Dear families,
Last week our Parish School Advisory Board met for a rich learning experience with neighbouring Parishes. The session was titled
The Vibrant Parish
Evangelisation: Bridging the gap between Parish and School
Our learning was centered around enhancing Catholic Identity and building trusting relationships with staff, parents and children. We were reminded that faith formation happens through every conversation, every act of kindness – when we encounter Christ in one another. We need to teach our children to see God in themselves and in one another. The school and the parish must work together in ministry. Church needs to be experienced via school and via the family. The latter is much more difficult.
“Let us all continue to encounter Christ in one another.”
WOW what a month it has been! Family engagement is alive and well at Mary Queen of Heaven.
HUGE thanks to all of the dads, grand dads and special male mentors who attended our Father’s Day morning tea and classroom visits. As expressed on the day, your children are so influenced by your role in their life and the joy on their faces when they saw their dad or special person in classrooms was truly heartwarming. Thank you to everyone who turned out to support the event. Special thanks to BIG Childcare who fully sponsored our morning tea.
We recently celebrated CoEducator Appreciation Week. Our CoEductors at Mary Queen of Heaven are quite remarkable. Individually and as a team they support our learners, support our staff and help build the amazing learning community we enjoy at MQH. We are blessed with a group of educators who are passionate about student learning, wellbeing and growth. We thank all of them from the bottom of our hearts.
Last week we celebrated ‘Carenvale’ an expo of the amazing learning your children are engaged in in LOTE – Italian. It was a remarkable community event. We are so proud to share that not only was it a hive of energy and community spirit, we also raised $6117. The whole event was coordinated and lead by our BRILLIANT Kate Abbott our LOTE Educator. A remarkably passionate and dedicated educator.
HUGE thanks to our major sponsor of the night, Andrew Khoshbakht from JESSIE’S PIZZA GREENVALE. Thank you to each and every family who came along to support this event. Special thanks to Stefan Stella who once again supported our school by offering his services as our Auctioneer.
Thank you to all of the families who have completed the MACSISS Survey. The survey is still open, we encourage all of our families to log on and share your views, your voice and your ideas on the future direction of our school YOUR VOICE MATTERS.
We are hoping to secure a brilliant addition to our school play area with this GA GA Pit. A super fun, super interactive game for all age groups. Please visit the link and vote for our school. Each vote counts – invite family and friends to support us! Help us win a Ga Ga Pit
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16535pjS1E/
Dear Families,
Last week I spent an amazing week in Cairns immersed in the FNQ commitment to land and country. The Indigenous perspective and indigenous respect in all aspects of life is authentic and remarkable – it’s effortless. The Australian Catholic Education Conference was insightful and inspiring.
One of the key takeaways I was reminded about from one of the presenters at the conference was around the benefits of family engagement. It is the number one indicator of student achievement. He aptly explained that this can be invisible engagement (not dependent on families physically being at school – those days have gone with so many of our families working.) I was excited by this prospect and his reassurance that family engagement is not ‘more’ work but ‘different’ work. Fittingly, our Family Learning walks for Literacy began this week – these are a really great invitation for families to be engaged with learning. As a leadership team, we are constantly looking at ways we can improve our family engagement so you all feel very much part of your children’s journey at school. I dedicate our prayer this week to family engagement.
Heavenly Father,
We thank you for the gift of this school community and for the unique talents of every child, parent, and staff member.
Unite us in love, truth, and courage, creating a strong bond between home and school, so we may support the children’s learning and well-being together.
Bless families with wisdom to prioritise their children’s education, and help them find joy and fulfilment in participating in school life.
Inspire us all to be a “light” to one another, and guide us to create a welcoming and supportive environment for every family.
May our combined efforts foster a spirit of cooperation, understanding, and mutual respect, ensuring that every child thrives and reaches their full potential.
Lord, empower us all strive for true and authentic family engagement.
Amen.
We are so excited to be offering many events in the coming weeks to really capitalise on our Family Engagement, while offering the ‘invisible engagement’ through our Seesaw Platform, Social Media platforms and curriculum newsletters.
We are super excited about our upcoming Carnevale. A great deal of work is happening in the backgrounds from both our staff and children in preparation for this amazing event. Please add this to your calendar and invite family members and friends to come along.
