Macquarie Memo Issue 16- 2024

News from our Principal

I would like to start by thanking all of our wonderful Grandfriends’ that travelled from far and wide to attend our Grandfriends’ Day last Friday. It was so wonderful to see you all participating in activities with your loved ones and catching up with old friends over scones. Grandfriends’ Day is one of our favourite days of the year and we thank you all for making it possible, I’d also like to thank Lynda for all her organisation and Cynan for the delicious scones.

This year the ACT Education Directorate have introduced a new Student-Centred Improvement Framework; this has replaced our School Review process. Each year schools will identify an area they are working on and have a Student-Centred Improvement Visit where panel members come and look at the practice and give guiding recommendations around next steps. Our first Student Centred improvement Visit is scheduled for Tuesday of week 4, during this visit we will be focusing on our Professional Learning Community (PLC) model, we are looking forward to sharing the outcome of our visit.

Over the next two weeks our kindergarten students will participate in BASE assessments, BASE parent reports will be sent to parents later in the term.

Next Monday and Tuesday our 3/4 students are heading to Birrigai for their 3/4 camp, I would like to thank our teachers and LSAs in advance for donating their own time to create such a wonderful experience for our  students.

A big thank you to all families who have filled in our 2025 Class Placement Information form. If you haven’t yet filled in your child’s preferences for ‘learning friends’ they would like to have in their class next year, please complete by Friday next week.

Next Friday, 1 November we have our P&C Colour Run, if you haven’t had a chance to donate to this yet, please see posts on Class Dojo for more information on how to do this. We are also looking for volunteers to help on the day, it is a wonderful day so please let the front office know.  

The following Friday, 8 November we have our P&C Disco, the theme is Red Carpet, we also need volunteers for the disco, if you are able to help out, please contact Gemma Hope at bc.mpspandc@gmail.com

A reminder that our Parent Portal app is up and running, please keep an eye on Parent Portal as well as Class Dojo for important reminders.

Have a great week

Thanks Kristy

Parent Portal is now available as a mobile app, SENTRAL FOR PARENTS

Download Sentral for Parents for free

through the App Store or Google Play Store.

Macquarie Primary School encourages you to sign up to the Parent Portal as it’s a secure and convenient way to communicate with your child’s school.

Parent Portal can be accessed on a mobile phone, tablet or computer and will allow parents to:

·        Notify us if your child is sick or to explain an absence	·        Read updates to school events
·        You can notify us of any existing or future absence	·        Receive academic reports
·        Update your family contact details	·        Manage secure payments
·        View current school newsletter	·        Access excursion notes

Please contact the front office for further information MacquariePSAdminEmails@ed.act.edu.au

P & C News

Colour Run on Friday 1 November

The P&C are excited to be hosting a Colour Fun Run on Friday 1 November – if you are yet to fill out your permission form (or can’t find it anymore!) there are some available at the front office. We also need more volunteers, so if you can spare some time then please complete the volunteer section on the permission flip.

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.

A sausage sizzle will also be available on the day. Please go to Flexischools to order.

The Colour Fun Run is also a fundraising activity. If you would like to help raise funds then please go to schoolfunrun.com.au and create a student fundraising profile. Noting that you don’t have to raise funds to participate – everyone is welcome!

Pre-order your MPS Community Cookbook by 1 November

Macquarie Primary’s Garden Side Cookbook has been lovingly created by our P&C with over 90 recipes, photos and artwork from our students and their families. You can now pre-order your copy via the Flexischools App for $30.

Every book pre-ordered gives you a ticket to a raffle to win exciting prizes!

By pre-ordering your copy today you are raising funds for our school, and are helping us determine how many copies we should print.

If you have any questions, please email us at mpscookbook2024@gmail.com.

School Disco on 8 November

The school disco is always hugely popular and a good fun night! This year’s disco theme is “Red Carpet” and will be held on Friday 8 November.

• 5:30-6:45pm: Junior disco (pre-school – year 2)
• 7:15-8:30pm: Senior disco (years 3-6)

Students have been sent home a permission note this week, and these need to be returned by 1 November.

Uniform shop

Attention preschool families - get organised for 2025! Come and see us in the uniform shop in the Tidbinbilla building, next to the hall to try on and purchase uniforms for next year. Orders can also be placed on the flexischools app (See flexischools.com.au) and will be delivered to preschool students to take home. We are happy to exchange sizes - just keep the tags on.

Second hand items are available for $2 and $5.

Open times are:

Mondays 8:45 - 9:15am, Wednesdays 3:00 - 3:30pm, and Fridays 8:45 - 9:15am.

The last day the shop will be open in 2024 is Wednesday 4 December.

New volunteers are needed to work in the shop on Monday mornings and Wednesday afternoons in 2025. If you are you interested helping once a fortnight, please contact Liz uniforms.mps@gmail.com for more information.

Notes / Reminders

All notes are available on our school website.

Contact Details

Community Notices

For 20 plus years, Menslink have provided free counselling to young guys throughout Canberra and the surrounding region.

If your young guy is having a hard time and could really use someone to talk to, get in touch with Menslink. Now conveniently located in Holder (with some sessions also available at Kippax & Lanyon), our wait times are currently low so we’re ready to help when he needs it.

We provide a welcoming and supportive environment for young guys to share their concerns and worries with a male counsellor who will hear them out, work alongside them and provide tips and strategies to get them through those tough times.

Our Counselling sessions are completely confidential and are available to any male aged 10-25. There are no fees or charges or limits to the number of sessions. You don’t need a mental health plan and we are available during school terms and school holidays. The only prerequisite is that he is willing to give it a try.

If you think your young guy will benefit from chatting to one of our counsellors, have a chat with them and head to www.menslink.org.au, hit the ‘Get Help’ button, fill in the form and we’ll get back to you, generally the same or next business day.

If you need more info on how to have that chat with them, just email admin@menslink.org.au or call 6287 2226 and we will send you some information.