Dear Queenscliff Parents and Carers,
This week we mark the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. Occurring on the 21st of June in the Southern Hemisphere, the solstice signals the turning point of the seasons, as days gradually begin to lengthen. For thousands of years, cultures around the world have celebrated this moment with festivals, stories, and traditions that honour the return of the sun and the promise of warmer days ahead. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us all to reflect, reset, and appreciate the natural rhythms of the Earth
Excellence Certificates
Congratulations to our Excellence Certificate recipients. Two students were presented with their special Excellence Certificates at our assembly held on Friday 13 June, after earning 10 Excellence Stamps in their diaries.
Congratulations to:
Excellence Certificates | |
|---|---|
Year 2 | Max Mclean |
Year 3/4R | Macy Monahan |
Year 2 and Year 6 Arcare Visit
On Friday 13 June, our Year 2 students joined by Mrs. Hickey and Mrs. Petrie visited Arcare residents to perform a range of songs, including ‘Waltzing Matilda’, ‘You are my Sunshine’ and ‘Do-Re-Mi’. Our students brought an incredible amount of entertainment and joy to the residents, with many residents expressing their gratitude to our students and teachers for their visit. Next Monday 23 June, a group of Year 6 students joined by Mr. Churchill will visit Arcare to build new connections, share stories and gain new learnings. Our school is keen to develop greater connections with Arcare as part of our School’s vision to have our students increase their contributions to our wider community, making a positive and memorable impact on others. See more photos and videos in our Performing Arts News this week by clicking below:
Prep’s Milo Surprise Party
On Thursday 12 June, Mrs. Morris and our Prep students celebrated their efforts in learning key phonemes and letter sounds as part of their Little Learners Love Literacy program with a ‘Milo’s Surprise Party’ event. Our Preps came to school dressed up as a character representative of a letter sound that they have been learning as part of their phonics program. Parents/carers joined us for the special occasion, participating in literacy activities and enjoying delicious party food. We had students dress up as ‘Sally the Snake’, ‘Jack the Jellyfish’, ‘Cooper the Caterpillar’, ‘Leo the Lion’ and more. The creativity in costumes was outstanding and all of our Prep students should feel incredibly proud of their efforts in learning key sounds for letters over the past two terms. Thank you to our wonder Prep parents for your support in making this event so memorable for our students. Well done to our Prep class and Mrs. Morris.
Shrek Student Market
On Thursday 12 June, our Year 5/6 students supported by our SRC and teachers organised a ‘Shrek’ themed Student Market to raise funds for our school musical ‘Shrek Jr’ that will be held in Term 4. It was truly a spectacular event. It was brilliant to see our students showcase agency, passion, commitment and creativity in putting together stalls to sell different foods, drinks and ‘Shrek’ themed items. The Student Market hosted an array of diverse goods, from bookmarks, jewellery and baked goods to student made artworks, slushies, poetry and milkshakes. All students had an opportunity to visit the Market in the afternoon and it was wonderful to see so many parents/carers join us for the event. In total, the Student Market raised $3, 127.00 to go towards the musical, including the hiring of portable microphones, costumes and lighting.
I would like to thank parents/carers and families who supported this initiative by assisting your children with the creation of items to sell at the market and for providing donations on the day. I would like to thank Miss. Teyha Robertson for leading the SRC’s coordination of the event and our superb Year 5/6 Team, Mrs. Yvette Hurley, Mrs. Ebony Tannouri and Mr. Leigh Churchill for supporting our students to prepare and host the event. I thoroughly enjoyed the positive and dynamic vibe of the market and seeing our Year 5/6 students display such outstanding leadership and commitment to support our musical production. It was truly a very proud moment for our school, coming together and celebrating together.
OSHC Changes
The three schools in the Borough of Queenscliff; Point Lonsdale Primary School, St Aloysius Primary School and Queenscliff Primary School, recently conducted a review of Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) arrangements. Currently Lonsdale House provides OSHC service to students and families from all three schools and this is hosted at Queenscliff Primary School.
The recent survey data collected from families from all three schools has revealed that there is an increased demand for families wishing to access Outside School Hours Care (e.g. Before and After School Care and Holiday Programs). In addition to this, schools have engaged in consultation with parents, carers and staff to gain an understanding of the care needs of our community. We have identified that many families have not been able to access the current OSHC program provided by Lonsdale House due to capacity limits. Feedback was provided to Lonsdale House throughout the process regarding families having difficulty accessing the service and Lonsdale House was part of the consultation process with the three schools in ensuring that all students/families had opportunities to access the OSHC service if required.
As a result of this, the three primary schools with the support of Queenscliff Primary School School Council undertook a procurement process as the Lonsdale House Licence Agreement expired in 2024. The School Council evaluated the proposals submitted by OSHC providers and decided to engage with another OSHC service provider who is able to meet the increased demand of children and families who wish to access the service. Lonsdale House was provided with an opportunity to submit a proposal as part of the School Council’s procurement process, however, chose not to. Consultation with parents/carers was undertaken by all three schools and our School Council through formal and informal meetings to gain an understanding of the needs of our school community.
