Mary Queen of Heaven Newsletter Term 1 – Week 7

To celebrate Lent and all we are learning about Lent and Holy Week our children will be involved in a passion play on  Wednesday 2nd April 9:15am.

Following our Passion Play we will be drawing our Easter Raffle.  We are asking families to donate large, medium and small easter eggs for us to make up into hampers. 

Raffle tickets will be organised and sent home in the coming days.

This Sunday 16th March, 11am we invite all of our families to a Mary Queen of Heaven Parish Mass.  Our staff will be there to gather in prayer for our school community.

Parish of The Good Shepherd,

88 South Circular Road, Gladstone Park

11am

At times, circumstances in families can change.  It might be a new baby, the death of a pet or family member, moving house etc.  At times like this, we really need to know!  Likewise if there is a new diagnosis, developing behaviors at home or something that is worrying you about your child, please let us know.  All of these add to the story of your little person and can help shape the way we support and interact with them.

Last Monday we gathered for our first Parish School Board meeting.  It was an excellent opportunity to share with the Board our Annual Action Plan goals for 2025 and discuss our vision and plans moving forward.  

Annual Action Plan Goals – 2025

Goal 1 – To improve student Literacy outcomes in year P-2, particularly in the area of phonics, phonological awareness & spelling 

Goal 2 – To improve student outcomes in Mathematics in years 3-6, particularly the area of number and place value. 

Goal 3 –To improve student outcomes in Literacy in years 3-6, particularly in the area of vocabulary, oral language and comprehension.

Goal 4 – To further develop the schools approach to Inquiry though Discovery and Projects

Goal 5 –To engage families in their children’s learning through learning walks and community conversations

Our AAP goals are at the forefront of our planning for 2025.  They are linked to all Professional Learning Team meetings, Staff Meetings and Professional Learning school closure days.  We set targets against these goals and use our data collections to help measure success.  In an effort to build transparency with our families we began family learning walks last week.  These will continue throughout the year with our term 2 learning walk focussing on Maths.

If you have a Prep beginning in 2026 please ensure you enrol them before March 31st (this includes current families with younger children.)  If you have family or friends looking for a place at MQH for 2025 and beyond we still have some places available across the school.  Please direct them to the school office.

This is Part 6 in the series of explanations of the standards

Child Safe Standards are guidelines designed to protect children from harm and ensure their well-being in various environments, particularly in organisations and institutions that engage with children. In Victoria, there are 11 Child Safe Standards. 

Standard 6:

Schools must ensure that people working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice

At MQH we:

• engage in professional learning on child safety
• have qualified and registered (VIT and WWCC) staff
• maintain sign in protocols for volunteers
• ensure line of sight of educators and leaders while working
• complete reference checks on all employees
• complete full induction for new staff that includes the child safe policy/code of conduct
• consistently adhere to the continuum of response, school rules and behaviour expectations
• maintain appropriate staff/student ratios
• conduct wellbeing check-ins

An overview of all standards can be found at: https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/the-11-child-safe-standards/

Going to school every day is the most important part of your child’s education. There are no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind and can affect their educational outcomes and their social connectedness. The best thing you can do is support your child to get to school every day. A positive attitude towards school, healthy habits and routines, and parental involvement can support your child’s regular school attendance and prevent chronic absence patterns.

Establish positive habits to promote attendance 

• Set good bedtime and morning routines to make the process of getting to school smoother for everyone. Try to prepare as much as possible the night before, e.g. school uniform, school bag packed. 
• Ensure your child gets enough sleep and exercise to support their physical and mental health. 
• Talk positively about the importance of school attendance with your child. Explain that it is an important part of growing up, a legal obligation and that you expect them to attend every day. 
• Show an interest in your child’s school and become involved where possible. Keep notes, newsletters, etc. in a place where they are visible reminders of school news for the whole family. Talk about school activities in a positive manner. 
• Discuss any changes to usual routines in advance with your child, such as alternative drop-off and pick-up arrangements, to ensure clarity and minimise anxiety

For any support or further information feel free to contact Sarah Brown.

Picture  Story Books and Maths 

Children can discover mathematical concepts as they engage with storybooks. Books filled with themes of numbers, measurement, geometry, and problem-solving are likely already on your shelf. These books tap into kids’ interests, past experiences, and existing math knowledge. They offer fresh frameworks for understanding mathematical ideas, vocabulary, and skills such as problem-solving, communication, making connections, and reasoning.

Here are some examples of Questions you could ask: 

• How many people can you see? 
• Who is taller, shorter, the same size? 
• What is a number before and a number after? 
• Can you double the number? What is the near double? Eg 5 and 6 or 6 and 6 
• Can you order the objects? Eg First, second, third 
• Talk about directional language- What is behind the pond? What is in front of the dog? 
• How many cats can you see?  

In term 1, Life Saving Victoria will be coming to Mary Queen of Heaven to educate the children on the importance of water safety. The children will learn how to read key safety signs, to ensure they have the tools to ‘be aware and be prepared’ before visiting local waterways. 

They will learn how to recognise dangers i.e. rip currents, and learn the first 3 steps of emergency response sequence (DRS), whilst participating in age appropriate, real life scenarios. Children will learn how to wear lifejackets safely, and practice using various safety equipment.

This program is essential for children to be safe in and around water, especially during the warmer months. We are very excited to offer this program, and know the children will learn many vital skills to be able to make informed decisions, if ever in a water danger situation. 

Family Learning Walks 

Last week, we hosted our Family Engagement Learning Walks with a focus on Wellbeing, and we were thrilled with the turnout—around 45 parents joined us, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. During these walks, we delved into the reasoning behind and the methods of our wellbeing approach at Mary Queen of Heaven. Families left with a deeper understanding that wellbeing isn’t just a once-a-week lesson, but is embedded in our entire school philosophy. Parents were impressed by how calm, engaged, and independent our children appeared, and they highlighted the peaceful atmosphere in our learning spaces. They witnessed Wellbeing lessons in action, participated in our Mindful Practice after recess, and observed our visible wellbeing strategies throughout the school. The Learning Walks provided a valuable opportunity to strengthen our connection with families, giving them insight into their child’s learning while equipping them with a shared language and strategies to support their child’s wellbeing at home.

We look forward to hosting future Learning Walks in the upcoming terms. 

School photos have been taken today by Advanced Life Photography. Orders are to be placed no later then the 23/03/2025 via the Advanced Life Photography website.

Please see the attached flyer for information on how to order.

Order Flyer_Mary Queen of Heaven Primary School (2)