Linkup Manangatang P-12 College

July 20, 2017 Term 3 Issue 21

KEY DATES

JULY

24-28 5-6 ROSES GAP CAMP

AUGUST

1 PARENT/TEACHER /STUDENT MEETINGS

9 YEAR 4/5/6 EXCURSION TO SWAN HILL ART GALLERY AND LAKE BOGA OBSERVATORY

11 P-6 ASSEMBLY HOSTED BY YEAR 4/5/6

11 HAPPY GILMORE GOLF DAY YR 7-10

15 HOUSE ATHLETICS

21-25 7-10 RUBICON CAMP

25 TOOLEYBUC SPORTS

SEPTEMBER

1 FATHERS DAY BREAKFAST AND P-6 ASSEMBLY HOSTED BY YEAR PREP/1

18 PRIMARY DIVISION ATHLETICS KERANG

22 P-6 CONCERT

WELCOME TO TERM THREE

Term Three is always a busy and important period of the year and I hope all staff, students and parents are ready for the journey ahead. Parent-Teacher meetings will take place on Tuesday 1 August and this is an important opportunity to review Semester One progress and share strategies for the rest of the year. Excursions and camps (Year 5/6 and Year 7-10) have been organised for this term and the House Athletics is scheduled for Tuesday 15 August. The P-6 Concert will occur on 22 September.

We welcome back Emma Templeton who has represented Manangatang on the athletics tracks of Canada during the break – an unforgettable opportunity.

A big welcome is also extended to Solal Rutge, an exchange student from France. Solal has joined our Year 10 group and I am sure he will be made to feel very welcome. He is staying with the Price family and will be in Australia for two months.

TEACHER LEARNING

At the end of Term Two our teachers attended a well-received presentation from Sir John Jones. Our staff joined those from many other district schools (from Robinvale, Ouyen, Murrayville, Nangiloc, Werrimul, Swan Hill and Mildura) to absorb the wisdom of a champion of education. Sir John told many stories and provided much for the audience to think about. As a result, all of our teachers are going to commit to implementing new actions that are known to help children learn. This will be done within the framework of our existing expectations.

This was the second occasion this year where our teachers joined with others from the Mallee Education Cluster to undertake common learning. They have also been involved in projects with colleagues from these other schools for the first half of the year.

FACILITIES

Thanks are extended to the painters who spruced up most areas of our buildings over the holiday break, to John Hughes for doing a number of maintenance jobs in this time and to Sarah & Tim Plant for preparing the oval for this term’s House Athletics. All of this work has improved the school for our students.

COLLEGE COUNCIL

Due to a clash of commitments, the next meeting will be held in early August. Please contact any of our Councillors to have an item placed on the meeting’s agenda. Your members are: Lionel Price, Lisa Zanker, Brian Barry, David McNicol, Robyn Plant, Jodi Elford, Doug Grant, Tonya Taylor, Rebekah Price and Tony Pearson.

ATTENDANCE

Semester One Reports included an attendance percentage for the first half of the year. All students should aim for 100%, with a minimum of 96%.

Last week, students in Prep and Year 12 achieved 100% attendance. Well done!

Markus

SAVE THE DATE

School House Athletics

will be held on TUESDAY, August 15

The final sporting battle between Wattle

and Mallee

Can Mallee make it a clean sweep for

2017?

Please come along and support the students and get involved in some novelty

events at the end of the day.

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

ATHLETICS TRAINING

Last night an eager group of students braved the cold and windy conditions to practice a range of athletic events.

Training is every Wednesday after school until 4.30pm for all students in P-12.

Page 2

College News

Page 3

College News

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

All families should have received their printed copy of their child’s report by now. Reports were handed out on the last

day of term and some senior students, on camp, received theirs on their return from Melbourne. The reports are also

visible in Compass.

Parent/Teacher Conferences have been set up to take place on August 1st, commencing at 2:30 with 10 minute time

slots. The last available time slot will be at 5:50pm. Bookings are now available to be made on Compass. Bookings can be

made by parents or students, so if you are having difficulties or cannot remember your password, your child may be able

to assist.

Bookings can be made from the Office staff at school, however will not be entered until next week so to ensure you get

your preferred time slot please try booking using Compass first.

Tonya Taylor

Parent Opinion Survey

The Parent Opinion Survey is completed annually by the Department of Education and Training and is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents at every school in Victoria. This year, about 30 per cent of parents will be invited to participate. All responses to the survey are anonymous.

The survey helps our school gain an understanding of how you view our school climate, student engagement, and relationships. Our school will use the results to inform school planning and im-provement strategies.

