Dear Queenscliff Parents and Carers,

What a tremendous start to 2025, the year to thrive! It has been a smooth start to the school year with students settling into their new class routines, connecting with their classmates and teachers and are engaging in learning. Term 1 has flown by with many school events including Lightning Premiership competitions, Cross Country, NAPLAN, Parent Meet and Greet Interviews, information evenings, Prep to Year 2 swimming lessons and garden working bees.

Our Gardens

Over the past two weeks, students have been busy in the vegetable garden planting vegetables and herbs as part of their Science lessons with Mrs. Vistarini. I would like to extend a huge thank you to Van Loons Nursery and Wombat Gully Nursery who generously donated seedlings to our school. Thank you to Mrs. Brooke Burgess and Mrs. Sally Caldwell who have volunteered their time to assist with the planting of our vegetable garden. We look forward to seeing the garden grow in the coming weeks as the weather cools down. Students will have the opportunity in Term 2 to use the vegetables and herbs in cooking up some delicious recipes. Next term, we will have a small group of retired community members who liked to be known as the ‘Gardening Grannies’, coming into our school on Wednesday afternoons to help out in the vegetable garden. If you see them in the garden, please make them feel welcome and say ‘G’Day’. I am absolutely delighted to have them join our school community.

Our gardener, Liz Graham, who has been nurturing our gardens over the past two years will conclude her employment with our school this week. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Liz for her outstanding effort, energy and creativity she has brought to the role during this time. Liz has had an immense impact in bringing our grounds to life, planting stunning gardens with native plants and shrubs. We will certainly miss Liz! Replacing Liz as our school gardener is Riley Shapter. Riley is a local in the Borough of Queenscliffe and passionate gardener with extensive knowledge of horticulture and garden design. We look forward to Riley joining our team in the coming weeks.

New ‘No Standing/Parking’ Sign

The Borough of Queenscliffe has installed a new ‘No Standing/Parking’ sign outside the school gate on Stokes Street, near the back gate opposite the bike storage area. At school drop off and pick up times, parents are not permitted to park in this area. This has been installed by the Borough of Queenscliffe to ensure students and families exiting the school grounds have a clear line of sight of the road to enable safe road crossing. When vehicles have been parked on the side of the road in the past, it has caused the view to be blocked causing a dangerous blindspot. Thank you for your support with ensuring the safety of our students and families.

Easter Raffle

I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to all of the students and families who have donated special treats and items to contribute to our School’s Easter Raffle this year. Your contributions and donations will be bundled up into hampers. Our Easter Raffle will be drawn at our final assembly held on Friday 4 April. We invite parents and students to return the raffle ticket booklets (sold or unsold) to the school office by Wednesday 2 April. Please ensure all money is placed in an envelope along with the raffle tickets.

School Council Sausage Sizzle

On Friday 4 April, School Council will be organising a special sausage sizzle to celebrate the end of term. Students will have the opportunity to enjoy a sausage sizzle, party pie or Zooper Dooper. Families have been provided with an order form last week. Completed order forms and payment must be returned to the school office by Wednesday 2 April 2025. There will be no lunch orders via Cafe 3225 available on Friday 4 April.

If you are available to volunteer your time to assist with preparation and cooking of the sausage sizzle, please complete the registration form below.

BBQ Parent Volunteer Registration

School Review

Next term, our School will be undertaking a School Review on Monday 28 April, Monday 5 May and Monday 12 May. Over the three days, a panel made up of an independent reviewer, two external principals, a staff member and our School Council President will meet to review the School’s Strategic Plan. The panel will conduct classroom observations and will meet with parent focus groups, staff, students and school leadership to gain an understanding of the achievements and strengths of the school over the past four years. The panel will support the school in developing targets and goals for the next phase, involving the development of a new School Strategic Plan that will occur over the next four years.

Class Reps Catch Up

On Wednesday 19 March, Melissa Fitzgerald and I met with our 2025 Class Representatives at Cafe 3225. It was a wonderful catch up with parents to discuss school events, operations and communication. We were able to provide further clarification and information regarding school matters related to uniform, camps, grounds and gardens projects, stationery packs, specialist programs and curriculum. Parents are encouraged to reach out and connect with their child’s Class Representative to get to know them and to seek their support if you have any questions or concerns as they may be able to assist you. I understand the Class Representatives have setup Whatsapp Group messages for each class and families may wish to join if they choose. The Whatsapp Groups have been setup to support communication about school-related events and to assist families in organising class events and activities outside of school to foster greater connection within our school community.

