Mary Queen of Heaven Newsletter Term 2 – Week 4

Every year we work with the Make a Wish foundation, a foundation who brings wishes to life for very sick children. This is supported by our friends at Hungry Jacks, who provide encouragement awards for our children- Felicity hands these out in her PE classes.  This year as a fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation we will be holding a CRAZY HAIR DAY.  Friday 27th June, please come to school with your most creative, most crazy hair and donate a gold coin to the Make a Wish.

This year’s book week theme is ‘Book an Adventure.’  We will be hosting a Book Week Parade on Friday 29th August.  We are giving you plenty of time to plan your creative outfits for our Book Week dress up and parade!

Thursday 11th September we will be hosting a Grand Italian Carnevale.  This extravaganza will showcase all of the learning our students have been doing during their LOTE (Italian)  lessons.  The children are invited to dress inspired by all things ‘ITALY.’ This will be an after school event for the whole family and other members of our community, we hope to see extended family and friends attend.  More information to come.

Seesaw: A Window Into Your Child’s Learning

At Mary Queen of Heaven, Seesaw is more than just a digital portfolio—it’s a powerful way to keep you connected to your child’s learning journey.

Real-Time Evidence of Learning

Seesaw captures what your child is learning as it happens, through photos, videos, voice recordings, and written work. This helps teachers assess both day-to-day progress and overall growth.

Stronger Home-School Connections

You’ll get a real-time glimpse into classroom activities, milestones, and special moments. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate your child’s achievements and stay involved, even when you’re not at school.

Aligned to the Curriculum

Each post is linked to specific curriculum goals and learning intentions, so you can clearly see what your child is learning and why it matters.

Student Voice and Reflection

Seesaw encourages students to explain their thinking and reflect on their progress using voice, video, or writing. This helps build confidence, independence, and deeper understanding.

How You Can Engage Through Seesaw:

Leave a comment to celebrate your child’s efforts and encourage their learning.

Ask your child to walk you through a post and explain what they learned.

Look for the learning intention in each post to see how it connects to the curriculum.

Encourage your child to record or write reflections at home too—it’s a great way to practise!

Together, let’s nurture a love of learning and celebrate every step of the journey!

Your Child’s Semester 1 Report

Later this term, you will receive your child’s first report for 2025, providing a snapshot of their learning achievements across Terms 1 and 2. These reports are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your child’s growth and shine a light on their progress in all learning areas.

What’s new in 2025?

This year, student reports will have a refreshed format to better reflect your child’s learning journey:

• Prep Reports
  Prep families will continue to receive a checklist-style report showing how your child is progressing across all learning areas.

• Years 1–6 Reports
  Children in Years 1 to 6 will receive:
  • A checklist for English, Mathematics, and Specialist classes that gives insight into specific areas of strength and focus.

  • Progression points aligned to the Victorian Curriculum across all relevant learning areas.

Update to Mathematics Reporting
This year, Mathematics will include a single progression point that reflects learning across all three strands:

• Number & Algebra

• Measurement & Geometry

• Statistics & Probability

The accompanying checklist will offer greater detail to help you understand your child’s progress and strengths in each of these key areas.

We encourage you to take the time to read through your child’s report, celebrate their achievements, and talk with them about their learning goals for the remainder of the year.

Throughout the week we hosted our Family Engagement Learning Walks with a focus on Maths, and we were thrilled with the turnout—around 45 parents joined us, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. During these walks, we delved into our approach to the maths hour at  Mary Queen of Heaven. Families witnessed lessons in action and saw the use of daily reviews, explicit teaching, target groups, independent practice and the use of concrete materials. 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 maths learning at home.

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

On Sunday, 11th May, our parish community came together to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Parish of the Good Shepherd. The celebration, led by the Most Reverend Archbishop Peter Comensoli, along with Fr. Dishan, Fr. Samuel, Deacon Vakauta, and neighbouring priests was a beautiful celebration of reflection and gratitude for our parish’s journey of faith, the many blessings received over the years, and the dedicated service of clergy and parishioners past and present.

First Eucharist

 On Sunday 25th May our Grade 4 students will be making their First Eucharist, please keep them in your prayers as they approach this special time in their spiritual journey.

Feast of the Good Shepherd

Earlier this week we celebrated the Feast of The Good Shepherd.  Our year 5 and 6 students bussed down to School of The Good Shepherd, where they met year 5 and 6s from our two sister schools – Good Shepherd and St Carlos.  It was a wonderful day of connection with our Parish schools. Our students engaged in a discussion with guest speaker: Ezekiel Bartlett from  JUSTONE.  

