Wednesday 3 April 2019

Senior School Term 1 Week 9 & 10 2019


  What's happening in the Senior School? 

Term 1 Week 9 & 10 2019

Blink and you'll miss it! That's exactly how Term 1 has felt in the Senior School with our high paced learning and stream of extra curricula activities. But what a wonderful beginning we have had with so many opportunities provided to our incredible bunch of students. 
Next term the fun and learning continues! But for now please sit back, relax and enjoy (after some formalities - Important Dates, Reminders) some excellent Spotlight write ups from across the Senior School of events, highlights and key learning experiences from the last couple of weeks...



In Reading we are learning to...question our texts by asking thin and thick questions; before, during and after we read
IWriting we are learning to...structure persuasive arguments with strong reasoning and examples
In Maths we are learning to...use multiplication and division strategies to problem solve
In Spelling we are learning words...Gr 5-digraph ‘ph ’ as in dolphin   Gr 6-prefix semi-as in ‘partially’
In Inquiry we are learning...about the developmental changes experienced during puberty



Friday 29th March - I/S Sport Gala Day Away
Monday 1st April - School Photo Day
Wednesday 3rd April - Open Night at Cheltenham Secondary
Thursday 4th April - SEA Health & Human Development - Living & Growing Session 3
Friday 5th April - Last Day of Term 1
Monday 22nd April - Easter Monday (No School)
Tuesday 23rd April - First Day Term 2
Thursday 25th April - ANZAC Day (No School)
Tuesday 30th April - Open Night at Mentone Girls Secondary College
Friday 3rd May - I/S Sport Away
Monday 6th May - Somers Camp Depart
Tuesday 7th May - Open Night at Parkdale Secondary
Friday 10th May - I/S Sport Away
Tuesday 14th May - NAPLAN begins for Grade 5 (timetable and information to follow)
Thursday 16th May - Kingston Junior Mayor (Captains & Vice)
Friday 17th May - I/S Sport Home


                           
Notice Board & Communication
Along with the newsletter, Flexibuzz and student diaries, the display board in the center of the Senior School Atrium will also be a point of regularly updated communication. Here you'll find:
- important dates throughout the term
- a weekly outline of our timetable
- learning focus (WALT)
- reminders
- spare copies of notices/handouts etc.
- spotlight on a particular student, grade or event
If you haven't done so already, please update your class box on FlexiBuzz to ensure you are receiving the latest communications.

Code of Cooperation
Together as a level the Senior students established a Code of Cooperation. It will be regularly reviewed to ensure students are upholding the expectations they have set for themselves. 

Uniform
In addition to the above Code of Cooperation, Senior all students are role models and leaders for the lower year levels. As we regularly represent Mentone Park across the school and out in the community, students are expected to have proper and neat uniform. The Senior Sports tops are only to be worn on Friday's. We appreciate all assistance in ensuring we are setting the best example.

Homework
Homework will be a variety of tasks including: maths, reading, SMART spelling, current affairs and wellbeing. All tasks need to be completed as we are encouraging good habits leading into Secondary School. It will be handed out on a Monday and is due the following Friday. The expectation is that students manage their time during the week so that they have their weekends free to relax and spend with family. 

Head lice
Any case of head lice is to be reported to the office. To assist in preventing the spread of head lice, all students with hair that can be tied up are required to do so.

Absences
If your child is absent from school, you must notify the school via flexibuzz of this in the morning. If not, you will now be sent this message from your child's teacher via flexibuzz:

Dear Parents/Guardians.
Your child has been marked as absent from school today. Can you please contact the office to notify us of the reason for this absence.
Kind Regards,
Mentone Park Primary School/Your Child's Teacher

  



National Day Against Bullying is a day where everyone is equal and we try to put an end to bullying. For some kids bullying is a common thing to them and it can make them hate going school, hate their life or never want to go out. This is why we need to prevent bullying from ever happening. During this day, the grade 5’s watched a video about putting bullying into 4 categories (physical, verbal, social & not bullying). After we watched the video we had to go off with paper and put examples into the 4 categories. We then wrote out the alphabet and listed as many emotions as we could for each letter. The grade 6’s went with their Buddies and watched The Allen Adventure. After the clip they made a paper chain with important messages from the clip.

