Mitcham Primary School - Dept for Education

Families are welcome to express interest in enrolling at Mitcham Primary for Reception in 2025. January and mid-year intakes are available. https://www.mitchamps.sa.edu.au/

Student leaders from Reception to Year 6 created this wonderful banner and art display to commemorate National Reconciliation Week.

Another fantastic MPS disco! Thank you to all who helped make it possible 💙💛🪩🎶

School captains Inez and Elijah represented MPS at the Mitcham Anzac Day dawn service, laying a wreath to remember our service men and women of the armed forces. Lest We Forget. ♥️

We had so much fun at our Lapathon (with a splash of colour) fundraising event today! Well done to the students who participated with energy, enthusiasm and dedication to complete as many laps as possible. Special thanks go to Mrs Bowler and our volunteers for making this day possible! 💦😎💛💚💜💙♥️🧡💦

Students have participated in a wonderful Harmony Day assembly and are enjoying the artwork displays around the school. 🧡

It’s a perfect day for a Swimming Carnival! Good luck to all our swimmers 💙💛
***UPDATE - Congratulations Selth on your win today!💛💛💛

Join us during the April school holidays at Mitcham Primary School for Languages Alive!

Discover and learn about new languages and cultures with the School of Languages! Our school will be holding interactive cultural activities for students from Reception to Year 6 where they will explore new languages and cultures! Exposure to learning languages is central to developing cultural understanding in young people. A key aim of all activities will be to provide participants with language learning opportunities in a range of languages, including Indonesian, Japanese and Serbian

Where: Mitcham Primary School, 20A Hillview Rd, Kingswood South

When: Thursday 18 April

(Registration) 9:30am (Start) 9:45am – 3:15pm

Cost: $10 per student per day; FREE for School Card/Health Care Card Holders

Register here:

The School of Languages proudly presents ... THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES

What a perfect day for Year 6 Aquatics! They’ve had a wonderful time and are on their way home 💙💛

We are looking for a full-time groundsperson to join us at MPS. Please share with anyone who may suit this role! Interested people can contact the front office on 82712227 for further information.

Mitcham Primary School | Facilities and Grounds Person Job in Kingswood, Adelaide SA "Are you a dedicated Facilities and Grounds Person seeking a rewarding role at Mitcham Primary School? Look no further!”

Lots of competition in the students v teachers netball game today! Teachers came out victorious with some extra height playing to their advantage this time. Well done to all, the audience enjoyed seeing you out there!

Lots of excitement this afternoon with the Adelaide 36ers coming to visit!

Some wonderful advice from Madhavi about supporting children to transition smoothly to a new year and class.

CLASS PLACEMENTS: Helping children adapt to a new Teacher and peer group in 2024.

As the school year draws to a close, a sense of uncertainty is in the air and families are turning their attention to leaving the knowns of 2023 behind as they head towards the unknowns of 2024.

Humans crave certainty. Change often feels unnerving - especially when change and uncertainty relates to your child. If you’re worried about your child’s class placement in 2024, you’re not alone.

It’s perfectly natural to have a preference for a particular teacher and peer group and normal to feel worried or disappointed if they don’t get them.

A child’s emotional adjustment to leaving this year’s teacher and classmates, while preparing for next year’s teacher and classmates can be heavily impacted by your feelings about it.

As parents, we have the power to set the tone. Our optimism or pessimism is contagious.

Here are some ways you can help make the transition smoother for your child if you or they didn’t get the news you were hoping for.

1. Listen calmly. Hear out your child’s feelings. Let them get it all out and listen quietly. Avoid trying to ‘fix’ their feelings by adding your own feelings, judgements and solutions. Feelings need to be expressed, processed and moved through constructively.

Children don’t have to be immediately excited about their teacher, to learn from that teacher in the long run. The same goes for classmates. They don’t have to have existing bonds or common interests to build them in the future. In fact, the more children they get to know with a broad range of personalities, the better for their growing social intelligence.

The feelings you see in that initial moment aren’t necessarily reflective of how they will feel long term - especially if you don’t react with them.

Humans need time to process change. When news is fresh, we can go through many feelings of resistance and uncertainty. That doesn’t mean that what’s coming is necessarily bad. You can warmly and gently say something like, ‘you really hoped for XYZ and you’re disappointed. I understand.’ Allow time for them to process your words of support. Don’t rush them. Try to avoid talking while their logical brain is still compromised because emotions are still high. Listening calmly and quietly is golden.

2 Support your child to build a connection with their new teacher. A mutually respectful connection with their teacher matters. Notice positive qualities in their teachers and see what your child might have in common with them.

3. Avoid looking uncertain about the placement in front of your child. If they are unsure, they will naturally look to you to help them feel confident and calm. This doesn’t mean you have to ‘fake’ being excited if you’re not (they’ll see through that) but it does mean you do your best to be cool calm and collected. If you can’t be hopeful (yet), try and be neutral. Children tend to use parents as an emotional compass when they experience uncomfortable feelings. If you’re struggling, express your feelings with another adult to get things off your chest. Work out what you’re worried about. Try and notice as many things that are good about what’s ahead.

4. Before you greet them on the day they receive their placement, remind yourself to try and trust the process. There are multiple layers to how class placements are allocated that couldn’t possibly be explained completely. School leaders and staff put in huge amounts of thought into student personalities, learning styles, teaching styles, class size, who asked to have who in their class and much more that is happening behind the scenes we’re not aware of.

Schools genuinely do their best with this decision. If you’re upset, it’s possible they are too, but when weighing everything up, had no other direction to turn. Supporting your child’s teachers and school is a crucial part of your child’s psychological and academic success there.

