Principal's Message
Welcome to a new year and a new decade! 2020 brings many wonderful opportunities for growth and learning and I am excited by the positive ‘buzz’ that is in the school.
Every student, and the families they represent, are valuable members of our learning community and we look forward to lots of growth this year – academically, socially, physically and spiritually. Staff have been busy preparing learning spaces and teachers have participated in a three-day workshop about exciting experiential learning for students that is future focused.
We welcome some new staff this year: Mrs Valrie Vakalalkoro as Teacher Librarian, Miss Hayley Chapman as Primary Sport Coordinator, Pr Terence Greenfield as Junior School Chaplain and Miss Lara Liberman in Year 2.
For Prep to Year 7 parents and carers I look forward to seeing you at our Meet the Teacher Evening on February 12 which starts with a BBQ and live music at 6 pm.
Mrs Julia Heise
Principal
Welcome Back Junior School
I would like to welcome all our new students and their families to our school. It was great to see so many new faces on the first day back to school as well as the regular students and their parents. It is like coming home after a holiday and as they say “there is no place like home”. We are looking forward to a fantastic school year.
As we started this year, we had our Kindergarten students start later on in the week. Their start day was on Friday 31st. There were a few tears but they were not from the students.
We understand that it is a hard time for parents to hand over their babies that are growing up. The Kindergarten teachers had a special greeting pack, with a few little items for the parents. We hope this made the transition from home to school a little easier for the mum’s and dad’s. We look forward to working with our Kindy families and we can wait to see how your children develop and learn in this new year as they start their formal schooling experience.
Body Positivity Club
Student leadership is an important part of our school and it is great to see students taking the initiative to lead by helping. A Year 8 girl saw a need and has created a Body Positivity Club for girls in Years 5 – 8. This week saw the first meeting with over 20 girls attending, supported by the Chaplain and Counsellor.
School Online Learning Portals
Making learning visible to parents and students is important and we are excited to introduce online on-line portals for Year 7-12 students and parents at Mountain View Adventist College. SEQTA Learn and SEQTA Engage, as the portals are known, allow you and your child to access assessment tasks, lesson topics, homework, results, reports and timetables.
SEQTA Learn is the student portal and can be accessed at mvac.cs.adventist.edu.au using the student’s Office365 5-letter login.
SEQTA Engage is the parent portal. An email invitation to join SEQTA Engage went out to parents this week. If you have not received the email, please check your junk folder. If you are still unable to find the email invitation, please contact the office.
Please check SEQTA regularly as more information will be added over the coming weeks. If you have questions about SEQTA Learn or Engage please contact Kelly Paul, the school’s SEQTA Coordinator or your child’s Home Room Teacher.
Year 11 School Laptops
To support Year 11 students as they begin studying the Preliminary course, Mountain View is recommending that students take advantage of the opportunity to purchase laptops at a reduced rate from the College. These brand new laptops offer the latest in technology, including tablet mode and inking capabilities.
The first round of students received their laptops today. There were lots of smiles as students opened the laptop boxes and they were eager to check out the device.
If your child has not yet received their laptop, make the initial payment at the office and return the IT Agreement signed by both parent and student. The student may then collect their laptop from IT.
All the best, Year 11, as you tackle your studies this year!
Unexpected Visitor
The first week of the new school year is always exciting. This year we had an unexpected visitor who hitched a ride with one of our staff by hiding in the undercarriage of her car. One of our bus drivers heard a meowing from one of the cars parked near the front of the office which resulted in a call to the NRMA. Sulamain from the NRMA was here within a short period of time and with the “supervision” of our Business Manager Mr Dwyer, he dismantled part of the car so that Mr Dwyer could coax out the stowaway. After 20 minutes, the operation was complete and the little kitten was safe and sound. Mr Dwyer now has an addition to his family with the little one being adopted by his cat friendly family. The kitten’s name is Ember and she now has four brothers and sisters – 4 cats and a dog who all get along extremely well.
Thank you to Sulamain and the NRMA for demonstrating compassion and urgency to save one of God’s little creatures
Best Eggs in the West
Year 7 Agriculture has been learning about chickens and the different ways that farmers produce eggs. They have compared the advantages and disadvantages of caged eggs, barn layer eggs and free range egg They also had the opportunity to taste test the three types of eggs to determine if paying extra for barn or free range eggs is worth it. Mountain View free range eggs were the winner. They had better flavour and texture. Students agreed it was worth paying the extra money to ensure animals were treated humanely and to get a superior product.
Are Their Technology Limits in Your Home?
Technology in the form of iPads, laptops, mobile phones and desktop computers have saturated our culture over the past decade. Students in schools today cannot remember life without these devices. What impact has technology had on student wellbeing and their academic success?
Several studies have linked the amount of time students spend on technology to increased incidences of depression and suicide. As students spend more and more of the late evening and early morning texting, checking social media notifications, gaming and binging on movies they lose valuable sleep that children and teens need for proper development. This sleep deprivation is having a negative impact on student wellbeing and their ability to engage with their learning.
Educational psychologists have provided several recommendations to help students regulate the amount of time they spend on technology and to improve the quality of the sleep are getting on a regular basis:
Put phones away one hour before bedtime
Have a common charging area for all devices in the home; do not sleep with devices in the bedrooms
Make family meal times phone-free
Put apps on your child’s device to track and control how much time they are spending on the device
Limit leisure time on a device to two hours per day, this does not include time on a computer for homework
Technology can often be a distraction to students who are using a computer for school work as notifications, texts and emails are coming in that they want to check. Finding ways to minimise these distractions is important so students can use their time efficiently and get to bed on time.
At Mountain View, students are encouraged to leave their phones in their lockers to minimise distraction. If they are carrying the phone in their pocket, the phone should be switched off. We are also encouraging students to spend their recess and lunchtime socialising with their friends and exercising outdoors rather than using their phones.
Helping students find ways to prioritise their wellbeing and academic studies is a key role that parents and teachers are learning to model and teach. Together, we can help our students limit distractions and prioritise their wellbeing and learning.
Please click the links below for more information:
Announcements
Swimming Carnival
Next Tuesday the 11th of February Yr 7-12 students will be competing in the annual Swimming Carnival. It will be held at Charlie Lowles Leisure Centre Emerton ‘Emerton Leisure Centre’ - 35 Jersey Rd, Emerton transported via school buses.
Students will be competing in a range of swimming events to gain point for their House groups. Students need to wear sports uniform or House colours. Parents may attend with a $2 entry fee. Yr 1-6 Swimming Carnival will be held on the 26th of March at Stanhope Leisure Centre. Look forward to seeing you there.
Mr M Jensen
Yr 7-12 Sports Coordinator
Valentine's Day
Next Friday is Valentine’s Day. The Year 12’s will be selling roses, chocolate hearts and brownies to celebrate friendship. Roses can be pre-ordered for $5 and brownies purchased on the day for $2 and chocolate hearts for 50c. For the junior students there will be face painting available for a gold coin donation on Friday. Our school places high value on friendship so we look forward to this opportunity to extend this virtue to each other. Happy Valentines Day!!