TheirCare is the OSHC provider who has been selected after a comprehensive procurement process. TheirCare is currently engaged with a diverse range of schools on the Bellarine and Geelong and offers a high-quality program for Before and After School Care and Holiday programs.
TheirCare will commence providing OSHC at Queenscliff Primary School from the beginning of Term 4. Lonsdale House will continue to provide OSHC until the end of Term 3. As a result of this, there will be increased availability for QPS families to access Before and After School Care.
As part of the transition, there will be opportunities in Term 3 for families to meet TheirCare staff and engage in a Parent Information Session online and in person to learn more about their OSHC program so that families have a deep understanding of the new service and feel supported throughout the process.
The three schools have made this decision to ensure that all families can have the opportunity to access quality Outside School Hours Care if they require it. In the coming weeks, further information will be provided to families about TheirCare and arrangements for Term 4 OSHC at Queenscliff Primary School.
Division Soccer, Netball and T-Ball
On Wednesday 18 June, our Year 5/6 boys and girls soccer teams represented our school at the Division Soccer at Myers Reserve at Bell Post Hill. Both teams competed with vigour and sportsmanship, and we are incredibly proud of their efforts in making it to the Division level. Ruby & Lenny said, “It was a really fun day – we played with great team spirit and loved playing against other teams. Everyone showed amazing sportsmanship!”
On Thursday 19 June, our girls’ netball team proudly represented QPS at the Division Netball competition held at Kardinia Park in Geelong. The girls displayed outstanding skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship as they took on teams from Clairvaux, Nazareth, St Margaret’s, and St Thomas’ Primary Schools and ended with a 7th-place finish in the highly competitive Bellarine Division.
Ruby and Olivia shared, “We loved competing against other schools – there was so much team spirit that made it really fun!”
A massive thank you goes to Mr Churchill and Mrs Tannouri for their coaching for our soccer and netball teams, conducting lunchtime training sessions and preparing our students for competition.
Next week, on Wednesday 25 June we have our T-ball Girls team competing at the Division T-Ball competition at Stead Park. We wish the Year 5/6 T-Ball Team all the best for the event.
Thank you - QBTC
Thank you to the Queenscliff Bowling Club who have provided a mini-bus free of charge to support our students in attending these Division events. We are grateful for your support.
Regional Cross Country
Congratulations to Xavier Grainger who competed in the Regional Cross Country event held at Keilor Park on Thursday 19 June. Xavier placed 16th out of 86 runners which is an outstanding achievement. Xavier is to be commended on his efforts in managing a challenging start to the cross country event, dealing with congestion of other runners. We are incredibly proud of you Xavier. You represented our school with pride, perseverance and determination. Well done!
Hannah Petrie - School Placement
Mrs. Hannah Petrie, our Wellbeing, Disability and Inclusion Leader is currently undertaking a school placement as part of her Masters of Disability Inclusion. Hannah will be on placement for the remainder of Term 2 and will recommence her position at our school at the beginning of Term 3. We wish Hannah all the best for her placement and we are looking forward to hearing about the learning she has undertaken as part of her placement.
Class Rep Meeting
Next Friday 27 June, Melissa Fitzgerald and I look forward to meeting with our Class Reps at Shelter Shed. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to meet with families to share information on school events and operations and gain valuable feedback and insights into the perspectives of our families. I encourage parents/carers to reach out to your Class Rep in the coming week to share any insights, questions or information that you would like to be discussed at the meeting.
We are grateful for the efforts of our Class Reps in setting up WhatsApp Class Group chat forums this year. The purpose of these WhatsApp groups is to build connections and positive relationships between parents/carers within classes. Ultimately, our students will feel more connected and safe at our school if families are well-connected and support one another. WhatsApp group chats are to be used to communicate key information related to school events and operations, or important reminders. In addition to this, WhatsApp group chats can be used for families to organise out of school activities for students to connect with one another, including picnics and playdates.
Parents/carers who are using the WhatsApp group chats are expected to engage in respectful communication as per our School’s Statement of Values and School Philosophy. This policy outlines behavioural expectations for school staff and parents/carers when engaging in communication with each other. In the event that communication is in breach of this policy, it may lead to further investigation led by the school and implementation of appropriate consequences including being removed from the WhatsApp class group. Thank you for your support in ensuring that our school community is one that upholds the values of respect, integrity and empathy.
Assembly
Our next assembly will be held on the final day of Term 2, Friday 4 July. Parents, carers and community members are invited to join us for this special celebration whereby we will have Prep, 5/6C and PE showcasing their learning. In addition to this, we will have a special performance from the QPS choir with Maddy Serong.
School Council
Our next School Council meeting is scheduled for Monday 23 June 2025. I look forward to meeting with our School Council to discuss school operations, upcoming events and financial planning for the school. 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
