Macquarie Memo Issue 23 2023 - Copy

News from the Deputy Principal

Wow, we are already over half way through the term and nearly at the end of winter. We are looking forward to some warmer and slightly longer days. The students are also getting very excited about the P&C colour run coming up.

Last Sunday, the P&C held another very successful working bee in the garden. Thank you to everyone who dedicated their time to making our environment an even better place to be. We really appreciate the time and effort that goes in to these days and know our students value the outdoor learning environment as part of the learning space.

The last section of our School Review report to share with you are the recommendations. These are the areas the review team deemed to be possible next steps for our school. As a staff we are in the process of looking at these recommendations to formulate some potential new priorities for our new school plan. The recommendations were:

• In developing the improvement agenda expressed through the new school plan, consult authentically with staff, students and the Macquarie Primary School community to identify priorities that:
• build on current achievements
• have a narrow and sharp focus
• are supported by clear targets and timelines that are measurable, reportable and actionable.
• Enhance student agency and rigour in learning. Do that through a deliberate focus on individualising learning and teaching, and assessment and reporting that respond equitably to the range of learning needs and interests of students.
• Review the content and implementation of the school’s comprehensive data plan to ensure that it is focused on the approach to the collection, storage, analysis and use of data to support learning. That should include developing staff data literacy and capacity.
• Continue to develop the strong emphasis on professional learning, particularly focusing on:
• support of the new school plan’s priorities
• agreed pedagogical practices
• Incorporating locally developed approaches to observation and feedback
• differentiated mentoring and coaching for all staff members.
• Develop a systematic and intentional school approach to initiating and evaluating community partnerships to support the learning and wellbeing of students and staff. That should include the finalisation and ongoing review of the Reconciliation Action Plan, and efforts to engage the culturally diverse range of families.

Our Curriculum V9.0 implementation work has continued and staff have now worked through the English and Mathematics curriculum and identified some key changes. In English we have noticed there is a stronger focus on Phonics; that the descriptors and achievement standards are more refined and concise; and there is a more visible presence of First Nations perspectives. In Mathematics staff noticed the movement of some key concepts. There has been a revision to the sequencing of content in telling time, introduction of fractions, recall of multiplication facts and solving equations. Mastery of essential mathematical facts, skills, concepts and processes is also evident in the revisions.

Staff illness and absences are at an all time peak at the moment right across the Education Directorate. We endeavour to have teachers available for every class every day, however, this is proving more and more difficult. We understand that sharing classes amongst cohorts or even across the school is not ideal to continue the learning programs and support students’ regulation. We use this as one of the last resorts with careful consideration taken prior. We appreciate your understanding of this and welcome you to speak to myself or Kristy about the challenges at any time if you have concerns.

This week, your child will have brought home an invitation to their Learning Journey that is happening on Thursday 7 September. This is an opportunity for your child to proudly walk you through their learning in the classroom and celebrate their growth across areas of the curriculum. We encourage you to come along any time between 3 and 6pm to see the fabulous learning happening in the classroom and other areas of the school.

Next week we have an Katie and Jol Temple visiting MPS. Kate and Jol are internationally awarded children’s authors of over 20 books for kids. This in-school experience will include the authors sharing their books, their stories and their passion for children’s literature. With their presentation they aim to inspire children to read and write their own original stories and encourage a love of picture books. Notes with this experience are due back tomorrow.

This morning we had our first Coffee and Coding Club session in the café. Parents are welcome to come along with your children to learn more about the technology we have available for students here at school to learn coding. The sessions are 8:30-8:55am.

Our 5/6 students are very busy planning their annual Market Day. This is a very exciting day at our school where students design and create engaging market stalls for us all to visit. There are always a wide variety of games, experiences and market wares to purchase. If you would like your child to participate, please return their market day note as soon as possible. All classes will be outside during the market day session.

We are very excited about our dress up day for Book Week tomorrow and can’t wait to see what book character  students dress up as. Please remember dressing up is optional so if your child does not want to dress up that is ok.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Stacey

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

BOOK WEEK 

Book Week is well under way. We have been celebrating books and reading right through Week 6  with the official 2023 theme being READ, GROW, INSPIRE. All of our classes have been reading the books on the shortlist, which are the books that are in the running to win the Book of the Year Award.

There are also many students (and staff!) who have started to think about a costume for our annual Book Character dress up day. We invite all students to come dressed up on Friday 25 August as a favourite book character. We do like to remind families that dressing up should not be expensive or time consuming… there are lots of ideas on various websites that will give great ideas for easy costumes.

Author Visit

We are also very excited that our author visit is happening in a couple of weeks! All students from K-6 have taken home a permission note; please return these as soon as possible with payment. Our classes have been reading many of the books written by our authors, Kate and Jol Temple, and I know some have also been finding out extra information from the website https://katejoltemple.com/. We can’t wait to meet them!

Overdue Books

Overdue notes were printed today to remind students which books need to be returned to the library. Please help your child have a look for missing books.

As always please feel free to contact me with any book or library queries at pamela.gaukroger@ed.act.edu.au

News from the P&C

Working Bee Wrap-Up 🐝 🐝

It was a beautiful morning to be working in the garden for the Term 3 Working Bee. Parents, friends, and students helped clear mulch; move topsoil; build a roof for the chickens; dig holes for grape and hop vines; and install tree protectors in the orchard. We finished our activities with a delicious sausage sizzle J

Thank you to everyone who took part, and a special mention to the super working bee helpers, who delivered coffees, lamingtons and chocolate croissants to the volunteers working in the garden!

P&C Father’s Day Stall

The P&C will be running a Father's Day stall on Friday 1 September (week 7). Please send some coins with your child so they can purchase small gifts for their dad or special someone. Your child can have a look at the gifts in advance at the front desk if they would like to do so. Prices range from $1-$10.

We would also love to have a group of volunteers to help us run the stall, any time between 8.30am-1pm on that day. Please contact classparentrepsmps@gmail.com to confirm your interest!

Colour Fun Run

The P&C are excited to be hosting a Colour Fun Run on Friday 8 September – if you are yet to fill out your permission form (and can’t find it anymore!) there are some available at the front office.

It will be a huge colourful mess, and we think it will be one of the most exciting days on our school’s calendar. We would love to welcome parents and family members to attend. If you would like to volunteer please complete the volunteer section on the Permission Slip.

The Colour Fun Run is also a fundraising activity by the P&C to help fund phase two of the Adventure Playground. If you would like to help raise funds then please go to schoolfunrun.com.au and create a student fundraising profile.

Colour Run Sausage Sizzle

There will be no canteen available at the Colour Run on 8 September – but you can order a delicious sausage sizzle! Simply log on to FlexiSchools to order. Both meat and vegetarian options are available.

Coding and Coffee

Please join our fun new before school activity – coding with our new robots! Students, parents, carers, and siblings are welcome to play with the (easy to use!) robots, from 8:30-8:55am in the school café on Thursday mornings, starting week 5. So come grab a coffee or milo, and get coding!

Uniform Shop

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 only)

Volunteer are still 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 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 – 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