Dear QPS Families,

World Teacher’s Day

Today, we celebrate World Teachers' Day, a special opportunity to recognise and acknowledge the extraordinary contribution teachers make to the lives of our students, families and wider school community. This year's theme, 'Shine a Light on Teachers', is a wonderful reminder of the profound and lasting impact teachers have, not only on student learning and achievement, but also on their confidence, wellbeing and sense of belonging.

At Queenscliff Primary School, we are incredibly fortunate to have an exceptional team of teachers who bring such passion, dedication, expertise and care to their work each and every day. Our teachers go above and beyond to create engaging, inclusive and supportive learning environments where every child is known, valued and encouraged to achieve their personal best. Their commitment extends far beyond the classroom, through the relationships they build, the opportunities they create and the countless ways they support, inspire and champion our students.

Great teachers do so much more than teach. They inspire curiosity, build confidence, nurture a love of learning and help shape the people our children become. Often, it is the small moments of encouragement, kindness, patience and belief in a child's potential that leave the greatest and most lasting impression.

As Principal, I feel incredibly privileged to work alongside such a talented, committed and caring team of educators. I see firsthand the thought, effort and heart that goes into everything they do, often well beyond the school day.

I encourage all of our students and families to take a moment to show their gratitude and appreciation for our wonderful teachers. Whether it is writing a heartfelt note, creating a special card or artwork that can be treasured for years to come, or simply taking the time to say, "Thank you. We appreciate everything you do for our child," these small gestures of kindness and appreciation can mean so much. Often, it is the simplest words of gratitude that leave the most lasting impression and remind our teachers of the incredible difference they make every day.

To all of our wonderful QPS teachers, thank you! Thank you for your professionalism, your unwavering commitment to our students and the genuine care you bring to our school each day. You make an extraordinary difference, and our school community is richer because of you.

OSHC Parent Survey - All Parents to Complete

Queenscliff Primary School Council is seeking feedback from our school community regarding the Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) service provided by TheirCare. TheirCare commenced operating at Queenscliff Primary School in Term 4, 2025, providing Before School Care and After School Care for our students and families.

TheirCare provide OSHC to students from QPS, St Aloysious Primary School and Point Lonsdale Primary School.

Over the past year, School Council has observed a decline in the number of families accessing After School Care particularly from Queenscliff Primary School families. We are keen to better understand the experiences, needs and preferences of our school community, including families who currently use the service, those who have previously used it and those who have never accessed OSHC.

Your feedback will help School Council and school leadership identify opportunities to strengthen the service and ensure that it continues to meet the needs of our families.

We encourage all families to complete the survey, regardless of whether you currently use OSHC.

To access the survey, click the link below.

Queenscliff Primary School OSHC Parent and Carer Survey

We invite all QPS Families to complete the survey by Friday 30 October. We would like all families to complete the survey so that we can gain your valuable insights and perspectives. The survey has been divided into 5 sections. Please see below details for further information.

Survey Structure

The survey is broken down into 5 sections. All families are encouraged to complete Section 1 and 5. Section 2-4 is to be completed by families who it is most relevant to.

Section 1 – All families to complete

Section 2 – Families currently using TheirCare Service

Section 3 – Families who have reduced their use of TheirCare Service

Section 4 – Families who have not used TheirCare Service before

Section 5 – All families to complete

The survey is anonymous and should take approximately 5 minutes to complete. Responses will be considered collectively to inform future discussions and planning.

An Update on Our Planting Working Bees

While we are delighted with the progress being made, we have experienced some delays to our anticipated completion timeline. As a result, we have made the decision to postpone our family planting working bees until Term 1, 2027.

With the warmer summer months approaching, and predictions of some extremely hot days ahead, we believe it is important to delay the planting of smaller grasses and shrubs until more favourable conditions return. Planting young tube stock during periods of intense summer heat can significantly impact their establishment and survival. By postponing this stage until Term 1, we will give our new plants the best possible opportunity to establish and thrive.

Construction and landscaping will continue throughout this term, including the planting of larger trees, with the remaining smaller-scale planting to be completed alongside our school community next year.

We are particularly looking forward to inviting our students, families and community members to be part of our planting working bees in 2027.

While construction continues, we remind all students and families that the taped-off construction areas remain strictly out of bounds. These restrictions are in place to ensure everyone's safety while contractors complete their work.

Students who ride bikes or scooters to school should continue to access the bike storage area through the side gates. Once bikes and scooters have been safely stored, students are asked to enter the school grounds via the entrance near the school office, rather than walking through the construction area.

We appreciate the patience and understanding of our students and families as this exciting project progresses. It has been fantastic to see the curiosity and enthusiasm of our students as they watch the space evolve, and we cannot wait to see our Nature Play Space become a vibrant environment for learning, play and connection with Country.