The survey will be conducted online by ORIMA Research Pty Ltd and only takes 15 minutes to complete. It can be accessed from Monday 7th August to Sunday 27th August.

Results will be sent back to our school at the end of September.

Page 4

College News

Week 1 – Make physical activity part of everyday life Many people think being active means playing sport but that’s only one way of being active. Be a role model and choose to be active to show your child how easy it can be. Take a moment to notice and comment when your child chooses everyday physical activity over screen time. You can also encourage everyday physical activity by saying things like:

‘It’s time to play outside now.’ ‘The dog needs some practice fetching. It’d be great if you could go outside and throw the ball to her.’ ‘Let’s walk to the shop.’ ‘Wow, you’ve been jumping on the trampoline for ages. That looked like so much fun!’ ‘You did a fantastic job pulling the weeds out of the garden. It’s great when you help.’

‘You rode a really long way on your bike today. Well done!’

Welcome to Solal

At Monday morning’s assembly we welcomed Solal Rutge (pronounced Sol

- ul Root-je) who is visiting us this term as part of the WEP student ex-

change program. He only arrived in Australia on Friday, flying from France

to Melbourne then on to Mildura where the Price family was eagerly

awaiting him with their French flag waving. After the greetings, hugs and

tears (not from Solal- I’ll let you guess), they headed for his new home,

vastly different from his life in the French Alps in the Southeast of France.

At home Solal likes to go alpine snow skiing and plays the violin. His fa-

vourite subject was History and while he didn’t really have a least favour-

ite, he thought it might probably be Physics.

While Solal usually attends school by bus, his Monday trip was quite differ-

ent. The bus was much smaller, with far fewer students, as was the school.

His school in France has about 1000 students and students often have to

vary when they attend school to fit everyone in. His days start at 8:00, 9:00

or 10:00 and finish between 4 and 6:00, but he has a long 2 hour lunch

break at the school restaurant. Wednesday is different as there are no

classes after lunch. He is currently on his 8 week summer break having just

completed Year 10. As with our system, he has just 2 week breaks in be-

tween terms in October, February, April with extra days off at Christmas.

Solal chose to come to Australia as he thought it offered a very different

lifestyle. Here at Manangatang he has found it quite relaxing. As soon as

he arrived Lionel was teaching him the finer art of football. He has been amazed at the difference in soil. In Manangatang it is quite red

and sandy while Solal is used to seeing quite brown soil and much more green grass. Yesterday he saw kangaroos for the first time

from the car in Ambleside Road. This will be the first of many firsts on his stay here in Manangatang.

Tonya Taylor

School Nurse

*********

The School Nurse is

coming in August to

see the Prep

students. Envelopes

have been sent

home with Linkup.

Could these please

be returned by

Monday 14th

August.

Page 5

College News

SPORTING SCHOOLS GOLF As part of the Sporting Schools Program we have been able to access a golf coach to run sessions with the Primary and Secondary students for the next three weeks. Mark and Annie travel around the state providing golf coaching to students and promoting the game. Golf is not an easy game to master and the coaches used a variety of modified equipment to get the students started. It is anticipated that a golf competition day will be held in coming weeks giving students the opportunity to show off their skills.

All equipment is provided but it is recommended that students have a change of shoes and socks as the grass is wet most mornings.

Nat Plant

SECONDARY SPORT Students will be playing golf at the golf course during Sport lessons for the next 2-3 weeks, starting tomorrow , Friday July 21st. The golf club has some equipment, however if students are able to bring 1-2 sticks to use that would greatly assist. They can be securely stored at the golf club or school if required.

Nat Plant, Sport teacher

Page 6

College News

Happy Gilmore Golf Day Yr 7-10

Friday 11th August 2017

Secondary students in Year 7-10 will be playing at the

Manangatang Golf Course. The Golf Day will be played

lessons 3 & 4. Lunch will be available for sale to

students.

Lunch must be pre-ordered and paid.

Hot drinks and slices will also be available.

Tea and Coffee $2

Hot Chocolate, Latte and Cappuccino $4

Homemade biscuits and slices 50c each

Thank you

Mrs Glazebrook VCAL Co-Ordinator

Lunch orders must be returned to the office by Thursday 3 August 2017

Name:

Item Cost QTY Total

Pumpkin Soup $3

Garlic Bread $2

Fried Rice $5

Lasagne $5

Side Salad $3

Total $

Paid

Page 7

College News

PRIMARY NEWS

Wow, Term 3 already! In class this week, we have completed some new Literacy activities. We have completed “Word

of the Week” tasks for some of our spelling words – looked up meanings, found synonyms, antonyms and rhyming

words and used them in sentences. We have drawn pictures that show the setting of our new class novel, The Lion, The

Witch and The Wardrobe, and found quotes and phrases from the text to show exactly why we have drawn what we

have. We have commenced narratives about strange places, being watched by thirty pairs of eyes and pinching

ourselves to check that we are not dreaming.