District Athletics
Last week a group of our senior students represented our school in the District Athletics. Our team was prepared and supported by Felicity and she accompanied them on the day. The feedback from our staff and from a neighbouring school staff member was that our students really loved our school values, showing respect to fellow competitors, resilience and real kindness. Congratulations to Felicity on the team, not only for competing with courage and determination but for being humble in winning and gracious in defeat. So proud of you all!
Cyber Safety Reminder
As we guide our children to grow in wisdom and faith, it’s also important to help them stay safe online. Please take time this week to:
Did you know that most social media platforms—including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook—have a minimum age requirement of 13 years old? This rule is in place to help protect children from risks such as:
We encourage families to be aware of these age limits and to talk with their children about safe and positive ways to use technology. Children under 13 are best supported by using age-appropriate apps, educational tools, and supervised communication platforms.
Together, as family and school, we can nurture safe and respectful digital citizens. Please be reminded that upon enrolment all families (children) signed an ‘Acceptable User Agreement.’ Any breaches of this agreement will see your child’s access to IT at school denied for a period of time.
Arriving to school on time
Please be reminded that our school day begins at 8:45am. It is an excellent life skill to teach children to be on time from an early age. Being on time or arriving before the bell gives the children time to socialise with their friends, time to be calm and ready to learn and time to engage in the morning routine of the day with their peers. Arriving late can increase anxiety as the children walk into a learning space that has already begun the morning routine of the day. Arriving late is also quite disruptive to the rest of the class, who are settled and engaged in ready to learn practices. Please make a concerted effort to get the children to school on time. If this is an ongoing issue for your family, please reach out to Sarah, our Wellbeing Leader, and we can share some strategies with your family.
Homework
At Mary Queen of Heaven we don’t offer traditional homework. This decision is based on world wide research. There is no research to indicate that homework for 5-12 year olds has any impact on learning. What we do encourage is for families to have conversations with their children around what they are learning at school, capitalise on the Curriculum Newsletters we share each term and the Seesaw posts we make regularly reflecting what the children are working on. We encourage children to read each night and at times to work on number knowledge and word/sound work. Sometimes home practice of a skill will be encouraged, especially for those children attending enhancement programs. Please don’t ask our staff for worksheets to be sent home as this goes against our school policy.
Traffic Safety
It has been fantastic to see our families using our newly installed crossing of Hillview Rd. This is by far the safest way to cross Hillview Rd and you‘ll always be reminded to use this safe route by our staff.
A quick reminder to all parents: please drive slowly and carefully in our school zone during drop-off and pick-up. Taking a little extra time to park and move off safely helps protect all the children in our school community and prevents accidents.
Bringing Personal Items to school
Please be reminded that we discourage bringing personal items such as balls and toys to school. They often get lost, swapped or stolen and can cause real issues on the playground which then eats into learning time. We have ample equipment for the children to play with, there is no need for them to bring items from home.
School Bag keyrings are becoming more and more of a collectors item. This too is causing issues with items going missing, unhealthy competition and a heavy burden for your children when carrying their bags. If your child has a keyring on their school bag we ask that it is limited to one. All others need to be removed and left at home please. We will remind the children of this as they come in and out each school day.
In this Issue: |
Dear families,
We are now into our third week of term 3. We hope that the term 2 school holiday break was a restful and relaxing one for you all. It has been so lovely to see all of the children return to school with such enthusiasm and love for learning.
We are now very much settled into the hum of term 3. The children are very much enjoying the challenge and diversity of the explicit instruction embedded into our key learning areas of Literacy, Numeracy and Inquiry.
This week we celebrate and call to mind Australia’s First Saint, Mary of The Cross Mackillop.
Mary MacKillop was Australia’s first saint and a truly inspiring woman. She was born in 1842 and spent her life helping others, especially poor and disadvantaged children. Mary believed that every child deserved an education, no matter where they lived or how much money their family had.
With her strong faith and determination, she started the Sisters of Saint Joseph and opened many schools across Australia. Mary faced many challenges, but she never gave up. She trusted in God and always worked with kindness, love, and courage.
Mary MacKillop’s famous words, “Never see a need without doing something about it,” remind us to be people of action—helping others and living out our faith every day.
