From the Principal
Dear CMS Families,
Recently I presented at a Montessori conference in Queensland, on the topic of Strategic Planning in schools. One of the other presenters at the conference was Tim Seldin, who discussed the place for ceremony and celebration in Montessori schools. It made me think of some of the landmark days on our calendar and the importance of the special events at our school.
This term, Open Sessions are on the calendar and I invite you to take the opportunity to see your child in action and engaged with the materials, and if you need a refresher, our Parent Education morning is slated for June 2nd. Also, I know the children will be looking forward to Camp Quality week where hair gets spiked and snakes (the pretend kind) appear on the playground, as we raise funds for children with cancer. Finally the end of Term 2 will be highlighted by Trivia Night, where the parents and staff can try their hand at mostly useless facts (can you tell my table finished at the bottom last year). I encourage everyone to come out and join in the fun.
I see that the cool Canberra breeze has appeared this week and winter must be just around the corner. However I’m sure we’ll have beautiful weather for our Open Day on May 21st, as I have already put in my order. If you have any friends that are interested in learning more about Montessori please encourage them to attend and if anyone can spare a few minutes on the day we always need volunteers to help orient our visitors.
Peace
Jack Rice
Principal, CMS
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UPCOMING DATES
Term 2 2011
May 10-12 NAPLAN Testing
May 11 Learnscapes Committee meeting
May 17 Class Parents’ Meeting 9am
May 20 NEW Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea—8.15am
May 21 Open Day – 10am-2pm
May 23-29 Open Sessions – see class for times
May 30 Camp Quality week
Jun 2 Parent Education Morning
Jun 10 Pupil Free – Montessori Conference
Jun 13 Public Holiday - Queen’s Birthday
Jun 25 Trivia Night
Jun 30 Canteen Day
July 8 Last Day of Term 2
New 8+ year olds afterschool
programme now ready to go!
We are offering a free trial to all children aged 8+ during the week beginning 16th May (week 3). The hours of operation are 3.00pm to 5.30pm Monday to Friday. Viv Moir will be running the programme.
If you would like your child/children to attend a free trial please see Tonia at the front office to book a place.
Nicole Chudzinski
Afternoon Programme Director
You are invited to the Canberra Montessori School’s “Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea” event, in support of the Cancer Council!
The details are:
When: Friday, 20th May 2011 from 8.15am to 10.00am
Where: Jacaranda Room, Holder Campus
Please drop by for a cuppa and some morning tea and help support the fight against cancer. Donation “tea cups” will be available and all proceeds raised go directly to the Cancer Council. We hope to see you there!
For more information contact Maureen Ashford (Grevillea and PTP) on 6161 0896.
Community Hours
Many thanks to all those families who contribute their time and energy as part of our Community Hours Scheme. Whether you have been washing and folding the class laundry, helping as Class parent, joined the Committees of Fundraising, Learnscapes or the Board, we all appreciate your help and dedication. If you have not already, and would like to contribute to the school with your time and energy we have a couple of practical jobs to do, painting various items of children’s furniture and window washing. If you are interested please come and see Sarah (Acacia Class Director) for further information. Also, we are ….
Seeking Parent Helpers for
Open Day
Saturday 21st May 10.00-2.00pm
We need parent helpers to put up signs around
Canberra prior to the event and also to help out on the day as guides or supervising children in the playgrounds. Please sign up on the sheet at the office if you can attend for an hour or so. We would all be very grateful for your help.
Dear CMS members,
The newly formed CMS Board met for the first time on April 14. It was exciting for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons was that as a Board, we felt we really did have the support of the CMS community behind us. The AGM was very well attended and this, combined with the fact that we have the full complement of Board members with no vacancies, speaks to the strength of passion and belief that our community holds for the school and its values. As a Board, we would like to thank all the members for their trust and support in governing the school and we would like to take this opportunity to let you know how we’re moving along this year.
The new CMS Board:
Firstly, let’s introduce the new CMS Board and the roles our members are playing. Steve Stern stepped down as Chair after 5 years of highly dedicated service in the role. Steve has seen the school through some stormy waters, including the hiring of two principals in two years. We want to express our sincere thanks to Steve for his leadership and commitment to the school as Chair, and we look forward to continuing to work with him in his continued role on the OLCC. We would also like to thank our retiring board members Craig Davis, Edgard Kagan, Catherine McMaster, Carol Sutton, Tony Warren & Sue Wigg for their efforts in their time on the Board.
The office-bearers were elected and the committee membership decided as follows:
Chair Vyt Vilkaitis
Deputy Chair Catherine Prosser
Secretary Peter Jones
Committees:
Operational Liaison & Compliance Steve Stern, Fiona Straffon, Vyt Vilkaitis
Finance James Liddall, Debora Vella, Vyt Vilkaitis
Building Nancy Chen, Catherine Prosser, Ronny Reichelt
Capital Development Peter Jones, Debora Vella
Bursary Samar Thompson
Policy Karl-Eric Paasonen, Michael Power
Communications Catherine Prosser, Samar Thompson
Communication with the Board
There are several ways the CMS community can talk to the Board and be involved with what we’re doing.
If you wish to bring something to the attention of the Board informally, it’s best to make an appointment to talk to the Chair either through Vyt or Catherine. Previously, the Chair was available for ‘The Chair’s Chat’ for 30 minutes prior to each Board meeting, but this has not been taken advantage of so we have discontinued this. Please contact them if you would like to have a private discussion with either at boardchair@canberramontessori.com.
Alternatively, should you wish to bring any matter to the attention of the Board, this is the procedure you should follow:
Firstly, you should discuss the matter your class director, class parent, the Curriculum Director (Felicity), and then finally, with the Principal. This will allow an opportunity for the matter to be dealt with at the school operational level.
However, if you are not satisfied with the response you have had from the Principal, or if the matter concerns the Principal, you should contact the Operational Liaison and Compliance Committee (OLCC). They may be able to deal with your concern directly or they may refer the matter to the Board as a whole. It’s important to note that the OLCC has the full delegation and authority of the Board and will determine which matters the Board, as a whole, is appropriate to address.
If you feel your concerns have still not been addressed by the OLCC, you may contact the Chair or Deputy Chair to further discuss those concerns.
Please note this procedure is to ensure that matters are dealt with consistently, fairly and in a timely fashion. Please do not try to raise matters directly with individual Board members as they will, in any event, only forward them to the OLCC for consideration.
The above might sound a bit serious, and in some cases, it may well be. But not all communication to the Board has to be about serious or troubling matters, and if you have constructive feedback or ideas that you would like to simply pass on to us, this is also the best way to do it. We look forward to hearing from you and value your feedback.
What we’re doing in 2011
Board members went away from our first meeting with lots of homework. New members are familiarising themselves with the board policies, existing members are refreshing their memories and all the committees will meet to review what’s coming up and determine a work plan for the year, all of which will form the core of the discussion at the next meeting. The Board generally meets the first ‘teen’ Tuesday of each month (e.g. our next meeting will be on the seventeenth of May) at 7:00pm in the staff room at the school.
Just as we are doing here, we will continue to provide you with an update on the Board’s activities in each newsletter. In the meantime, we will keep working together to support this school according to Montessori principles and to ensure that it is the wonderful place we all want it to be for our children.
Catherine Prosser & Samar Thompson
(Communications Subcommittee)
On behalf of the CMS Board