From the Principal… 

This long weekend the teaching staff (and Principal) of Canberra Montessori School attended the AMI Refresher conference being held in Sydney over 3 days. On Friday we attended the annual conference ‘The Child in Nature’. Guest speakers included many Montessori experts and Director of Trainers speaking about how vital it is to maintain the link between the child and nature as well as the principles and practices that can help us to help the child understand, love and respect nature. Jeff McMullen, a journalist, documentary maker, author and humanitarian activist talked about the Critical Role of Education in Securing a Strong Future for Indigenous Children. Two representatives spoke on behalf of Uncle Ernie, an elder of the Jirrbal people from the Tully area in North Queensland. They shared his knowledge and experience of both traditional lore and western academic approaches to education, focusing on the primary relationship that Aboriginal people have between their land, their language and their culture.

On Saturday and Sunday  the 3-6 Directors attended ‘An Exploration into Language’ refresher workshop and the 6-12 Directors attended an ‘Art Refresher Course: A Journey of Appreciation and Experience’. I attended the ‘Administrators & Adolescent Workshop’.

Revisiting the Montessori training, based on these areas of learning, reinvigorated Directors and provided a Professional Development that focused solely on Montessori practices and philosophy. It was also a wonderful opportunity for staff to network with colleagues in the same field of work.

On Friday 22^nd May Canberra Montessori School was visited by a Trainer of Montessori Directors, Jean Miller. Jean was delighted to have been able to visit the school and to discuss some of the important issues surrounding Montessori schools today.

Thank you to all families who contributed to our Charity causes – Spiky Hair/PJ day and the money snake. The children were delighted to have raised money to help research into illnesses that affect children like themselves. Some of the hair styles were amazing! There was even a Renaissance looking birdcage style hair do – including bird (toy of course)!

Sadly we must farewell Sharmini, our Director of Cycle 1 Dryandra. At the end of this term Sharmini relocates to Sydney after having spent over 13 years contributing dedicated Montessori experiences to the children of Canberra Montessori School. Thank you Sharmini for all your work over the years! 

We are happy to confirm that Karen Mitu will be joining us at the beginning of Term 3 in Dryandra as the new Director. Karen is a trained 3-6 Montessori Director who is very excited about joining our team in Term 3. She is in contact with the school on a daily basis and can’t wait to meet the children and families in her care. We are also delighted that Esperanza Obnamia  is happy to join us in Cycle 3 when Alice relocates to the US. Esperanza is a trained 6-12 Montessori Director who has been working in the classroom for over 13 years.

 

 

A big thank you to all families who helped at the Working Bee on the 23^rd & 31^st  May. The work was much appreciated! Finally, a big welcome to our new families Alston- Fisher, Shaw-Velzen, Meads, Krumpholz, Zhan, Thomson, Trieze, Prosser, Brailey, Gerakas, Leon, Wiseman, Taylor, Maharaachchi & Davids.

 

Tina Forsyth

Principal

 

Upcoming Dates 

TERM 2 2009

 

June 15-26             AEDI Collection Dates

June 23                 Parent Information Evening 7pm

June 27     NEW    TRIVIA NIGHT

July 1                    Canteen

July 2          NEW  C3 – Excursion Mirinjani

July 6-19               School Holidays

 

TERM 3 2009

 

July 20                   Pupil Free Day

July 21                   Students return to school

July 25 & 26           Assistants Workshop

July 31        NEW   Tree Day

Aug 3                     Musica Viva Excursion

Aug 6                     New Parents’ Morning Tea – 9.15am

Aug 15                   Working Bee

Aug 19                   Parent Information Evening 7pm

Aug 23                   Working Bee

Sept 14                  Parent Information Evening 7pm

Sept 24                  Canteen Day

Sept 25                  Last day of Term 3

 

Please see School Calendar for events during Terms 1-4 and check Bulletin regularly for changes to published events.

