Our Purpose: The Monmia school community is committed to providing innovative programs that Stimulate and challenge each

student to develop lifelong learning skills and strategies. We provide a safe, nurturing environment where teachers, students and

parents work in an effective partnership. www.monmia.vic.edu.au Phone: 03 9364 1007

MONMIA MESSENGER

Dear Monmia Families, GREAT MOMENTS I NOTICED THIS WEEK:

Our Capital Works Project is creating great excitement as the Principal Class-Lucia Vorpasso, Vineta

Mitrevski and Lorraine Bell conducted interviews with three architect consultants on Tuesday. We

will be able to announce the successful consultants soon.

We are looking forward to seeing our families congregate in our school grounds for our upcoming Be

You Twilight Picnic on Wednesday 25 March.

Students are loving the STEM LEGO Club at lunchtime. Thank you Mrs Coleman for organising this.

Our Preps are such amazing learners. Check out what they have been learning on Twitter.

Year 5/6 students are enjoying their work on creating surveys and collecting, analysing and evaluating

the data.

Thank you to the school councillors who successfully trialled the use of the SENTRAL app.

Thank you to the three parents who have been nominated for school council

SENTRAL-MONMIA SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The transition to the SENTRAL app for our volunteer school councillors has been quite successful. We are now moving to the next phase of sending letters out to our families with instructions on how to download the SENTRAL app. As Student Led Conferences are coming soon, families will need the app to book in for their conference online. Soon our newsletters will also be available through the app.

HEALTH AND SAFETY ADVICE FOR ALL VICTORIAN SCHOOLS

The advice below is contained in the Department of Education and Training School Operations Guide. If

your child has a runny nose or persistent cough they MUST STAY HOME. Please read the Victorian Chief

Health Officer’s letter attached to this newsletter.

WHEN CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL, IF THE DOCTOR CONFIRMS THAT IT IS SAFE FOR THEM

TO DO SO, A MEDICAL CERTIFICATE MUST BE HANDED INTO THE TEACHER.

Children with asthma or hay fever, need to be tested for COVID-19 if their symptoms are worse than usual.

We are reinforcing these guidelines to keep everyone in our community safe.

Reinforce COVIDSafe behaviours

Stay home when unwell

Practice good hygiene

Ensure physical distancing (1.5m)

Wear a face mask when required or recommended

Avoid interactions in enclosed spaces Stay home when unwell

DATE: Thursday 11th March 2021 ISSUE 6

The most important action school communities can take to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, is to ensure that any unwell staff and students remain at home and get tested, even with the mildest of symptoms.

Students and staff with underlying conditions (such as hay fever or asthma)

If a student or staff member has persistent symptoms due to an underlying condition such as hay fever or asthma, the student should still be tested for COVID-19 if they develop symptoms that are different to or worse than their usual symptoms.

Parents/guardians and staff should also consider getting a medical certificate from their treating GP to confirm that it is safe for them to attend school with persistent symptoms that may overlap with some of the symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough or runny nose.

Young children with persistent mild symptoms Younger children (pre-school up to Grade 2) may have prolonged post-viral symptoms such as a

runny nose or cough and may return to school following a negative COVID-19 test even if they are not completely free of symptoms. They will need a medical certificate from their GP to confirm they are otherwise well or have recovered from their acute illness.

Any worsening of symptoms will require review and repeat COVID-19 testing, if considered appropriate by the doctor.

Students with a negative COVID-19 test whose symptoms have completely resolved do not need a medical certificate to return to the school.

Ensure Physical distancing (1.5m) Parents/Guardians are now able to enter the school grounds to drop off and pick up their children. We have asked for your assistance to only go as far as the courtyard and NOT CONGREGATE NEAR THE CLASSROOM AREAS. This is for everyone’s safety. We ask that Parents/Guardians DO NOT go into the classrooms or learning spaces. At 3:15pm the side gate will be opened and parents/guardians can wait for their children in the courtyard. Parents/Guardians are not to walkthrough the office prior to the gates being opened. We are trying to limit the number of adults in the school and ensuring that everyone maintains the required physical distance of 1.5m.

