Please see below the upcoming important dates and school events for the remainder of Term 3 and Term 4.

On Monday the 9^th of September, Mitcham Primary School's year 6 choir performed at the Festival Theatre as part of the Festival of Music.

It was a tremendous success!
Not only did all of our students sing beautifully, but they also conducted themselves, (pun intended) in line with Mitcham Primary School's core values.
Here are a couple of photos of them enjoying the fruits of six months worth of work. In the onstage photo we're in the back row, so you'll have to squint.

Well done choir kids!

Special mention to Django Gurry & Curtis Niumeitolu for successfully auditioning for the 'Rhythmic Rumblers'! They are a drum troupe who opened 6 of the 11 concerts with live jungle drums.
It was fanTAStic!!!" 

Josh Fielder, Performing Arts Teacher

The year twos have just had a fantastic time away on camp at Aldinga where we learnt a lot about Aboriginal culture.

 We built Wardlis, went on a scrub walk and saw kangaroos, painted Aboriginal symbols on boomerangs and cooked fish in clay on the fire which was delicious. Even though we had a few of the coldest nights this year, we had a great time tucked up in the cabins with our friends and some amazing memories were made!

"I really enjoyed going on the walk in the scrub." (Thomas T2)

"I really enjoyed painting the boomerangs." (Lizzy T1)

"I loved Camp Aldinga. My favourite activity was building the Wardli. It was so fun to build and play and play in. We even added a bed." (Mia G2)

"Camp at Aldinga was amazing! My favourite activity was The Rainbow Serpent Scavenger Hunt. In teams, we had to find puzzle pieces scattered around the campsite. After finding them, we had to put the pieces together to create a picture showing the Rainbow Serpent Dreamtime story." (James G2)

"My favourite activity at camp was cooking the fish in the fire. I ate a fish eye. It was a bit hard." (Gus G1)

State Soccer Carnival

Well done to Giselle F who won in her division for the City South District at the State Sapsasa Soccer Championship.

Aussie Rules Football

In Week 6 our boys side played Grange Primary in the Preliminary Final for the football. After being down at quarter time the boys then kicked into gear and put together an excellent performance going on to win 9.9. 63 v 5.4. 34. They played in the Grand Final yesterday and came away as runners-up after a great effort.

Basketball

Back in Week 3 our boys and girls teams travelled to the State Basketball Centre in Wayville to compete in the minor round of the Basketball Statewide Championships. Both teams played amazingly against their opponents across the day and never gave up.

State Golf

Congratulations to Jayneil R who won the 12 & Under Metro Golf Championships in Week 8.

Clint Rowland, PE Teacher

Youth Environmental Leadership (YELP) Team Update

 In Week 8, some of the YELP Team (Youth Environmental Leadership Program) investigated the school's bird boxes to see if there are any native animals using them.  We met with Jeremy from 'Green Adelaide' who helped us to reach the bird boxes with a special digital camera on a long pole that connected to a wireless digital camera with a viewing screen.  We explored all 7 bird boxes near the rotunda and found evidence that native wildlife are using some of them, and some are in need of repair.  Some boxes had feathers suggesting some of our resident Eastern Rosellas may have used them, and one box actually had a fluffy, ringtail possum hiding away from our camera! We dimmed the camera's light and were careful not to disturb this nocturnal animal who was trying to sleep.  We think that there may have been a baby possum hiding under the mother but this has not yet been confirmed.  We hope to find more native animals in the future so that next year's YELP Team can carry on with the role of investigating these beautiful animals.

Pic 1: Mitcham Primary Bird Box with feathers

Pic 2: Mitcham Primary Bird Box with a Ringtail Possum

Mariyam, Matilda & Ashley (YELP Team members)

Mary Anning Art Prize 

The Mary Anning Art Prize celebrates the prehistoric life of South Australia, and is open to students from Reception to Year 8. Three prizes are awarded to each of Years R-2, 3-5, and 6-8. The aim of the Mary Anning Art Prize is to have young South Australian artists create an original piece of artwork that tells us something about the prehistoric life of South Australia. It is essential, to be eligible, that the artwork explores an element of South Australia’s rich and remarkable prehistoric past, and that the artist lives in South Australia. More information including about South Australia's prehistoric life, is here https://www.sasta.asn.au/student_activities/mary-anning-art-prize . While all visual art-forms are eligible, each entry must be presented in the form of a single photograph of the artwork. Entries can be submitted directly online here https://www.sasta.asn.au/form/view/98 and are due by 28 October.

