Fe August 2, 2016 Issue 11 MONBULK COLLEGE NEWS Respect, Excellence, Responsibility David Hill Rd, Monbulk Ph: 9751 9000 Fax: 9751 9001 Email: monbulk.co@edumail.vic.gov.au Web: www.monbulkcol.vic.edu.au Dates to remember Friday 5th August Free Dress Day (Jeans for Genes Day Wednesday 10 th August Winter Concert Thursday 11 th August VTAC Information Evening In this issue: Principal s Report Every Day Counts Free Dress Day Science News Maths News VCAL News Arts News Music News Curisitorium News Production News Community Announcemnts Upcoming Sport Dates: Year 9/10 Basketball Friday 2nd August Year 7 Basketball Friday 19th August Year 8 Basketball Friday 26th August Division Athletics Tuesday 6th September Principal s Report Student Successes Each year there are a number of international competitions. This year a number of our students entered the Language Perfect German competition and several received awards. Congratulations are extended to Daniela Gisler, who won an elite award (top award given), Jesse Baker, who won a Silver award and Monte Hall and Cami Kew, who both won bronze awards. There were also 9 credit awards received by students. Well done, as a college we came second in Victoria in the 1-50 students category. Student Safety In the last few weeks there have been two incidents of secondary aged students being asked to get into a stranger s car. It would be timely for families to discuss appropriate strategies for students to use if they are approached by a stranger. Students are reminded that when they are travelling to and from the college it is important to be aware of their surroundings and preferably to travel with friends or in a group. It is important that students do not engage with strangers and if any student is approached by a stranger they should have a protection strategy in place, such as going into a shop, speaking to someone nearby or calling the Police. Please report any such incidents to the college. COMPASS PAY Excursions and Incursions The college has purchased an additional module within Compass that will allow parents to complete permission forms for both incursions and excursions online and pay for these events online. From the start of Term Three we have been trialling it internally for the approval of excursions and incursions. We believe that the trial has been successful. As a result we are planning to trial opening up the module to families from 22nd August. During the trial (which will run until the end of this year) families will have the following options: pay and return forms using our current manual system (forms and payment returned to the General Office) pay and enter the permission form online; or pay through the office and enter the permission form on line. Once the trial commences any feedback would be greatly appreciated. More details will follow in future newsletters. Performing Arts The next few weeks are opportunities for the community to see our students perform. I am looking forward to the Winter Concert on Wednesday August 10th and to seeing the College Production, How The West Was Warped. The production is on Thursday August 18, Friday August 19th and Saturday August 20th. All parents are encouraged to attend these events.
Uniform Shop Change of Days All parents /guardians are reminded that the Uniform Shop has changed the day it is open. As from yesterday, the 1st August, the Uniform shop is now only open on MONDAYS from 8.30am to 1pm. The uniform shop is no longer open on a Tuesday. Orders may be dropped off at the office at other times. Parent Opinion Survey Each year a random sample of parents are surveyed to find their opinion about the college. These surveys have been distributed to students and were due for return last Friday. If you have not yet returned the survey please do so tomorrow as we are required to mail them to the independent organisation that collates the information this week. Margaret Uren Appointments during the school day? We understand that some medical appointments are hard to get. But wherever possible, appointments should be made to minimise interruptions to the school day. All absence from class interrupts learning. Approaches to absence Harrison is a year 11 student. He hasn t been to the dentist for a long time and his mum makes an appointment for a checkup on Tuesday morning. Harrison asks not to go back to school after the appointment because his friends have been teasing him. His Mum says that s fine. She knows he s been having a hard time at school. What should happen Harrison s mum makes the appointment time to after school. She tries to talk to him about why he doesn t like school. She makes an appointment with the principal to talk about her concerns. Together they come up with a plan to make school attendance easier for Harrison. What shouldn t happen Harrison s mum lets him take the rest of the day off. Harrison enjoys getting away from the teasing from his classmates and starts looking for more excuses to take days off and gets behind in his work. Free Dress Day The next SRC free dress day will be held on Friday August 5th to support Jeans for Genes Day. Students may wear jeans instead of the school pants/skirt but should wear normal school uniform tops and shoes. A donation of a gold coin will help support research into child disease. 2
Science News Year 11 Psychology classes have been learning all about the eye! In doing so, they have been dissecting cows eye s. Bulls s eye Ms Noy! Pun intended.. Maths News Australian Maths Competition On Thursday 28 th July over forty students participated in the Australian Maths Competition. This Australia wide competition provides the students with a great variety of problem solving questions and brain challenges. The students need to recall formula and rules and look for patterns to seek the answers. We congratulate all students who participated and we look forward to receiving the results later this year. Many thanks to Mrs. Stott and Ms. Madden for their assistance. Sue Ditchfield Maths Learning Area Leader 3
VCAL Health and Fitness Fair This year the Health and Fitness Fair was run by the Intermediate VCAL students as a way to showcase what they have learned in Numeracy and PDS. While in the past the Fair has been a joint venture between the Senior and Intermediate classes, this year the Intermediates ran the whole show. Aimed at Year 7 and 8 students, the stalls, activities and presentations were designed to demonstrate the positives of healthy eating and plenty of exercise. There were several stalls that invited students to try smoothies, potato salad and guessing the mystery food. Displays covered topics such as healthy eating, issues with junk food and the results of a health survey conducted in the junior school for Numeracy. Outside there was a longest throw challenge and a game designed to test the accuracy of basketball shooting. The students were in charge of organising the whole fair, deciding on the activities to run, invitations for the junior school classes and the setup and pack up of the stalls. All year seven classes and four year eight classes visited the fair. At the end of the day, the Intermediate class were very tired, but happy with the success of the Fair. Feedback from across the school was very positive. 4
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