BE YOU GETTING TO KNOW YOU TWILIGHT PICNIC One of the highlights of our school year is the Twilight Picnic. This event usually takes place early on in Term 1. Unfortunately, this year that was hijacked by the sudden lockdown due to new COVID cases in hotel quarantine. Since the easing of restrictions, we are happy to go ahead with the Twilight Picnic as it is an outdoor activity. For families who are new to our school, this is a wonderful opportunity to meet your child’s teacher, introduce yourself to the other parents and guardians and for you to also meet your children’s classmates. Families can bring chairs or rugs and a picnic meal to enjoy in the school grounds. In the past, families have often shared food. Due to COVID-19 guidelines, we ask that families limit any food they bring onsite to their own family members. It is strongly recommended that food not be shared to keep COVID safe. Our school leaders, house leaders and junior school councillors have not had a proper introduction to the school community. We would normally announce their leadership and presentation of badges at assemblies. We have not been able to have assemblies with parents/guardians in attendance. Therefore, I am delighted to announce that we will be making the presentation of all leadership recipients at the Twilight Picnic AT 6pm. We will provide families with further guidance to being COVID safe at our Twilight Picnic in next week’s newsletter.

MONMIA PRIMARY SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2021 I would like to thank and congratulate the following parents and staff for their successful election to school council. As we had the same number of candidates as vacancies, we do not need to have a formal election process. Congratulations to:

Neil Webb (Community Category)

Talithia Diessel (Parent Category)

Pragya Srivastava (Community Category)

Briany Kalms (Community Category)

Kathryn Buttigieg (School Employee Category)

Vineta Mitrevski (School Employee Category)

Lucia Vorpasso (School Employee Category)

We have one more Community Category casual vacancy for a one year term to replace a councillor who no longer has children at the school. If you are interested in joining our school council please contact the school office. Please consider joining our school council-we need you!

Lorraine Bell

Principal

Victorian Chief Health Officer message to schools, early childhood centres and their communities

Term 1 is now fully in swing for 2021, which makes it even more important for every Victorian to play their

part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. We all want Victoria to continue to stay safe and stay open

and we want our children to continue to learn at their school, kindergarten or other early childhood

education centre.

Recently, we’ve seen some cases of COVID-19 emerge. The Department of Health is doing everything it

can to prevent spreading in the community through locating close contacts, continued testing and wastewater

monitoring.

Early childhood centres and schools have comprehensive COVID Safe plans in place. This means that

schools and centres have embedded the behaviours we learned in 2020 and are well placed to act quickly

and respond to any identified risks.

I am confident this is reassuring to families, children and staff.

However, the importance of all Victorians remaining vigilant cannot be stressed enough.

It is vital that we all continue to stay home when unwell, get tested, perform regular hand hygiene, and

cough into your elbow if you have to. I remind all staff, students, parents and families to wear a face mask

when required and stay at least 1.5m apart from others when practical.

I also encourage you to promote and ensure testing whenever a child or staff member has any symptoms, no

matter how mild. Getting tested and staying home until results are known remains critical to limiting the

spread of COVID-19.

It is also important to get tested when it is recommended, for example, if you have visited an exposure site.

The symptoms to watch out for are:

loss or change in sense of smell or taste

fever

chills or sweats

cough

sore throat

shortness of breath

runny nose.

Continued vigilance to prevent the spread of COVID-19 ensures that schools and early childhood education

centres remain safe for students and staff.

Adj Clin Prof Brett Sutton Victorian Chief Health Officer

SPOTLIGHT ON BOUNCE BACK!

A WELLBEING AND RESILIENCE PROGRAM THE FOCUS FOR THIS WEEK IS: HONESTY

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week, I would like to continue with the Core Values that underpin the Bounce Back Wellbeing and Resilience Program. This week we will look at HONESTY which is a Bounce Back value as well as one of Monmia’s community values.

