Ph: 9637 2638 Email: merrylande-p.school@det.nsw.edu.

au

22 March 2012

important Dates
28/03/2012 23/03/2012 03/04/2012 05/04/2012 24/04/2012 28,29,30/4/2012 Year 3 and 4 Excursion to the Rocks Last day to pay for The Rocks Excursion and the ICAS Competitions Easter Hat Parade and Easter Raffle Drawn Last Day of Term First day of Term 2 Year 5 and 6 trip to Canberra

Awards

KH KO KV 1ML 1N 1P 2H 2V 2W 3K 3S 4H 4/5G 5E 5/6D 6P

Class Awards
No Assembly for K-2

5 Class Awards
Mehdi Al Ghalebi Adem Matezic

Mobina Salari Khaled Elsamad, Parnia Charkhyan

Friendship & Peace Awards No Friendship Awards this

fortnight

Ali Jandal, Samim Nassiri Jordana Schaffarczyk McHale, Kelvin Tran, Atifa Akbari.

Banners
Zach Hansen

Principals report
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Dear Parents and Caregivers, Merrylands East Public School is an example of an innovative school in the 21 st century. Innovation is the buzz word at the moment within the Department of Education and Communities but seldom do people have a true understanding of the meaning. Innovation in teaching and learning is about searching for best practices, collaborating with others, solving problematic situations and using technology in a global community. This may involve a fundamental reform change in how we operate from our own personal schooling experiences but the goal is all about improving students outcomes. As a student in a primary school back in the 1970s, school was all about memorisation of information and mastering the art of answering questions in tests. The better you were in memorising, the better you performed in tests. For many students, the limitations of schooling meant that they didnt reach their full potential with some having negative experiences of what school was about. In todays world, students have access to information from all around the world. They can search for any topic via the internet and collaborate using social media about any topic that they want. Learning has become seamless and doesnt start when students entering the school gates in the morning and end when they walk out. For example, my smartphone provides me with instant access to my colleagues from all around the world so that I can collaborate and discuss issues. I can also send photos at an instant and obtain answers within seconds. In many ways, the world comes to me now. This is the world that we live in and we need to prepare students in the technological age. Being one of 20 schools on the Microsoft Innovative Pilot Schools, our challenge is to foster the creativity of students and provide them with the tools to use technology in a meaningful way. Forty years ago we could not have imagined that students could create powerful visual presentations of the topic that they are discussing in class and present them in a meaningful way. Class teacher Robbie Ernsteins has embraced the use of technology at Merrylands East. He has built a website called kids4learning.org for a school project so that students in rural communities can share their experiences with those that live in the city. Links have been established with one of the most northern NSW schools, North Star Public School and the students from both classes converse daily about their learning experiences. Mrs MacDonald is using a site called www.teachingchannel.org and Miss Haddad is using exchange.smarttech.com for some of their teaching resource. Both of these sites contain a lot of educational material that can be accessed by students and parents. For homework tips, the Department of Education and Communities A-Z contains a lot of resources to help children (the link for the site can be found at www.merrylandseast.com). Another site that Miss Vicary uses for homework extension is www.studyladder.com I guess what I am saying is that there is a lot of material on line that can help children learn, extend their thoughts and revise their work in class. Last Monday afternoon, every teacher presented to their colleagues a website, a phone application or a piece of software that they are using as part of their teaching and learning program. It was amazing to see the diversity of technology being used in the classroom for the benefit of your childs learning. Many teachers have class blogs that can be quickly accessed through our school website www.merrrylandseast.com Our challenge as teachers is to make student focussed learning. This means that we want students to master the use of technology to explore the world. In order for that to happen, students need access to computers, laptops and the internet, and parents to supervise their child when using them at home. Our school is doing its part by purchasing small laptops, similar to those used in high schools, but we will need to rely on your support now and in the future. Over the vacation period,

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wireless has been scheduled for installation so that in the future, students will be able to bring their smartphones to school (if they have one) and use it in class lessons. John Goh Principal

School News
Safety
The safety of children is paramount to all the school staff. Yesterday I received a report from the police about an assault near the school of an older teenager. It is important that we are vigilant in our community and look after each other. Children walking to school should always be with a friend or in small groups. If you have any information pertaining to the assault, please contact Merrylands Police on 9897 4899 or Crimestoppers 1800 333 000.

K, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 News

The Easter Hat Parade for K-3 students will be held Tuesday 3rd April 2012. Please help your child gather some resources, such as ribbon, tinsel, streamers etc., so they can use all their creative skills to make a fantastic Easter Hat.

Library News
Library borrowing is available Monday and Tuesday lunchtime and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after school. It is fabulous to see many students borrowing during this time and families coming in to visit after school with their child. However, if Mrs Murphy is not available, borrowing will not be able to proceed. Returns can be placed in the return box at any time. Library bags can be purchased from the Uniform Shop. Check out http://mrsmurphyslibrary.weebly.com for updates. Happy reading Mrs Murphy

Breakfast Club
Dont forget the Breakfast Club run by the Chaplaincy Program! Breakfast is available free to all students every Tuesday from 8.30am to 8.50am

sport Reports
PSSA
Weather permitting, PSSA will be at Granville Park tomorrow. Good luck to all our teams.

School club news

Our next P & C meeting will be held on Wednesday 4th, April, 2012 in the Community Room, It will commence at 9.15am.

Thank you to Ms Vicary and Ms Stavropoulos, who has taken their time out of their busy schedule to talk to our parents/grandparents/careers at our last meeting regarding the changes to our school times in 2013. I think every parent has noticed that our Community Room is having a full renovation. This has been a long time coming and we welcome the new changes. We need some volunteers to help with some painting, if anybody is interested, please see Christine Osland or Marie McGuire.
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Renovations been made by Terry of Modern Renovations & Waterproofing 0410 454 434. On the 4th May, 2012 we will be holding our Annual General Meeting, so if you are interested in taking an active part in the P & C please come along and let us know. It will be held in the Community Room commencing at 9.15am.

Uniform Shop News Our first ever second hand uniform stall was a success, everything was sold between $2 and $10 and the MEPS Uniform Shop raised $100. A big thank you to all the families who kindly donated these uniforms.
Another big thank you to Nadia El Koura, Jacqueline Orel and Christine Osland who all helped out on the morning. The Uniform Shop will look forward to organising another second hand uniform stall later in the year. The Uniform shop is stocked up for winter and we also have some specials on selected discounted items (limited sizes), so come in, have a look and get ready for the cold weather.

REMINDER: Winter Jacket Orders has been extended until 30th March, 2012. For those parents who like to order a jacket for their child, please do so prior to this date. Opening Hours until the end of Term 1 Monday to Friday 8.30am to 9.15am
Karen Elsamad & Christine Osland MEPS Uniform Shop.

TEXT BOOK FEES

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