Caulfield Campus Updates
- Caulfield Campus
community news – 2 DECEMBER 2024 edition
Together as Melbourne Montessori College community, we have reached the end of Term 4. It has been a busy year with many celebrations, joyful moments, moments of growth and many learning opportunities to collaborate as a team.
This term has been filled with end-of-year celebrations, Senior School productions, transition days between cycles, Art Shows and cultural experience events hosted by the Parent Association representatives.
Many teaching staff will be busy packing up their Cycle 1 classrooms for the end-of-year renovations funded by the Early Childhood building grants. We are grateful for the two classrooms that have already been renovated.
This year we had the C2 and C3 Art show at Caulfield campus. It ran smoothly and we are thankful to Stephanie who has beautifully organised the MMC Art Show. Thank you to local artist, Helen Gory, the grandparent of one of our students, for opening the Art Show.
The students have transitioned well into their new cycle classrooms and are making new friends. Our new monthly cultural events hosted by the PA at the Caulfield campus have been well attended and families have gathered together and experienced some fascinating cultural celebrations together.
It takes a strong team and a positive environment at MMC to guide and inspire the next generation towards our Montessori philosophy. We continue to prioritise students’ learning, development and wellbeing, and we are grateful for the dedication of our amazing teaching and administrative teams at MMC. We are also thankful to have a supportive, innovative and inspiring Principal, Daniel, who guides and inspires staff, students and families.
Thank you to all the Board members, MMC Parent Representatives, students and families for another amazing year. Thank you also to all parent volunteers for your support in 2024.
We will continue to partner with our families to equip our students with the life skills that are essential for learning, and we will continue to support each other in the spirit of Montessori’s education of peace and joy.
Stay safe, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year as we welcome and embrace 2025.
Yenny Henson – Head of Campus, Caulfield
community news – 6 november 2024 edition
We cannot believe that we are in the last term of the year! We are already celebrating how much our students have grown and matured since the beginning of the year.
The Cycle 2 students enjoyed visiting the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition, Pharaoh, at the NGV. They learned about the practices of ancient Egyptian artisans and how their art communicates their rich culture and ideologies. The children studied real artworks which enriched their knowledge of ancient civilisations, the history of man and art.
Thank you to Jesam who, throughout this year, has worked hard to prepare our Cycle 2 and 3 students for their performance. They performed The Lorax 2.0 at Kingston Hall in front of an audience of parents and families. The students were very excited and enjoyed performing on the stage. Thank you to Stephanie and others who have supported Jesam with the production.
Our Cycle 1 team and families are grateful for the efforts of the MMC Foundation team in securing funding to upgrade the flooring, hallway, cabinets and toilets for Cycle 1 students and teachers. The packing and unpacking process by the MMC team went smoothly and the renovation was completed over the school holidays. Thank you to everyone who helped with the moving process. There is still much work to be done and we look forward to the other classrooms being upgraded during the summer break.
Last term, the Cycle 1 Prep students enjoyed an incursion on how to take care of pets and animals in our community. The experience sparked many interesting classroom conversations.
The Year 3 students of Cycle 2 ventured on an overnight camp to ADANAC in Yarra Junction. Thankfully, we had better weather this year compared to last year. The students built new friendships in preparation for the Cycle 3 transition, they were well fed and they had a lot of fun — especially taking courageous turns on the flying fox and canoeing. Everyone also enjoyed the opportunity to gather round a nice big campfire.
This is our second year of offering a swimming program for Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 students. It was a great experience and the students certainly built their confidence and skills in the water.
Please stop by at our lost and found area as we have many jumpers, water bottles, hats and other items. If your child has lost some swimming items, they could be in the pile, too. We will donate all lost items to op shops at the end of each month. To reduce the number of items ending up in our lost and found area, please help your child by labelling their items and collecting them at the end of the day.
Cycle 2, Year 2 students, enjoyed their sleepover at school and participated in various activities, while enjoying delicious pizzas and a fun movie night.
Our Caulfield students have expressed interest in the Gaga pit game and have taught each other how to play the game respectfully and fairly. In response to the level of interest, our campus now has its own portable Gaga pit.
