In STEM this term we have been learning about the importance of bees in our society.
On Thursday the 8th of June, N8 and G8 had an incursion with Max the Beekeeper. He told us a bit about himself and included some information about how to start Beekeeping.
Some of the things you need are; a suit with a hat and a net, bees and a queen bee, a smoker a hive tool, a frame, a Bee brush, jars and metal rods to crack the hive open. He showed us the box that the queen bees comes in and there is sugar in the box. If the bees accept the queen they will eat the sugar.
Max showed us a video from his youtube channel, Max the Beekeeper. His YouTube channel is all about his experience in Beekeeping.
We found it very interesting and informative, and we really appreciate Max coming from Urrbrae high school to talk to us about bees.
- Mabel and Will.P
Do you have a child beginning Reception in 2024?
We are now preparing to plan next year’s classes!
To help us gain an accurate record of student numbers, please complete an expression of interest form on the MPS website as soon as possible.
https://www.mitchamps.sa.edu.au/about/enrol
From 2024, Department for Education schools offer two starting dates for Reception children – the beginning of Term 1 and the beginning of Term 3.
If your child turns five years old before 1st May, they will start Reception on the first day of Term 1 that year. Students who enrol in the Term 1 intake will complete 4 terms of Reception.
If your child turns five between 1st May and 31st October 2024, they can start school in either Term 3 of the same year OR Term 1 of the following year. Students who enrol in the Term 3 intake will complete 6 terms of Reception.
When will enrolment offers be made?
Round 1 enrolment offers for children beginning school in Term 1 will be made in the first week of August, for siblings of existing students and new families living in the local area.
Round 2 offers are for new families who live outside of the area and will be made in the first week of September. Round 2 offers are subject to available spaces.
Enrolment offers for children starting Reception in Term 3 will be made early in 2024.
Is your child leaving MPS in 2024?
If your child is in Reception to Year 5 this year and will not be returning to Mitcham in 2024, please contact the front office by email or in person to obtain a Clearance Form and return it as soon as possible. This will allow us to confirm our student numbers and begin the class placement process later in the year.
If you would like further information or a clearance form, please contact the front office on 8271 2227 or email: dl.0270.admin@schools.sa.edu.au
Cross Country
On Tuesday of Week 3 students travelled to Belair National Park to compete in our SAPSASA district cross country day. Congratulations to all our students for competing well in wet conditions. A special congratulations to Lucas A, Lenny M, Summer B, Lucy B and Isla S who placed 1st-6th in their race and made it into our City South district team who competed at the State Championships in Week 6.
5-a-Side Soccer
We had 20 students form 3 teams to compete in our district 5-a-side soccer carnival on Monday Week 8. All teams competed hard and came away with some wins.
Mitcham 1 had a win in their first game and had some close results not go their way throughout the day but showed good school spirit. Goal of the day came from this team, with an excellent cross to Evan who headed it into the top corner of the goals.
Mitcham 2 won all but 1 match and finished 5th overall in the competition. They had some fantastic wins and could have easily finished higher if they hadn’t been in such a tough grouping.
Mitcham 3 had a loss in their first game but after that they came together as a team and went through the rest of the competition undefeated and ended up winning the Grand Final against the team they lost to in their first round.
Well done all students for a great day.
State Carnivals
Throughout the term we had several students compete in state carnivals for the City South District. Congratulations to the following students who competed in the following sports:
Cross Country Lucas A, Lenny M, Summer B, Lucy B and Isla S
Swimming Louis T, Sophie L, Elijah K and Thomas P, Samara C
Aussie Rules Zoe N, Edward F, Lucas A and Jonah S
Netball Madison W, Riley G, Clarrie H, Kaitlyn B and Abigail T
Hockey Roscoe MP
National Swimming Championships
Congratulations to Sophie L and Samara C who have been selected to represent the South Australian 12 years and under team to compete at the School Sport Australia National Swimming Championships in Sydney from 25th to 29th August.
Well done to all our students who have competed in SAPSASA sports this term and we are looking forward to more to come with boys' soccer this term and boys' and girls' basketball early next term.
- Clint Rowland, PE Teacher
Year 5/6 Boys and Girls Netball Statewide Competition
On Monday the 8th of May, there were 20 boys and girls from MPS who proudly represented the school at the first round of the Netball Statewide Competition, previously known as Knock-Out. It was the first year that the competition has been run in a carnival style, with all games played at Netball SA Stadium over 1 day and the first year MPS have had a boys team compete!
The day proved to be a lot of fun for all students involved with great support between both teams, watching each other and cheering on from the side.
Our boys team learnt a lot from the day, for many of them this was their first opportunity to play competitive netball. They picked up some great skills from the day and demonstrated quality sportsmanship and competitiveness all throughout the carnival.
