

Back Up Date Christmas Concert

Wednesday, 19th Dec: Meet the Teacher 12.30 – 1.20pm

Thursday, 20th Dec: Student Leaders Breakfast 8.30-10.30am

Friday, 21st Dec: End of Term, Dismissal at 1.00pm Sharp

REMINDERS Prep Information Night

Tonight Thursday, 13th Dec @ 7.00pm

Christmas Concert

Monday, 17th Dec, 6.00 – 8.30pm

Meet the Teacher

Wednesday, 19th Dec, 12.30 – 1.20pm

CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Monday, 17th December 2018

6.00pm – 8.30pm

Our preparations for the Christmas Concert are almost finalised. Another

reminder to please be aware that this is a smoke, alcohol and drug free

event.

During the course of the evening, the Brian Wooster Memorial Award will be presented to a member of the school

community in recognition of his/her contribution to our school.

YEAR 6 GRADUATION

Our Graduating Class of 2018 will participate in a formal Graduation ceremony tomorrow

night, Friday 14th December at Casa D’Abruzzo in Epping. Best wishes from everyone at the

school are conveyed to our Graduates and we trust they will make this a night to remember.

SCHOOL ASSEMBLY

Please note that the final assembly for the year will be held on Friday, 21st December 2018 at

9.15am. Our Graduates will perform for the school for the final time.

Due to Christmas Concert rehearsals, there will no assembly on Monday, 17th December.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

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CHRISTMAS CARD DESIGN WINNER

Our local member for Scullin, Mr Andrew Giles MP, invited students from

his electorate to design a Christmas card that would be used as his official

greeting card this year.

Andrew attended school assembly on Monday to announce that Year 6

student, Sarah Fang, was the winner of the Scullin Christmas Card

Competition.

Sarah will be presented with her certificate and book voucher upon her

return from overseas later this week.

The school was presented with a $500 cheque, which will be used to

purchase learning resources to support our Values Program.

HOUSE CAPTAINS 2019

Congratulations to the following students on being elected House Captains for next year:

2019 HOUSE CAPTAINS

Blue Gum Eleisha Zuhoor & Brooke Whiting

Wattle Kabir Singh & Aleisha Dam

Grevillea Genevieve Chia & Aran Visakan

Banksia Lydia Green & Kaitlyn De-Coi

LAST DAY OF TERM – 1.00pm FINISHING TIME

Please note that the finishing time for the last day of term, next Friday 21st December 2018, is at 1.00pm. Parents are

being given plenty of notice to make arrangements for their child to be collected from their classroom at 1.00pm on the

last day.

2018 GRADUATES’ AFTERNOON TEA

Every year our Year 6 teachers host an Afternoon Tea to catch up with the previous year’s graduates and find out how

they have settled into their secondary schools. The reunion Afternoon Tea for our Graduating Class of 2018 that will be

held on Wednesday, 13th March 2019 beginning at 4.00pm. We look forward to catching up with them all and hearing

about their journey at secondary school.

END OF YEAR STUDENT REPORTS

End of year reports will be released on Compass on Tuesday, 18th December 2018.

MEET THE TEACHER DAY

Next Wednesday, 19th December students from Prep to Year 5 will

have the opportunity to get together with next year’s teacher and

classmates. This day is always greeted with excitement and anticipation

by all members of the school community.

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SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS

Superior Achievement Awards are awarded annually to one student in each year level of school who displays outstanding

skills and levels of achievement in specific Multiple Intelligence areas. Congratulations to the 2018 Superior Achievement

Award winners.