Great Southern BioBlitz

There's a fantastic Citizen Science opportunity this weekend, with the annual Great Southern BioBlitz taking place across the Southern Hemisphere from 20-23 September. Help Scientists by taking photos of local wildlife (plants, animals, birds, insects etc) and uploading them to the iNaturalist app under the "GSB 2024: Greater Adelaide Project". The App also helps you to identify what you've found. You can find more information at the link  below. Get snapping and find out what lives in your local area! https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/great-southern-bioblitz-2024-greater-adelaide

Miriam Doull, Science Teacher

Hello Fabulous Families!

I have been lucky enough to take on the role of Junior Primary Performing Arts Teacher for Mitcham Primary School this term. We were all very sad to see Gayle Judd retire and she has left big shoes to fill! After a year away from school undergoing cancer treatment, I am so happy to be well again and back at work surrounded by smiling faces.

Performing Arts consists of music, dance, drama and media arts. Our themes this term have been colour, the Royal Show and we are now looking at Spring and the changing seasons. We have danced and played instruments to songs such as Stompy the Bear, Run Baby Run, the Colour Beat Song and Seasons of the Year. We have used xylophones, drums, ukuleles, Boom Whackers, the keyboard, shakers, symbols and castanets. Mrs Judd came in to teach us some parachute games and these have been a real hit with every class. We have also played games including the Opposite Game, Hot Potato and the Mirror Game. Every lesson the Music Master gets to push the big yellow button and everyone stops to have a 30 second dance party.

Being the Performing Arts teacher is a fun and challenging role and I have learnt so much already. I have been teaching for almost 20 years and half of those have been at Mitcham Primary, mostly teaching Receptions, so this is a new role for me. It’s wonderful to be back and I hope the kids are having as much fun as I am!

Tara Nicholson - Performing Arts Teacher

Year 2 Gold Netball Team

What a fun year was had by our team, it was our first year of playing netball. We improved so much during the season.  We cannot wait until next year.

Vanessa (Coach)

Year 4 Gold Netball Team

School netball is everything to our girls. It has brought them friendships, resilience, pride, self esteem and so much more. They look forward to it every week and its a big part of who they are.

Carly, Lisa and Alice - Coach/Team Manager

 Year 2 Gold Soccer Team

This was our first year of playing soccer and we had so much fun. We can't wait until we can play again next year. Thank you to all of our parents who made sure we got to the games on time each week.

Ben Brown (Coach) and Kate & Tim Forbes (Team Managers)

Year 3 Blue Soccer Team

What a fantastic soccer season was had by all in the year 3 blue soccer team. It was amazing to see how much the team grew over the season and all the players had so much fun playing soccer.

Hi everyone, 

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers. We have a very small group that help every week/every few weeks. Term 4 is considerably busier and we would be really appreciative if you could help! As of next term, we will be putting a calendar in the newsletter to show where we need more assistance from volunteers. I look forward to meeting you and getting you started!

Just a reminder that if your child/children was given an emergency lunch, could you please make payment through Qkr as soon as possible. Thank you in anticipation!

Thank you for your ongoing support of the canteen.

Kind regards,

Anita, Ann and Kerry 

Happy Haven OSHC will be transitioning to a new childcare management system (CCMS). The rollout from OWNA to Kidsoft will happen in stages to ensure we have plenty of support for families during this transition. 

Do I need to enrol again?
Enrolment information currently in OWNA will be migrated to Kidsoft. Once this is complete and has been tested, families will need to verify the enrolment information. 

Will I lose my existing bookings?
Not at all. All bookings currently in OWNA will be honoured in Kidsoft.

What is the rollout process?
There will be a one week transition, the time from which families can verify enrolment and use the new system.​​

What do I need to do now?
Nothing at this stage, but we wanted to provide plenty of notice for the changes taking place.

What do I need to do later?
Please watch out for correspondence that will be sent to you via email inviting you to verify your enrolment. You will need to follow the steps provided to verify bookings and enrolment information in the new system.

Can I get help?
Service Leaders will undergo training prior to commencement to be able to support you, in addition to rostering additional staff at key periods. We will communicate these dates and times with you prior to the 'Go Live' date for your service.

In addition, our dedicated and recently increased Operations Support team are available to answer any queries. The team will be sufficiently resourced to manage enquiries efficiently.

Happy Haven OSHC are holding a Wacky Willy Wonka day on Monday 14th October for the Mitcham Primary School pupil free day.