 

Term Dates for 2009

 

Term 2:                  28 April – 3 July

Term 3:                  21 July – 25 September

Term 4:                  12 October – 16 December

 

Public Holidays 2009

 

Monday 8 June     Queen's Birthday Holiday

Monday 5 Oct       Labour Day
Tuesday 3 Nov      Family & Community Day (to be   confirmed)

 

Term Dates for 2010

 

Term 1:                  3 February – 9 April

Term 2:                  27 April – 2 July

Term 3:                  21 July – 24 September

Term 4:                  11 October – 15 December

 

 

Car Park Safety

Please remember:

1. Drive slowly
2. Follow the arrows
3. Ensure children walk beside you
4. Be aware of reversing vehicles
5. Drive slowly!

 

Parent Education – Tuesday 23rd June - 7pm for 7.30pm start

For success in language a child needs confidence that what she has to say is important, a desire to relate to others, real experience on which language is based, and the physical abilities necessary in reading and writing. There are several things that we can do to help.

“Language is the central point of difference between human species and all others. Language lies at the root of that transformation of the environment that we call civilization…Language is an instrument of collective thought…and grows with human thought…Hence, language is truly the expression of a kind of super intelligence.”  

                  ~ The Absorbent Mind, Maria Montessori

Come and find out how Language is taught in the Montessori Environment. You will be taken through some of the materials used and how language is developed throughout the whole school.

Assistant’s Workshop – Term 3 - 25th&26th July & 15th &16th August

In a Montessori environment, all adults are valued; contributing equally, as part of a collaborative team, with one goal…the revelation of the normalized child. This child will shine, revealing his or her true character and personality, if the adults truly understand their passive and active role and their quest to ‘follow the child’.

This workshop is specifically designed to support the work of Assistants within the Montessori environment.

Amy Kirkham will be conducting the workshop. Amy has worked in the field of Early Childhood Education since 1988. She gained her AMI 3-6 Diploma in 1993 and in addition to this holds a Master of Education, a Bachelor of Educational Studies specializing in Hearing Impairment and a Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood), all awarded from the University of Melbourne. She has worked as an early education teacher, educational play therapist and Montessori Directress. Amy is also involved in the provision of professional development for Montessori staff as well as parent and community education. Amy is an AMI 3-6 Director of Training.

 

Trivia Night – Saturday 27th June 7:30pm @ St Jude’s Hall ‘The Ministry Room’ 

Don’t be discouraged by the words ‘Trivia Night’ thinking that you need to have an encyclopaedic mind. This is a night of fun, laughter and above all community spirit. How wonderful to be able to make up tables of family and friends. You can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish for the dressing up aspect of the evening. There will be limited table spaces so get in quick!

The staff will be putting together a table – once they decide on the decade they wish to dress up in – what a great opportunity to take photos to show the children! (Something for them to giggle over!)

There will be children’s artwork on Auction for the evening - an opportunity to acquire a permanent feature of the Canberra Montessori School students’ creativity in art. Thank you to Jane Duncan for co-ordinating these pieces.

 

Practical Life in a Montessori Setting

In a Montessori environment the children will be using glass, knives, graters and real practical life equipment in order to develop independence and a sense of understanding of the ‘real’ world environment. All use of materials are given with safety lessons and supervision

 

 

101 Things Parents Can Do To Help Children By  Barbara Hacker 

51. Help your child to have positive connections with people of diverse ethnicities, language, and beliefs.

52. Laugh a lot. Play with words. Tell jokes. Help your child to develop a sense of humour.

53. Share your profession or occupation with your child. Have him/her visit at work and have some appreciation of work done in the world.

54. See that your child learns to swim -- the younger the better.

55. Have a globe or atlas in the house and whenever names of places come up locate them with the child.

56. Make sure your child has the tools he/she needs -- child size broom, mop, dust pan, whisk broom, duster, etc., to help maintain the cleanliness of the household.

57. Learn to say, "No," without anger, and with firmness and conviction. Not everything children want is appropriate.

58. Arrange environments and options so that you end up saying yes more than no.

59. Refrain from laughing at your child.

60. Alert children to upcoming events so they can mentally prepare, e.g., "In ten minutes, it will be time for bed."

 

 

Further H1N1 Influenza measures announced 

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Charles Guest today announced new exclusion measures for ACT school students prompted by the high prevalence of H1N1 Influenza in Melbourne.

