Macquarie Memo Issue 8 2023

News from the Deputy Principal

It was so great to see and hear the excitement of our year 5/6 students who attended Camp last week. Thank you again to our 5/6 staff for making this possible. This week we have also celebrated Harmony Day. From the morning parade, to the learning experiences throughout the week, including some special guest speakers the children have enjoyed learning about other cultures and customs. Today we noticed less single use packaging in our school thanks to Nude Food Day. Thanks to everyone for making an effort to consciously consider our waste as a community. The students were excited to show their classmates all their ‘Nude Food’.

As you are aware, our annual Cross Country Carnival is coming up on Friday 31 March. The students have opportunities to practise during school time on the course they will run on the day. If you have some spare time after school or on weekends it is great to build up their stamina and confidence for running these distances. Students turning 8 years or older this year are able to qualify to participate in further cross country events. Students will run the following distances:

Students born in  or after 2016 – 500m

Students born in 2015 – 1km

Students born in 2014 – 1.5km

Students born in 2013 – 2km

Students born in or before 2012 – 3km

If you are able to help out on the day please email Sean at sean.gourlay@ed.act.edu.au

Our next School Improvement priority in the lead up to review is Domain 6: Systematic curriculum delivery. This domain looks at how we create and document a coherent, sequenced plan for curriculum delivery that ensures consistent teaching and learning expectations. Our curriculum is designed in a way that ensures learning experiences are accessible, engaging and challenging for all students, paying particular attention to the learning needs and style of every student across the school. We have done significant amounts of work in this area over the life of our existing school plan and now have a documented curriculum delivery plan, data plan (including assessment schedule) and moderating and reporting procedures in place. These documents are available for you to view at any time by reaching out to the front office or any member of the leadership team.

Finally, this week you would have received a letter informing you that Ms Kristy Grant has been appointed as the Principal of Macquarie Primary School. Ms Grant will join us from the NSW Department of Education where she has most recently been the Principal of Gunning Public School. Ms Grant will start with us from the beginning of term 2. We look forward to welcoming her to our Macquarie community.

Have a great week.

Stacey

Apply now for the Future of Education Equity Fund 2023

Apply now for the Future of Education Equity Fund for the 2023 school year. Eligible low-income ACT families can receive one-off payments for financial aid to help cover the costs of their children’s educational costs, such as sport equipment and activities, music lessons, school uniforms and excursions.

The Fund is open to eligible students enrolled in preschools that are attached to an ACT government school, through to Year 12 in the ACT. Further information and the online application form is available at https://www.education.act.gov.au/support-for-our-students/financial-and-resource-assistance-for-families

Staying COVID Smart in 2023

Students, staff and visitors are reminded to:

• Stay home if unwell and get tested for COVID-19
• Stay up to date with your vaccinations
• Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene
• Physically distance from others when in public places

Individual schools may implement additional measures to manage COVID-19 if deemed necessary in a particular setting. Any changes will be communicated to parents and carers.

If your child has COVID-19, you must let the school know. We recommend keeping your child home for at least five days.

RATs are again available from the school for students in term 1 from the front office.

You can read more about how we are being COVID Smart in ACT public schools at https://www.education.act.gov.au/public-school-life/covid-school-arrangements

Library news

Book Club Issue 2 is now out. You can place your orders online at www.scholastic.com.au/loop . Orders will be processed on Sunday evenings of March 19^th and 26^th. Did you know that 15% of your order is donated back to our school? Thank you for your support!

News from the P&C

Working bee success!

A big thanks to everyone who came along on Sunday despite the heat. It was especially great to see a few new faces in among our 25 volunteers. Tasks ranged from weeding, rubbish collection, erecting a grape vine structure (which needed a lot of hands to lift up!), moving an impressive six tonnes of sand, and of course celebrating with BBQ at the end. Don’t worry if you missed it – we hold them every term, so come to the next one!

School Disco & Mother’s Day Stall – volunteers needed

The P&C is running two very special events in May and we need your help! The school disco on the evening of Friday 5 May needs helpers from 5pm - 8.30pm, and you can assist for an hour or two or the whole event.

The Mother's Day stall on Friday 12 May needs volunteers from 8am to 1.30pm. We'd especially love to see some dads volunteer for this year's stall, but all helpers are very welcome! Again you can help for as much time as you're able, all assistance is greatly appreciated.

Please contact classparentrepsmps@gmail.com to volunteer. We look forward to seeing the happy smiles these two events will bring to our MPS students!

P&C uniform shop

The P&C Uniform Shop is open Mondays 8:45am – 9:15am, Wednesdays 3:00pm – 3:30pm and Fridays 8:45am – 9:15am.

We need you! In order to continue this valuable service to our school community 3 days per week every week we need a volunteer once a fortnight on Monday mornings and a volunteer once a fortnight on Wednesday afternoons. If you have half an hour to spare on either of these days please get in touch with Liz at uniforms.mps@gmail.com.

Orders for new uniform items can be placed via www.flexischools.com.au and will be sent home with students.

Orders for new uniform items can be placed via www.flexischools.com.au and will be sent home with students.

Notes / Reminders

All notes are available on our school website.

Community Notices

Contact Details