A sea of orange and cultural dress welcomed us on Monday 21^st March as Mitcham Primary celebrated Harmony Day. Auntie Elaine began our assembly with a welcome to country. She shared with us her family’s diversity and history.

Every teacher and two representatives from each class were asked to put a gum leaf into a collection basket, signifying working together towards reconciliation. We heard from the school leaders about the cultural diversity at Mitcham and learnt more about the message ‘everyone belongs’. To conclude the assembly, the M3 Reception students led us as we sang I am, You are, We are Australian.     

Over the course of the day, classes had the opportunity to meet with their buddy class for 2022. It was wonderful to see the excitement and enthusiasm as children worked collaboratively on Harmony Day activities, including a ‘Diversi-tree’ made with hands representing individual students’ culture and sense of self.

We had a great day celebrating the diversity of our Mitcham school community.  

Our uniform helps to create a sense of community and belonging in all students and proudly identifies our students. It ensures that students are well presented and dressed appropriately for a wide variety of school activities.

We ask for your support in ensuring that students wear the correct school uniform at all times.

Dress Code

The colours of the uniform are royal blue with gold trim, and navy and gold for Year 6 students.  The uniform consists of:

• Navy blue long pants for both boys and girls
• Knee to mid-thigh length navy shorts for boys and girls
• Knee to mid-thigh length navy skort
• Royal blue polo t-shirt and jumper with MPS logo - Year R-5
• Navy blue polo shirts and jumper - Year 6 only
• School summer dress (Term 1-4), skirt or pinafore in MPS plaid
• Navy blue hat with a wide brim

Jewellery

• One set of studs or sleeper earrings only
• Coloured nail polish and makeup are not to be worn
• Hair should be a natural colour and neatly tied back if shoulder length or more (boys and girls)
• Hair accessories may be worn in school colours only

Footwear

• Supportive and comfortable closed shoe or sandal in plain colours. Black, white or navy blue is preferred for shoes and socks.
• Navy tights may be worn under the winter pinafore.

Please be aware that leggings and short sports shorts are not part of the uniform and should not be worn. Long sleeve MPS polo shirts may be worn in cooler weather, however skivvies and long sleeves should not be visible underneath short sleeve polo shirts or summer dresses.

Thankyou to these students from G1 for showing us how fantastic they look in their uniforms!

Please find below important dates and school events for the end of Term 1 and the start of Term 2.

Materials & Services Payment Now Due

Thank you to the families that have paid their Materials & Services invoices, applied for School Card or arranged Direct Debits/Payment Plans.

Materials & Services invoices are due to be paid by the end of Term 1. Any extension on this time can be arranged by setting up a Direct Debit or Payment Plan. Please email dl.0270.finance@schools.sa.edu.au for the authorization form.

School Card

The School Card Scheme offers financial assistance with school fees (Materials & Services charges). To check your eligibility and to apply online go to the SA.GOV website via the link:  www.sa.gov.au/education/schoolcard

If you are eligible for the School Card Scheme and have not yet applied, please do so as soon as possible. Eligible Families need to complete a new School Card application each school year. If you need help completing the form please contact the School Card section on 1800 672 758 (free call).

You will be notified by the School Card Section of the outcome of your application, please do not pay any money towards your Materials and Services charge until you know the outcome.

We want to celebrate the end of first term and welcome in the Easter Holidays with a Splash of colour! On Thursday 14^th April we will be holding a lap-a-thon fitness FUNdraising event with a splash of colour. All students will have 30 minutes to complete as many laps of the oval and obstacle course as they can.

We are delighted to be able to welcome parents to attend our first fundraising event for the year. Family support is key to our fundraising success and we encourage everyone to get involved. Class teachers will be asking for parent volunteers on the day to record laps and help with obstacles. Volunteers will need to sign in at the School Office before making their way to the oval. Whilst onsite we ask all parents for their cooperation with wearing a mask to support the safety and wellbeing of our school community. Click here for the timetable for the day.