We celebrate Saint Mary MacKillop as a role model of compassion, resilience, and hope.
God of compassion, God of all people, we praise you for your servant, Mary MacKillop, who gave her life to serve you in the poor and oppressed.
As she is honoured in our world, may we continue to learn to share her vision.
Help us to recognise, as she did, that the poor of our time will hear the gospel in the way we serve them. Be with us as we strive to follow her and carry out our mission of service and care.
Amen
MACSISS
In the coming weeks you will be invited to complete a MACSISS survey. This survey provides us with important feedback from our families and helps us set goals for future improvement. Our year 4,5 and 6 students will complete the survey as will our staff. We strongly encourage all families to complete the survey. Once you have completed the survey, bring evidence into the office and we will enter you into a draw to win a $200 Coles gift voucher. 
A morning tea session will be offered to all families where we can support you with a device and how to navigate the survey.
SWIMMING
Australia loves water—with 34,000 km of coastline, swimming is the top physical activity for kids aged 0–14 – but a concerning gap
remains in safety and skills.
The Swimming in Schools initiative allocates $92 million over 4 years to government and Catholic primary schools – but geography,
staffing, transport, and teacher replacements can limit uptake.
While 85% of families enroll when lessons are available, children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities and
financially constrained household face disproportionate barriers.
Schools implement swimming in different formats: one-day intensive, weekly lessons, beach trips, or two-week daily blocks –
context-driven, but this diversity leads to inconsistent outcomes.
Victoria’s Water Safety Certificate stipulates that students leaving Year 6 should be able to swim 50 m continuously, yet lack of
consistent monitoring obscures real progress.
At Mary Queen of Heaven we STRONGLY encourage all families to enrol their children in swimming lessons, an absolute gift you can give your children, especially living in a country like Australia.
Each year, to meet our Water Safety obligations and to ensure our learners are educated in the area of water safety, we offer our children 2-3 sessions (Dry) onsite lessons with Life Saving Victoria. These sessions are planned in term one and have all been conducted this year.
This year we are also offering water based education for Prep- Year 6.
Prep – Altona Beach excursion run by Life Saving Victoria to build confidence around water, understand beach safety, and learn what to do in an emergency.
Year 1/2 – Water safety activities run by Life Saving Victoria at Altona Beach incorporating safety near water, what to do in an emergency, and enjoy games on the beach.
Year 3/4 – Splash Water Park to enjoy inflatable aqua park, waterslides, and take part in dedicated water safety activities, including rescue scenarios and discussions about staying safe in different aquatic environments.
Year 5/6 – Water safety built into Summer Camp Experience (Surfing/Paddle Boarding)
These water components are fully funded with no cost to parents.
Uniform
Last week we shared with families reminders about our school uniform. Below are some examples of our uniform being worn well. Please ensure your children are wearing the correct school uniform at all times. Reminder slips will be issued to children who are not in the correct school uniform as a means of communicating to you so that you can have the conversations with your child.
Last Tuesday evening we welcomed our Prep 2026 families for their first Prep information session. It was so refreshing to see the new, eager and beautiful faces that will soon form part of our vibrant school community. It was an absolute pleasure to tell the story of MQH so far and speak of our close knit, supportive and kind community.
Thank you for using the two school crossing safely and with care.
With the new crossing now installed along Hillview Rd, it has been so wonderful to see our families using the crossing each morning and night. PLEASE only cross Hillview Rd at the crossing, it is safer for pedestrians and drivers. I am still working with HUME council to establish when flags will be installed and when the crossing will be manned. I will keep you updated with any further developments.
Last term we held ‘Silly Hair Day’ as a fundraiser for ‘Make a Wish Foundation.’ Please see below the letter of appreciation:
On behalf of everyone at the Hungry Jack’s and Make-A-Wish Foundation, I want to extend our heartfelt
gratitude for your generous donation and the incredible support Mary Queen of Heaven School have shown once again this year.
Raising $260 for Make-A-Wish is no small feat—and doing it for the second year in a row speaks volumes about your dedication and compassion. Your ongoing efforts are helping bring hope, joy, and strength to children facing critical illnesses by making their heartfelt wishes come true.
