Macquarie Memo Issue 18

News from our Principal

We have been delighted to have our playgroup up and running. If you have friends with little ones who would like to get out and socialise on a Wednesday morning, let them know to visit our school café for playgroup from 9:00-10:00am.

Last week we had our first Stay and Play session for our preschool students for 2025. It was wonderful to see them enjoying the space and meeting some of our new families.

This Thursday we have our kindergarten information session at 4:00pm in The Namadgi Building (Kindy room) and our preschool information session at 4:30pm in the library.  We are excited to meet our new and continuing families on Thursday.

Next week (week 7), we have Aqua Safe week for year 2 students. All information regarding Aqua Safe has been sent to families and if you have any questions, please contact Emma Murphy.

In week 4 we had our first Student-Centred Improvement Visit; these visits will now happen annually as part of the new Student-Centred Improvement model. This year we focussed on our Professional Learning Community (PLC) model, we received some wonderful feedback and will now look at next steps for our PLCs to continue to focus on student learning.

We are extremely excited about Macquarie Primary School’s production of The Lorax. Our staff and students have been working tirelessly to ensure a wonderful show. More details about how the nights will work and tickets etc were sent home this week.

We have moved our week 8 assembly to Wednesday of week 7 so it doesn’t clash with setting up for the musical. Year 1 will be hosting our week 7 assembly at 2:10pm. 

Thank you, families, for filling in class preferences for 2025, we are currently working on forming classes for 2025. On Monday the 16  December we will be having a move up afternoon where students will get to meet their class and teachers for 2025.

Have a wonderful week.

Kind regards

Kristy

SCHOOL BOARD VACANCIES..

POSITIONS VACANT: Macquarie Primary School Board Member

The Macquarie School Board is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the school and acting in the best interests of the school and its students.

The board meets regularly throughout the year and is comprised of representative members from various stakeholder groups e.g. parent/caregiver members, P&C association and/or local community members, staff members, and student members (applicable to high school and college students).

Several board positions will become vacant in March 2025, and we will seek nominations in early Term 1 to fill the following roles:

• 1x parent member – 1/4/2025-31/3/2027

To learn more about the roles and responsibilities of board members, visit the School Boards page.

Further information about the nomination process will be provided early Term 1.

School Stationery Packs 2025

Dear Families,

Macquarie Primary School has sourced the stationery requirement for all children from Preschool to Year 6 with the necessary consumables and stationery supplies for the school year. K-6 children receive exercise books, folders, pencils, rulers, glue sticks, scissors, set of headphones etc at the start of the school year and Preschool children are provided with writing materials, all craft and program supplies and a calico library bag.

Having the school order these stationery materials creates consistency across the school and gives us access to specialist materials which sometimes are not available or are difficult for parents to find at local stores. Additionally, by purchasing in bulk, the school is able to obtain a more cost-effective price for materials used throughout the school year.  To ensure your child has a 2025 stationery pack  ready for day one  of school, please fill in the order form attached and return it to the office by 17 December 2024.

For 2025 the cost of the consumables and stationery pack is $80 per child and may be made as one payment or by instalments.  Payment options are listed below.  Should you require financial assistance please contact the front office.

Our school office team will be happy to assist If you have any queries regarding the stationery packs.

Regards

Kristy Grant

Principal

2025 Stationery and Book Packs

Student Name:_________________________                 2025   Year Level:_______________________

Payment Options - cashless payments are preferred

Option1:  Electronic Funds transfer

EFT Details

Account Name:                  Macquarie Primary School Management Account

BSB Number:                      032 777                     

Account Number:             001586

Use reference:                  Child’s Name 2023 STATIONERY

Option 2:  Quickweb

Quickweb Details:

Go to our school website and follow the prompts on the payment page

Use reference:                  Child’s Name 2023 STATIONERY

Option 3:  Cash or cheque paid directly to the Front Office in a sealed envelope labelled with your child’s name and year group.

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

Disco wrap-up

The disco was a huge success! There was glitz, glamour and a definite red carpet vibe from all the students. Judging by the enthusiastic pizza eating and dancing, the kids had a great time.

Special thanks to our amazing volunteers and the ever-cool DJ Snap! The disco would not have been a success without you. The school community is lucky to have such wonderful volunteers – thank you!

Canberra High School P&C invitation

The Canberra High School P&C invite any interested parents and carers from Macquarie to join their last meeting for the year on Tuesday 26 November at 6pm, followed by an informal gathering to celebrate the end of the year. This may be of particular interest to families whose children are planning to attend Canberra High School next year.

The Canberra High P&C is a group of parents and carers who contribute to the school and students through community building, events, running the second-hand uniform store, and helping raise funds for activities, services and equipment.

Please RSVP to: secretary@chs.pandc.asn.au, or check out their website: https://www.canberrahs.act.edu.au/community/p_and_c

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

Bring a picnic and your family and friends to The Canberra Times Carols by Candlelight.

Stage 88, Commonwealth Park, December 7, from 6.30pm.

Entry is free.

This year marks the 80th Carols by Candlelight, so we would particularly welcome those with a long-standing interest in the event to join us. 

The Carols are brought to you by The Canberra Times, Woden Valley Youth Choir, 2CA/2CC, National Capital Authority, Canberra Southern Cross Club, Eclipse Sound and Lighting, ECG Electrical, Canberra City Band and charity partner Lifeline. 

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.