The first PFA meeting for 2012 was held on Monday 20 February.  Discussion centred around the activities planned for 2012.  The fundraiser for Term One will be an Easter Raffle.  This will take place mid-March.  The next meeting will be on Monday 19 March with preparations for the Mother’s Day Stall in Term Two the focus.  We would love to see some new faces and hear some ideas about fund raising.  Toddlers are most welcome.

Michele and the PFA team.

Round 2 sees the Jets away to the Falcons (St Francis A team) with Teeball at the YMCA, cricket at Redleap Reserve and Bat Tennis and Volleyball at the school.

All the Rockets teams have a bye this week and will take part in training this Friday morning. All games begin at 9:30am and conclude at 11:00am. Parents/family are most welcome to attend, yet, are reminded to follow the Spectators Code of Conduct and if attending school grounds to watch a game, please sign in at the school’s office.

Those students not in an Inter-School Sport team for Term 1 will participate in ASP (Alternative Sport Program). This program takes place at RMIT with instruction given to the students by RMIT Physical Education students in a variety of sports and skills.

Grade 1, Grade 3 and Grade 4 Swimming Programs

A big thanks to all those parents who are assisting with walking to and from the venue for swimming. The feedback from students, teachers and swim instructors each week is extremely positive.

BDSSA Swimming Carnival

Thank you to all those students who tried out for the BDSSA swim squad. The team is up on the gym windows and permission forms have been given out. The BDSSA Swimming Carnival is on Thursday 1^st of March (2012) at the Northcote Swimming Pool.  Permission forms are due back no later the 28^th of February.

AUSKICK

MPH will be an AUSKICK centre in 2012.  The program will run for 9 weeks every Thursday.  We have had some people register online which is great.  Payment details will be available next week.

Snapshot of details on the Auskick website

Ride2School Day

Players wanted

Mill Park Football Club is looking for 12 players for the under 10’s team for the 2012 season. Training will be held on Tuesday/Thursdays 4.30-5.45pm.  All enquiries please contact Tony Janev (coach of the under 10’s) on 0419 893 775

On the Side Lines

If you have any sporting achievements that have occurred outside of school, please feel free to email the PE Team.

Jason Kenny, Sarah Rupena, Eli Teleski

PE DEPARTMENT

Girls-only Reading Area

After creating the Boys’ Club a few years ago, I had received much pleading from the girls in the school for a space of their own. As such, I have now opened a special fairy-themed Girls-only Reading area. It has already created a buzz of excitement from all year levels and has become a much sought out refuge for the girls.

Display Case

As part of the upgrade to the front of the Library, there is now a large display case which will feature different themes throughout the year. To start the year off, there is a display of new and interesting books covering various styles.

Vicki Anceschi

Library Manager

The PFA are looking forward to another year of fundraising for our school, many thanks for your continued support.

With your help a total of $23,570.74 was raised for 2011.

The PFA held various fundraising events throughout 2011 including:

Blooming bulbs

Mother’s Day stall

Chocolate Drive

Father’s Day Stall

Christmas raffle

Our first fundraiser of 2012 will be the Easter raffle, further details will be provided in the next few weeks.

School Banking 2012

School Banking is on every Tuesday and students can bring in their weekly deposit.

Please make sure deposit slips are filled in correctly so they can be processed on the day.

The school banking coordinators will keep record of number of deposits per student and students will receive rewards accordingly. Tokens will not be handed out as it would be difficult  to do due to the large number of students banking at the school.

Thank you for supporting our school and teaching your child good savings skills.

PFA team

My name is Katalina Siburian and I’m one of your 2012 school captains. This year as School Captain I have set myself goals. One is to be more relaxed and calm at assemblies and another is to gain more confidence. Most of all I just want to have fun! J Talking about fun…Fun for me is competing in swimming competitions- representing the Epping Aquajets, eating chocolate and playing with my 2 dogs Keisha and Meka. These are some of the things I like. I also like snacking on mangoes, muesli bars and cheese and bacon rolss. I am very active because I eat lots of fruit, walk a lot and swim an average of 45kms each week. I am a friendly, helpful student and am highly organised. This school has taught me a lots and that’s what has brought me to this high achieving level. Mill Park Heights Primary School is a great school and I will make the most of it in my last year!