5. Your reaction to next year’s teacher news is hugely important to your child. Your confidence, hopefulness and regulated emotion is crucial. If you’re not happy, try and keep these feelings in the back ground and discuss them privately with another adult. Children are too young to take on their parent’s worries.

If there is a genuine problem, take logical action, without involving your child in the stress associated with it.

Your child’s emotional connection to and respect for their teacher and school is deeply connected with your connection to and respect for their teacher and school.

More things to keep in mind:

Children learn, grow and strengthen in resilience by being with a broad range of personalities and communication styles. When things are unrealistically perfect and easy, they can get stuck in their comfort zone.

To build confidence for later on in life, you need to experience a broad range of peers and situations and discover that through talking about feelings, asking for help, establishing boundaries and building your social emotional skills, you can handle a lot of what life has in store. Be there to hear their thoughts and feelings out, but above all show you have confidence in your child to get through.

If situations are dangerous, toxic or damaging your child’s learning and psychological health, always talk to school staff and if necessary, other experts to ask for, and seek help. Seek out the support of a health professional too if necessary.

On the surface, do your best as your child’s most important adult and leader, to show your confidence that your child will be safe and cared for, always.

Do something heartwarming and compassionate for yourself. If you’re upset and stressed it’s not because you’re weak or incapable. It’s because our children hold our hearts and when they hurt, we hurt. You need to look after yourself first and foremost.

The advice above is general and based on general child development, resilience and confidence research. It is written with the very best intention, to help you. Without knowing your individual circumstances it’s not intended to replace your expertise as a parent or the expertise of educators and health professionals. Always seek tailored expert advice if you feel your child’s physical or psychological health is at risk in any way.

Wishing you all the very best with class placement news.

Love, Madhavi Nawana Parker ♥️

https://positivemindsaustralia.com.au/freeresources/

https://positivemindsaustralia.com.au/books/

Year 6 students conducted a wonderful Remembrance Day assembly today, to honour the men and women who sacrificed their lives for us. Lest we forget. ♥️🌺

We had an exciting start to the day with SAFM broadcasting their morning show live from the MPS oval, after Liam H won a competition to come to school in a Lotus. Congratulations to Liam, who must have felt like a rock star! Well done to Summer, who won the alphabet quiz and $1000 for the school. Thanks to all who came along to see the fun. 💙💛

It couldn’t have been a more perfect day for Sports Day! Congratulations to Mellor for winning the Values Cup and Devonshire for winning the Sports Day Shield. Special thanks to Mr Rowland for organising such a wonderful day and to the House Captains for their leadership and encouragement of their teams. 💚💙❤️💛

Good luck to the 46 Mitcham Year 6s performing in the Festival of Music concert this evening! 🎶

Our 1st group of Year 2 campers had a sensational time at their Aldinga Camp. Highlights were learning about Aboriginal Culture,making wadlies, enjoying learning about the importance of the Aldinga scrub and painting a story using Aboriginal symbols. Other highlights were time in the cabins, having fun on camp with friends and the night walk in the scrub. There was lots of fun to be had at the campsite too with a playground and jumping pillow! Great time had by all.

Year 1s in T8 have designed and constructed these wonderful animal enclosures in STEM. They considered how their enclosures provide shelter, food, water, an appropriate environment and enrichment for their chosen animal. Great work T8!

Canberra update. Great last day in the nation’s capital. The Royal Mint, the High Court and a great visit to Government House to see where the Governor General lives and works. It’s been a great trip! Look forward to seeing you all soon.

Canberra Day 3! It’s been such a fun day! Touring the AIS, learning about the history of Canberra and meeting with our local Member for Boothby, Ms Louise Miller-Frost. We even got to sit in the Gallery during Question Time and received a warm welcome from the Speaker of the House, Mr Milton Dick. We were very respectful and received many positive comments from the Parliament staff. Another great day in the Nation’s Capital.

Canberra continues to be a place of discovery. We visited the National Gallery, the Arboretum and Questacom before have a pizza supper and performing impromptu plays. Another fun filled day and busy day 😃

The Year 6s are having an amazing time in Canberra! The weather has been great and we’ve had so much fun visiting the sights.

A wonderful opportunity for parents to attend this seminar with Madhavi💙

Free session for SA families. Bookings via email: [email protected] or phone 8372 5180 ♥️ MNP

What a wonderful Book Week parade we had this morning! Well done to all the students (and parents!) for their creativity- we loved seeing the incredible variety of costumes as we celebrated the important role of literature in our lives.📖❤️

Today the Year 6 choir visited Calvary Mitcham Aged Care to sing the songs they have been practising for the Festival of Music. They performed beautifully for a very appreciative audience! The flowers and cards made by our younger students were also a hit. Thank you to Mr Fielder for organising the visit. ❤️🎶🌺

Today our Year 5/6 STEM Extension group shared the games they have designed for seniors at the Cumberland Park Community Centre. Their games use movement recognition technology and are intended to be a fun way of increasing movement and activity for older Australians. Students did an amazing job of explaining their games and demonstrated the coding skills they have learnt over the past semester. They gained some excellent feedback to fine tune their games even further, to ensure they are meeting the needs of their audience. Great work everyone!💙💛

We love this piece of history! 💙💛

School's back! We hope your children are as well behaved as these youngsters, photographed at Mitcham Public School in 1890.
Built in 1879 from local sandstone and bluestone, the school eventually outgrew the site and relocated to Kingswood in 1981. The Belair Road building was purchased by City of Mitcham and today houses the Mitcham Community Centre.
From its early days housed in a small hut in Mitcham Reserve in 1847, the 176 year-old Mitcham Primary School is South Australia's oldest continuously operating school.

Year 1-6’s had a great night at the disco! Many thanks to all the helpers who made the night such a success 💙💛🪩