newsletter - mount barker community...
TRANSCRIPT
NEWSLETTER
6 August 2019
Dear Parents and Friends of the College
Thank You
We’d like to start with a special appreciation
for Mrs Brown, who puts this newsletter
together for us faithfully each fortnight. She
does a tremendous job of keeping all the
information up-to-date and liaising with the
range of contributors both within and beyond
our college. Great work, Mrs Brown, and thank you!
Home Reading
Thank you to all our families for your
wonderful, ongoing support of our home
reading program. So many of our students
have achieved each reward milestone as it has
come up, which suggests some really positive
home-reading routines in our college
community. We encourage all of our students,
regardless of where you are in your reading
count, to set yourself the next milestone as a
goal and work towards it. We look forward to
celebrating with you in the office.
Kindergarten Program
We welcome our kindergarten students for an
additional day this semester, and Mrs Jane
Connelly who has joined our staff in the kindy
area. Many schools opt for a two and a half
day kindy program all year but at our college,
we offer two days in Semester 1 and three
days in Semester 2. We feel this is a great way
to ease the students into school routines and
expectations, to build up their stamina for
school attendance, and to enable them to
therefore get the most out of their three days
in the latter part of the year. We have a
wonderful kindy program here at the college
and terrific staff. We wish them much
adventure and success in Semester 2.
Kindergarten 2020
If you are aware of any families with
kindergarten-aged children who may not yet
have enrolled, please share this information
with them. The official closing date for
applications has passed, but we would like to
give everyone the chance to complete an
application. Kindergarten is such an important
time for learning and development that we are
keen for all children to have the opportunity
to participate if we possibly can.
Forms can be obtained from the front office of
our college or downloaded from our
website…for children born between July 2
2015 and 30 June 2016.
Spelling Squad
Our Interschool Spelling Squad commenced
their training last term and is still working
hard to be ready for the Albany Spelling
Championship on September 12th. We meet
each fortnight to review the words students
have been studying, and to practise their
understanding of what these words mean. The
students are dealing with some very tricky
words at times…and we’ve been very
impressed with the way they are tackling
them!
Book Week
Children’s Book Week again falls in Week 6
this term. The theme this year is ‘Reading is
my Secret Power’ which opens the door…or
turns the pages…. for many an exciting
adventure through reading. Our Book
Character Dress Up Day will be on Thursday,
August 22nd so families may like to start
thinking about possible outfits to match up
with book characters. There will be a special
Book Week Parade that morning, starting at
10.30am, to show off all the creative outfits. Be warned…the parade is coming up….
College Fees
Thank you to all of our parents and families
who have paid their college fees. The $60 per
student annual fee allows us to provide
valuable resources and opportunities for the
children in classrooms and around the college
on a daily basis. If you have not yet paid your
fees, you can do so online or through the
EFTPOS facility in the front office. We
appreciate your support.
IMPORTANT: Class Requests for 2020
We are currently investigating our class
groupings for Kindergarten to Year 6 for 2020.
If parents have any special requests regarding
the placement of their child/ren, please
address them to:
“Private and Confidential”
Ms Rebecca Smyth,
Associate Principal K-6
Closing date for requests will be the end of
Week 8, Term 3 – Friday 13 Sept, 2019.
Please understand that, while we will do our
best, we cannot guarantee that all requests
can be accommodated. As always, we will
endeavour to get the best balance of students,
year groups and teachers for 2020. Please feel
free to contact me at the school if you would
like to talk the process through. I’m very
happy to chat informally about it with you.
Will You Be Here Next Year?
As we are beginning to look at student
numbers and classes for 2020, it is incredibly
helpful for us to have the most accurate
information possible. For this reason, we ask
that you let our front office know if you are
already sure you will no longer be with us at
MBCC in 2020. We will be sad to see you go
but we understand that things change in
people’s lives. Thank you for your support
with this.
Bec Smyth
Associate Principal K-6
Bravo to these readers who have
achieved the BRONZE award
Manahil Jafari,
Sensational reading to the following students
who have achieved the SILVER award.
