Macquarie Memo Issue 16 2023

News from the Principal

We are past the halfway mark for term 2!

Last Friday we began our school reconciliation week celebrations; our students worked with Ronnie from 'Culture on the Move', learning all about the use of symbols in Aboriginal art. Students created some wonderful pieces of art.

Last week we had a large number of students represent our school at the Belconnen Zone Cross Country. This is a massive achievement as the weather conditions on the day made for a difficult run. Congratulations to all these students who represented our school. Six students have qualified for ACT Cross Country which is fantastic. 

Today is the start of the hats off period 1 June – 1 August as per our Sun Smart policy. Students do not need to wear hats for outdoor play and movement during this time to allow for vitamin D absorption throughout the colder winter months. Your child may choose to wear a beanie instead on cold days.

On Sunday 4 June the P&C are hosting our term 2 working bee starting at 9:00am. This is a great opportunity to meet people and have a family morning out while helping our school; the more the merrier.

Teachers are in the process of writing your child’s semester one academic report. Tomorrow you will receive a test email from our School Administration System. This ensures that we have accurate email addresses for all parents and carers prior to reports being emailed home on Thursday 22 June. If you do not receive an email by COB tomorrow, please email Stacey at stacey.naden@ed.act.edu.au These emails can sometimes filter through to your junk/spam inbox so please also check there.

Tomorrow we have school photos. Please ensure your children are at school in full school uniform on time so they do not miss their class photo. Sibling photos will be taken during the lunchtime play break for those who have collected sibling photo envelopes from the front office.

Have a great week.

Kristy

Sports News

There has been lots happening on the sporting front at Macquarie over the last few weeks. Here is just a bit of an update. 

ACT Swimming Carnival

Earlier in the term, Macquarie Primary had students attend the ACT swimming carnival which was held at the AIS. The students who attended did a phenomenal job and they all should be proud of their efforts. A special congratulations to Anika, who placed 1st, 3rd and 3rd in events.

Paul Kelly Cup

Macquarie Primary fielded a side in the recent Belconnen zone of the AFL Paul Kelly Cup. 4 schools participated and the first game saw Macquarie take on Radford. The boys played well, but were defeated with a scoreline of 33 to 9.  Next game, we played Aranda and we won by 3 points, 26 to 23. Our next game was against St.Michaels and we won again, this time with a score of 33 to 8. Our last pool game was against Radford. The team rallied, but we lost 42 to 7. We were lucky enough to finish second on the ladder, which meant that we made it to the final, where we came up against Radford (Again!!). The team played well, but we lost the final. Due to our position and making the final, we have progressed through to the ACT finals which will be held early term 3. 

Buroinjin Carnival

Macquarie took two teams to the recently held Buroinjin competition at Deakin oval. Both teams played a total of six games over the day and recorded four wins and two losses. It was a perfect sunny day to play Buroinjin and all the students who participated had a fun day. 

Belconnen Cross Country Carnival. 

50 students took to the track at Stromlo Forest park to take part in the Belconnen Zone Cross Country carnival. It was a beautiful sunny morning, to begin, but as the morning wore on, the wind picked up, which made it tricky for those students out on the course. We had some fantastic results, with six students making it to the Belconnen team to take part in the ACT Cross Country carnival on Thursday 15th June at Stromlo. Well done to everyone who competed.

2024 school year enrolment reminder

Have you remembered to enrol for the 2024 school year? If you apply by midnight 2 June you will receive an offer from 24 July 2023. Applications received after 2 June may receive an offer later in the year. Enrolments are open for students from preschool through to year 12. Going local leads to great things – apply online at https://bit.ly/3Zqhoj9

Need help or have a question? Call the Enrolments Helpline on 6205 5429 or email education.enrolment@act.gov.au.

Managing Staff Absences

As the colder weather sets in, we expect to see a higher number of staff away at times due to seasonal illness and COVID-19.

To ensure that we continue to provide all students with quality learning with minimal disruption, we may be implementing temporary changes to our learning programs. 

The school may also take the opportunity to temporarily modify timetables or work with external providers to deliver some programs. There may also be a need to postpone excursions and other extra-curricular activities until there is enough staff to support them.  
Every school will implement these measures differently and has the flexibility to make choices that best meet the needs of their school community. 

