Newsletter rr - Mount View Primary School

10 December 2015
 www.mountviewps.vic.edu.au
 [email protected]
Newsletter
rr
 9560 0471
 9560 8750
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LAST DAY FOR TERM 4 IS FRIDAY18
DECEMBER – STUDENTS ARE DISMISSED AT 1:30PM
FIRST DAY OF TERM 1 IS FRIDAY 29 JANUARY 2016
December
11
14
14
14
15
15
Year 4 Bike Ride to Jells’ Park and BBQ
Prep Fun Day – Picnic Lunch
Years 1 & 2 Sports Fun Day
Years 5 & 6 Fun Event
Year 3 Fun Day & Sausage Sizzle for lunch
MVPS Carols by Twlight
16
Walk to School Wednesday
17
17
17
18
Giving Tree Assembly – 9:00 – 9:40am
Meet your Teacher for 2016 – 11:10am – 12:50pm
Year 6 Graduation
Whole School Assembly
18
END OF TERM 4 – STUDENTS DISMISSED AT 1:30PM
1ST DAY OF TERM 1 2016 IS FRIDAY 29 JANUARY
Due to the Student Fun Days taking place on Monday 14 December it has been decided
to CANCEL the assembly for that day. Therefore, the last assembly for the year is on
Friday 18 December at 12:30pm.
From the Principal – Colin Dobson
Student Success Stories
Over the past fortnight the Mount View students have once again raised the standard to new heights and displayed
their willingness and desire to be the best that they can be. A snapshot of the achievements attained during the past
14 days include:


Robotics.
The Mount View Robotics Team achieved the Excellence Award at the recent National Robotic
Championships which was the highest award of the competition. This qualifies the team to compete at the Vex
Robotics World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky in 2016. Our other Mount View Primary School team
were equal tournament champions for the youngest team.
Golf.
Three Mount View Primary School students who competed at the State Golf Schools championships on
Wednesday 2 December. This is such an achievement to get to such a high level event. All three students
performed extremely well and the results were: Sayumi from 5NP gained third place in the Girls’
th
th
Championship, Sang-Jun from 5NP was placed 10 and Siddarth from 6BL was placed 39 in the Boys’
Championship. Congratulations to all 3 students on such amazing results!
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10 December 2015



ICAS Medal Ceremony.
Mount View students were wonderful ambassadors at the ICAS Medal Ceremony in the city last Saturday. The
school out-performed every other school (private or government) and had by far the most ICAS Medal winners
at this Victorian/Tasmania ceremony. Mount View students were awarded 12 medals.
Tennis.
nd
The Open Tennis team has just taken out 2 place in the State Championships and will now compete in the
National Championships. We have just found out that the Mount View Primary School team is the National Hot
Shots Champions in 2015. An awesome achievement!
Chess.
The Open Team has just won the 2015 National Championships. The record of the Mount View Chess team is
simply phenomenal.
2009
Open Team – National Champions
2010
Girls Team – National Champions
2011
Girls Team – National Champions
2013
Open Team – National Champions
2014
Open and Girls Team – both National Champions
2015
Open Team – National Champions
Staff Leaving
At this time of year we prepare ourselves to bid farewell to staff members who may be retiring, moving schools or
having a change of pace and taking on a new adventure. The following staff members who are leaving Mount View
include:
Kim Pickering
After 19 years at Mount View, Kim is taking on a position near her home and will be working at Benton Junior College.
We wish Kim well for her new position and thank her for her significant contribution to Mount View. Kim has had
various curriculum leadership roles at the school and has also been the staff representative on School Council. She
has worked across many year levels and we know that she will be such an asset to her new school.
Sarah Jane Seedy
After 7 years, Sarah-Jane is heading to Livingstone Primary School. Sarah Jane is an admired educator and she will
be missed by the children and her colleagues. Sarah Jane has also held leadership positons at the school and is the
current staff representative on School Council. We wish her all the very best and know that she will make a significant
contribution at her new school.
Jenny Bartley
Jenny has worked at Mount View as an Education Support Officer (Integration Aide) and has decided to retire at the
end of this year. Jenny has a beautiful nurturing approach and has provided care and guidance to particular children
over the past 6 years. We wish her well as she enjoys this new change of pace.