Harley Waddington, Sophie Fisher, Zeth
Steicke, Tessa Scherell, Sebastian
Higgins, Ebony Cave, Alexander
Hambley, Danré-Janike Theron,
Josephine Tester, Callum Keenan, Danika
Hutcheson, Miley Laing, Georgia Roberts,
Good Work to our students who have achieved
the GOLD award.
Mia Batty, Hamida Qasimi, Ben Speedy,
Alrik Bisschoff, Ashton Bassett, Jacob
Sadler, Keira Yorkshire, Macey Seaman,
Amelia Baxter, Paige Kirk, George
Theron, Lincoln Large, Helen Azimi, Stan
Ebert, Suhbah Haidary, Alysa Camplin,
Patrick Lynch, Ryan Parsons, Austin
Beech, Matthew Frost, Tali Hook, Nadia
Arifi, Ella McCorry, Nilab Haidary, Nakita
Camplin, Michael Jacobs, Taiba Qasimi,
Shaerelle Crockford-Long, Jed Pantall,
Beau Sobey, Riley Keenan, Tander
Connelly, Connor Maguire, Sofia Ebert,
Jethro Wright, Jackson Wyatt, Amaya
Hill, Edyn Reay, Ava Gee, Kenny Versluis,
Paige Hamilton, Ella Ruffo, Estelle Box,
Jackson Skinner, Imogen Cherry, Andrew
Roberts, Harper Yorkshire, Jared Ballard,
Charlotte Ballard, Lilah McCorry, Danika
Hutcheson, Jasmine Hamilton, Miley
Laing, Sam Western, Sebella Nugent,
Jamie Backshell, Neveah Burt, Kezia
Newham, Arabella Hill, Marlee Sounness,
Daemon Ridgwell, Hayley White, Elle
Dawson, Angus Spink, Georgia Roberts
MB Probus Club Visit
MBCC had a visit from the Mount Barker
Probus Club to the Stephanie Alexander
Kitchen Garden Foundation at the college this
week.
With the catch cry of "Grow/Harvest/Eat" Mrs
Graham and the year 1 students showed the
ladies around the garden and had plates of dip
and cut up vegetables that they had prepared
earlier for the group to sample.
The year 5 students have their own personal
worm farms to show and Mr Klaffer was also
able to explain the very large worm farm that
is situated in the garden.
It was great for the college to be able to share
our great garden with interested community
members.
The Grower Series
MBCC has been fortunate to be one of 2000
recipients of author Al Mabin's "The Grower"
series of photo books kindly donated by John
Nicoletti.
John left home as a young man with $200 to
his name and carved out a great life for
himself in agriculture. He hopes that through
these books he can inspire the farmers of
tomorrow by highlighting the importance of
Australia's agriculture industry and the
amazing career opportunities it provides.
The books will be available in our college
library so please stop in and have a look at
these beautifully photographed book.
Semester 2 in 7.2
Composed by Eric Windhofer and Hannah Wills
Ms Grylls class has been filled with fun,
education and mindfulness during the past
semester. Yoga, Gratitude Journals and
Ancient China HASS projects – to name a few.
One of the things the kids from Ms Grylls class
have been doing during the past two terms
has been creating a board game based on
Ancient China. We have been learning about
ancient China during HASS lessons.
The students were then tasked with creating
a board game based on ancient China. The
games had to be both fun, and represent all
the learning they had been doing about
ancient Chinese social hierarchy and daily life.
The end product was a range of creative and
unique board games that the class then
played. All of the games had handmade
components and were presented very
professionally. All the kids loved creating the
games as well as playing them. It was a
thoroughly enjoyable activity that (apart from
being fun) encompassed a great deal of
learning and problem solving.
Another activity the kids of 7-2 have been
taking part in also incorporated ancient China.
