Mary Queen of Heaven Newsletter Term 4 – Week 5

We’re thrilled to host our very first Art Show on Thursday, 14 November, starting from 2:30 pm! This event will showcase original artwork created by our talented students, each piece capturing their creativity and hard work.

There will be food vans on-site to keep you fueled as you explore, and we encourage you to bring cash for a variety of fun activities for the kids. Make sure you’re there at 5:00 pm, as that’s when the excitement kicks into high gear with art auctions and other surprises!

More than just an art show, this event is a celebration of our school community’s spirit. We can’t wait to see you there! Free entry!

** Please note – school finishes at 1pm on this day to give us time to prepare for the art show!**

This week has been a short one but an action packed one!  It has been so delightful seeing the children engaged and having an abundance of fun at our Camp Program ‘Out & About’ festivities.

Year 1/2 kicked the week off with afternoon tea at school and a skateboarding incursion that was unbelievably fun!  From skating to doing tricks with the boards, every child experienced success!

They created tie dye t-shirts (these will be on display at our art show) and had a day to remember.

Thursday was 3/4’s turn.  They were involved in some outdoor team building activities that encouraged problem solving, team work, and engaged all of the dispositions we have been working on throughout the school year.  Their own made pizzas were something to behold, as was their ability to pack up, clean up and put to work their understandings of cleaning up as we go.

Today we welcomed the preps in for their Prep Pyjama Breakfast.  The giggles of excitement at the gate at 8am was precious.  They showed their independence and readiness for year 1 by unpacking their bags, changing their readers, and preparing their own breakfasts – a mixture of healthy and treat food options.  

Many thanks to  Sarah Chahine (Evelyn’s mum Prep) for this custom made decoration for our school office.  A magical depiction of Mother Mary and Joseph cradling newborn Jesus.  Her works will be on sale at the upcoming Parish Fete. More information about these beautiful lanterns can be found at https://www.instagram.com/haelobysarah/

This will make a beautiful addition to our office during the Advent Season.   

In recent weeks you will have seen a great deal of building activity, changing the landscape of our school.  Stage 2 is well underway.  In addition to Stage 2 we are renovating a single portable ready for Before and After care in 2025 and a beautiful new modular that will house our year 2’s in 2025.  We are delighted to report that more landscape works will be taking place as the building takes shape.  It is crucial that you are all aware that Child Safety takes precedence over everything else at our school.  All contractors undergo a rigorous induction process, referee checks and WWCC checks.  Our school staff complete safety checks of the premises regularly to ensure that all of our children are safe.  

This is Part 2 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 2:

Schools must ensure that child safety and wellbeing is embedded in school leadership, governance and culture

At MQH we:

• have leaders that are available to support across the school
• have leaders that consistently model child safe behaviour including vigilance in relation to risk assessment
• are trained and active mandatory reporters
• complete risk assessments for all activities and events
• have an appointed Wellbeing Leader
• have an appointed Child Safety Team and Child Safety Leader
• have clear policies and procedures which are available on the school website
• create social stories to support safe play at school
• have school and community safety celebrations such as Day for Daniel and Personal Safety Day
• continually live out the school values of love, humility, courage and respect
• consistently enforce school rules and follow the continuum of response

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

Last week, we hosted our first ever learning walks!  Renae and Dani hosted over 60 MQH family members; sharing the philosophy and purpose behind Discovery and Projects.  It was a wonderful opportunity to build family engagement and to foster partnerships between family and school!

The feedback from families was extremely positive and celebratory. Many expressed their gratitude for this opportunity to see firsthand the meaningful work happening in our classrooms. This success would not have been possible without the dedication of our Educators and Co-Educators and their genuine willingness to share their practice authentically with families.  

Here is a snapshot of some of the parent feedback:

It was a wonderful experience. Thank you for setting up these discovery walks. I can see where I need to change my questions and approach to my child to get them to engage more on their day.

Thank you for welcoming families to engage in the wonder of learning through the Learning Walk today. It was such a rich experience to be a part of the conversation with leaders, educators, children and other families.