Vivienne Van Niekerk
Vivienne has also been an integration aide for the past 6 years and has worked alongside individual children across all
year levels. Vivienne is known for her gentle and caring nature and I know that the children she has worked with will
miss her a great deal. We wish Vivienne all the best for the future.
Romy Papo
Romy has been successful in gaining a position at Templeton Primary School. She is looking forward to sharing the
insights and experience that she has gained at Mount View with her new school community. Romy has taught in Year
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10 December 2015
1 for the entire four years that she has been at the school. We wish her every success at Templeton Primary and know
that she will be missed at Mount View.
Tiffany Kumnick
Tiffany Kumnick has gained a leading positon at Narre Warren North Primary School and we wish her well as she
takes on this new leadership responsibility. She has been an integral part of the Year 6 Team for the past two years at
Mount View. Tiffany has had the role of Team Operations Manager in Year 6. We will miss that radiant smile and I
know the children have learned so much from her.
Stephanie Illing
Stephanie has been teaching in Year 6 for the past two years and is a dynamic and enthusiastic teacher. She has
decided it is time to travel the world for an indefinite period. We wish Stephanie all the best for her travels and hope
that she has the time of her life. She will be missed but I have a feeling that she will be back!
Carena Khoo
Carena has replaced Claire Andrews for Term 4 as one of our Performing Arts teachers. Carena has fitted in
beautifully to the culture and climate of Mount View. We wish Carena all the best as she pursues her career as a
music therapist. Carena - thank you for your contribution throughout Term 4.
2015 Donations – Projects Completed
On behalf of School Council and the wider school community I would like to thank the Parents’ Association for their
tremendous work in ‘friend raising and fund raising’. I would also like to thank the members of the Art Show and
International Twilight Festival for the money that they have raised for the children of Mount View. To the parents who
made a voluntary donation to the building fund at the start of the year – thank you so much!
The money raised this year has allowed the school to complete the following major projects:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Installation of the outdoor structure near the Walden Oval
The laying of Astro-turf on the entire area around the Year 5 precinct and under the outside structure
The installation of the massive fan in the gymnasium
The covering of the walkway up to the senior learning centre
The building of the roof structure on the east side of the GP room and the laying of the outdoor carpet in this
area
6. The ongoing maintenance of our beautiful gardens
7. Refurbishing the GP room
Your kindness and generosity has allowed us to complete these major projects in 2016. Thank you so much!
School Fees for 2016
School Council has met, reviewed and approved the projected budget for 2016. The School Council has a policy that
ensures that school fees are not raised any more than 8% from the previous year. I have pleasure to inform you that
the annual school fee will only rise by $5.00 in 2016 to a cost of $340.00. This is a rise of only 1.49%. We have worked
hard to ensure that this increase is kept at the absolute minimum for next year. In line with this, School Council has
also decided not to increase the optional fee for the nurse and so the fee of $40.00 per child remains the same as it
has for the past 2 years.
School Fee notices for 2016 will be sent home in the first few days on the new school year. This fee notice will outline
the various essential, optional and voluntary fees for Mount View Primary School in 2016.
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10 December 2015
Next Week’s Newsletter
I will be sending home a one page newsletter next week. This will outline key dates for Term 1 in 2016.
School Banking
Please note that Monday 14 December is the last day for school banking for this year.
Tuesday 15 December
Time: 6:00pm
Place: Walden Oval, MVPS
Bring: A picnic dinner and blanket
Wear: Free dress for students – although Christmas theme encouraged!
Students sit with their families until their year level is called up to perform.
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10 December 2015
Stand to Help disadvantage children
Help English education of children in Africa by donating
used/new English books.
We greatly appreciate good quality kindergarten to year
seven books, both fiction and non-fiction, new and
second hand, including story books, dictionaries and
atlases.
