During Week 3, the children in T3 and T8 were lucky enough to be visited by some past Olympians who have a connection to families at our school.

Rachel Sporn (1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens) who is a cousin to Evie (T3) and Cruz (G 1 ) and Laura Hodges (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016) who is the aunty of Joe (T8) and Annabel (N3) were both kind enough to give up their time to come and talk to the children about representing Australia at the Olympics in basketball. 

The children were lucky enough to see uniforms, Olympic torches, mascots, stamps, photographs and medals in person. They learned a lot about the commitment, the dedication and skill behind Olympic athletes and the excitement of being involved in the Games.  

We heard all about persistence, having an idol to look up to and the importance of a growth mindset. We were fascinated to hear all about life in the Olympic village and enjoyed seeing all the past Australian gold medallist’s names printed on the inside of the Australian team jackets.

Mitcham Primary School is holding its annual Quiz Night on Saturday, 19^th October. This year’s theme is ‘Welcome to the Jungle’. With the support of our local community, the Quiz Night is always a very successful evening and is well attended by the Mitcham Primary School community.

This year, funds raised from the Quiz Night will be added to last year’s total to provide additions to our school playground and outdoor seating areas.

Quiz Night tickets go on sale via Qkr! on Monday 12^th August at 4pm. Tickets will sell out quickly so purchase your table early to avoid disappointment. No additional tickets will be available once the ticket allocation has been sold.

We seek your support for our major fundraiser which can take the form of naming rights, table sponsorship, and/or the donation of goods and services as prizes and auction items.

If you would like to contribute to this wonderful event, please contact Susan Bowler at 8271 2227 or Susan.bowler422@schools.sa.edu.au. We can arrange for donations to be collected from you, or they can be brought into the school front office. Logos can also be emailed to the above address for advertising purposes.

Thank you in advance for any support you may be able to provide.

Fundraising Committee. 

Term 3 is very busy in the library: with Book Week, Author Visits, the Big Read and The Great Book Swap.

During week 5 we will have two authors visiting our students. Mandy Foot will be speaking to the Receptions – year 2s and Adam Cece will be speaking to our year 3s – year 6s. They will be speaking about how they craft a story and giving the students some insight into how they were able to get their books published.

On Friday 23^rd August we will be celebrating with a Book Week parade. It would be wonderful to see students come to school dressed as their favourite book character or dress to the theme Reading is Magic. Hopefully we have lovely weather and we can welcome families to attend the parade at 9am at the basketball courts. Unfortunately, if the weather is not favourable we will need to hold a modified parade indoors for students.

We will be hosting a Great Book Swap during Book Week, week 5 of this term, with all funds raised going to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. We ask that you send your child with a book/s to donate to the Great Book Swap. Books are being collected in the library now. During Book Week (week 5) children will have the opportunity to choose a book to take home in return for a $2 donation.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge closes on the 6^th of September. Please encourage your child to complete the Challenge. Forms are available in the library and more information can be found online http://www.premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/PRC/ 

Yours in reading,

Vasi and Sunyoung

The canteen is offering Showdown Donuts this term and are available to order via Qkr! Orders need to be placed by 1pm on Wednesday 14th August. See Flyer here for further details and order now to avoid missing out.

Save the date! Mitcham Primary School Open Night is on Thursday 5th September 5.30pm - 7pm.

We’d like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Kate Potter, one of our wonderful parents, for her generous contribution to our school community. Last term, Kate, a professional photographer, kindly offered her expertise to take promotional photos for our school.

Her stunning photography has beautifully captured the essence of our vibrant school environment, providing us with photos that will enhance our promotional materials.

Thank you, Kate, for your kindness and for sharing your talent with us. Your generosity truly makes a difference!

Interested in learning a language?

The School of Languages is a government school offering a range of languages after school hours, in different locations around the metropolitan area, to students from all schooling sectors.

Our aim is to enhance access, choice and continuity in language learning for South Australian learners at all levels.

Our programs complement and supplement languages programs offered in mainstream schools and community schools.

Discover more on the School of Languages website.

Do you have a child beginning Reception in 2025?

Offers for enrolment to begin in January are now underway! To enrol your child, please complete an expression of interest form on the MPS website as soon as possible.

https://www.mitchamps.sa.edu.au/enrolment

From 2024, Department for Education schools offer two starting dates for Reception children – the beginning of Term 1 and the beginning of Term 3.

If your child turns five years old before 1^st May, they will start Reception on the first day of Term 1 that year. Students who enrol in the Term 1 intake will complete 4 terms of Reception.

If your child turns five between 1^st May and 31^st October, they can start school in either Term 3 of the same year OR Term 1 of the following year. Students who enrol in the Term 3 intake will complete 6 terms of Reception.

Is your child leaving MPS in 2025?

If your child is in Reception to Year 5 this year and will not be returning to Mitcham in 2025, please contact the front office by email or in person to obtain a Clearance Form, and return it as soon as possible. This will allow us to confirm our student numbers and begin planning class structures.

If you would like further information or a clearance form, please contact the front office on 8271 2227 or email: dl.0270.admin@schools.sa.edu.au

Please see below the upcoming important dates and school events.

This term, our teachers have been actively working on Maths mindsets in the classroom to ensure our students are equipped with the virtues required to be successful mathematicians. The mindsets which have been of particular interest for our teachers and students are the following:

• Everyone can learn maths to a high level
• Believe in yourself, it changes what you can do
• Maths is about creativity and making sense
• Mistakes and challenges are the best time for your brain
• Maths is about learning not performing
• Questions & discussions deepen your mathematical understanding
• Visualize and make connections to strengthen your brain
• Depth is more important than speed!

Using these mindsets as a part of regular discussion and reflection in maths has already seen a positive shift in engagement, confidence and problem solving for some of our learners. Many students have identified that these mindsets are relevant in other subject areas, with classes exploring these dispositions and the connection to French with Madame Hillman!

To further support a positive numeracy culture, our teachers have been utilising resources such as dice and cards to allow students to be creative and visualise their knowledge with thinking and reasoning games. This has allowed our students to go ‘deep’ with their understanding of many mathematical concepts through natural discussions which arise from these games.

At home you can support this learning by creating an environment where maths is spoken about in a positive manner, recognising the strategies and processes, not just correct answers. By cohesively supporting these mindsets, we are equipping our learners with the most important skills to be successful mathematicians in the future world they will be a part of.

Laura Scriven, Maths Coordinator