Term 2 is upon us, and fingers crossed school and family life will start to settle into a more normal routine. MAWA thanks everyone for understanding that keeping our staff healthy and safe has required some reduction in opening hours. We anticipate a return in normal office hours in the next few weeks. Due to government restrictions MAWA needed to postpone the Maths Expo, which has been rescheduled to Sunday 18 September. Term 2 is a busy term for student activities with Have Sum Fun Online https://havesumfunonline.com/ and Maths Talent Quest. Both activities can be entered by individuals, if their school is not participating. If you are interested in finding out more about Maths Talent Quest, I am conducting an information webinar on Tuesday 10 May. Please register here for the information webinar. MAWA will be conducting The Australian Maths Competition (AMC) again this year. If your child’s school is not conducting AMC please consider registering quickly as places are limited and filling fast. To register, please click here. Just last week MAWA held its Annual General Meeting for 2022 and it was my pleasure to be able to present the Annual Report to those who attending in person and online. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Paula McMahon, Shannon Taylor, and Leighland Swan in particular for preparing an Annual Report to which Mr Barry Kissane recorded his appreciation on behalf of the membership, commenting that MAWA continues to be a vibrant organisation. NAPLAN testing happens in this term and for many students this can cause stress. I encourage parents to discuss that the NAPLAN assessments are a ‘snapshot’ taken on one day and the results are only one part of the picture that represents a child. Many schools will be completing NAPLAN online this year and as such the test will be adaptive. This short video may be helpful in finding out more information about adaptive testing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGFseJAM3Ew. We are pleased that MAWA will sponsor two scholarships for WAMPSP students. These scholarships have been named after WAMPSP founder Dr Norm Hoffman. There is a primary scholarship and a secondary scholarship. The WAMPSP Hoffman Primary Scholarship is open to any WAMPSP student currently in primary school and the WAMPSP Hoffman Secondary Scholarship is open to any WAMPSP student currently in high school. Applications close on Thursday 30 June. AMT has provided five scholarships for regional student or students who attend a school with an ICSEA below 1000. You can check your school’s ICSEA at the My Schools website https://www.myschool.edu.au/. Each scholarship will cover the 2022 WAMPSP course fees. If you are interested in how to apply, please contact [email protected] and an application package will be sent to you. The AGM also provided an opportunity for MAWA to acknowledge the contributions made by those Board members who had finished their term of service. Our sincere thanks to Donna Buckley, Wendy Pero, Dion Alfonsi, and Lesley Stoffels for your many contributions over the years. We are thrilled that Donna will continue to work with the Student Activities Committee and that Wendy will continue as Convenor of our Annual Conference. We were also very pleased to welcome Alan Sadler, Sheila Griffin, and Joli Mendez on to the Board and look forward to working with them. MAWA has and will continue to operate slightly short staffed over the coming weeks as Paula has unfortunately come down with Covid and as Tom recovers from his back surgery. I have had the pleasure of covering Tom’s classes while he recovers. Thank you to all those students and parents who have sent in their well wishes for a speedy recovery. To keep abreast of everything your association is offering to students, teachers and parents, please visit the MAWA website www.mawainc.org.au. Dr John West, President & Paula McMahon, Exective Officer
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