Hello it’s Sam the School Captain here!  Some of you may know me already but for those who don’t, I think I am a friendly and energetic person who loves helping people and having fun! I can’t wait to get into my School Captain job and I am excited for this year that lays ahead!  One of my goals for the year is to become a confident speaker in front of the school so I can show future School Captains how to act in Assembly. I would also like to wish everyone a great year!

My name is Sonal and I was born on the 17^th August 2000 in Sri Lanka.  I love reading books, playing games and doing sports. One thing I’m looking forward to is the School Leader’s Day.  One idea I have  to make school learning better is using more computers to help with our learning.

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE! We trust you all had a great holiday and are ready for the year ahead.

The first PFA meeting for 2012 will be on Monday 20 February 2012 after the whole school assembly in Rooms 17 and 18 (OSCH Care room). We would love to see some new faces and hear some ideas about fund raising. We will be discussing the first term fundraiser at our meeting. Toddlers are most welcome to.

Michele and the PFA team.

The PE Department would like to take this opportunity to welcome back the school community for 2012.  The team has many events planned for 2012 to continue to make the PE/Sport Program one of best in the region.  Please feel free to join in the many events or offer your assistance when required.

Inter-School Sport/ASP 2012

Once again in 2012, MPH will be entering two teams into the Inter-School Sports Program; ROCKETS and JETS.  In 2012, the Jets will play in the A Conference and the Rockets the B Conference.

Students were given an opportunity on Monday and Tuesday to try out for two sports. They were Cricket (open), Tee Ball (girls), Bat Tennis (Boys) and Volleyball (girls and boys). Round 1 of the Summer Sports Program will start next Friday the 17^th of February.

Those students who are not involved in competitive sport will move into the Alternative Sports Program (ASP), which runs at the same time as Interschool Sport.  This program offers the students a large variety of challenging and enjoyable activities.  Once again, students in ASP will be instructed by Physical Education students at RMIT. 

A reminder that should a team be successful in reaching division finals (even our B teams), ALL CHILDREN in that team will represent Mill Park Heights Primary School AND the BDSSA.

Grade 1, Grade 3 and Grade 4  Swimming Programs

The Grade 3 & 4 swimming programs began today and Grade 1’s tomorrow.  All students in these levels have received their permission forms and have returned by the required due date.  Thank you.

The swimming program involves all students in Prep to Grade 6 and takes place at the YMCA.  As swimming is part of the VELS Curriculum, it is expected that all students participate in this water safety and technique program. Please remember that if you do go to watch that you remain in the viewing area for the safety of both the students and yourself.

Please note that all students in 2012 will again be assessed on their swimming in either their mid-year or end-of-year report according to what term they go swimming.

BDSSA Swimming Carnival

For all those children who will be in Grade 4, 5 or 6 who are keen on trying out for the swimming squad, selection trial notices are available from today.  The BDSSA Swimming Carnival is on Thursday 1^st of March (2012) at the Northcote Swimming Pool.  Trail notices are due back no later the 20^th of February.

AUSKICK  

MPH will be an AUSKICK centre in 2012.  The program will begin with Registration Day  Thursday the 3^rd of May from 3:45pm to 4:45pm.  The program will run for 9 weeks every Thursday.  More information to come in the following weeks.

On the Side Lines

If you have any sporting achievements that have occurred outside of school, please feel free to email the PE Team.

Jason Kenny, Sarah Rupena, Eli Teleski

PE DEPARTMENT

Congratulations to the following students/families that were major prizes in the Christmas Raffle 2011:-

Kyla Young (PCE), Mitton family (5TP), Ethan Graham (3DE), Makayla Tasevska (2YPP), Natasha Emsovka (6JM), Zoe Soltan (1LM), Stephen Giantsis (2AT), Mia Zamparo (6KM), Aliyah Moosoody (3PB) and Dylan Norris (1BH).

