Dear CMS families,
Welcome to Term 3! I’ve been a bit tardy in getting this bulletin update out. We usually like to have it distributed by week 2, but it’s taken me a few extra days to get pen to paper this term.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the CMS community for their sponsorship and indulgence in allowing me to attend the Montessori Administrators Association annual conference in Minneapolis. I met 50 Principal’s from all over the world and learned so much. We discussed topics such as change management, enrolment trends and current Montessori Research. The one topic I brought up with the group was Transitions. I was quite pleased that our school seems to be converging to best practice as worldwide most transitions between stages or cycles at Montessori schools occur at the beginning of the school year with a few exceptions made in the case where readiness is observed. I was also very humbled that one of the presenters, Steven Hughes, a Neuropsychologist and ardent Montessori supporter referenced some of the research I compiled on the Australian Early Development Index, a measure of school readiness on which Australian Montessori students scored relatively high.
At the school, our main focus has been planning our third Cycle 2 classroom which we intend to have in place for February 2012. I am currently conducting final interviews for the teaching position, and together with Felicity, co-ordinating material ordering and facility concerns. We are working on class lists for the Cycle 2 classrooms and hope to have room assignments out to new Cycle 2 parents and students, by the middle of this term.
In Cycle 3 the children returned from Camp, safe and sound. It was a different camp this year, a Sydney city excursion, which was a big hit. We will try to cycle through city trips, beach outings and campout events over the next 3 years, so that we can hit all of the unique experiences that the beautiful Australian landscape can provide. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Carolyn and Jackie for their tremendous organization and also to our Parent Volunteers; a courageous group of Dads that added just the right touch of fun to the event.
I am also very proud to see that our Cycle 3 teachers have taken the lead on introducing the Virtues Project to our school. We started with a few peculiar quotations and we are working on getting the language around the program correct for our school but there is a lot of content within the Virtues project literature to spark great conversations. I was privileged to work at a school that used the language from the Virtues project and I felt it was a tremendous addition to our school’s community and conversation. For those that would like to know more please visit the website at www.virtuesproject.com. If you have any concerns over the program please speak with me, I would love to talk about it.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye to a dear friend of our school. Sacha Morton-Peltola our assistant in Grevillea is leaving us and moving back to Queensland with her partner. Sacha has been a valuable part of the CMS team both in Gumnut and Grevillea and we will miss her. Fortunately Martina McGovern who just began an internship in Grevillea will now be stepping up to a full time assistant’s position beginning in week 5 of this term. Please join me in wishing Sacha the very best in all of her future adventures.
Peace
Jack Rice
Principal, CMS
Important Gumnut—Afternoon Programme News!
Wednesdays are now almost full so if you think you may need a casual booking on a Wednesday please be sure to check well in advance to ensure a place is available.
Curriculum Corner
Thank you to the parents that came to the parent education morning last Friday. It was great to see so many attend and I hope the introduction to the Montessori Primary program proved to be informative. I would be very happy to receive suggestions on potential Parent Education sessions. If you have any ideas that you would like to share with the staff, please pop a note in my pigeon hole in the office.
This week Carolyn and Kerrie attended an introduction to the Peer Support program. We believe that this program is a natural fit with Montessori, as it encourages working in mixed age groups, with the older Cycle 3 children taking on the role of group leaders. The directors will be discussing the implementation of the program in the next few weeks.
Also, the Life Education van has been booked for Friday 4th November. This program is designed to educate children about how they can look after their health as they grow into adulthood and it covers many components of the ACT Health curriculum. The school was very lucky to get the mobile classroom for this day and we will be using this opportunity to see how Life Education can enhance our Montessori Primary program.
~ Felicity
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