On Wednesday 24th April, the MPPS Green Team, led by William and TJ our Environmental School Captains, participated in a tree planting initiative at Simon Creek. Located right next to our school, Simon Creek will be the new home for several flowering gums, specifically chosen to attract endangered Swift Parrots during their annual migration from Tasmania. This project is a testament to the hard work of our Green Team and wouldn't be possible without the generous support of a second successful Landcare grant. We'd also like to express our gratitude to Edmond Lascaris and the Whittlesea Council who will be partnering with MPPS, and the Citywide tree planting operations crew led by Terry Maycock to plant and maintain these beautiful trees. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to contribute to a greener environment and learn more about local wildlife. We encourage you to discuss this initiative with your child and express your support for their efforts. We can't wait to see these trees blossom in the years to come! A fabulous evening of fun and learning was had by the marvellous MPPS community on Thursday 21st March. STEAM Night is an annual family event that focuses on science, technology, engineering, art and maths. What a great opportunity for families to enjoy a variety of activities and to explore different STEAM phenomena. These activities help kids develop a wide range of skills, including problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity. These are important skills that will serve our students well throughout their lives, as they will be able to apply them to a variety of situations and challenges. Go MPPS!! Over the past 7 years the staff have worked with writing consultant Ann Angelopoulos on developing our students as writers. This term, Ann has run a series of writing workshops with staff and some students. These workshops have focused on vocabulary development and the use of powerful writing strategies such as alliteration, similes, personification, onomatopoeia and ‘show don’t tell’. Ann explicitly modelled different writing skills that included paragraphing, sentence openers, punctuation and grammar. Take a look at some of the AMAZING writing produced by some of our students!
This term our Grade 5/6 students were part of a well-being program developed by the South East Melbourne Phoenix basketball club. Through the program, students learn to recognise, regulate and articulate their emotions. Combining classroom and on court learning, students work with Phoenix professional athletes and participate in drills and clinics using their learnings in real world scenarios. The finale of this great program was having senior players from the Phoenix come to MPPS to test their skills against the might of our Grade 6 students. Our MPPS teams were heartily cheered by the rest of the school. A great afternoon of fun was had by all. On Friday the 1st of September we welcomed Rob Mitchell, our local Federal Member of Parliament, to MPPS. He is the Member for McEwen.
Our Principal, Mary Ryan arranged for Rob Mitchell to supply us with our new Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags. Rob Mitchell delivered our original flags when we were a brand-new school in 2017. The flags are an important part of our identity and will fly proudly at the front of our administration building. This year the theme of Children’s Book Week was ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’. MPPS honoured this theme by highlighting some of the CBCA’s shortlisted books in each Learning Community. Staff aimed to promote the love of literacy through engaging activities to get students excited about reading. Early in the year MPPS received a request from Mernda Town Centre to create a mural for display. After meeting with management and discussing a possible theme, a small group of YYLC students were selected to design and create a mural, guided by our Visual Arts teacher, Holly.
The main idea was to represent the diversity of culture within the MPPS community. The words at the roots of the tree represent all the languages spoken by MPPS staff and families, with all the various greetings. The hands as the leaves show the flags of the different nationalities within our community. Finally, the silhouette of the young girl represents our Acknowledgement of Country, which reads as follows - ‘Mernda comes from the Aboriginal word meaning ‘young girl’ and we are proud to be part of the Mernda community that is on the land and around the waters of the Kulin Nation’. The students all worked enthusiastically during their break-times to create this mural and we are very proud of the final result which is displayed at Mernda Town Centre in Entrance 3 (near Groove Train). The theme for National Science Week in 2023 is Innovation: Powering Future Industries. The theme incorporates the advancement in technology in all industries, especially using artificial intelligence (AI). To celebrate National Science Week at MPPS, students from Prep to 6 engaged in various science activities during the school day on Wednesday 16th August. Students rotated through an assortment of fun and educational science experiences across the school which were delivered by MPPS teachers. Through these activities, we aimed to:
On Thursday 10th August students from Prep to Grade 6 participated in a traditional Japanese Taiko Drumming incursion. This experience was completely interactive, providing a great introduction to the basics of taiko drumming. Taiko drumming is energetic with visually appealing movements that resemble dance choreography. This aimed to develop musical and listening skills through coordinated movements of the arms, legs and body. Students were highly engaged when learning rhythmic patterns and mini performances were enjoyed by all. Thank-you to our Japanese teacher, Mio Sensei for organising such an educational and fun learning experience for our students. On Monday 19th June, Lauren Kathage MP attended Mernda Park Primary School to present awards to students in the Big Bridge Build competition. This competition celebrated the building of a new bridge over the Plenty River in Mernda as part of the Bridge Inn Road upgrade. Students’ wonderful creations were judged by the Deputy Premier, Jacinta Allan.
Awards were proudly presented to Dhyan, Yvresse, Mira and Sampruthi. Mernda Park Primary School was also awarded with a $100 gift voucher for QBD books. This voucher was used to purchase a range of shortlisted texts featured in The Children’s Book Council of Australia line up for 2023. These books are delightful additions to our Resource Room and will help us to celebrate Australian children’s authors and illustrators during Book Week in the month of August. |