In English, the students from Ms Grylls class
were learning about story writing - in
particular, picture book writing. We created
picture books about dragons and in some
parts of the story had to substitute Chinese
characters for words. The result was a
collection of colourful and creative storybooks,
complete with illustrations and Chinese
characters. The kids also thoroughly enjoyed
this activity and learned a heap about story
writing, editing and illustrating (mostly in the
form of dragons). During the process of
writing these books the kids from 7-2 also
learnt about the value of not being a
perfectionist! Moreover, these books were
created without electronic help. All in all, the
task was fun and with it, brought a great deal
of learning.
Also this semester in Ms Grylls’ class we have
been doing ‘Mindfulness’. Every Wednesday
after lunch we have the option to choose
between yoga and colouring-in. With yoga
either Ms Grylls or the other students lead
each other through the different poses. An
example is Childs Pose. Whichever activity
you choose, you get to relax and just take a
breather for a whole lesson, which trust me
we all love. This has been great and has really
calmed us all. The children doing yoga really
believe that it centres them and puts
everything back into perspective. Truly Ms
Grylls has made a fantastic and beneficial
decision, even in learning. The whole of 7.2 is
very grateful for this.
On Wednesday mornings 7.2 have been
writing in our Gratitude Journals, so we can
really appreciate all the things in our lives.
These are private and confidential, so we can
write about anything and everything we are
grateful for. These have been an amazing help
for us all, and I know it’s something that I
personally will continue to use for the rest of
my life. Our Gratitude Journals have been fun,
educational and a huge help to starting off our
days with appreciation and thanks.
So far term 2 and 3 have been jam packed
with fun and learning. Between our Ancient
Chinese Board Games, Picture Books,
gratitude journal sessions and our
mindfulness sessions, we have had heaps of
fun, we have learnt lots and it really has been
beneficial. Thank you Ms Grylls for making our
classes so interesting and exciting, the whole
of 7.2 hopes that our high school experience
stays as great as this!
PBS@MBCC
Introducing Slither.
Slither is a tiger snake, and represents being
respectful.
The MBCC expected behaviours matrix clearly
outlines what it means to be respectful at our
school:
respect people’s privacy
are considerate of others and their
property
care for ourselves and our property
The expected behaviours are on display
across our college. Teachers love to catch
students being respectful so they can
recognise and reward them for their efforts. It
is also common to hear comments from the
wider community about the responsible
behaviour our students display when they
represent MBCC at community events.
VacSwim 2019
You can now enrol your
children in VacSwim
swimming lessons for the
October school holidays.
With swimming pools and beaches a big part
of the Western Australian lifestyle, it’s
important your children are safe in the water.
Programs are available for children from five
to 17 years and cater to all skill levels – from
beginners to those doing their Bronze
Medallion. They are being offered at pool
venues across the State.
Enrol your children in VacSwim now at
education.wa.edu.au/swimming
Enterprising Year 10 Students
As part of the year 10 Economics course, students created an idea for a business,
developing a comprehensive business plan including presenting a business pitch
to potential investors. Thursday, 1st August, students brought these plans to life by marketing and selling their
products to students in years 5-12 and teachers in the high school quad at lunch
time. Businesses ranged from pet rocks, biscuits & cakes, lolly bags, shadow jars
and jelly cups.
are polite and courteous
use appropriate and respectful
language
listen attentively to others
follow staff instructions
keep noise at a considerate and
appropriate level
treat College property and the natural
environment with care follow venue rules and procedures
Annie & MS Readathon
Throughout August, year one student Annie is
taking part in the MS Readathon. She’ll be
raising as much money as possible for Multiple
Sclerosis by reading as many books as
possible during the month of August. Annie is
very happy that she has passed her target
goal and has already raised $350. Annie is
super excited because author Sally Rippin, of
whom writes and illustrates Annie's favourite
books - Billie B Brown and Polly and Buster
books has contacted her and is surprising
Annie with a special surprise that is on its way
in the post!
Lovely to see such great initiative. Well done
Annie!
https://www.msreadathon.org.au/s/21370/2
1504/s
The University of Notre Dame – Open Day
Sunday 11 August, 10am-3pm
See how you can open your mind to the
next big thing in careers when you
future-proof yourself with critical
thinking at Notre Dame's Open Day on
Sunday 11 August in Freo's West End.
