Macquarie Memo Issue 3 2023

News from the Principal

Welcome to week three. I hope everyone managed to come and meet their child’s teacher this week. If you weren’t able to make it you can still book a time by emailing your child’s teacher. Getting to Know You interviews are a very important part of our year. It helps us set children up for success and plan challenging, yet achievable goals. You know your child best and we appreciate you sharing your insights.

Many families will be looking at Individual Learning Plans (ILP) during interviews. The ILP should focus on the most important next steps for a student. Having too many goals can end up being confusing for students and difficult to achieve. The ILP should build your child’s confidence – we want them to achieve the goals set so they can be proud of themselves and work hard to achieve the next goal. We can adjust goals anytime during the year if children reach them early. Teachers can guide what is realistic, challenging, yet achievable for students.

I’d like to introduce Lil, our new school horticulturist. She is managing the Micro-Forest and Food Forest, working with teachers and students to learn about benefits of being in nature, growing food and living sustainably. Lil will attend our working bees and do some parent sessions after school for those who would like to learn more about our outdoor learning space. 

This year we will be doing School Review. A panel of reviewers will come into the school for a week to discuss our progress on the current School Improvement Plan and suggest areas for focus for our next School Improvement Plan. The reviewers use a tool called the National School Improvement Tool to identify areas of commendation, provide affirmation of what is going well and recommendations for further improvement. The domains within the tool include:

1. An explicit improvement agenda
2. Analysis and discussion of data
3. A culture that promotes learning
4. Targeted use of school resources
5. An expert teaching team
6. Systematic curriculum delivery
7. Differentiated teaching and learning
8. Effective pedagogical practices and
9. School-community partnerships.

Each week, over the next 9 weeks, Stacey and I will unpack what each domain is about. This week I’d like to talk about An explicit Improvement Agenda. This domain outlines the importance of the school principal, staff and Board being committed to and explicit about our core objective – improving learning outcomes for all students. Understanding current student achievement levels and how they change over time is key – this is why we have a data plan which outlines how, when and what we do with learning and wellbeing data. This domain looks at how rigorously we as a school action our improvement agenda, how we measure our impact and how we meet targets. In our current School Improvement Plan, which began in 2018, we have three goals – to improve student gain in writing and spelling, to improve wellbeing and learning for all through the development of consistent practices and processes and to improve student gain in numeracy. We have exceeded targets on all our goals and we are now looking at how we make further improvements in all of these areas.

Have a great week.

Jodie

Staying COVID Smart in 2023

Students, staff and visitors are reminded to:

• Stay home if unwell and get tested for COVID-19
• Stay up to date with your vaccinations
• Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene
• Physically distance from others when in public places

Individual schools may implement additional measures to manage COVID-19 if deemed necessary in a particular setting. Any changes will be communicated to parents and carers.

If your child has COVID-19, you must let the school know. We recommend keeping your child home for at least five days.

RATs are again available from the school for students in term 1 from the front office.

You can read more about how we are being COVID Smart in ACT public schools at https://www.education.act.gov.au/public-school-life/covid-school-arrangements

NAPLAN 2023

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) is coming up for students in years 3 and 5.  

• On Monday 27 February the students in years 3 and 5 will participate in a coordinated practice test (CPT) to give them the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the testing platform and processes.
• From Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March, the children will complete four NAPLAN assessments.

Parents are invited to attend a NAPLAN online information session on Monday 6 March from 4:30 - 5:00.  Please RSVP to Eddie (edward.mccallum@ed.act.edu.au) if you will be attending this session, so we can send you the link.  

Some students may feel anxious about doing NAPLAN; it is different to everyday school and normal testing situations.  If you feel your child would benefit from some additional practice please access example papers for years 3 and 5 through the following links

• https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/public-demonstration-site.  
• https://www.acara.edu.au/assessment/naplan/naplan-2012-2016-test-papers 

At Macquarie Primary School, we encourage all our students to participate in NAPLAN, however if you wish to withdraw your child, please speak with your child’s classroom teacher before Friday 17 February. 

Eddie McCallum and Jenelle Martin

edward.mccallum@ed.act.edu.au jenelle.martin@ed.act.edu.au 

NAPLAN Coordinators

News from the P&C

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who nominated for a role on the 2023 P&C Committee. We are all looking forward to a great year!

Your 2023 Committee is as follows:

There are still a couple of vacancies on the Committee - if you have been thinking of joining us, please call our President, Lauren (0401 135 617) to discuss how you can be involved.