2027 Transition Day - Week 10

On Tuesday 8 December 2026, students will participate in a Transition Day. This will involve your child spending time in their new classroom with their new class for 2027 and they will meet their new class teacher. The transition session will occur from 9:00am until 1:30pm. The Transition Day aims to reduce your child’s anxieties and worries about the commencement of school in 2027 in knowing more about their class and teacher for the following year. Students will participate in a range of activities throughout Transition Day including 'getting to know you' tasks, team building initiatives and developing classroom expectations and agreements for 2027. Students will receive a letter from their teacher and will have an opportunity to write a letter to their new teacher to tell them about themselves, how they learn best, strengths and their interests. After lunch, students will resume back in their current classes for the remainder of the day. Our new 2027 Prep Class will be connected with a Year 5 student who will be their Year 6 Buddy in 2027. Students will be informed of their class and teacher for 2027 prior to the Transition Day on Tuesday 8 December.

Class Placements for 2027

This leads me to describe the process by which students are assigned to classes. The decision as to which class a student is assigned is based on academic, social, and behavioural considerations, friendships and discouraging combinations of students who do not work well together. The process is thorough, as we are committed to making it work for each student, based on what we know of them in our school setting. We want all our classes to be balanced academically, socially and behaviourally to achieve optimal learning conditions for all students.

All students will have an opportunity to nominate preferences of peers they would like to have in their class in 2027. We will ensure your child has more than one peer preference in their class next year.

While we are not in the business of having parents choose their child’s teacher, if you have a legitimate and compelling concern about class allocation for your child or would like to provide further information about your child that you feel would be useful for our school to know when forming classes for 2027, please ensure that this information is emailed directly to the Principal by Friday 6 November 2026 at Mathew.mcrae@education.vic.gov.au .

Parents and carers are encouraged to refer to our School’s Class Placement Policy for further information. There will be no changes made to student placements in classes for 2027 after classes are announced prior to Transition Day. Our school deeply considers every child’s academic, social, emotional needs whilst ensuring classes are balanced with learning needs, personalities and dynamics to optimise learning for all. As a small school, we are limited with options due to the number of students enrolled at the school.

Assessment and Reporting

The Department of Education has updated its student reporting policy to support a more consistent statewide approach to reporting student achievement and progress. The changes are intended to make reports clearer for parents and easier for teachers to prepare. Where comments are used, they provide plain English information about what a student has learned, and the progress they have made. The updated approach will also improve the consistency of information shared when students move between schools, particularly from primary to secondary school.

What's changing in our reports for Semester 2:

Your child's report will illustrate their progress and achievements in each learning area, showing:

• your child's achievement level in each learning area for that semester. This will be rated against a 5-point scale.

• their progress since the last report

• A brief summary comment from your child’s classroom teacher

• A general rating of your child’s effort and behaviour in all subject areas, including Specialists

Our school reports will now only have one teacher comment outlining students academic achievement and progress, learning behaviours and social development. Comments will no longer be provided in the report from Specialist Teachers. All primary schools across Victoria are required to update their Student Reports to align with the new policy.

Parents are encouraged to review the updated Department’s Assessment and Reporting Policy for further information.

Parent Payments for 2027 - Stationery Orders

Information regarding book packs and parent payments for 2027 will be sent out to families in the coming week. We encourage families to look out for this information on Compass. This includes details for stationery and book packs, curriculum and other contributions. All parent payments will be undertaken through the WINC portal as done last year for the 2026 school year.

In order for our school to offer quality resources and equipment for our specialist programs and other educational programs, we require support from our parent community through Parent Payments for 2027 under ‘Curriculum’ and ‘Other Contributions’. The outline for each area of the Parent Payments will be provided for each year level. Parent Payments make a significant contribution to supporting the success of educational programs, building and grounds improvements, administration and wellbeing supports for students.

WINC are offering free delivery to families’ home addresses if your order is over $60 and completed through the WINC portal by 5th December 2025. All orders after this date will be required to pay a delivery fee of $12.95.

Students are required to bring their stationery book pack supplies to school on their first day, Friday 29 January 2027. Please do not label individual books, stationery items, including pencils, sharpeners, whiteboard markers and rubbers. Families are requested to send their Stationery Packs in with their child on the first day of school in 2027.

There will be Curriculum Days (student free days) on Wednesday 27 January and Thursday 28 January 2027.

For families experiencing financial difficulties, we encourage you to contact the school via phone or email - queenscliff.ps@education.vi.gov.au for further assistance with a payment plan. In addition to this, some families may wish to setup payments for the Curriculum and Other Contributions on Compass to be paid in 2027.

Assembly

We invite families to attend our next school assembly on Friday 13 November at 9:00am. We will have class showcases from Year 1, 5/6C, 3/4F and Year 2.

School Council

Our next School Council meeting is scheduled for Monday 16th November 2026. This will be our final School Council meeting for the school year. If you have correspondence or feedback you would like to provide to the School Council, parents and carers are invited to email our School Council President, Daniela Sayegh at daniela.sayegh@education.vic.gov.au .

Nyatne baa Gobata

(Thank you and take care)

Mat McRae

Principal