If changes are required at our school at any time, we will write to you to let you know. We will also ensure we keep you up to date on how long we expect any changes to be in place.

As always, we remain committed to providing our students with high quality learning experiences in a safe and welcoming school environment.

Thank you for your understanding.

Library News

Book Club issue 4 orders are due in by Sunday, June 11.

Place online orders here: https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx

Stranger awareness safety message for your school newsletter

This is a reminder to ensure your children and young people understand the importance of stranger awareness safety and information has been included on how to report an incident.

Please support us to keep our children safe by having conversations about moving safely around the community. You may wish to visit the Australian Federal Police website section on Child Safety for tips. In addition, the Safety4Kids is a non-government website that has useful information and links. The Constable Kenny website also has a number of tips for parents for younger children.

If you become aware of an incident or notice anyone acting suspiciously around a school or student, contact police immediately on 131 444 or in the case of an emergency call 000. If you witness an incident or if you have any information that could assist police, contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Information can be provided anonymously. We would also ask that you notify the school so we can also support the wider school community to be aware of incidents.

Have Your Say: Education Legislation Reform

As our education system continues to grow and evolve the ACT Government is considering a range of legislation improvements to ensure our systems and supports remain contemporary, and reflect the needs of students, families and teaching staff now and into the future.  

Reforms are being considered to:

• clarify school enrolment requirements
• modernise participation and attendance requirements to reflect the different methods of education delivery
• strengthen enrolment, attendance, and participation provisions to minimise the risk of children and young people disappearing from the education system, and
• outline requirements for distance education.

To have Your Say, head to the Your Say conversations website to read the discussion papers, take the survey, leave a comment or make a submission: http://www.yoursayconversations.act.gov.au/education-legislation-reform

Feedback will close at 11:59pm on 6 June 2023.

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

To help minimise the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses in our school please remember the following:

• Students who are COVID-19 positive or displaying symptoms (including a runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever) should test and must not attend school while unwell.
• If your student is COVID-positive let us know.
• Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene.
• Keep up to date with vaccinations.

You can access free rapid antigen tests from the front office. Nasal and saliva tests are available.

For the latest COVID-19 advice please visit the ACT’s COVID-19 website.                                                                                                                                       

Evaluation - Active travel programs

TCCS has engaged First Person Consulting (FPC) – a Melbourne-based evaluation consultancy – to manage the evaluation and the surveys. We will not be collecting any identifiable information from anyone completing the survey and all responses will be kept confidential and anonymous. FPC will collect and analyse all responses and provide key results to TCCS in aggregate.

Parents/Carers:

https://fpc.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9zU82MwDxaxYEwS

News from the P&C

Uniform Shop

👋Volunteers👋 needed! We need a volunteer once a fortnight on Wednesday afternoons otherwise the shop will only be open fortnightly on Wednesdays. If you have half-an-hour to spare on a Wednesday afternoon please get in touch with the shop coordinators Liz and Julie uniforms.mps@gmail.com

The volunteer run P&C Uniform shop is open 8:45am – 9:15am Mondays and Fridays; and 3:00pm – 3:30pm every second Wednesday (even weeks 6, 8 and 10).

Orders for new uniform items can be placed via www.flexischoolscom.au and will be sent home with students – no need to collect from the shop.

Donations of pre-loved uniform items are gratefully accepted during open times.

Working Bee this Sunday

🐝 The Term 2 working bee will be held this Sunday at 9am. There are a range of different tasks to help with, both big and small, so any help is much appreciated. We will finish the working bee with a BBQ – all welcome! 🐝

Notes / Reminders

All notes are available on our school website.

Community Notices

Does your child ski or snowboard?

If they would like to represent Macquarie Primary School at the Interschools Snow Sports Regional Championships held at Perisher from 18-21 July get in touch with Liz Watterson lizwatterson@hotmail.com by Friday 2 June.

The emphasis is on fun and participation at the regional level, however all competitors must be able to execute link turns and ride a chairlift/T-bar confidently to compete.

Contact Details