The Parents’ Association (PA) has been a great support in building our MMC connections by introducing cultural celebrations and gatherings, morning coffees, bush walks and pizzas for the community meal. We thank the PA members for their time and efforts.
Please remember to follow the traffic protocols along Roselea Street. By working together to stick to the guidelines, we help keep our children safe and ensure our neighbours experience minimal disruption. Your cooperation means a safer, smoother drop-off and pick-up for everyone. Thank you for playing your part!
Yenny Henson – Head of Campus, Caulfield
Community News – 9 september 2024 Edition
August and early September have been quite busy. We’ve had a few pleasant days and experienced some cold and windy weather, so we’re looking forward to warmer days soon.
Grandparents Day was a huge success with many grandparents and parents joining us in the classroom and outdoor learning areas. It was a morning filled with gratitude, appreciation and, of course, a delicious morning tea.
The theme of this year’s Book Week is ‘Reading is Magic’ and our librarian, Hala, arranged for author, Mike Wagner, to visit our campus. The students enjoyed his visit and we would encourage you to read his books. Throughout Book Week, secret readers visited classrooms and the event ended with a lively Book Parade featuring students from Cycle 1 to Cycle 3. The Cycle 3 students then visited Cycle 1 classrooms and read to the younger students and joined in activities with them.
Thank you to all the fathers and special friends who joined us last Friday to celebrate Father’s Day. It was a joy to see so many smiles as everyone took part in mini-Olympic sports, arts and crafts, checkers, chess and even breakdancing! We were delighted to see many guests stay for morning tea and build more connections within the MMC community. We hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day weekend.
The recent Parent-Teacher Interviews at our Caulfield campus were a valuable opportunity for parents and families to connect with teachers and collaborate on their child’s learning journey. We are committed to working together to ensure that each student excels.
We also celebrated Daniel Thomas, our MMC Principal, who was named as one of the ‘Most Influential Educators’ of the year, and we also celebrated his milestone birthday with the Caulfield students and staff. Many students created cards and shared heartfelt messages with Daniel, making it a very special day at the Caulfield campus.
We are always grateful to our Parent Association for their contributions to school events and for creating parent connections.
We also acknowledge our learning assistants at MMC. We appreciate their daily efforts and contributions to help our students continue to excel in all learning areas.
Our condolences go to the Van Haven family on the passing of Ray Van Haven. Thank you to those who attended the funeral and special thanks to Joanna Collyvas for organising gifts for the Van Haven family.
As we approach the end of Term 3, we encourage you to stay safe, joyful and hope you continue to create wonderful memories with your families.
Yenny Henson – Head of Campus, Caulfield
Community News – 12 August 2024 Edition
Welcome back to Term 3!
We hope you enjoyed the break, whether you travelled or simply spent time with family and friends.
It’s wonderful to see everyone return, ready for the new term. Last term ended with a fun Pyjama Day, community pizza lunch and games.
Our students at the Caulfield Campus are thrilled about our new name, Melbourne Montessori College. They’ve embraced the new logos and designs and there’s a positive buzz around our campus. Please continue to build new relationships with other families within our MMC community.
A special thanks to our parent volunteers who have been organising library books in the absence of our librarian, Hala. We hope to see her back soon and wish her all the best.
We’re excited for our upcoming events: Grandparents Day (Thursday, 22 August), Children’s Book Week Parade (Friday, 23 August), and Fathers and Special Friends Day (Friday, 30 August). Please check the college calendar for details, and we hope to see you at these events.
This term we will be having our SSG (Student Support Group) and PTI (Parent Teacher Interviews). The booking sessions will be available from the parents’ portal in the upcoming weeks. If you have signed up for SSG, it will not be necessary to sign for a PTI.
During our Professional Development Day, staff have been inspired by Daniel to learn about flower arranging. This Montessori task brings joy to students and staff alike. We continue to recognise joy, because ‘Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognise how good things really are’. This is the atmosphere we encourage at MMC.
Our enduring purpose at MMC remains: ‘To offer an outstanding learning experience grounded in Montessori principles, teaching excellence, and a commitment to the wellbeing of our students and community’.
Let’s continue to grow and strengthen our MMC community together.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Yenny Henson – Head of Campus