It's important to note that whilst the P&C Committee plays an important role in coordinating activities with and fundraising for our school, the P&C is much more than just the Committee. There are several other volunteers who support our school and P&C activities who aren't on the Committee - and you don't have to be a part of the Committee to be involved. Parent/community volunteers do things like picking up donations of coffee beans and groceries for the cafe, helping with breakfast club and the uniform shop, assisting at P&C fundraising events and working bees, and more!

Next P&C meeting - Wednesday 22 February

The P&C will hold its first regular meeting for the year on Wednesday 22 February from 6-7pm in the cafe. An online option will be available if you would like to attend but can't make it in person, email mpspandcvp@gmail.com if you are interested in this.

Class Parent Rep: Thank you to all the awesome volunteers who have taken on the role of class parent representative! There's only a few classes still waiting for a volunteer. Please contact classparentrepsmps@gmail.com if you're keen to be the rep for your child's class.

Uniform Shop: The P&C Uniform Shop is open: Mondays 8:45 - 9:15, Wednesdays 3:00 - 3:30 and Fridays 8:45 - 9:15

Orders for new uniform items can be placed online at www.flexischools.com.au or via the flexischools app. Flexischools orders will be sent home with students. Limited numbers of new and second-hand house coloured shirts are available in the shop for $2 and $5. Donations of pre-loved uniform items are gratefully accepted during open times.
**Volunteers needed!** Can you spare half an hour once a fortnight? The Uniform shop needs a volunteer once a fortnight on Monday morning. Contact Liz uniforms.mps@gmail.com if you can help.

P&C Calendar of events for 2023:

TERM 1:

Week 7 Sunday, 19th March - Working Bee

TERM 2:

Week 2 Friday, 5th May – P&C Disco. / Wine and Cheese Night

Week 3 Friday, 12th May – Mother’s Day Stall

Week 6 Sunday, 4th June – Working Bee

TERM 3:

Week 3 Monday, 31st July – P&C Readathon begin

Week 6 Friday, 25th August - P&C Readathon Ends

Sunday, 27th August – Working Bee

Week 7 Monday, 28th August – Mango Drive begins

Friday, 1^st September – Father’s Day Stall

TERM 4:

Week 2 Friday, 20th October – Colour Run

Week 5 Monday, 6th November – Cherry Drive begins

Week 6 Sunday, 19th November – Working Bee

Breakfast Club is on every Friday from the back of the school café. Please come along from 8.30am for a yummy piece of toast or a bowl of corn flakes and some hot milo!

Southern Cross Club - support our school while dining out

Did you know you can link your Southern Cross Club membership to the Macquarie Primary School P&C, and then 7.5% of what you spend on food and drinks is donated back to the P&C? Ask to link your membership card at the reception desk next time you are there. With February being 'kids eat free' month at the Southern Cross Club, now might be a good time to ensure your membership is connected to our P&C.

News from the School board

Three members of our school board will reach the end of their appointment in March 2023 creating vacancies for two parent members and one staff member. Our school board provides valuable input into strategic planning and monitoring across many aspects of our school. If you are interested in nominating for a position, or would like to know a little more about what is involved with being on the board, please contact our Business Manager, Ann Walker or talk to one of our current board members. Further information can also be found on the Education Directorate - see link below.

Nominations open on Monday 6 February and will close on Monday 20 February.  If you would like to nominate please complete the attached nomination form.  

Library news

Book Club

A reminder that all Issue 1 orders need to be placed online by Sunday afternoon, February 19. The ordering platform is www.scholastic.com.au/loop and the catalogue can be viewed online at https://issuu.com/scholastic_australia/docs/bcn_1-23_issuu?fr=sZGVmZjM0NDU5MDI  

All orders over $30 will receive a free book. Don’t forget there is a GIFT option during the ordering process in case you need to collect the order yourself.

Library Lovers’ Day

On Tuesday we celebrated Library Lovers’ Day. All classes received a special gift, and our library was decorated to make it feel especially welcoming. I feel so lucky to be working at Macquarie where we have so many enthusiastic readers who love our library, books and reading! Congratulations, families, for raising a generation of readers! 

Notes / Reminders

All notes are available on our school website.

Medical Information and Consent Form's are due back tomorrow. Please complete and return to the office . Students cannot attend excursions unless this form is returned. 

Community Notices

Contact Details