What is a value? A value is a belief that you have that is important in your life. A value is a principle or standard that guides your behaviour and choices. Our values form our ‘moral map’ which we consult every time we have to make a value-based decision or we face a moral dilemma.

School values form an integral part of how we behave as individuals and as members of our school community. The first and most important step in teaching your child to live by a certain value is of course to live it yourself. Remember that actions speak louder than words. It is important to be honest!

Being honest means telling the truth, not stealing, giving things back when they belong to someone else and “owning up” when you have done the wrong thing. Being honest also means telling people information that they need to know about. Whilst it is important to be honest, it is also important to be tactful. Tactfulness is the art of being honest in a kind way when it is necessary or sometimes not saying anything if you do not need to. Here are some thoughts about Honesty:

Owning up is sometimes hard to do but it is better to own up. It is braver that way.

If you are honest then people trust you and they will want to be your friend.

If you make up stories and you are not honest, people will not listen to you anymore.

Honesty is keeping your promise.

I am sure you have all heard the saying ‘Honesty is the best policy’. It is one of the most universally recognized and encouraged phrase. This phrase signifies the importance of being a moral and truthful person. Honesty is an important and admirable characteristic that a person can have. A situation in which one must be honest occurs on a day-to-day basis. Lessons and values of honesty have appeared throughout history and in the children’s stories. Pinocchio was written by Carlo Collodi, and is a moral story about dishonesty and its consequences. Pinocchio is a very curious and naive boy, who has a solid desire for adventure but an unstable sense of what's right and wrong, despite the persistent advice of his official conscience, Jiminy Cricket. As his nose begins to grow longer and longer, the Fairy explains that ‘A lie grows and grows until it's as plain as the nose on your face’. Children are taught from a very young age that lying is wrong and that consequences will always follow lying. Family Activity Discuss how being honest made them feel and the other person feel. See if you have the book Pinocchio at home or other books that deal with the theme of honesty or dishonesty. Warm Regards,

Lucia Vorpasso Assistant Principal - Student Engagement and Wellbeing

ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY

EVERY DAY COUNTS:

Missing school puts your child behind! Going to school every day is the single most important part of your

child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day.

Missing school puts your child behind. Regular school attendance will

mean that your child has a better chance in life. Your child will

achieve better when they go to school all day, every school day. When

regular attendance patterns are established your child learns better,

makes friends, is happier and has a brighter future.

Lucia Vorpasso Assistant Principal: Student Engagement and Wellbeing

Student Engagement and Wellbeing

Introducing…

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Monmia is a Bucket Filling School! I can’t believe how many drops I keep finding in the school’s yard duty folders and in the community bucket in the office area. I think we are getting more and more each week which is simply amazing. I would love to hear stories of how the Bucket Filling Philosophy is being used at home. I am sure families would love to hear your stories so if you would like to share your story, please come and see me. As you know the Bucket Filling Philosophy is a whole school approach and each student and staff member has their own bucket for others to fill with ‘drops’ that describe something positive about what they have done or said. Students and staff respond well when they receive a drop in their bucket.

In next week’s newsletter I will provide you with more information about the ‘Bucket Filling Philosophy’ at Monmia PS.

Happy Bucket Filling!

Kind Regards,

Lucia Vorpasso Assistant Principal Student Engagement and Wellbeing

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES Please note that student led conferences will be occurring on Tuesday 30 March on weBex. The student led

conference is a conversation conducted by your child about their learning. It is a self-reflection of the way

in which they have commenced the school year as well as demonstrating next steps for future progress for

the semester. This is a valuable opportunity for your child to share their learning goals and successes

experienced through effort so far.

Please ensure you have booked a suitable time between 4.20pm-7.50pm for your child’s student led

conference using the Sentral Management System.

