Macquarie Memo issue 23

News from our Deputy Principal

 Dear families,

Thank you to everyone who helped to make our Water Fun Day and Swimming Carnival run smoothly. There was so much fun to be had, whether this involved swimming in the competitive races, cheering on the people in your house, or joining in the activities at school or at the pool. These events are a great way to build community within our school. 

National Quality Framework The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) supports all governments, education and care sectors to realise the benefits of a National Quality Framework (NQF). The NQF provides a national approach to regulation, assessment and quality improvement for early Learning settings across Australia, including Macquarie Preschool.

The NQF includes seven quality areas:

• Quality Area 1 – Educational program and practice
• Quality Area 2 – Children’s health and safety
• Quality Area 3 – Physical environment
• Quality Area 4 – Staffing arrangements
• Quality Area 5 – Relationships with children
• Quality Area 6 – Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
• Quality Area 7 – Governance and leadership

School events, such as the Water Fun Day and Preschool/Kindergarten BBQs prior to school beginning, are some of the ways our school works in collaboration with the school community:  building a sense of belonging. These examples are evidence of Element 6.2.3 – Community Engagement.

Throughout the year, we will be unpacking the quality areas to better understand these as a community and continue to gather evidence. If you would like more information on the NQF go to the ACECQA website (acecqa.gov.au).

We are starting our 2025 Quality Improvement Cycle through the revision of our preschool philosophy. We have already gathered the initial thoughts of preschool educators, and we will be sending preschool to year 2 families a quick survey in the coming weeks to gather your thoughts about preschool at Macquarie this will capture the ideas of our wonderful community. When we have a draft, we will share this with the community for feedback.

To ensure safety for our preschool students, if you are not collecting a child from preschool please enter and exit the Macquarie Primary School grounds through the gate on Bennelong Street, between the preschool and Brindabella building. Please do not use the preschool playground as your entry and exit. Limiting people walking through the preschool playground ensures that authorised preschool adults can easily and quickly pick up their children.

Warm regards,

Karen

PARENT PORTAL

We use Parent Portal to communicate with parents and carers. Through Parent Portal, you can:

• get push notifications when your child's teachers post to the newsfeed
• let us know if your child is sick or explain an absence
• book parent-teacher interviews
• receive academic reports and the school newsletter
• make payments
• access our school’s calendar and your child’s student timetable.

You can access Parent Portal on a web browser or through the Sentral for Parents app, available wherever you download your apps.

For our new families, you should have received an access code and registration link recently. You need an ACT Digital Account to register. Information on how to register is on the Education Directorate’s website.

If you have any questions or would like us to resend you your access code and registration link, please contact the front office.

NOTES AND REMINDERS

All notes are available on our school website

2025 Stationery and Book Packs

Student Name:_________________________                 2025   Year Level:_______________________

Payment Options - cashless payments are preferred

Option1:  Electronic Funds transfer

EFT Details

Account Name:                  Macquarie Primary School Management Account

BSB Number:                      032 777                     

Account Number:             001586

Use reference:                  Child’s Name 2025 STATIONERY

Option 2:  Quickweb

Quickweb Details:

Go to our school website and follow the prompts on the payment page

Use reference:                  Child’s Name 2025 STATIONERY

Option 3:  Cash or cheque paid directly to the Front Office in a sealed envelope labelled with your child’s name and year group.

UPCOMING

From the School Psychologist 

Yuma community,

Yerrabi Yurwang will be starting all group programs from Monday the 10th of February, including some new additions! Please see below

• Mondays 3:30-5:00pm Boys Group for Aboriginal boys aged 10-18, Monday 10^thFebruary - Monday 31st March. The term will start at the Yarramundi Cultural Centre, 245 Lady Denman Drive Acton, followed by some excursions for the Rugby Program with Reclink. Afternoon tea provided. Contact mdaley@yerrabi.org.au for flyers, sign ups and more details!

• Tuesdays 10:30-12:00 Deadly Brains Playgroup for Aboriginal children aged 0-5 and their parents and carers, Tuesday 11^thFebruary - Tuesday 1st April. Most sessions will be at the Yarramundi Cultural Centre, 245 Lady Denman Drive Acton, except for a few exciting excursions! We will provide play experiences, child development activities, nursery rhymes in Aboriginal languages and morning tea. Contact cwinter@yerrabi.org.au for flyers, signups and more details! If you or your client requires transport to be able to attend these playgroups, please let Caitlin know via email.

