Macquarie Memo Issue 20 2023

News from the Principal

I can’t believe we are at the end of term 2. This term has absolutely flown by but what a success it has been. We had many wonderful events this term including, our first post COVID P&C Disco, excursions, gala days, band performances, in school experiences, Cross Country, photo day, and School Review. The most important part of this term has been the learning that is happening every day in our classrooms. It has been wonderful as part the School Review process to take a deep dive into the fantastic teaching and learning occurring in classrooms each and every day. We are extremely lucky here at Macquarie to have exceptional teachers who are dedicated to student learning and wellbeing.

Tomorrow we have our Athletics carnival at Cook oval. A big thank you to Sean and Jenelle for organising, and to all our parent helpers who have volunteered to assist on the day, including the  P&C for running a sausage sizzle. Please ensure students have appropriate clothing for the day as it will be cold.

 Thank you to the parents who attended the recent 'Coffee and Coding' learning sessions  to learn how to facilitate this program for our students. 'Coffee and Coding' sessions will be held next semester; times are yet to be decided and will be based on parent availability. If you were unable to attend our first robotics learning session don’t worry as we have another coming up on Monday 17 July from 3:00pm-5:00pm. This session will focus on Sphero programmable robots. I will send out a google form early next term for you to register your interest in volunteering for 'Coffee and Coding'.

Thank you for parents who attended our end of term parent teacher interview sessions. It was wonderful to see the collaboration between teachers and parents around student learning.

I would love to meet more of our community next term, and  am excited to work together moving into our new school plan. I would like to invite parents to a morning tea from 9:00am-10:00am in the cafe on Friday 21 July. This will be an opportunity to meet me and have a chat.

We will be having some construction work done to our external walkways during the school holidays. This means the school will be closed during this time. The work will probably continue into term 3 when we return. We will have a traffic plan for areas that will be blocked off temporarily and will highlight what gates parents and students will need to use until the work is complete. This plan will be sent home to families via email before school returns.

We hope everyone has a relaxing and restful break with their families and look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 17 July. Term 2 will be another great term of learning with some exciting events including, learning journeys, book fair, a colour run, 3/4 camp and much more.

Kristy

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.

Staying COVID Smart in 2023

As you may be aware, there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases across ACT public schools in recent weeks.

To help stop the further spread of COVID-19 in our school, we are encouraging and implementing the following measures:

• 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.
• Parents and carers must inform schools if their child is COVID-positive.
• Keep up to date with vaccinations.
• Families can access a free rapid antigen test (RAT) from the front office of their school. Nasal and saliva tests are available. Test when symptomatic or as a precaution.
• Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene.
• Distance where possible.

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

Stranger awareness safety message

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.

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

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

Library News

Library News

You might have noticed an extra book or two coming home in library bags this week. Please encourage your child to read as much as they can over the holidays! Don’t forget our Public Libraries can be fabulous places to spend time in, or for even more reading we have access to thousands of e-books and audiobooks through Sora. Our school is “Act Education Directorate”, and students can use the same username and password they use to log on to the Chromebooks at school.

Term 3

We have fabulous bookish events happening all through term 3:

• Two more issues of Scholastic Book Club
• A dress up day to fundraise for the Little People Big Dreams series (more information including date will be announced later)
• The P&C Read-a-thon
• Book Week – week 6
• Book Character dress up parade – Friday 26 August
• Author visit for K-6 – Tuesday August 29 (Kate and Jol Temple)
• Our annual Book Fair – weeks 9 & 10

Backpack Resources

If you look at your child’s Digital Backpack (where they have access to their Google Drive and Google Classroom) you will notice there are two new applications – World Book Online and Britannica Online. They are online encyclopedias /research platforms that have been provided by our Education Directorate. They are excellent child friendly resources to help students find information on hundreds of subjects.

News from the P&C



Athletics Carnival Sausage Sizzle

The P&C are organising a sausage sizzle for students at the athletics carnival on Friday 30 June.  Sausages are $2.50 each, and need to be pre-ordered through Flexischools before 5pm, Wednesday 28 June. The beef sausages are Halal, and there will be vegetarian and gluten free options as well. Note there will be no lunch orders available on the day.

P&C uniform shop

Get ready for the athletics carnival! There are some new and second hand house coloured shirts available for $5 and $2 limited sizes.

Scarves and beanies are now available on flexischools for $5

The volunteer run P&C Uniform shop is open:

Every Monday & Friday 8:45am - 9:15am, and every second Wednesday 3:00pm - 3:30pm (even weeks).

Volunteers are needed once a fortnight on Wednesday afternoons so the shop can re-open every week on Wednesdays. If you have half an hour to spare, please get in touch with the shop coordinators Liz and Julie uniforms.mps@gmail.com.

Orders for new uniform items can be placed via www.flexischools.com.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, or can be left with the office.

Notes / Reminders

All notes are available on our school website.

Community Notices

Contact Details