Macquarie Memo Issue 28 2023

News from the Principal

Time flies when you are having fun! This term has gone extremely quickly, and we are very close to our end of year celebrations.

Our first Preschool Stay and Play session was today; we are so excited to welcome new preschool children and their families to Macquarie Primary School.

Next week the Aqua Safe program starts for students in year 2; please ensure your child has everything they need for Aqua Safe on Monday.

On Wednesday  22  November are hosting a Volunteers' Morning Tea for all the volunteers who have helped support  students and programs across the year. Thank you for your amazing contribution to our school.

We will be holding  2024 Preschool and Kindergarten Information Sessions on Thursday 23 November; the Kindergarten information session is from 4:00-4:30pm in the kindergarten room and preschool information session is from 4:30-5:30pm in the library. Signage will be available on the day to direct you.

The fabulous P&C are hosting a Bunnings Sausage Sizzle this Saturday 18 November, if you can help, please contact our P&C president Lauren, by email (president.mpspandc@gmail.com). If you are unable to volunteer on the day, come and grab a sausage from Bunnings Belconnen on Saturday to support fundraising for our school.

The P&C work very hard to help support our school in many ways; we are after volunteers for the next working bee which will be held on Sunday 26 November. If you are able to help, please email Lil (lil.costello@ed.act.edu.au). Children are more than welcome to come and help. Working bees are wonderful social days and a great way to meet new Macquarie families, everyone welcome.

Parent Portal is coming!

ACT Education Directorate schools are rolling out a new online portal for parents and carers. MPS is in phase 1 of the rollout. The parent portal is a secure online platform used to share student information between you and the school.

Using the Parent Portal on your mobile phone, tablet or computer, you can:

• notify us if your child is sick or explain an absence
• book parent-teacher interviews
• add and download academic reports
• add the school newsletter
• receive messages from your child’s teachers
• make payments
• access the school calendar.

You should receive an access key via email on Monday of next week (Monday 20 November). If you do not receive it by close of business on that day, please email Stacey on Stacey.naden@ed.act.edu.au or contact the front office and Stacey will call you.  

We have a large amount of lost property. Today and tomorrow all items with names on them will be returned to their owners in classes.  Next week (Week 7) we will be setting up un-named lost property on trestle tables outside the hall. If your child is missing any items that did not have names on them, please come and collect them from outside the hall anytime during school hours. All unclaimed items will be donated to the uniform shop, sick bay, or good will at the end of next week.

AC Curriculum update:

Next week we will finalise our initial phase of familiarisation with AC 9.0, exploring the Arts. Like with most other learning areas, the Arts curriculum has been streamlined and is a more concise approach to curriculum. As we have mentioned previously, use of the Australian Curriculum version 9 will come into effect at the beginning of 2024. This will include the use not only in planning and delivering curriculum but the assessment of reporting of teaching and learning. As a staff we are confident that amendments and changes will be to the benefit of students and feel ready to start the year with V 9.0 in all of our documentation.  

Triple P – Positive Parenting Program

Hi everyone,

I wanted to let you know of Triple P – Positive Parenting Program.  It is an Australian evidence-based parenting program which aims to upskill parents in strategies and knowledge to add to your existing parenting ‘toolbox’ to use when and how you like.  The delivery of the program to parents and carers of children in Australia is supported by funding from the Australian Government (that’s how well regarded the program is!).

Currently Triple P are offering families in Australia with children under 12 FREE access to Triple P online courses.  All you need to do to access them is to register and you’ll receive one year’s free access, meaning you can complete the courses and review the information (“24/7 online, at your place, at your pace”).  There are currently three versions of the course:

• Triple P Online for Baby - Online support for parents-to-be and new parents (of babies up to 12 months old)
• Triple P Online Under 12 - Online program for parents/carers of young children (under 12 years)
• Fear-Less Triple P Online - Online program for parents/carers of anxious kids (from age 6+)

Also available on the website (no need to register) are a range of easy read, helpful articles  regarding a range of parenting topics.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend registering to complete a course, or at least, browsing the articles regarding parenting topics.

https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/au/triple-p/

Cheers,

Erin | Psychologist

Managing Staff Absences

As the year continues, we expect to see a 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 let you know as soon as we can. 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.
• 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.

Library News

Book Club

Orders for the last issue of Book Club are due back this Sunday, November 19. In this issue you will find plenty of Christmas gift ideas and new release books. Please order at www.scholastic.com.au/loop

Every purchase earns rewards for the school, which we always use for new and popular library books. Thank you to all families who have made a Book Club purchase throughout the year – we appreciate your support!

Please remember there is an option to mark your order as a gift, and I will contact you directly to collect it, rather than send it home with your child.

End of Year Returns

Next week (November 20-24) is the last week that students may borrow library books, as ALL books are due back the following week (week 8, November 27-December 1). As always, please contact me if there is a lost or damaged book, or if you believe a book has already been returned. We do not issue library fines for missing books, but you are welcome to make a donation to our Library Trust Fund to help replacement costs if you have the means. This can be done via QuickWeb on our payment page.

Book Swap shelf

As the Christmas holidays approach you might like to make use of our Book Swap shelf in the Gardenside Café, for extra holiday reading. Lots of families have brought in books they no longer need, so there are plenty of good options for you to look through and take home.

E-Books and Audiobooks

Another good option to keep your children reading over the school holidays is to take advantage of the massive collection of E-books and audiobooks that have been purchased for use by ACT government schools. Instructions are attached. Unlike our library books that need to be returned before the holidays, our digital resources can be borrowed any time for as long as your child attends an ACT Government School!

Pamela – pamela.gaukroger@ed.act.edu.au

News from the P&C

Bunnings BBQ volunteers

We desperately need volunteers for the Bunnings BBQ fundraising this Saturday 18 November at Belconnen Bunnings. This is a great fundraising opportunity for the school, so if you have any time – even one hour – please contact macquariepandc@gmail.com

Tern 4 Working Bee

Our Term 4 working bee is on at 9am, Sunday 26 November. Many hands make light work – so please spare a few hours to help make our school grounds shine! There are a range of jobs we need to do, so don’t worry if you can’t do any heavy lifting, there are lots of small jobs too. We will finish off with a BBQ lunch. All welcome!

Canteen Co-ordinator and volunteers needed

We're looking for a new canteen coordinator and extra volunteers to continue the canteen service in 2024.

If you are available from about 12.15 to 1pm on Fridays, we'd love your help to keep the canteen service going on Fridays. It's a quick and easy job of making sure the orders are in the right class baskets! The coordinator doesn’t need to be there every week if we can have just a few volunteers to roster on each term.

If you are available Friday lunchtimes and can volunteer your help please email canteen.mpspandc@gmail.com.

P&C Uniform Shop

Preschool families – get organised for school next year! Come and see us in the uniform shop to try on and purchase uniforms for next year! Orders can also be placed on flexischools.com.au and will be delivered to preschool for students to take home. We are happy to exchange sizes - just keep tags on.

The volunteer run P&C Uniform shop is open 8:45am - 9:15am on Monday and Friday; and 3:00pm – 3:30pm on Wednesday.

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.

To contact the Uniform Shop email: uniforms.mps@gmail.com

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