In Maths, we are practising our ability to interchange between fractions (tenths, hundredths and thousandths) and

decimals and to complete four operations with decimal numbers. We are making purchases, giving change, using scales

to weigh items, reading timetables and working with time as well as representing data in graphs.

In Theme, we have continued to work with partners or in groups of three, to find information on natural phenomenon.

Our next step will be to gather information for our Travel Expo – stay tuned.

During PE we’ve played golf and in Design and Technology, almost everyone has finished their woodwork projects.

Today we started work on our concert production with Raylene.

Year 5 and 6 students are off to the Grampians next week. It promises to be an exciting week, with many challenging

activities timetabled. Please ensure that you have a waterproof coat packed. It would be appreciated if students could

bring along a card game or board game to be used one evening. We are leaving at 9am on Monday morning and will

return in time for the buses on Friday afternoon.

Year 4 students will complete their work in the Prep/1 room next week. Any recyclable materials (boxes, containers,

cylinders) or even parts of broken appliances or machines (springs, pipes, wheels) that can be collected between now

and then may be useful for a project they will complete throughout the week. If you have anything that may be useful,

please send it to the Prep/1 room.

HANDWRITING AWARDS

This semester, we will continue to encourage excellent handwriting and presentation of all book work. This week’s

winners were Bella Oliver, Lukas Palmer and Jorja Plant. Well done!

IMPORTANT DATES

July 24 – 28 – Year 5 and 6 camp to Rose’s Gap

August 1 – Parent Teacher Interviews

August 9 – Year 4/5/6 Excursion to Swan Hill Art Gallery and Lake Boga Observatory

August 11 – P-6 Assembly hosted by Year 4/5/6

August 15 – House Athletics

August 25 – Tooleybuc Sports

September 1 – Father’s Day Breakfast and P-6 Assembly hosted by Year Prep/1

September 18 – Division Athletics in Kerang

September 22 - Concert

Page 8

College News

Why Should You Care About Mindfulness?

“We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness is the self-regulation of attention with an attitude of

curiosity, openness, and acceptance (Bishop et al., 2004). It relies on two character strengths that we all have the capacity

to express. Anyone can cultivate a mindfulness practice and everyone should. Research on the benefits of mindfulness has

exploded. Some of the best professional athletes, like Derek Jeter, and the world’s most successful leaders, like Arianna

Huffington, tout a mindfulness practice as one of their “go-to” rituals. Here are 3 reasons you should get on board too…

3 Reasons You Should Practice Mindfulness:

1. Reduces Stress.

Human beings are wired to be doers; constantly moving from one activity to the next. Mindfulness is about slowing down

and connecting with the present moment. It shifts you from a “mode of doing” into a “mode of being”. Studies show that

this shift helps you regulate your emotions and feel more relaxed. When you allow yourself to stop, take a breath and

check-in with your physical and mental state, you bring an awareness and acceptance to your feelings which leads to a

greater sense of calm.

2. Improves Performance.

Mindfulness practices can help sharpen your focus and clear your mind. Phil Jackson, one of the best NBA coaches of all

time, is known for integrating mindfulness into his work with the Chicago Bulls and L.A. Lakers. Affably nicknamed the “Zen

Master” he used mindfulness techniques to teach his players how to become mentally strong, give one-pointed attention

and reset their minds after a setback.

Take a page from his playbook and try a brief mindfulness meditation before your next big event (ie: business

presentation, semester exam, golf match) to focus your mind and calm your nerves.

3. Increases Self-Compassion.

Writer Henry James said, “Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And

the third is to be kind.” Yet, kindness isn’t only an interpersonal strength to be extended to others. It’s imperative that you

also show kindness to yourself. Self-compassion is associated with greater emotional resilience and contributes to your

overall well-being because it buffers you from judging yourself too harshly. Mindfulness strategies boost self-compassion

by reducing your tendency to focus on negative, critical thoughts and instead allow you to take a more gentle, loving

approach to yourself.