YEAR LEVEL: PREP YEAR LEVEL: ONE

VERBAL LINGUISTIC Charlee Muscat VERBAL LINGUISTIC Amaya Dharmasena

LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL Christopher

Sirinotis

LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL Joshua Nikodem

INTERPERSONAL Saloni Kirtane INTERPERSONAL Kade Burgess

INTRAPERSONAL Lola Odgers INTRAPERSONAL Litthesh Logesh

ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR Joyce Chu ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR Cassidy Lowman

NATURALIST James Rance NATURALIST Adrianna Katsanis

VISUAL SPATIAL Eleanor Tan VISUAL SPATIAL Jessie Cauchi

BODY KINAESTHETIC Christian Pannuzzo BODY KINAESTHETIC Arwa Shalouf

MUSICAL RHYTHMIC Elizabeth Gatt MUSICAL RHYTHMIC Gabriella Carbonara

LOTE Rohan Williams LOTE Ruhani Sharma

YEAR LEVEL: FOUR YEAR LEVEL: FIVE

VERBAL LINGUISTIC Myah Smith VERBAL LINGUISTIC Alaa Salheen

LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL Nathan Zhang LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL Zimo Zhang

INTERPERSONAL Jenaan Najimum Niyas INTERPERSONAL Aleisha Dam

INTRAPERSONAL Ella Rouse INTRAPERSONAL Tommy Pham

ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR Jack Tonkin ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR Ajden Abduloski

NATURALIST Jacob McConchie NATURALIST Kabeer Mughal

VISUAL SPATIAL Amber Reid VISUAL SPATIAL Kaitlyn De-Coi

BODY KINAESTHETIC Olivia DeAraujo BODY KINAESTHETIC Genevieve Chia

MUSICAL RHYTHMIC Anna-Maria Constantin MUSICAL RHYTHMIC Kabir Singh

LOTE Max Limosani LOTE Vanessa Ralevski

YEAR LEVEL: SIX

VERBAL LINGUISTIC Harrison Abbott

LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL Ramji Shankar

INTERPERSONAL Indiana Piggott

INTRAPERSONAL Elizabeth Dellow

ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR Taylor Hallas

NATURALIST Bailey Dighton

VISUAL SPATIAL Amrita Babra

BODY KINAESTHETIC Kiara Wijayakoon

MUSICAL RHYTHMIC Poppy McConchie

LOTE Jayda El Haouli

YEAR LEVEL: TWO YEAR LEVEL: THREE

VERBAL LINGUISTIC Tiahna De-Coi VERBAL LINGUISTIC Anesu Tapfumaneyi

LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL Dylan Williams LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL Brendan Murphy

INTERPERSONAL Munirah Abdullahi INTERPERSONAL Enessa Bektash

INTRAPERSONAL Aydin Koldere INTRAPERSONAL Liana McClaer

ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR Sophia Tsatas ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR Jovana Filipovska

NATURALIST Zara King NATURALIST Hudson Green

VISUAL SPATIAL Deakin Curnow VISUAL SPATIAL Mito Kamiya

BODY KINAESTHETIC Aiman Mohd Fadly BODY KINAESTHETIC Tyson Lowman

MUSICAL RHYTHMIC Gracie Condidorio MUSICAL RHYTHMIC Ezekiel Rabuya

LOTE Noah Faraj LOTE Stephanie Andriopoulos

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Thank you to Mrs Joanne Wharton for organising the awards, the PFA for the trophies and Mr Bill Boicovitis for the photos.

VISUAL SPATIAL BODY KINAESTHETIC

MUSICAL RHYTHMIC LOTE

VERBAL LINGUISTIC LOGICAL MATHEMATICAL

INTERPERSONAL INTRAPERSONAL

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ACADEMIC ENDEAVOUR NATURALIST

I leave you with a quote from Year 6 Graduate, Amrita Babra (E7), ‘You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave

a place; you’ll not only miss the people you love, but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and place. The gate

for primary school adventures has closed, but the gate for other adventures has just opened. Good times and crazy

friends make the best of memories.’

Lu Alessi

Principal

With the holiday season fast approaching, there is an extra buzz and excitement in the air as we head into the last week of

school year for 2018!

Tonight, we will have our 2019 Prep Information Night. It’s always wonderful to welcome all the new faces to our school

community as these parents prepare their children for their first year of schooling next year. It’s a great time full of nerves

and expectation of what’s to come!