It’s inspiring to see the strong connection you’ve helped build between Mary Queen of Heaven School and Make-A-Wish Foundation. Your commitment is not only making a real difference in the lives of sick kids but also setting an amazing example of community spirit and kindness.
Thank you for being such a valuable part of this mission. We truly appreciate your continued support and look forward to working together again to create even more smiles and unforgettable memories.
In this Issue: |
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.
In this Issue: |
A word from the Principal
Dear Families,
It has been a busy couple of weeks at Mary Queen of Heaven. We have loved having families join us for Family Engagement initiatives such as Learning Walks, Reconciliation Week acknowledgement, Assemblies, First Eucharist etc. It has been a great couple of weeks on connections and engagement.
We understand that families engage in schools differently these days, with many of our families working for part or all of the week. We are trying as a community to create ways families can engage with us, without necessarily coming on site.
We have an active presence on social media and we are using Seesaw more consistently to ensure families know, understand and feel connected to the learning that is happening at MQH. We appreciate your interactions with us on social media and encourage you to get your family and friends to follow us and to like or comment on our online posts.
In recent weeks, the ‘Review’ function on Facebook has been removed for all schools. This is a shame for us as we had some really lovely reviews, highlighting what we offer here at MQH. If you feel inclined to do so, we would very much appreciate you writing a review for us on True Local
Last week our year 1 and 2 children were lucky enough to have an excursion through the new build. In linking to their learning on Design and Construction, they looked at plans, the footprint of the new build, the materials being used and the timeline the builders are working to. They met the builders, the site managers and the two owners of Jardon Group, who kindly and generously offered their time for our school community. The children absolutely loved this experience and we are so grateful to Jardon Group for their generosity. You never know, we may have some budding architects, builders or engineers among our year 1 and 2 year levels.
I recently came across this poem, one that I have reflected upon many times over the years. I share it with you today as a reminder that the little people in our care are vulnerable and are learning from us adults at every step of their childhood.
If children live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to love.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.
If children live with security,
They learn to have faith in themselves and others.
If children live with friendliness,
They learn the world is a nice place in which to live
Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) is once again a major supporter of the Australia’s Best Teachers campaign.
Building on its success in 2023, the campaign invites students, parents and community members to nominate teachers for the special contribution they make to the lives of students in our schools.
To nominate a teacher, visit the Herald Sun website. We have so many wonderful educators at MQH, we hope to see some be nominated.
Drop off zone along Hillview Rd
As our school continues to grow and in readiness for next year when we welcome another 80 students to MQH, we ask that families try and use the drop off area along Hillview Rd just for children who are capable of getting out of the car on their own. For any families who need to park and help their children out, please use other parking areas (French Rd, Hillview Rd along the North side or Hillview Rd down past the round about.) In the coming weeks staff will be out the front in the mornings and afternoon, encouraging this drop and go zone to ensure the safety and smooth traffic movement for all.
Collecting Children after school
Please be reminded that you can only collect your child after school. If another child has not been collected by their parents, our staff have systems and processes in place to ensure they are well supervised until their parents arrive to collect them. Please don’t assume supervision of other children as this can cause confusion and worry for us and for families.
Please ensure that your car is parked in the allocated bays before calling your child to get into the car. Please do not call children to enter cars while sitting in traffic in the middle of the road.
Thank you to the families who ride to and from school. We have seen a great improvement in the safe use of bikes and scooters, with children disembarking when they arrive at school and not riding their bikes at all on school grounds. Your support with this is much appreciated.
Donations Required!
Each year we hold a Father’s Day Raffle in contrast to the stall we hold for Mothers Day.
If you or a business you know is in a position to donate something for our raffle we would be most grateful. Items such as:
Vouchers for car services, wheel alignments, tyres
Vouchers for restaurants
Vouchers for massages or hair cuts
Or anything else you can think of.
Our school will also make significant contributions to the raffle prizes.
School Lunches
As the Winter months take hold, our little ones can get increasingly hungry. Please ensure that your child has enough food packed for their lunch, fruit/veg snack and recess snack.
Crazy Hair Day
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.
Book Week
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! Costumes can be related to the theme or to any book or character.