The announcement of the new nationally consistent measures follow yesterday’s decision by the Victorian Government to raise its pandemic alert to a modified SUSTAIN level.

“The new measures, which apply to primary and secondary school students, require that students returning to the ACT after visiting Melbourne will be excluded from school for seven days. 

“We will now exclude from school for seven days any school student returning to Canberra from Melbourne, for whatever reason, as a precautionary measure after arriving home,” Dr Guest said today.

“This follows the decision we made in May to exclude children returning from Mexico, the USA, Canada, Japan or Panama from school for seven days.”

“We are now simply adding Melbourne to the list as it is now a place where H1N1 Influenza is highly prevalent.”

“During this seven day exclusion period, affected students should stay home, whether or not they have Influenza symptoms, and avoid other people as much as possible.”

“I realise this will be difficult for some families, especially where parents are working, however, this strategy will protect the whole ACT community.”

“Although, there are currently only four cases of H1N1 Influenza 09 in the ACT, we are simply taking some sensible precautions to reduce the opportunities for the virus to spread further in the ACT,” Dr Guest said.

School principals and parents are being advised of the new measures, which take effect from today.

If you become unwell with a flu-like illness, phone healthdirect 24 hours a day on 1800 022 222.

 

For more information, visit www.health.act.gov.au

 

 

Our Recylcing Excursion To Mugga Lane…

 
Last week we went to Hume Recycling Centre and we learnt many things:
 
1. The mountains around Mugga are all man-made and made of garbage! These mountains cannot be used for houses, farms, parks or recreation.
2. Half of the garbage that goes in to 'building' the mountains is recylable!
3. The recycling centre uses magnets, lasers, air blasts and people to sort out the recycling.
4. We can help our environment at school by using the classrooms bins as follows:

 
RED bin for mixed recycling
BLUE bin for paper
YELLOW bin for food scraps
WHITE bin for garbage.
 
Things we need to do at home are:
1. Scrunch test - if you can scrunch the plastic you are throwing away and it springs back you CAN recycle it, if it stays scrunched up you cannot recycle.
2. There is no need to wash recycling materials as this wastes water.
3. The Yellow top bin is not used for recycling clothes.
4. If you put your recyling things in a plastic bag and then into the recycling bin it cannot be recycled.
 

Come and see the display outside Acacia and keep up the recyling.....                  ~ Sarah Beresford-Jones
 

Fundraising & Social Events Committee 2009

Old Mobile phones and Ink jet cartridges are recycled at the office. Not only to does this help the environment but the school receives money for recycling both of these items.

 

 

Your Child's Security

ACT Policing understands parents and guardians can not keep an eye on their children 24-hours a day. That is why it is important to discuss security with children and encourage them to adopt a number of personal safety strategies.

Parents and guardians should encourage their children to:

• Establish a network of trust consisting of people they feel safe to approach for help.  This could include family members, teachers, friends and those living in Safety House near their homes.
• Seek assistance from agencies such as the local fire brigade, ambulance service and the police if they ever feel unsafe.
• Be aware of inappropriate behaviour patterns such as touching, language, gifts and accepting lifts.
• Confide in their network of trust if they are subjected to any form of inappropriate behaviour.
• Be aware of the importance of privacy and encourage them to keep their personal particulars such as their name, age and address confidential from people outside of their network of trust. (Where possible children should ensure name badges are not displayed on clothing or school bags when out in public.)

When away from a parent or guardian children should:

• Be encouraged to stay in a group;
• Pay attention to their surroundings in public areas;
• Ensure they let parents or guardians know if their plans change;
• If they see anyone acting suspiciously seek assistance from a member of their network of trust;
• Ensure they understand not to approach cars if someone stops and asks them questions;
• Know how to seek refuge in a house displaying the Safety House symbol if they feel threatened;
• Know to shout loudly and tell the person to stay away if approached by a suspicious person and feel scared; and
• Try to remember details of suspicious people they may encounter, such as what they looked like and what they were wearing.

For more information on the Safety House program in the ACT go to the ACT Safety House Association website.

BOB MUIR
SERGEANT - CRIME PREVENTION
ACT POLICING

Tel +61(0) 2 62567777 

Ext 162532

www.afp.gov.au