Dear families,
This week we dedicate our prayer to Peace. With so much unrest in the world, we are reminded of the small ways we can all work towards peace. May we all take a moment this week to consider how we can bring kindness and peace to those around us, we implore our world leaders to do the same.
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.”
100 Days of Prep
Last week our Preps celebrated 100 Days of Prep. It was a day filled with fun, laughter, dress ups, reflection and celebration of just how far our little learners have come in their 100 days of Prep! Thanks to all the parents who went to a significant effort for the dress up, it was great to see everyone get so involved. Huge thanks to our Prep team for organising the day and for your continued dedication to ensuring our preps get the best out of themselves each and every day.
Winter Camp Experience
Last Friday our year ⅚ students attended their winter camp experience. Our students and staff took the early morning and chilly bus ride to Lysterfield Park, Lysterfield, where they engaged in fun team based activities that ensured their camp experience was a memorable one.
Winter Uniform
With the cold weather now upon us, it is so delightful to see our children in full Winter uniform. The mornings are cold, so seeing MQH beanies and scarves is fabulous and the outer spray jackets are a great addition to keeping the children nice and cosy. Please be reminded that items NOT purchased at the uniform shop cannot be worn. In recent weeks we have noticed some of the older students deviating from our uniform, we will be attending to this to ensure it is fair for all.
Lost Property
Our lost property box is overflowing with beautiful uniform items that are unmarked. Please ensure all pieces of your children’s clothing is marked with their first and surnames. Please come into lost property to collect any lost items.
Traffic
Thank you for the efforts you are all making to ensure that the areas immediately at the French Rd and Hillview Rd gates are now used as drop and go zones. We want to try and help the flow of traffic by ensuring these areas are quick stop, drop and go zones. If you use these areas, your children need to be independent in getting in and out of the car. They are NOT extended parking areas for families. If your children need support getting in or out of the car, we encourage you to park elsewhere and walk the children in to school.
Over the coming weeks, staff will be monitoring this and encouraging quick drop offs. Please don’t be offended if our staff ask you to move along.
Finally, our school is situated in a residential area. Please be very mindful of private driveways. At NO TIME should anyone park across a private drive way or in a private driveway. Our residential neighbours have the right to access their own driveways at anytime.
Let’s all work together to ensure our streets are safe and traffic movement is a positive experience for all.
New school crossing
You will all have noticed that a new school crossing is being installed at the Hillview entrance of our school. At its completion this will be a manned crossing. This addition will add a level of safety to the crossing of Hillview Rd for all in our community. Please start the conversation with your children now about the need to use the school crossing when crossing Hillview Rd. We will be monitoring this and ensuring that everyone only crosses at the crossing.
Late arrivals
With the traffic along Mickleham Rd still a little unpredictable, we often have children coming into school late. Can we please ask, if your children are later than 9am, they must be walked into the school office by an adult and signed in.
Junior Rockers Private Music Lessons
Each Friday, private music lessons are offered for children in years 1-6. If this is of interest to your family, please contact Junior Rockers directly for more information.
For those families with children in the music program, please be sure to check the parent portal on a regular basis where our music teacher will upload weekly class notes. At the end of term 2 a more comprehensive report will come home to each family.
Term 2
Friday 27th June Silly Hair Day (Gold Coin Donation)
Friday 4th July – last day of term 2. 1pm finish
Term 3
Monday 21st July -First day back
Friday 25th July- Grandparents Day
9am- 10:15am
Morning Tea and Classroom Visits
School Closure- Change of date now 11th August
Monday 18th August – Friday 22nd August – Book Week
Mathematics Version 2.0 Victorian Curriculum
This year at Mary Queen of Heaven we are working with the new Mathematics Curriculum. Educators engaged in professional learning last year to familiarise themselves with this curriculum.
The Victorian Curriculum F-10 Version 2.0 for Mathematics introduces a streamlined approach to teaching, learning, and assessment, building upon the previous version. Key changes include
The curriculum emphasizes the interconnectedness of the six strands: Number, Algebra, Measurement, Space, Statistics, and Probability
Changes to Reporting
In your child’s previous report, the teacher reported against the 3 strands of the achievement standard for mathematics (Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability).