Free Mindful exercises and download the free app: https://smilingmind.com.au/

To find out your character strengths (surveys for Adults and 10-17yo) visit:

http://www.viacharacter.org/www/Character-Strengths-Survey

Page 9

Careers News

Weekly Career News

OPEN DAYS: July

30: Swinburne University, Hawthorn, http://bit.ly/1FRMN40

August

4, 6: La Trobe University, Shepparton (4), Melbourne (6), http://bit.ly/1BGrG35

5, 6: Monash University, Peninsula (5), Clayton & Caulfield (6), http://bit.ly/2aVcXJc

5: SAE Qantm, Melbourne, http://bit.ly/2rhSKo3

5: Australian Institute of Music, Melbourne, www.aim.edu.au/

6: Deakin University, Warrnambool, http://bit.ly/1N0i0kr

The Heywire competition is open to people aged 16 – 22, to submit a story about life in regional Australia. If you are selected as one of the winners, your story will be featured on ABC Local Radio, ABC Radio National, ABC TV and abc.net. Entries close 16 September, www.abc.net.au/heywire

EARLY ENTRY PROGRAMS Early Achievers Program at Australian Catholic University: This early entry program that takes into account factors other than just your ATAR including evidence of community service, leadership, and school participation etc. If you are accepted into the program, you will be guaranteed entry into the degree of your choice with a minimum ATAR set by the University, providing you meet prerequisites. The following are the minimum ATARs for the 2018 intake:

70: Law and all dual Law degrees

70: Physiotherapy (subject to change)

65: Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, and Paramedicine.

58.5: all other degrees.

Applications are now open and close Monday 31 July, http://bit.ly/2kPLY2t

Aspire Early Admissions Program, La Trobe University: Year 12 students are encouraged to apply for the Aspire Early Admissions program if they would like to study at La Trobe in 2018 or defer their studies until 2019. The program recognises community service and leadership and guarantees successful applicants entry into La Trobe courses with a guaranteed ATAR. Applications close 31 August. http://bit.ly/1cXetap

GUARANTEED ENTRY

Access Melbourne, The University of Melbourne: Guaranteed entry with a lower ATAR set by the University. Students must be from a rural area or a financially disadvantaged background and meet eligibility criteria for the course, http://bit.ly/2gBAqPD

Monash Guarantee, Monash University: Guaranteed entry with a lower ATAR set by the University. Students must be either: Indigenous Australian, live in a rural area, be financially disadvantaged, or attend a Monash list underrepresented school. Students must meet course eligibility criteria http://bit.ly/2bablf6

Open Access, Federation University: For selected courses if the applicant meets the prerequisites for the course, they will be given a guaranteed place in the course without an ATAR requirement, http://bit.ly/1U7fAIx

The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) processes course applications on behalf of participating higher education institutions. From Monday 7 August, you will be able to create a VTAC account and apply for vocational and higher education courses. VTAC has developed a series of resources to assist students with their applications. The following are three examples:

Website: The website contains information about the application process, Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS), and scholarships etc., www.vtac.edu.au/

Instructional videos: http://bit.ly/2a9lzwg

VTAC CourseSearch app: You can download the app from Google Play or the App Store.

Manangatang P-12 College

4105 Mallee Highway, Manangatang

Victoria 3546

Phone: 03 5035 1270

Fax: 03 5035 1244

www.manang.vic.edu.au

www.facebook.com/manangatangp12

E-mail:

linkup@manang.vic.gov.au or

manangatang.p12@edumail.vic.gov.au

Page 10

Community News

UNITING CHURCH SERVICES

30/07 10.30am Combined Parish Service at Manangatang

06/08 9.00am T Kap HC

20/08 11.00am G Sonsi

Acknowledgement of Country

Manangatang P-12 College acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

as the first peoples and traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn

and work.

FITNESS CLASSES

Classes have resumed for the term.

Upcoming classes:

Friday 21/7- circuit @ 9.30am

Tuesday 25/7 - night fitness @ 5pm

Friday 28/7 - circuit @9.30am

Sunday Spin has also started. Classes are 9.30am each Sunday. Bookings essential.

Manangatang Improvement Group

Next Meeting: Annual General Meeting

Wed 26 July 6.30 pm @ Manangatang Hotel

All welcome....your ideas, representation and support appreciated

F Jones [Secretary MIG]

Enrich your high school experience with a WEP student exchange!

Student exchange organisation, WEP Australia, is now accepting applications for 2018 student exchange programs!

Imagine spending part of next year in Italy, France, Canada, the USA or another one of WEP’s wonderful countries!

Request your free student exchange information pack at WEP.ORG.AU or give them a call on 1300 884 733.