Please donate;
 Books suitable for children between the ages of 2 and 12 years old;
 Non-fiction books, other than history books, published after 2000;
 Only books written in English Books in good condition. Where books have been patched
up, have weak spines and/or scribbles they will not be sent to Africa
Please contact Oneli in 5DN for further details
IMPORTANT MESSAGE
LAST DAY OF TERM 4 IS FRIDAY 18
DECEMBER
PLEASE NOTE THAT STUDENTS WILL
FINISH AT 1:30PM
THERE SHOULD BE NO STUDENTS IN THE
SCHOOL GROUNDS AFTER 1:45PM
UNLESS THEY ARE BOOKED INTO AFTER
SCHOOL CARE
TERM 1 2016 BEGINS FRIDAY 29
JANUARY
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10 December 2015
Three MV students competed at the State Schools Golf championships on Wednesday 2 December. This is such an
achievement to get to such a high level event. All three students performed extremely well and the results were:
Placed 39
th
Siddarth 6BL
12years boys
Sang-Jun 6AD
12 years boys Placed 10th
Sayumi 5NP
12 years girls
rd
Placed 3
Congratulations to all 3 students on such amazing results!
On Wednesday and Thursday this week our Hots Shots Tennis team played at the National Schools Hot Shots Tennis
Championships in Melbourne. Miss Illing and Mrs Gatherum assisted these students and were amazed with their
persistence, effort, teamwork and excellent sportsmanship. They played several matches with some very close results.
st
The boys played 4 matches and won them, which qualified them 1 in their pool. In the final we played Prince Alfred
College from South Australia and we won their matches by a nail biting 2 points. Well done on a super effort over two
long days of competition.
Thank you to the parents who attend to support the boys throughout the competition.
National SSV Hot Shots Tennis Competition in Melbourne
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10 December 2015
Over the last four weeks the Year 4 students have been participating in the Mount View Bike Education program. On
Tuesday, Wednesdays and Fridays the students ride around the local streets and bike paths. The students have been
learning a range of riding skills from the basics of riding a bike, including balance, braking and turning, through to the
more challenging skills of using hand signals and head checks. The safe use of bikes, helmets and basic road rules
are also covered to ensure students understand how to safely negotiate their way through the local community whilst
on their bikes.
The program concludes with a ‘big bike ride’ to Jells Park on Friday 11 December where the students enjoy a BBQ
and then set off on various riding routes that challenge their riding skills. We have had many parent helpers along with
teachers directing these bike sessions each week and this has made this program such a great success. Thank you to
all involved!
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10 December 2015
Congratulations to the school’s Open Chess Team on their emphatic win in last weekend’s Australian Schools Teams
Chess Championships that were held at Melbourne High School. The team of Luis C, Jimmy D, Zoe J, Shalana P and
Rahul M were in an unbeatable position going into the final round and further increased their lead to win the
championships in a dominant position.
The girls’ team of Gloria Y, Levinia D, Olivia S, Catherine P and Caitlyn S performed well in the girls’ division, but
finished the weekend out of the placings. This was an excellent effort considering that their number 1 and 2 players
were playing in the open division. It was a fantastic effort for both teams to make the national championships.
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10 December 2015
‘Miss Guild, why are there so many Third World countries?’
‘Why do governments do bad things to their own people?’
‘Why are there wars?’
My class of Year 5 Hartwell Primary School students in their Camberwell world wrestled with these ideas. It was
August 2012 and my 28-strong bright and curious class was doing an inquiry unit on Asia.
What struck me was that these students realised their privilege. They found it confronting to think that other children
didn’t get things like clean water, food, shelter or an education - things that they took for granted every day. Even more
exciting was a seedling of passion I noticed in them to take action, as they came to see education as a sword to
confront the cycle of poverty.
Proposal
They wrote and submitted a proposal to the principal, asking to hold a lunchtime school fundraiser. When given the
green light, they sewed sock monkeys, made friendship bands and juggling balls, and baked goodies with their
parents. Their goal was to raise $500. Astonishingly their efforts raked in $1700.
Overwhelmed by the achievement, the students set about researching an organisation that promised to use 100% of
the money towards education. Eventually their efforts unearthed BabyTree Projects who support a rural school in
Cambodia.
Founder
I invited BabyTree’s founder, Koky Saly, to come and accept the cheque in person from Hartwell’s cohort of 90 Year 5
students and teachers, but I didn’t know what a big ask this was. Koky had just lost his sister and BabyTree Projects
co-founder, Sophia Saly, to cancer. However, Koky came to Hartwell and told his amazing survival story.
He was born in a prison in 1976. After the defeat of the Khmer Rouge, he and his mother were reunited with the rest of
their family. For three days and nights, they all trekked on empty stomachs through the jungle to a refugee camp on
the border of Thailand. There, a French surgeon, astounded by their story, helped them seek refugee status in
Australia.