Very excitingly- tomorrow is our Year 6 student’s graduation! Our Graduates have been rehearsing their

dances, songs, speeches and routines for tomorrow night’s event - which I am sure is going to be a wonderful

night for everyone. I’m certainly looking forward to it!

Our annual Christmas Concert is on Monday 17th December starting at 6:00pm. The PFA Christmas Raffle will be

drawn on the night and we thank all parents in advance for selling and buying tickets. If you require any more

tickets they are available at the office. The hampers look great and there are some great prizes to be won, so

good luck to you all! We have included the performance schedule below for your information.

Time Event Song

6:00pm Official welcome

6:05pm Groups W7/W8 – Year 1 Santa Claus is Coming

6:10pm Groups H4/H5/H6 – Year 4 Winter Wonderland

6:15pm Groups W5/W6 – Year 1 All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

6:20pm Groups E2/E3/E4– Year 5 Run Rudolph Run

6:25pm Groups W1/W2 – Prep Go Santa Go

6:30pm Brian Wooster Memorial Award

6:45pm Groups W9/W10/E1 – Year 2 Santa Claus Rock

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

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6:50pm Groups W3/W4 – Prep Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

7:00pm Groups H1/H2/H3 – Year 3 Christmas Mash-up

7:05pm PFA Christmas Raffle

7:10pm Mill Park Singers Hall of Fame

7:15pm Rock Band Year 5s Feliz Navidad

7:20pm Rock Band Year 6s Final Countdown

7:25pm Teacher Band Crazy Little Thing Called Love

7:30pm Teacher Band Riding Shotgun

7:35pm Groups E5/E6/E7 – Year 6 We’re All in this Together

7:40pm Staff item Christmas Party Rock Anthem

7:45pm Farewell

On Wednesday 19th December our students will find out who their teachers are for 2019, as well as the students that will be

in their grade and what classroom they will be in. The teachers have spent many hours ensuring that all students have at least

one friend that they have chosen to be with, whilst balancing all the other academic, behavioural, social and emotional factors

too. This is done to ensure all classrooms have a balanced learning environment!

There are also class parties and KK happening in all rooms to wrap up the year!

Summer Holiday Ideas

I love the school summer holidays as it’s a nice long stretch where we can really forget about our ‘normal routine’ (i.e. school

lunch boxes, school uniforms) and relax into a more carefree, come-what-may existence.

Of course, all carefree living takes careful planning when children are involved. Knowing how to navigate the trickier aspects

of summer living with kids is critical. How can we make all the joys of summertime - visits to the beach, playing in the backyard,

road tripping to visit Grandparents, camping and picnicking - that little bit easier?

To help with ideas, here is a list that I have enjoyed with my own children over the years when they were primary school age.

I have long lasting memories of these special times that we shared as a family!

Melbourne Zoo

Melbourne Aquarium

Science Works

Melbourne Museum

IMAX

State Library

Observatory

Royal Botanic Gardens

Docklands

National Sports Museum

Eureka Sky deck

Queen Victoria Market

Old Melbourne Gaol.

Whatever the activity is, the most important thing is spending quality time with your children and enjoying each other

company.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you all at the Christmas Concert!

With only 11 days until Christmas, enjoy the festive season!

Carol Vidmar

Assistant Principal

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YEAR 6 GRADUATION

Congratulations to our Year 6 students who will participate in their Graduation Ceremony tomorrow night. I am looking

forward to seeing all the wonderful students performing and being presented with their certificates.

ATTENDANCE AWARDS

Unfortunately there were no ‘All Here All Week’ awards for Week 10, Term 4. On the last day of term I will present the

‘All Here All Term’ award to a student who has not been absent all of Term 4.

KIDSMATTER – EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE

Catch your child being good

Keep a record of the behaviours you are pleased about.

Reading them over together from time to time will be

a positive experience for both you and your child.

You may ask, ‘Is praise enough to motivate my child?’

Praise and acknowledgement work in most cases, but

sometimes you may need to add an incentive plan with

rewards to help change behaviour. If you do add an

incentive plan, think carefully about your choice of reward.