Prep - Brooke Burgess and Kiara Atkinson

Year 1 - Alex Wyatt

Year 2 - Laura Clarke and Sarah Forsythe

3/4T - Lauren Vosbergen

3/4R - Kelly Clifford

5/6C - Tsari Thapa

5/6H - Lisa Golightly and Elisa Brent

5/6T - Kim High

Specialist Programs at QPS

I understand many families continue to have questions regarding why our school is no longer offering Japanese as a specialist subject. To provide context for families, Victorian schools are funded by the Government to offer up to 4 hours of specialist subjects to students. As a result, we are unable to offer additional subjects as specialists as there is no funding allocated for a fifth hour to our school.

Based on this funding constraint, our school had to evaluate the quality of the specialist curriculum programs, consider parent and student preferences and take into consideration the strengths and skill set of our school staff in making the determination on what specialist subjects we would offer in 2025. Based on these factors, it was decided that Performing Arts would take preference over Japanese. This decision was founded upon:

• Student and parent preferences

• The impact of Performing Arts in building student confidence and presentation skills, as well as opportunities for students to perform in special events including the Geelong Arts Festival and the School Musical.

• The academic rigour and quality of the curriculum program

• The knowledge, skills and expertise of our staff leading these specialist programs

• Majority of our students do not go to one feeder local high school when they enrol in Year 7. Instead most of our students go to a range of different public, catholic and independent high schools who all have different language programs, not just Japanese. As a result, students have to begin learning a new language when they move into their chosen high school in Year 7.

In an ideal world, it would be great if our school was funded to offer a fifth specialist subject. Students will still have the opportunity to learn a language during First Nations studies in Semester 2 whereby they will learn Wadawurrung language with Mrs. Kelly Caldwell. If families are truly committed to their child learning a language, I encourage you to explore Duolingo online language program or seek language tuition outside of school hours. I hope that this provides families with further information and context behind the decision regarding specialist subjects at our school. I am more than happy to meet with parents or carers who have concerns regarding the changes to discuss it further.

Assembly

Our final assembly for Term 1 will be held on Friday 4 April. Parents, carers and community members are invited to join us for this special celebration whereby we will have Prep, 5/6T, PE and Performing Arts showcasing their learning.

School Council

Our new School Council met together for the first time on Monday 24 March, with Daniela Sayegh and Fleur Hewitt as new members. The Council elected Daniela Sayegh as our new School Council President, with Naomi Stacey as Deputy President of the School Council. Please join me in congratulating Daniela and Naomi on their appointed positions within the School Council. If you have correspondence or feedback you would like to provide to the School Council, parents and carers are invited to email Daniela at daniela.sayegh@education.vic.gov.au.

Our next School Council meeting will be held on Monday 19 May in Term 2. I look forward to meeting with our 2025 School Council members to discuss school operations and planning for 2025.

I hope our students and families have a wonderful, relaxing Autumn holiday break and enjoy spending time with loved ones over the Easter break. On Tuesday 22 April, our staff will participate in a Curriculum Day.

Term 2 will commence on Wednesday 23 April 2025.

Stay safe! Stay warm!

Nyatne baa Gobata

(Thank you and take care)

Mat McRae

Principal

Performing Arts – Term 1

This term in Performing Arts, students from Prep to Grade 6 engaged in a range of activities designed to develop their acting, vocal, dance and improvisation skills.

Our Prep to Grade 2 students explored the world of fairytales, focusing on character creation through voice and facial expressions. They then worked on short scripts and performed fairytale skits, demonstrating their growing confidence and ability to bring stories to life.

In Grades 3-6, students participated in a series of workshops and auditions that covered character development, acting techniques, vocal training, and choreography. They explored how to effectively convey emotions, build relationships between characters, and use movement to enhance their performances. Vocal workshops focused on breath control, pitch, diction, and emotional delivery, with students learning how to utilise different vocal registers, including head voice, chest voice, and mixed voice.

A key focus this term was improvisation, where students developed their ability to think quickly and adapt in performance settings. Through a variety of theatre sports games, they strengthened their creativity, confidence, and teamwork skills.

The term concluded with auditions for Shrek Jr. The Musical, an exciting opportunity for students to apply the skills they have developed. The anticipation for the cast announcement has been high, and we look forward to seeing the production come to life in the coming terms.

It has been a fantastic term in Performing Arts, with students demonstrating enthusiasm, creativity, and growth in their performance abilities. We look forward to building on these skills next term and continuing to foster a love of the performing arts.

Wishing all students and families a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Mrs Petrie