Koky also told us that one of his sister Sophia’s dying wishes was for her brother to build a school on a beach.
There was not a dry eye in the room.
I was inexpressibly moved, not only by Koky’s story, but also by his ability to fight against the many adversities he’d
faced. I was humbled by my ten and eleven-year-old students who had taken action. I wanted to step up myself. I
submitted a volunteer application to be a part of BabyTree Projects’ next school build, Sophia’s legacy.
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10 December 2015
Rural Village
In December 2013 I stepped onto a jet, embarking on the four-month journey that changed my life. I moved into a
Cambodian rural village, 7km from the Vietnam border, and lived with the locals. I took a daily 16km round trip bike
ride to the building site of what was to become the Sophia Saly school. There, when I was not teaching English to the
beautiful Cambodian children, I learned to make cement, lay foundations, bricks and render, working with Khmer
builders who spoke no English. There were no power tools and everything was done by hand. Every day ended in
dehydration, blistered hands and utter exhaustion after the bike ride home. Nevertheless, I was overcome by the
beauty of the setting sun on the ocean and a sense of profound peace. I was always ready to do it again the next day.
Business
One night on the beach, Koky told me of another of Sophia’s dying wishes. She asked Koky to sell her car and start up
a Cambodia-based business to employ local people. The fruit of this was the establishment of BeeKeeper Parade, a
business that produces backpacks from recycled shirts and reduces our ecological footprint by reusing the shirts and
fabric that would otherwise go to landfill. Today, for every bag sold, one child receives a year of English classes at the
Sophia Saly School.
At the end of the four months, I had to say goodbye. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever faced, in the knowledge
that if or when I returned to the village, many of the beautiful children would not be in the Sophia Saly school, but
working on the salt farms or, even worse, in the sex industry.
Too Fast
Returning to Australia was an out of body experience. Everything moved too fast; everyone was a slave to time. I
ached to go back to Cambodia where I’d left my heart and learned to appreciate the smaller privileges in life.
In December, I returned to visit the school where two extra teachers had been employed. To my joy, I saw that a full
time English teacher’s position was being advertised and the happy children still loved education. A flame inside me
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10 December 2015
burned to work on further BabyTree Projects and to start my own non-government organisation to provide shelter for
the many families living in terrible conditions.
Hot Seat
Back home once more, I began looking to raise money towards these dreams by putting myself out there and
auditioning for Millionaire Hot Seat. To my surprise I was successful and placed as a contestant. I would like to say
that the experience was enjoyable but my nerves seared holes in my brain. Eddy, a gentleman, could not calm them
in the face of the seven cameras staring at me. I was fortunate to be the last contestant in the ‘hot seat’, but not lucky
enough to get the $20,000 questions correct.
I did win $1000 - not enough to start my NGO. It is, however, enough to get my fundraising going for the next exciting
event in January 2016: the Tuk Tuk Rally, run by BeeKeeper Parade, to raise funds for BabyTree Projects and the
Peter Mac Cancer Research Centre.
Privilege
It is a privilege to have met Koky; to have been a part of such profound experiences in Cambodia; and to have shared
these with my Australian friends and family. Many of my supporters have come from the Mount View community and
have assisted me in my endeavours to take action and make a difference. I am forever grateful for this support and
hope that my story can inspire others to make positive changes to lives of others.
For more information visit Koky Saly’s websites:
www.beekeeperparade.com
http://babytreeprojects.org/
To sponsor Alicia in the Tuk Tuk Rally or to leave some words of encouragement go to:
http://beekeeperparade.com/alicia-guilds-fundraising-page
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10 December 2015
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) does not endorse the
products or services of any private advertiser. No responsibility is accepted by the DEECD or
Mount View Primary School Council for accuracy of information contained in advertisements or
claims made by them.
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For children aged 6 mths-16 years
Sunday Mornings: 10:00-12:30pm
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Glen Waverley
Term 1 Starts Sunday 31 January 2016
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Email: [email protected]
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10 December 2015
*Piano Lessons 2016*
Beginner & Intermediate children welcome!
Only 5 minutes walk from Mount View Primary School
To make enquiries or lesson bookings please contact:
Carena Khoo
(BMus(Melb), GradDipEd, LMusA)
Piano Teacher and AMEB Piano Accompanist
Mob: 0422 117 966
Email: [email protected]
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