DATE:
March 15, 2021.
VENUE:
School Hall plus on Zoom
MEETING OPENED:
6.55 PM (at the conclusion of the AGM)
ATTENDANCE:
As recorded in ‘MFHS P&C Attendance List 15 March, 2021- Not for circulation.
APOLOGIES:
As above.
BUSINESS ARISING FROM LAST MONTH’S MINUTES:
Nil
CORRESPONDENCE IN:
Letter from P and C Association to the P and C President about the recommendations of a recent study which proposed increased remuneration for school teachers. The letter was circulated to the parents and citizens who were present at the School Hall.
CORRESPONDENCE OUT:
Nil
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Balance $ 79,423.03 (as per the last bank statement)
PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
Welcomed everyone for the P and C Meeting and requested participants to pay $2 as the P and C membership fee (up to next AGM in 2022) to the Treasurer who will issue a receipt. Zoom participants may consider sending the money through their children to front office who will pass it on to the P and C Treasurer.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT (incorporating DPs reports) Karyn O’Brien
- Acknowledgement of country – at a recent Principal Network meeting I discussed the possibility with Principal, Macquarie Fields PS of developing a Reconciliation Action plan (RAP) and how we can best support our Aboriginal students. Watch this space
- It was wonderful to meet so many of you at the last P&C meeting in February and great to see even more new faces here today.
- We recently conducted an Induction course for new teachers to our school in 2021
- Tom McLean in PDHPE
- Joseph Gatehau in PDHPE
- Nick Elliott in TAS
- Nadia Mahmutovic in English
- Monique Perkovic in History
- Joe Cefai in TAS
- What’s Been Happening at Mac Fields (Term 1, Week 4 – Week 8)
- On Tuesday 16 February Year 12 students celebrated Valentine’s Day and raised over $700 with flowers, cookies and sing-a-grams. Lots of fun.
- We have trained an enthusiastic group of Year 11 student leaders for the Peer Support program to assist Year 8 students (who missed out on this program in Year 7 due to COVID-19). Year 10 student leaders have been trained also to implement Year 7 Peer Support and Peer Support sessions have begun with great feedback from students involved.
- There has been a student and staff proposal to establish a school-run café which will be established in the ANZAC garden area of the school. The name will be ‘ANZAC Café on Harold’ and the school will seek financial support for this initiative from the local RSL Branch. This project is being led by Troy Neale, Judy Buckler, Vicki Shipley and VET Hospitality students as a way to embed authentic learning experiences into their course, and provide a valuable service for our school community.
- We had a very successful Swimming Carnival on Friday 19 February, with introduction of our new House System. Was great fun getting together as a school again and provided opportunity to dress up. Many talented students went on to represent the school at the Zone Swimming Carnival and then 18 students represented the school and Hume Zone at the Regional Swimming Carnival. Seven students will represent MFHS at State Swimming Carnival early in Term 2.
- Congratulations to:
- Talia Saumamao - 13 girls 50m Freestyle, 200m freestyle
- Genevieve Mafi - 14 girls 100m Freestyle
- Jerry Yang - 13 boys 50m freestyle, 100m breaststroke
- Collin Touch – 17-19 boys 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly
- Chang-Chien Lin - 17-19 boys 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 200m IM -
- Chang- Chien Lin, Michael Karell, Collin Touch and Jack Bailey - 4x 50 Freestyle relay 17-19 boys, 12-19 Boys Medley relay
- We like to recognise achievements of our elected student leaders, so House Captains and Head Prefects recently received their badges.
- Year 10 History Elective class put forward a proposal for the celebration of our school’s 40th Anniversary year. Students have been digging through archives and posting Flashback Fridays on Facebook, which has been very well received by past students and staff. Saturday 20 November is scheduled for our Open Day.
- It is great to see so many co-curricular activities back up and running for 2021:
- PCYC Fitness fast program and Cheerleading are both on Tuesday mornings in the Hall.
- Debating and student leadership groups such as Moana (Pacifica) are also back on track.
- Excursions, Incursions and Knockout sport competitions have also been possible in our school’s calendar.
- The schools Agriculture Plot is flourishing and being well-looked after by Special Education classes and Year 9 & 10 Agriculture Technology classes.
- In Week 2 Year 7 students completed the Best Start assessment and teachers received their results the next week. We held a workshop for their teachers to explore the results and to plan for literacy and numeracy strategies to support students.
- Justin and I have been meeting with all Faculty Head Teachers to discuss HSC Monitoring procedures. It has been a great way for me to familiarise myself with the school, and I am pleased that all faculties have very ‘tight’ procedures for Stage 6 syllabus implementation, assessment and reporting.