The PFA were able to offer over 120+ prizes this year and we congratulate the families that were lucky enough to win one of the many other prizes available.

Profit made from the Christmas raffle was a little over $2,200.  Overall, the 2011 year has been a very successful one with over $23,500 raised.  WELL DONE MPHPS!

The PFA wish to acknowledge and thank the following businesses/persons for their donations to the Christmas raffle – without their help our Christmas raffle would not be so successful.

YMCA, Luna Park, Funfields, The Athletes Foot – Plenty Valley, Sovereign Hill, Crown Entertainment Ltd, The Bendigo Trust, Rumbles, Pixi – Foto, Priceline Pharmacy – University Hill, Hairhouse Warehouse – Plenty Valley, Telechoice – Plenty Valley, Michelle O’Connell, Puffing Billy, Crazy Johns – Plenty Valley, Healthy Generation, Adventure Park, Bunnings – Mill Park, Northland Shopping Centre, Deborah Patterson, Endota Spa, Yarrambat Golf Club, Casa D’Abruzzo Club, Rivers Nursery, Coles Supermarket – Plenty Valley, Espresso Vivere, Growling Frog Golf Course, Spotlight, Village Quality Meats – Plenty Valley, Jáhdomés bakery & Café, Kids Space, AMF Bowling – Keon Park, OZ Tenpin Bowling – Epping, Gifts & House, Magic Car Wash – Plenty Valley, Groove Train – Plenty Valley, Hollywood Nailz – Plenty Valley, Degani’s – Plenty Valley, TRAC, Hair Island, Beauty Within, Vivere Sweet, IMO Car Wash, Bakers Delight – Rivergum, Dan Murphy – Epping, Diecraft and the Shaver Shop – Plenty Valley.

Ongoing Fundraisers

Please do not forget that we have four (4) fundraisers that continue over the school holidays.  The first is the Bakers Delight – Plenty Valley store offer.  Remember to mention MPHPS each and every time you make a purchase.  The second is the Full Life Pharmacy – remember to place your receipts in the specially marked MPHPS drop box.

The third is the Paul’s collect-a-cap program.  This program will continue for some time and we appreciate all your support so keep on collecting those caps over the holidays.

Finally, the Reading cinema vouchers.  Vouchers will be sent home with the eldest student on Thursday and there are extra vouchers in the stand in the office foyer.  There are some fabulous movies for the whole family to watch over the holidays with the big blockbusters opening on boxing day.  Please present the vouchers at the ticket office when purchasing your movie tickets.

From the entire PFA team, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy but most importantly Safe New Year.  We look forward to a fabulous 2012 in which MPHPS will celebrate its twentieth year.

Michele and the PFA team.

Christmas Raffle

Thank you to all the families who supported the 2011 Christmas raffle, with your help we raised $2,250 for MPHPS. Also a big thank you to the school community and businesses who donated items for the raffle.  There were over 100 fantastic prizes, congratulations to all the winners.  The winners of the first ten prizes are:

1^st Prize – Kyla Y PCE                            LG 80 cm HD LCD Television

2^nd Prize – Mitton Family 5TP           YMCA 3 mth gym membership

3^rd Prize – Ethan G 3DE                         Luna Park Family Pass

4^th Prize – Makayla T 2YPP                Funfields Family Pass

5^th Prize – Natasha E 6JM                   Athletes Foot Hamper

6^th Prize – Zoe S 1LM                             Sovereign Hill Family Gold Pass

7^th Prize – Stephen G 2AT                  Crown Restaurant Voucher

8^th Prize – Mia Z 6KM                           Rebel Sports Voucher

9^th Prize – Aliyah M 3PB                     Bendigo Trust Mine, Tram & Discovery Centre

10^th Prize – Dylan N 1BH                  Party for 10 children at Rumbles Play Centre

The PFA Team would like thank the school community for their continued support this year. We managed to raise a total of $23,570.74 for 2011 with your help, these funds will go towards supporting the school programs in 2012.

We wish all the MPHPS Families a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

From the PFA TEAM