Tips for using rewards effectively

• Ask your child about what they like. If they suggest the reward, it will be more motivating.

• Make sure the reward is realistic for you to give.

• If the child becomes bored by use of the same reward, use a menu of 10-15 items to create variety. When your

child meets his/her behaviour expectation, he/she selects one reward from the menu.

• A mystery award is also very motivating for most children.

• If a child wants to earn a big reward (eg – compuer game, movie, etc) you could use a token system. Each day

he/she could earn tokens to be exchanged later for a bigger reward.

• Emphasise social rewards and privileges over material rewards. Material rewards (eg – toys, money etc) are

expensive and often don’t work. Many children enjoy having time to spend with their parents or carers. Rewards

involving time and activities with parents or carers, can be reinforcing and promote good relationships at the

same time.

One more week to go! The final week for the term is always such an exciting one. With the Christmas Concert, Meet the

Teacher Day and class Christmas parties and KK always brings great happiness and sense of fun.

Wishing you a wonferful week ahead!

Kelly Spurr

Welfare Officer/Leading Teacher

FROM THE WELFARE OFFICER

Ideas for a reward

menu:

Play game with parent

Favourite healthy meal

Stay up late

Have a friend over

Sports equipment to use

Computer time

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G

GOLD CLASS TICKET WINNER – CONGRATULATIONS TO THE THEOCHARI FAMILY.

END OF TERM OFFICE HOURS

The last day for all payments will be on Wednesday, 19th December 2018.

SPECIAL GROUP PHOTOS

Special Group Photos have been distributed to the students. Please note that the school does not accept any returned

photos for refunds. Parents should return the photos directly to MSP Photography at 7 / 9 Mirra Court, Bundoora within

14 days. Returned photos received after the 14 day period will not be eligible for a refund.

STUDENT BANKING

Rohan Williams W1, Krishna Shankar H2, Dylan Williams E1, Elias Kelada E2 and Jennifer Li E7. Please collect your

rewards from the office.

Please note that Student Banking has now finished however if your child has 9 tokens they can make one final deposit

to receive 10 tokens in 2019 to redeem a reward.

Angela Falso, Vivian Gulia and Alison Wylie

Administration Team

READING MATTERS

Overdue Books

I’m making a list. I’m checking it twice. All classroom borrowing ceased last

week so that maintenance and restocking of classroom libraries for 2019 can

occur. Please look for any missing books and return them to your teacher as

soon as possible. Students who will not be attending Mill Park Primary in

2019 need to make sure that all library books and Home Readers are

returned to the classroom before they leave. Thank you to all the students

who have returned their books this week. Keep looking those missing books

have to be somewhere! Overdue notices will go home tomorrow. We

currently have 125 books overdue.

Happy Hunting

Sharon Turner

Library/Book Club Coordinator

MEDICATIONS

Hi Everyone!

As it gets closer and closer to the end of the 2018 school I’d just like to remind all of our families who will not be returning

to the school next year to come and collect any medications they may have left in the first aid room this year by Friday

21st December 2018. Please note that medications that are not collected will not be kept for 2019.

Enjoy your weekend!

Erin Daniele

First Aid Officer

FROM THE OFFICE

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A STUDENT COUNCIL INITIATIVE

Christmas Food Drive

The Student Councillors are teaming up with the Salvation Army to support members of

our community in their time of need.

This drive will take place from Monday 19th November – Friday 14th December 2018

In order for our drive to be successful, we need your help in donating non-perishable

items for distribution to families in need.

These items can include:

- Canned food

- Shelf-stable items such as rice and pasta

- Toiletries

All of your donations can be left in front of the Christmas tree at the office.

We thank you for your ongoing support for this wonderful cause.

Life is full of “ups and downs” as well as change and the end of the year is no exception. As the school year winds down

students are very aware of the changes and challenges in the New Year as they transition to the year level ahead: meeting

new students in their 2019 class and adjusting to more challenging work and another new teacher! A range of mixed

feelings or anxieties are bound to happen that are likely to be reflected in their language and behaviour. This article is a

reminder that positive parent modelling and encouragement to be resilient is going to help develop a life-long skill with

your family.