• Wednesdays 10:30-12:00 Women's Circle for Aboriginal women who are parents, sisters, aunties, grandmothers, carers for Aboriginal children. Wednesday 12^thFebruary - Wednesday 2nd April. Participate in yarns, arts, crafts, excursions and opportunities to connect with community, culture and support services to take care of your wellbeing. Morning tea provided. Contact cwinter@yerrabi.org.au for flyers, sign ups and more details! If you or your client requires transport to be able to attend these playgroups, please let Caitlin know via email.

• Wednesdays 3:30-5:00 Strong Men's Group for Aboriginal Men. Wednesdays 12^thFebruary - 2^nd April Connect with community and culture through a variety of activities guided by strong Aboriginal men to support you and your family. Afternoon tea provided. Contact igoolagong@yerrabi.org.au for flyers, sign ups and more details.

• Thursdays 3:30-5:00 Koori Girls group for Aboriginal girls aged 10-18, Thursdays 13^thFebruary - 3rd April  Participate in arts, crafts and cultural activities guided by deadly Aboriginal women to help you connect to community and culture. Afternoon tea provided. Contact mkdaley@yerrabi.org.au for flyers, sign ups and more details.

• Keep an eye out for Pop-Up Playgroups monthly on Saturdays, Elders' groups and parenting programs with Yerrabi Yurwang coming soon!

Mitch Daley

Youth Worker

Yawarj Mara, Strong Pathways Program

YERRABI YURWANG 

Child & Family Aboriginal Corporation

P&C NEWS

• Thanks to Lyndell Davis who has joined the P&C committee as Assistant Treasurer and Celia Rideaux who is the ACT P&C Council Delegate for 2025.
• The P&C needs more volunteers! Please consider joining the roster for Canteen at lunchtime on Fridays, or volunteering for a fortnightly shift at the uniform shop on Monday morning, Wednesday afternoon or Friday morning.  We need your help to keep offering these services to MPS families!
• We are pleased to confirm that MPS will be a polling place for the upcoming Federal election (date TBC)! This is a great fundraising opportunity for the P&C to sell some democracy sausages and set up some other fundraising stalls. We will be seeking volunteers to help with setting up, BBQ’ing, serving, cashiers etc. We’re hoping to have lots of helpers to spread the effort over the course of polling day. And please ask your friends and neighbours to visit our school to vote!
• If you can help with any of the above, please reach out by emailing macquariepandc@gmail.com.

CONTACT DETAILS

COMMUNITY NOTICES

2025 school year Equity Fund now open

To ease the pressure of back-to-school costs, eligible Canberra families can apply now for 2025 Future of Education Equity Fund payments.

The Equity Fund supports eligible low-income families and independent students from preschool through year 12 with a one-off, annual payment to help cover the costs associated with schooling such as uniforms, sport equipment and activities, tuition and music lessons.

The 2025 school year payments for eligible families are $400 (preschool), $500 (primary school), and $750 (high school and college).

Payments of completed applications will begin earlier than previous years, with the first payments to families expected from 6 January 2025.

Families will have until the end of November 2025 to apply for the Fund.

Check your eligibility and find more information about supporting documents on the Equity Fund webpage.

For 20 plus years, Menslink have provided free counselling to young guys throughout Canberra and the surrounding region.

If your young guy is having a hard time and could really use someone to talk to, get in touch with Menslink. Now conveniently located in Holder (with some sessions also available at Kippax & Lanyon), our wait times are currently low so we’re ready to help when he needs it.

We provide a welcoming and supportive environment for young guys to share their concerns and worries with a male counsellor who will hear them out, work alongside them and provide tips and strategies to get them through those tough times.

Our Counselling sessions are completely confidential and are available to any male aged 10-25. There are no fees or charges or limits to the number of sessions. You don’t need a mental health plan and we are available during school terms and school holidays. The only prerequisite is that he is willing to give it a try.

If you think your young guy will benefit from chatting to one of our counsellors, have a chat with them and head to www.menslink.org.au, hit the ‘Get Help’ button, fill in the form and we’ll get back to you, generally the same or next business day.

If you need more info on how to have that chat with them, just email admin@menslink.org.au or call 6287 2226 and we will send you some information.