This year, students will receive one progression point for Mathematics, in line with our reporting requirements. This progression point will reflect an overall judgement across the three strands of the Mathematics curriculum: Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. The progression point will be determined based on the weighting of the learning covered in each of these areas during Semester 1.
As a result, there will be no direct comparison or indicator of growth from the previous progression point.
All Victorian Schools will be reporting this way in line of the reporting guidelines, not just Mary Queen of Heaven.
Here is a link for further information- https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/foundation-10-version-2/curriculum-area-resources/mathematics-version-20/mathematics-version-20-familiarisation-resources
Our Place, Our Community
This term, our learners have been immersed in the inquiry project Our Place, Our Community. As part of this learning, our Grade 1 and 2 children had the exciting opportunity to visit the building site on campus. This real-world experience helped them make meaningful connections between their environment, the people who shape it, and their own roles and responsibilities within it.
Across the school, educators have been inspired by the way children are developing an understanding of rights and responsibilities, recognising the richness that diversity brings to our community, and engaging in deep, reflective thinking around human rights—especially in Years 3–6. It’s been powerful to witness children forming democratic views and knowing that their voices matter.
Grade 2 Inquiry snapshot
I can identify rights and responsibilities that keep me safe and respected in communities I belong to.
Language of light and shadow space – exploring community and diversity.
“This shows community and diversity. The leaves represent the diverse colours in a community. It also shows the different values people bring to communities like courage and love.” – Shaista
“Diversity is like the school values, that are different words and actions. All of us show one of these values and we all show different values.”
– Harrison
“The yarn is all different colours and lengths, this is like diversity because we are all different. We have different ideas and think different things. We can find out different things about each other.”
-Shaista
We want to celebrate the way our educators have truly integrated children’s voices, theories, and documentation into the planning process. This responsiveness is key to creating learning spaces that are alive with curiosity, dialogue, and discovery. Your innovative thinking and growing confidence in sharing ideas are driving this work forward in exciting ways.
Managing anxiety in children
The Raising Children website has some great tips to support parents when their child/ren are experiencing various forms of anxiety. Here are some top 10 tips to help support anxiety.
An interesting and scaffolded approach is to use the stepladder approach: When using the stepladder approach for anxiety, these tips can help your child get started and keep progressing through the steps:
Class Masses
In Term 3 each year level will continue to celebrate Mass in our sacred space. These smaller, more intimate gatherings provide a beautiful opportunity for families to join us in a reverent setting that also supports students in learning about and participating in the sacred rituals and prayers when we come together to share in the Eucharist.
Our Mary Queen of Heaven community are warmly invited to attend, not just those with children in the year level leading the Mass. If bringing younger siblings, please be mindful of the reverent nature of the space while knowing that these moments are also part of the students’ learning journey in faith formation.
Your presence is a powerful way to show your child how you nurture your own faith. We encourage you to attend and share in this meaningful experience with our community.
Please find our Term 3 dates:
Friday 25th July – Grade 1
Friday 8th July – Grade 2
Thursday 21st August – Feast of the Queenship of Mary.
Whole school mass led by Grade 3-6 students.
Friday 4th September – Prep Mass
Feast of the Queenship of Mary – 12.00pm Thursday 21st August 2025.
All families are welcome to attend our whole school mass to celebrate the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. On this day students will be engaging in an afternoon of whole school activities as we come together as a faith community celebrating our namesake. Please look out on Audiri for further information closer to this day.
Leaning into our faith when talking about Peace with children in an unstable world.
In a world that often feels uncertain, one of the most powerful gifts we can give our children is the language of faith. When talking about peace, remind them that true peace begins in the heart and flows from trust in God. You might say, “Even when the world feels unsettled, we can find calm by remembering that God is always with us, and Jesus teaches us to be peacemakers in our words and actions.”
Encourage your child to pray for peace, show kindness, and look for small ways to bring calm and hope to others. These simple acts remind them that they can be a light, even in uncertain times.
Ways to Enact Peace at Home
Creating a peaceful home starts with small, intentional actions. Here are some simple ways families can nurture peace each day:
Limit Noise and Screens
Protect peaceful moments by setting quiet times during meals or before bed to connect as a family.
| Child Safe Standards
This is Part 10 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 10: Schools must ensure that implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved. At MQH we:
An overview of all standards can be found at: https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/the-11-child-safe-standards/ |
Spotlight on our co educators!