Funds raised from the Lap-a-thon will go towards new indoor staging in our Gymnasium that is currently being built. This will be used during whole school assemblies and other special events.

Students will need to come along to the event dressed in a white t-shirt, old shorts and sneakers for running in. If students would prefer not to be squirted with water or colour, for any reason, they can bypass the water and colour stations and will not be squirted. We recommend children who do not wish to be squirted with colour wear a bright multi-coloured t-shirt (instead of a white one) as a way to still be colourful and bright on the day.

To add some extra fun on the day there will be water obstacles as well as some other exciting challenges around the oval. As with last year’s event the colour powder used in the lap-a-thon is made of high quality corn starch and permitted food colours. It’s non-toxic, biodegradable, skin safe and environmentally friendly. An ingredient listing can be obtained from the School Office upon request. Students can recycle their sunglasses from previous events or bring in a pair from home to cover their eyes from the sun and the colour. If you have specific concerns about your child’s health needs, please talk to your child’s class teacher.

This year prizes will be given to the top 10 individual fundraisers, with a special pizza lunch for the class that raises the greatest total amount. Ice blocks will be provided to all students at the end of their laps.

Please note, all donations need to be finalised on or before May 6th. Student prizes and the pizza lunch will be given out at the beginning of Term 2.

Thank you in advance for your participation, and we look forward to seeing you at this FUN and COLOURFUL event! 

Happy fundraising!

Last year we applied to Landcare Australia for a grant for us to obtain 3 Vegepods for students to grow their own vegetables and plants. With the disruptions of COVID last year we have finally had time to get our project rolling. Vegepods are a sustainable solution to growing with minimal stress on the environment.

Students in N5 and N6 have been looking at sustainability and how being more sustainable can help our future. This STEM unit will have students look for a sustainability problem to solve.

Our students showed problem solving, collaboration, co-operation and resilience in constructing the Vegepods (all while having fun!).

The Vegepods are just the beginning!

We would like to thank Emma Hunt and Harry Ebert for organising the Vegepod grant, and Bunnings Edwardstown for kindly donating soil products, gardening tools, a seed raising mini greenhouse, seedlings, and seeds for us to plant and use. Without this wonderful donation the project may not have got off the ground. More gardening news to come later next term.

The Uniform Shop will be open for the following times for the remainder of Term1 and the first week of Term 2. There will be further updates in Term 2.

A reminder that there is a Pupil Free Day on Monday 11th April

 A Pupil Free Day is scheduled for Monday 11th April. OSHC will be operating on this day.

On Wednesday we held our AGM where we shared the Mitcham Primary School 2021 Annual Report. The report is available on our website for parents to view, together with our Site Improvement Plan for 2022-2024.

After the AGM we held our first Governing Council meeting for the year and elected new members. Current members for 2022 are:

Chevonne Gourlay (Chairperson)

Elizabeth Boxall (Vice Chairperson)

Kim Grant (Finance)

Brendan Sawtell

Guy Blackabey

Sharon Beech

These members are joined by the school leadership team; Scott Greenshields, Sue Blight, Lexie Anderson and Susan Bowler, together with two staff representatives; Tricia Wadmore and Sue O’Shaughnessy.

This is quite a small group for a school of our size and we would love some more members to join us! Please email scott.greenshields603@schools.sa.edu.au if you are interested in finding out more and come along to our next meeting on Monday 4^th April.

Governing Council is a wonderful way to become involved in the school. If you are interested in school governance and/or joining committees including Fundraising, Sports, Canteen, Grounds & Environment and Community Engagement, please consider joining our Governing Council. We meet twice a term after hours to discuss the school, our improvement priorities and financial reports. The Governing Council is a great way to contribute and as the COVID-19 restrictions lift, help us to rebuild our parent support networks and community events. We hope to see you at the next meeting!