-          Molly 5/6A


Bullying – the definition means to seek harm or to intimidate someone in a DISGUSTING way or CONSTANTLY annoy someone to an extreme level. Being bullied is a very hard way to live your life, especially when those bullies push you to do bad things to yourself or others. Those bullies think it’s funny to be JERKS and they could be jealous of you or have their own insecurities. I think it is important that people who see people getting bullied should stand up for them. I’m not saying they should get in the argument or the conversation, but they can make them stop by telling someone. I downloaded the NDAB app and built my avatar. I thought it was great as you can watch different scenarios and it taught you what to do and how to deal with them.
-          Harper 5/6A

 

Harmony Day is a really respectful day. Everyone should belong and live in harmony with their neighbours, friends and family no matter what they look like, where they come from or the kind of things they like. Thursday the 21st of March is the day we respect different cultures like indigenous Australians, Torres Strait Islanders and other cultures from all over the world. On Harmony Day we did multi-age activities and ate food from different cultures. We also sang songs about Harmony like this: ‘change will come for better or for worse, and so we add another verse, sing it loud and sing it strong!’
-          Rickii 5/6A



On Wednesday the 20th of March, all the leaders from 5 different schools participated in a leadership program at Westall Community Hub. During the program we were grouped with leaders from different cultures and backgrounds to learn about leadership. Before we started the groups a detective came and talked to us about his role as a leader and he told us that we can be a leader by helping and listening to others. He also informed us that in order to be a better leader, being out of your comfort zone forces you to step up.
In each group we got taught different ways of communicating and how people can take things differently. An example is when you text someone, which we do a lot nowadays but they cannot see your face. You may think you are sending a harmless joke, but the other person may think its offensive. What I took with me out of the program was communication and how important it is.
-          Jasmine 5/6A


For Human Development (Sex Ed.) a woman named Sarah came and talked about puberty, reproduction and conception. To break the ice we got a piece of paper and it had questions on it (eg. Someone who goes for the same footy team) but as you moved on they became more sex and private part related (eg. Someone who knows more than 5 slang words for genitals). Although the questions were different we still had a lot of fun searching for people to correctly answer. Next we saw diagrams of male and female privates which made some people uncomfortable or giggle every time they were mentioned. We still have another interesting and informative session to go, we just hope that some kids don’t still think that babies are delivered by storks (hehe).
-          Carla & Layla 5/6A

 

On Friday the 22nd of March, Heidi Wolfenden visited 5/6B to show us her book and the process of making a picture story book. She showed us how she got inspiration from other children’s books and joining a children’s author group called Quiby to create her book, ‘What should you do if a python puts on your pj’s?’ Her inspiration also came from past experiences and her lovely children. It took her 5 years of hard work to make her book and we are very grateful that she gave her time to show us the very important steps of making a book.
-          Bam & Bodhi 5/6B


On Friday we had Gala Day. It is an exciting time at the end of term when you verse different schools depending on your sport. My sport was cricket and because we had a good amount of players, we were separated into boys and girls teams. You verse your own gender and get as many runs as you can. The feeling is great when you win, but that doesn’t mean you’re a bad sport for celebrating. I have experienced both and always been happy. My first Gala Day was amazing because we won 3 out of 4 games. When we got there I was surprised at how many schools had come and I knew it was going to be tough but that didn’t hold me back. We lost our first game but that just meant we could learn from our mistakes. We worked harder to get better and as a team we did! Unfortunately we didn’t win the Gala Day but we were still happy for the other teams. I can’t wait until the next Gala!
-          Alana 5/6A


In Maths we have been learning how to use multiplication and division facts to problem solve and completing 3 minute times table challenges. Every day we race the clock to solve 50 multiplication problems. We correct them and if they are all correct, we move up to the next level. In Writing we have been focusing on persuasive writing. We have been learning the proper structure of writing a strong paragraph by using OREO. O is for Opinion, R is for Reason, E is for Example or Evidence and the last O is for stating your Opinion again. In Reading we having been questioning fiction and non fiction texts by asking thin and thick questions, whilst also rotating around Reading Eggs, Guided Reading & Language Conventions activities.
-          Isabella 5/6C

HAVE A HAPPY & SAFE EASTER!

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