RESILIENCE by Michael Grose

If you want your child or young person to be resilient enough to cope with the hardships that come his or her way, and

in doing so build strengths for the future, consider fostering your own resilience first. Parents are in the best position to

influence their children’s resilience. Children watch our reactions to adverse events and view firsthand how we look after

– or neglect – our own mental health and wellbeing.

Focusing on our own resilience is not as difficult as it may seem. If you adapt a resilience mindset you’ll find that resilient

behaviour follows. Want to get fitter physically? You could take up a new fitness regime or you could simply adopt a

fitness mindset. Adopt the former and there’s a reasonable chance that you’ll start off gung ho and run out of steam

after a month. Adopt the latter and you’ll more likely take small, sustainable steps such as walking or riding to work,

taking stairs instead of escalators and playing active games rather than sitting on the couch on weekends.

The mindset approach works well with resilience. Take the sustainable approach of looking after your mental health,

becoming conscious of the messages you send yourself and developing coping skills that allow you to respond rather

than react to adverse events. These simple ideas will help:

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Watch your self-talk

The little voice inside your head can have a catastrophic impact when you allow it to. It can talk you into the blues, lower

your confidence and build mountainous problems out of molehills. Once you’re aware of its impact, you can switch it off

or change its negative chatter to something more positive and realistic. It takes practice but it’s worth it. When you have

a resilience mindset you’ll start to check that chatter in your head.

Park the bad stuff

Ever had an argument with a family member at breakfast only to find it messed up your whole day? A common trait with

resilient people is that they can compartmentalise their lives so that difficult experiences in one domain won’t interfere

with their effectiveness elsewhere. When you have a resilience mindset you’ll consciously park the negative stuff while

you get on with the rest of the day, only revisiting it on your own terms.

Stay flexible in your thinking

People who lack resilience pepper their language with absolute, imperative statements such as ‘I must always be on

time,’ ‘They never do anything to help,’ or ‘They should always use good manners’. This shows inflexible, unrealistic

thinking that leads to stress and anxiousness. When you have a resilience mindset you’ll use more moderate language

reflecting a flexible approach to life. The above statements become ‘I’ll always try to be on time but sometimes it’s

impossible,’ ‘They are sometimes helpful but they can be forgetful,’ and ‘I’d like it if they were well-mannered but

sometimes they aren’t’.

Make sleep a priority

We are only beginning to make solid links between sleep and resilience. Mothers of newborns know how debilitating

sleep deprivation can be. They can’t function effectively and depression is close at hand. Many people spend much of

their lives experiencing some form of sleep deprivation, compensating by taking regular caffeine hits, self-medicating

with alcohol and using other ineffective remedies. When you develop a resilience mindset, you make sleep a high priority,

taking the necessary lifestyle steps to make sleep easy to attain.

Create a pressure valve

In a society that views busyness as a status symbol, it’s tempting to keep working until you drop, neglecting to enjoy

some downtime that releases the pressures of work. When you have a resilience mindset you value down-time and

relaxation and understand the positive impact these have on your mental health and the wellbeing of people around

you.

When you have a resilience mindset you have a greater understanding of what resilience is about and you’re in a better

position to develop a lasting sense of resilience in your kids. Developing resilience in kids is like jumping off a pier with

some friends on a cold winter’s day. In both instances you need to go first.

Susan Wilson (Early Years Parent Education Coordinator)

Bill Boicovitis (Middle Years Parent Education Coordinator)

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All families will receive a booklet of 10 tickets for the Christmas Raffle.

Tickets are $1 each and the raffle will be drawn at the

Christmas Concert on Monday, 17th December 2018.

If you would like to purchase additional tickets, they will be available from the office. We hope the lucky winners will

enjoy the great prizes on offer.

There will be No PFA Meeting on 11th December.

Amelia Davidson

PFA Secretary

PARENTS & FRIENDS ASSOCIATION

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