I loved everything, the introduction, the observing and learning and the debrief. A wonderful experience that I’m excited to discuss with my child.

I am very impressed with discovery activities. Kids were very calm and engaged in their activity. Not every kid learns in the same way and I think this way of learning suits kids that learn better through hands on experience. I think this activities really help kids keep their attention, problem solve, work together and share ideas, it also encourages those kids that struggle with confidence. It has many more benefits. I am very happy that my child goes to a school that really cares about kids learning and explores different ways of teaching to educate children not only literacy and numeracy but social aspects of life. Absolutely, loved it!

I appreciated the information provided on the rationale behind the learning objectives – While it relates to the curriculum, it also highlights various learning approaches that help children thrive, now and later in life.

Seeing it in action was fantastic. The calmness, excitement, interaction among peers showed just how engaged the children are and enjoy their learning. Having Dani and Renee provide a briefing to explain the set up was great too.

It’s just really lovely to hear about the why behind the teaching methods, and to see them in action. I loved seeing the kids engaged and working with each other. I think MQH is an exceptional school and am so happy we are along for the ride.

Thank you again for all family members who took the time to attend our family learning walks and share feedback.  We look forward to offering even more opportunities for family learning walks in the future, confident that they will continue to strengthen our school community and enrich our children as learners.

As you will have seen, we are welcoming many new staff for 2025.  We are excited to welcome 7 new Educators and 3 new Co Educators.  We are currently working on staffing structures and will share this with families in the coming weeks.

Mary Pronesti, one of our Prep Co Educators will be finishing up at MQH in the coming week.  Mary will be spending her time with her family.  We wish Mary all the very best and thank her for all that she offered the MQH community.

Maria, our resident Psychologist will not be returning to MQH in 2025.  Maria will be expanding her service.  We wish her all the very best and thank her for the amazing work she has done with our children. In 2025 we will have two provisional counselors working with us.  They will be working 1:1 with students, families and running small social skills groups. They will be an excellent addition to our growing school.

Going to school every day is the most important part of your child’s education. The best thing you can do is support your child to get to school every day unless they are sick. This visual shows the importance of attendance.  

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. 

Here is one tip to help support 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.

Welcome to another SPS Speech Box for 2024.  This Speech Box discusses Supporting Vocabulary – practical ways to help your child grow their vocabulary.   Feel free to include it in your next school newsletter. 

Supporting Vocabulary – practical ways to grow vocabulary

What is vocabulary?

Vocabulary is all the words we know, understand, and use. We learn new words in two main ways: by hearing them and by reading them. Children can learn new words through talking and interacting with family, friends and at school and by reading storybooks together (Beck, McKeown, Kucan, 2013).

The importance of vocabulary

Research shows that a strong vocabulary is important for school success (McKeown, 2019). As children progress in school, they need to understand and use more complex words, including specific words for different subjects (e.g., science words like “organism” and “synthesis”) and words that help explain what they need to do for assignments (e.g., “discuss,” “explain,” “define”).

Practical ways to help your child grow their vocabulary:

1. Talk about word meanings
   Talk about new words your child hears. For example, if they hear the word “curious,” explain that being curious means wanting to learn new things. You can write the word down, keep it on the fridge, and discuss it at the dinner table. 
2. Use new words in sentences
   Encourage your child to make sentences with new words. For example, if the new word is “adventure,” they can say, “We had an exciting adventure in the forest.”
3. Explore word groups
   Help your child see how words are related by grouping similar words. For example, if you’re talking about “animals,” discuss different types, like mammals, birds, and reptiles. 
4. Learn similar words (synonyms)
   Expand their vocabulary by learning words with similar meanings. For example, for “happy,” you can introduce synonyms like “joyful,” “content,” or “excited.” 
5. Learn opposite words (antonyms)
   Teach them opposites to deepen their understanding of words. For example, if the word is “hot,” you can discuss its opposite, “cold.” 

Remember, building vocabulary is an ongoing process! Daily conversations, reading together, and playing word games are great ways to help your child develop their vocabulary.