- I have also been liaising with our three HTs Teaching & Wellbeing (Sangeeta Hegde, Mel Collins & Imelda Judge) to ensure we celebrate our cultural and religious diversity with recognition of key days in our school’s calendar. So far, we have celebrated Lunar New Year and have scheduled an Inaugural Iftar Dinner for our Muslim families on 27 April (Week 2 Term 2).
- We have established a new student group to support rainbow youth (LGBTIQ+) and they are now having regular meetings. The name decided by students for this group is SAGE – which stands for Sexuality And Gender Equality.
- This year we celebrated International Women’s Day in style on Monday 8 March, with a flash-mob on assembly singing Helen Reddy’s I A Woman anthem, student-led workshops for female student leaders in Years 7-12, and Year 11 female student participation in an event at NSW Parliament House.
- A little less exciting was our first Evacuation Practice that same day, but we successfully moved 1200 students and staff to the safety of Hazlett Oval.
- The upgrade of our school oval continues with addition of top soil and we hope it will soon re-open to students. Upcoming Events at Mac Fields HS
- Our Homework Club is starting in Week 9 and will continue throughout the year.
- Term 1 dates:
- Year 7 Immunisations, Wednesday 17 March
- St Patrick’s Day Celebration (gold coin donation to Stewart House), Wednesday 17 March
- School Photo Day (Hall), Tuesday 23 March
- Elevate Study Skills Workshops for Years 9 & 10, Thursday 25 March
- School Cross Country Carnivale, Friday 26 March
- Make Up School Photo Day (Library), Tuesday 30 March
- Year 7 Welcome BBQ, Wednesday 31 March
- Year 11 Foundations for Success Workshops, Wednesday 31 March
- Last Day Term 1, Thursday 1 April
- Term 2 dates:
- Term 2 School Development Day, Monday 19 April
- First Day for Students Term 2, Tuesday 20 April
- Inaugural Iftar Dinner, Tuesday 27 April
- NAPLAN Online Testing Years 7 & 9, Tuesday 11 May – Friday 21 May
- School Athletics Carnival, Friday 7 May
- MFHS Student Leadership Summit, Tuesday 11 May (TBC)
- P & C Meeting, Monday 17 May
- Years 10-12 Parent Teacher Student Evening, Tuesday 15 June
- Term 3:
- P & C Meeting, Monday 19 July
- Years 7-9 Parent Teacher Student Evening, Tuesday 20 July (TBC)
- The school is still striving to improve communication with families so please make sure you use:
- The school website: https://macfields-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/
- The school Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/MacquarieFieldsHS/
- Principal Twitter account: @OBrienKaryn
GENERAL BUSINESS:
- A parent enquired why the zip feature has not been incorporated in the girls’ uniform as discussed at the 15 June 20 P and C meeting. Heather noted that this request was communicated to Lowes last year; however, there may have been some communication breakdown due to change of personnel at Lowes. Heather is investigating the matter with Lowes and will advise the P and C.
- In response to an enquiry on how P and C gets funding, the President and the Treasurer explained the P and C gets its funding from the contributions made by the parents to the school fee.
- In response to an enquiry from a parent regarding chess tournaments, the school executive informed that tournaments are being regularly conducted and announcements in this regard are made at the school. Also, there is an opportunity to take part in chess every Friday at the industrial arts faculty.
- NAPLAN will be a writing examination as per details in the Principal’s report above.
- Two parents requested to open the school gate located on the Wattle Avenue as it saves time for school drop off / pick-up especially in the instances where their other children attend Macquarie Fields Public school. School executive noted that this gate was closed due to WH&S considerations sometime back. However, Justin will discuss with school’s W&HS Committee and advise the P and C.
- Lockers for children are not currently available.
- The upcoming intra school leadership summit that is planned to be held at the Macquarie Fields High school later this year is run by school staff, SRC and Peer Support group.
- International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) will be held in June/ July and a note will be sent to parents.
- Year 7 School camp is likely to be held in Berry and is moved to a period around August. Due to COVID19 restrictions, there will be limited seats available.
- School will have Celebration Day later this year.
- A parent enquired how children are selected for the English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) classes. School executive noted that this is based on the information received from their primary school, how long the child is studying in Australia etc.
- School has a number of Table Tennis tables. If necessary and approved by P and C, funds available with the P and C can be utilised to sponsor additional Table Tennis tables.
- A parent enquired about the proposed Finance Committee. Karyn advised that the she is considering convening the Finance Committee in Term 2.
- Number of parents proposed that the P and C should take opportunities to increase its activities including applying for grants, fund raising (e.g. book sale), career expo etc. Both the school executive and the President of the P and C agreed with the proposal and expressed their support to discuss specific measurers and or activities.
Meeting Closed:
7.57 PM
Next Meeting:
Monday May 17, 2021. 6:30PM