Attend a lecture, meet students and
academics, enjoy free delicious eats and
live entertainment. Plan your day at
www.notredame.edu.au/events
Mt Barker Toy Library are looking for new
memberships and are spreading the word
about what they offer as a Toy Library.
The Mt Barker Toy Library would love to offer
a $5 discount to all families (parents,
caregivers, grandparents of students at
MBCC, off our pro rata membership fee for the
month of August. Below is the cost of
memberships till the 31 May 2020 with this
discount applied, as we believe in making the
Toy Library accessible for all.
In the FAQ sheet, it explains further how we
work, what the fee structure means and most
importantly many awesome reasons why it's
great to join our Toy Library.
All you need to do is contact the toy library
and mention this offer, to receive the following
discounted fees. (Membership expires 31 May
2020)
Volunteer Family rate $32.50
Volunteer Grandparent/Concession card
holder rate $20
Non-volunteer Family rate $61.66
Non-volunteer Grandparent/Concession card
holder rate $32.50
Contact: [email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/Mt-Barker-Toy-
Library-WA-1738095229755168/
MBCC P&C News
Class Representatives Vacancies Yr 1-12
The P&C is expanding the class representative
format, which is currently utilised in the Early
Childhood area, across the rest of the college.
The class rep role is where parents, carers
and/or high school students work together
with the Fundraising Co-ordinator and their
teachers to run a fundraising event for their
block/area. Eg. wood raffle, cake stall, Crazy
Camel artwork.
It is a great platform to also discuss with staff
and other parents the educational experience
and what projects/items you would like
funded by the P&C.
Class rep forms were sent out recently for
students in year 1-12 and are now due.
The saying many hands make light work runs
true! Volunteers are needed to help keep
supporting the P&C that adds value to the
educational experience for all students.
Why become a volunteer Class Rep?
Support your
school
Become an
active member
of your
community
Have your say
where resources are allocated
Inspire your children
Meet new people
Gain new skills
To find out more contact Natalie Vesey
0409491934 or [email protected]
Meeting Reminder
This term there will be only
one main P&C meeting, on
Wednesday 28 August, in the
staff room from 7- 8.30 pm.
Students over 18, parents, carers and friends
of the college are all invited and welcome to
attend. The 2019 Committee is especially
welcoming of new faces and fresh ideas and
looks forward to seeing you there!
P&C Updates
To keep in contact with the P&C or to find out
more information like us on Facebook, see
your child’s teacher, or contact Caroline
(President) on 0419 912 210 or Lisa
(Secretary) on 0427 512 150.
Friends with Dignity has launched their fifth round of bi-annual monetary scholarships for children throughout Australia who have faced or are facing domestic and family violence. The Little Friends Scholarship was established to support students to further their education and/or participate in extra-curricular activities that they may not otherwise be able to pursue due to the financial impact of domestic and family violence. Anyone wishing to apply for the Little Friends Scholarship can visit: http://www.friendswithdignity.org.au/little-friends-scholarship to download an application form
(scroll down on the landing page)
Round 5 applications opened on Monday 22 July and
close at 4PM on Friday 23 August 2019.
Applications require a co-signatory (with the
parent/guardian) by either a GP, paediatrician, school
principal, school counsellor or support worker.
MBCC: PO Box 116
MOUNT BARKER WA 6324
Ph: (08) 9851 3400
For newsletter items or Community
Advertisements
Please email [email protected]
Next Newsletter Tuesday 20 August 2019
College Webpage
mountbarkercommunitycollege.wa.edu.au
College Facebook Page
www.facebook.com/MountBarkerCommunityColle
geWesternAustralia
MBCC Parents and Citizens Association Facebook
Page
www.facebook.com/MountBarkerCommunityColle
geParentsandCitizensCommittee
Six School Development Days for 2019.
These are days that students do not attend school.
Term 4: 8 Nov – Albany Show Day
20 Dec - No Students
If your child is absent, please
SMS 0418 916 875
Or email