At MQH, our co educators are instrumental in providing additional support to our students. They assist in providing 1 to 1 and small group targeted support. Our educators and co educators work together to implement fun, engaging and explicit learning for our little learners.
Outside of the classroom, our co educator team supports all of our special events and they even help make popcorn!
Our Co educators are an integral part of the fabric of MQH. They help each student’s light shine and we thank them for the work they do!
It’s been an action-packed time in Physical Education this term!
TERM 2 – FIELD HOCKEY PROGRAM
We were thrilled to welcome specialist hockey coaches to our school to work with students across all year levels. The children enthusiastically developed their hockey skills, including dribbling, passing, and striking, while also learning the importance of teamwork and coordination.
DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY
Our Grade 4, 5, and 6 students proudly represented MQH at the recent District Cross Country event, showcasing outstanding perseverance, determination, and sportsmanship throughout the day. 
A special congratulations goes to Stella Jacobs and Abhiroop Attwal from Grade 4, who both progressed to the Divisional round. Abhiroop went on to qualify for the Regional Championships – an incredible achievement we are all so proud of! Out of the 9 competing schools, MQH finished 6th overall – a fantastic result for our small but mighty school that continues to grow in numbers and strength.
Well done to all our participants. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for MQH’s sporting success!
GRADE 5/6 WINTER CAMP
Our Grade 5/6 Winter Camp was a huge success! Students ventured out to the Dandenongs at Lysterfield Park for a full day immersed in Bushranger Survival Skills.
Throughout the day, students were highly engaged and enthusiastic as they learned how to build shelters, administer wilderness first aid, light fires, and even explored the basics of hunting and trapping. We were guided by our incredible instructor, Calem, whose wealth of knowledge brought the experience to life. He not only taught us valuable survival techniques, but also took the time to answer all of our curious questions.
It was a day filled with hands-on learning, teamwork, and plenty of adventure. Most importantly, students built stronger connections with one another and developed key life skills in a fun and supportive outdoor environment.
We can’t wait for the next adventure!
TERM 2 – AFL FOOTY PROGRAM
To finish off Term 2, we’re excited to announce that a footy development program will be delivered by a qualified football coach in the final week of the term. Students will have the opportunity to build their AFL skills, improve their fitness, and enjoy being active outdoors as we wrap up the year with a fantastic sporting focus.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to promote a love for movement, fitness, and fair play!
Italian Update
It’s been a vibrant and productive term of Italian language learning! Students from Prep to Grade 6 have engaged in interactive and meaningful activities exploring animals and sports through stories, songs and games.
Prep students enjoyed stories like L’Orso Marrone and La Mia Famiglia è uno Zoo!, learning animal names, colours, and family vocabulary.
Grade 1 students listened to stories such as Mangia Miccio and Ho Visto una Talpa, reinforcing family, food and animal names and learning adjectives to describe animals.
This term, students revised common greetings and classroom directions through interactive games. Grade 2 particularly enjoyed using Blooket to challenge friends and practise vocabulary.
Grade 3/4 students combined their Italian and digital skills by creating animal posters in Canva, highlighting their creativity and use of descriptive language.
Grade 4/5/6 students grew more confident in conversational Italian, asking and answering questions about favourite sports. They also enjoyed playing charades to practise new sports-related vocabulary.
Bounce in 2025! – Basketball Programs for Everyone:
Come try basketball, get fit, make friends, improve your skills – a range of affordable basketball programs for:
– Beginners
– Toddlers
– Women and Mums (FREE!)
– Children with disabilities and autism
– Older adults
Click here to learn more about our July School Holiday Clinics and Term 3 Programs & register: https://www.broncosbasketball.com.au/
Or, email development@broncosbasketball.com.au to find the program that is right for you!
As we approach the end of a fantastic Term 2, the Junior Rockers’ team would like to express our gratitude for your continued support in making our music program a success. The enthusiasm and growth we’ve witnessed in our students are a testament to the collaborative efforts of your dedicated team and the incredible school community.
Special Offer for Term 3: 2x FREE lessons when you sign up for Term 3
We are offering 2x free lessons for all new students who sign up for music lessons in Term 3! This is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience our lessons and see if it’s the right fit for them.
Please see the attached flyer for more information