“The Good Shepherd is more than just a leader, more than a just a friend, and more than just a caretaker. The Good Shepherd is all these qualities in their perfection. It’s important to ask ourselves who the Good Shepherd is and really get to know Him. The more we know Him, the more we can understand how He leads us, how He befriends us, and how He takes care of us. When we allow the Good Shepherd to shepherd us, we are not only being loved and protected by the greatest Shepherd of all, we are also then asked to become like the Good Shepherd. When we’re in His flock and a part of His team, He asks us to bring everyone into the fold as well. It’s our mission to be like the Good Shepherd and help make sure that no sheep is left behind.”

Friendships 

It’s completely age appropriate for children to have trouble making friends now and then. If your child is finding it tough, there are simple ways you can support them.

Here are some ways to support:  

• Start with little social tips. For example, remind your child to say something like, “Hi, I’m Kaia. What’s your name?” when meeting new kids.
• Kids often become friends by playing together. But it can be tricky if your child doesn’t know how the game works. You can help by making sure they understand the rules of games other kids are playing. If they don’t enjoy those games, they could invite others to play something they do like. Bringing a ball or a fun game to share can also help.
• Encourage your child to join lunch time clubs as a way of meeting and engaging with others during the lunch breaks. 

For more information here is a very helpful website and article- https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/connecting-communicating/connecting/supporting-friendships 

Child Safe Standards

This is Part 8 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 8:

Schools must ensure that staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.

At MQH we:

• have a Mental Health in Schools Leader who is trained
• complete professional learning in relation to PROTECT annually for all staff
• are specifically trained and informed of how to manage educations and health needs of students in our care
• have briefings pre and post special events and post critical incidents
• are trained in the use of Berry Street methods
• maintain a consistent continuum of response
• ensure all volunteers read and sign the child safe policy/code of conduct
• enforce volunteer education
• monitor students at all times
• have consistent induction protocols and document staff expectations in our staff handbook
• have a social media policy

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

Bike and Scooters in the school grounds

It is fantastic to see many students riding and scooting to school. 

It is important to follow our school rules in relation to this. Upon 

arriving at school, all students must dismount from their bikes at the gate and walk their bikes to the storage area. At the end of the day, students must walk their bike though the school grounds and only ride their bikes beyond the gates.

It is an expectation that parents support the school in following these rules that keep our community safe.

May is Asthma Awareness Month.

Approximately 11% of Australians are diagnosed with Asthma. If your child has Asthma or experiences changes in their Asthma symptoms or their plan is altered by the doctor, please keep the school updated. At Mary Queen of Heaven we encourage children to use a spacer along with their inhaler medications. This is stored alongside their medication in the first aid room and taken with the child on excursions and camps. All staff are trained in Asthma emergency management.

Asthma Australia recommends the following steps to treat an Asthma attack

This term in Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2, students have been learning about design and creation through hands-on activities that promote creativity and problem-solving skills.

Bubble Wands: Students designed and crafted their own bubble wands, experimenting with different shapes and materials, and reflected on which designs worked best.

Monster Creations: 

Using a variety of craft materials, students brought their imaginative monsters to life, carefully considering the features and functions in their designs.

These engaging activities have helped students understand the design process while encouraging critical and innovative thinking.

In Grades 3/4 and 4/5/6, students have begun an exciting project focused on designing and creating products that address real-world needs. 

Students explored real-world problems by putting themselves in others’ shoes, developing an understanding of diverse perspectives and needs.

Building on their insights, students have started crafting prototypes that aim to address the identified issues, applying their STEM knowledge in thoughtful and creative ways.

This project is helping students develop a strong sense of social responsibility, showing them how thoughtful design can make a meaningful difference in the world.

Family engagement is very important to us here at MQH.  One of our Goals on our School Improvement Plan (a 4 year plan that keeps us accountable to growth and improvement) is

“To engage families in their children’s learning through learning walks and community conversations.”

For the past three terms we have offered family learning walks in the areas of Discovery/Projects, Wellbeing and this week Mathematics.  We are absolutely delighted with the take up from families, your attendance shows us that you are really interested in learning more about the how and why of curriculum on offer here at school.  Thank you to those families who have attended and warm welcome to families who may be considering attending in the future.  Our term 3 Family Learning Walks will be around Literacy at MQH.