For the girls’ team, it was a day of great success, moving onto the next round of the competition which will be held early in Term 3. They walked away from the day being the City South and Southern Heights Champions! The team is looking forward to their next challenge against the other districts.
City South District Team and Metropolitan Carnival
Congratulations to Kaitlyn B, Abigail T, Clarrie H, Madison W and Riley G who were successful in making it into the City South District Netball Team for 2023.
The girls competed in a 3-day carnival from the 21st -23rd June which was held at Netball SA Stadium. The weather over the 3 days proved to be challenging, with very cold, rainy, and windy conditions truly showing why netball is a winter sport!
The girls represented MPS with great pride at the carnival and walked away with memories for life. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to coach such a passionate and motivated young group of athletes and we look forward to seeing what they achieve in their future netball endeavours.
- Laura Scriven, Coach
Term 3 will be a busy one for us here in the library – we have Book Week; the Great Book Swap and the Premier’s Reading Challenge is coming to an end.
Book Week is held in week 5. On Friday the 25th of August we will celebrate with a dress up day. We would love to see students dressed as their favourite book character or dressed up to suit this year’s theme Read, Grow, Inspire.
During Book Week we will be hosting a Great Book Swap with all funds raised going to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. We ask that you send your child with a book/s to donate to the Great Book Swap. Books are being collected in the library now. During the Great Book Swap children can take home a book in return for a gold coin donation.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge closes on the 8th of September. School holidays are a fantastic time for children to read and we would appreciate it if you could encourage your child to complete the challenge. We have additional forms available in the library and there is a wealth of information available online at http://www.premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/PRC/ . Just a reminder that this year students can read an additional eight books that are not on the Premiers Reading Challenge list to get a special 20th anniversary certificate.
Yours in reading,
Vasi and Sunyoung
It's that time again!
Crows and Power showdown doughnuts are now available to order on Qkr! at $4.00 each, with orders closing at 1pm on Wednesday 26th July (Term 4, Week 1).
Orders will be delivered to the classrooms on Friday 28th July in time for recess. May the best team win!
Please be aware that as we are coming to the end of the term, some menu items will be unavailable. This happens at the end of term 2 and term 4 and we thank you for your understanding. We would also like to thank you for your continued support of the canteen as well as our fantastic volunteers.
Have a wonderful weekend.
- Anita, Ann and Kerry
The white cupboards with all lost property are located in the Tutt building. We encourage you to check this regularly for your child’s misplaced belongings.
The benefit of this system is that you will receive an SMS when your child’s clothing is placed in the lost property cupboard.
School Disco Information
Our next fundraising event is a School Disco – Friday 16th June.
Casual Day Fundraiser - Friday 30th June
This term our SRC casual day will be raising funds for Heart Kids, which is an Australian charity dedicated to supporting families impacted by congenital or childhood acquired heart disease. We have several Heart Kids in our school community.
On the day we’ll mix it up with our dress theme - Kids dress up as teachers and teachers dress as kids!
Please see below the upcoming important dates and school events for Term 2 2023
| Monday 12 June |
King's Birthday Public Holiday |
|
Friday 16 June |
School Disco |
|
Friday 30 June |
SRC Casual Day fundraiser - Heart Kids |
|
Friday 7 July |
End Term 2 - Early Dismissal 2.15pm |
| Monday 24 July | Term 3 begins |
Throughout Terms 1 and 2, Year 1 students have been identifying similarities and differences between family life in the past to their lives today.
On Monday 29th May, Year 1 students participated in a Toy workshop conducted by the Australian Museum of Childhood. The visit links in with our history learning, as well as our science focus on push and pull forces.
In small groups, students explored a range of toys from the past - including puzzles, push and pull along toys, colonial games and musical instruments. Through persistence and perseverance, students investigated how the toys worked and then had fun using them. They also explored what materials and joining techniques were used to make them and discussed how this has changed over time.
For the rest of the term, students will engage in the STEM design process and design their own toy and be able to explain or even demonstrate how it works.
Here are some highlights from the visit:
T2 – "The jack in the box jumped up really slowly and it scared us a little bit."
"There was a horseshoe and a ring, and you had to get the ring off."
"I liked the challenging bits - like throwing the ring on the clown."
T4 – “Some of the games were challenging.”
“The Jack in the box made us jump.”
“The woodpecker bird that wobbled down the spring was amazing.”
T7 – “Alan showed us some toys from the olden days.”
“We loved trying things that we had never seen or used before.”
“It was lots of fun.”
T8 – “There were SO many toys!”
“We loved hearing about toys from the past. The woodpecker and snake were awesome!”