To make your booking you will need to download the Sentral App. Families will receive a letter today with

instructions on how to download and register. You can start booking your times from Monday 15th March.

Each student led conference will be for duration of 10 minutes. Your child will be expected to lead the

conference discussion in the presence of their teacher and a parent/guardian. If you have specific questions

/concerns you would like to discuss please arrange a meeting time outside of the Student Led Conference

with your child’s teacher.

The Student Led Conference is an opportunity for students to open

communication between school and home, it teaches self-evaluation and reflection and focuses on

goals setting and learning. Let’s work together to support the learning of your child.

Vineta Mitrevski

Assistant Principal- School Improvement

Dear Monmia Families,

Monmia is proud to be a ‘BE YOU’ school. In bringing the community together to celebrate the start of the 2021 school year, we are having the annual ‘BE YOU TWILIGHT GETTING TO KNOW YOU PICNIC’. An invitation is extended to all Monmia families to attend the picnic to meet the staff and other families in a friendly and relaxed way. Please put the date in your diary and come along and join in the fun.

Date: WEDNESDAY 24th MARCH, 2021

Time: 5.00pm until 7.00pm

Where: Outdoors (Weather permitting)

What to bring: 1. In keeping safe, we ask all families to bring their own food and drinks (non-

alcoholic and in plastic bottles), rugs or blankets and chairs. A Coffee Van will be available for the sale of coffee and tea. The canteen will be open to sell snacks, ice creams and drinks.

Theme: ‘BE YOU’ – COME DRESSED AS YOU!

Parents/guardians will take responsibility for their own children on the evening. Students will not be permitted to enter the school grounds unless accompanied by their parents/guardians.

We hope that you and your family will be able to join the rest of the Monmia Primary School Community for a fun family night.

Kind Regards

Lucia Vorpasso on behalf of the BE YOU Action Team

IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE DIARY TERM 1

2021 DATES Week of March 15 School Dental Visit Wed March 17 Scholastic Book Club- Orders Due Wed March 24 Twilight Picnic 5 pm – 7 pm Thu March 30 Student Led Conferences 4.20 pm – 7.20 pm Thu April 1 End of Term 1 Mon April 19 Term 2 Commences Wed April 21 School Photo Day

Breakfast club Dear families,

Breakfast club is back on again for 2021.

Start date: 11th of March

When: Every Thursday and Friday

Where: 3/4 CLS Kitchen

Time: 8:30am-8:50am

Options are Cheerios, VitaBrits and Fruit cups. Any students wanting

breakfast are welcome.

CANTEEN NEWS- New Selection

NACHO TUESDAY Every Tuesday will be Nacho Tuesday. Order as a normal lunch order. Corn Chips, Salsa, Cheese $3.50

FRESH FRUIT FRIDAY The Canteen is selling Fresh Fruit cups with Watermelon, Strawberries, Cantaloupe & grapes to be ordered as a lunch order every Friday. $1.50 per cup.

Orders to be returned by the

Wednesday 17th March.

PRA

Mia L.

For caring and helping everyone in Prep A. Thanks!

1/2A

Alsiha P.

For a great attempt at using dialogue in her writing.

1/2B

Jack T.

For getting on the job, staying on the job and finishing

the job. Excellent work Jack!

1/2C

Xavier B.

For trying his best when learning to read new words.

3/4A Eliah Z.

For writing a fabulous plan for her narrative. Great

job!

3/4B Charlie M.

For representing your Just Right number in different

ways.

5/6A

Elma O.

For always using a growth mindset and helping others.

5/6B

Henry L.

For putting a lot of effort into your narrative “super

Penguin Remastered.

5/6C

Brandon

C.

For offering excellent feedback on how to make our

classroom even better.

Physical Education

Samantha M. 3/4A

For never giving up and trying her hardest.

STEM

Timothy B. 5/6C

Peter M. 5/6A

For bringing enthusiasm for our STEM session.

For having the best positive mindset in STEM and

having a go at all tasks.