Dear parents,

As we come to the end of what has been another unusual term I would like to reflect on something that I heard when I was observing traffic on Wednesday morning. The two parents were talking about the upcoming holidays, one parent said she felt like it was week 20 of term 1.  I know many families and staff will agree with that sentiment.

I thank everyone for your support throughout the term but particularly the effort you made to attend parent teacher meetings. I thank staff for the entire term and praise their adaptability but particularly their work in writing reports and facilitating parent – teacher interviews at the end of a busy term. I thank the students for their resilience and their ability to refocus on their work after a substantial period at home.

Have wonderful break and I look forward to seeing everyone re-energised for the remainder of the year.

Mother Teresa Award

Each term the school presents our Mother Teresa Award to two students who the staff vote on, and who have consistently displayed our 5C's in their daily interactions with all members of our community.  Due to Covid 19 we were unable to present this award in term one.

The two winners for this term were Alicia Beeton (6 Charcoal) and Alessia Vardanega (1 Amber). We congratulate the two winners who were chosen from many nominations. Each day the vast majority of students at MTS display the 5C’s in their daily interactions. We thank all of the students for their ongoing positive behaviours.

Parent Access in Term 3

From the beginning of term three, parents are welcome back onto school grounds both before and after school, with the following rules applying:-

1.  You must maintain social distancing.

2.  When dropping off or collecting children at the end of the school day you must must still remain outside the school buildings.  Children will come outside to meet you once the school bell has rung.

3.   All parent helpers must still present at the front office to sign in and sanitise your hands before entry to the school buildings.

4.   If you wish to speak to the teachers, please make arrangements to do so via email at a mutually convenient time.

Thank you for your continued co-operation.

Maths Problem

Congratulations to Nathan Alex who was this week’s winner. The problem below is the holiday challenge for the end of term 2. There will be a special prize for the best design of an asteroid.

Draw an Asteroid

You will need a ruler, pencil, eraser and a large sheet of cardboard.

1. On the cardboard draw two lines intersecting at right angles. Lightly mark the point where they meet ‘O’.
2. With your ruler beginning at ‘O’, mark both lines at 1cm intervals. Lightly place the numbers 1 to 10 along all axis moving out from ‘O’.
3. Repeat this for all four axis.
4. Using a ruler careful join the points 1 & 10 with a lead pencil, then 2 & 9; 3 & 8; 4 & 7; 5 & 6; 6 & 5, 7 & 4; 8 & 3; 9 & 2; 10 &1.
5. Repeat in all quadrants.

The resulting figure will look like the image below.

Try more numbers or a black texta. Beware a black texta smudges easily so wipe down your ruler constantly.

All finished designs are to be given to Mr Hughes in week 1.

Car Parking in Private Properties 

I have mentioned many times in previous newsletters about the concerns raised by residents of neighbouring proerties having their carparks taken by parents dropping off or collecting their children.  Yesterday I received a letter from the Operations Manager at Project Independence, 63 Mapleton Avenue Harrison (just behind the school) regarding this issue.

Project Independence is a social housing development for people with an intellectual disability. The residents at Project Independence live permanently in their own units. The car parking spaces in the driveway are private property and are needed for both residents and their support workers.

Could I remind all families again to please not park your car on private property or to detour through the unit blocks across the road.  Please respect our neighbours and keep the children and residents safe by avoiding these areas.  Thank you for your understanding.

Safe travels to those of you who are travelling and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday 20 July.

God Bless

Peter Hughes