CARNEVALE
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
In this Issue: |
Dear families,
Traditionally May is the month of Mary. A month of devotion to the Mother of Jesus. You will have noticed we are posting devotions on our social media platforms and praying the Hail Mary each day with the children to honor the name sake of our school – Mary Queen of Heaven. All families are welcomed into our sacred space to pray for mother Mary each day during May.
In recent weeks we have mourned the death of Pope Francis, giving thanks for his great life of service to our universal church. We have practiced gratitude for his loving ways and the gentle and contemporary way in which he led. We have also welcomed our new Pope, Pope Leo X1V. May God Bless Pope Leo in his new role and lead him in the same way Jesus leads us, his flock. May Pope Leo always know the love and strength of Jesus the Good Shepherd.
This week the leadership team has been engaged in Prep 2026 enrolment interviews. We have had over 125 applications for the 75 positions we can offer for 2026. It is so exciting that our community holds Mary Queen of Heaven in such high regard, we have had wonderful feedback from our new families so far. We would like to sincerely thank our current families for your positivity, word of mouth and for championing our school within the wider community.
Our stage 2 build is coming along at quite a pace. Many of you have commented at the gate at how progressive the build is. The builders aim to have the building at lock up stage by the end of May, with handover on schedule for November. This will be such a beautiful and exciting addition to our growing school.
It has been so pleasing to see many of our students wearing the newly introduced quarter zip as an alternative for the school jumper. This is an excellent option as the winter months take hold. We have recently introduced an option of a white skivvy to wear under the jumper or under the tunic in winter. This is an alternative to wearing the shirt under these items. We are always trying to ensure that we have multiple options to ensure the children are comfortable and there is a variety of choices. Noone have the white skivvy in stock now.
Thank you to all of the families who have been using our roads and parking around the school in a safe and law abiding manner. The traffic flow in the morning and evenings has been much much better – it’s been so wonderful to see so many children walking or riding bikes and scooters to school also. What a healthy and invigorating way for them to start the day! Please be reminded that the area directly in front of Hillview Rd gate is a 2 minute drop of zone. Ideally, this should only be used by families who drop quickly and do not exit the car. Hume Council have been patrolling and issuing fines for those parking for an extended periods in these bays.
We recently inquired with our Lunch Mums lunch order service if they could increase their service to two days per week. It has been confirmed that we can move to two days, we will advise of the days and when this will begin in the coming weeks. At this stage it looks like the second day will be introduced in term 3.
Thank you to all of our families who are using the Audiri App to log your children’s absences if they are sick or have an appointment. This is very helpful for our admin team who need to ensure all absences are logged prior to 10am each day.
If your family is planning an extended or long holiday, please ensure you let the classroom teacher know and the office know We need to plan for such absences from school. While the school cannot provide work for the children to complete while on holidays, we will support you with strategies to keep them engaged in learning while they are away. It is important for families to know and understand that we cannot guarantee we can ‘catch the children up’ on what they might have missed for lengthy absences.
Parent Code Of Conduct
Upon enrolment all families signed a MACS Parent Code of Conduct. The signing of this document is your pledge to work in the spirit of our school with our staff, other parents, children and community. I draw your attention to the expected behaviors of all parents/carers and remind you that these behaviours are also expected in communication via email, text messaging and Whats App groups.
Expected Conduct and Bearing of all Parents/Guardians/Carers:
It is expected that every parent/guardian/carer will:
others
at which they may visit while representing the school
the school
reputation of the school, employees or students of the school, including activities on social media
health while visiting the school site, attending school functions or engaging in school-based
activities
the school
In this Issue: |
Dear Families,
As we return from the school holidays and the Easter break we are filled with the joy and elation of our Risen Christ. The rising of Jesus Christ is considered the cornerstone of Christian faith, signifying victory over death and offering hope for eternal life. It seems almost poetic that Pope Francis passed on the very day after Easter. 
Pope Francis was an amazing, revolutionary person for the Catholic Church, and the whole world. His commitment to humility, compassion, and justice helped us all understand what it means to lead with love. He called on each of us to care for the marginalized, protect the environment, and engage in meaningful dialogue rooted in dignity and respect. The fact that Pope Francis returned to his Fathers arms on Easter Monday seems just right.
Let us honor His Holiness by walking with courage, creating a more just, more inclusive, and loving world.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
This afternoon each family will receive a prayer booklet and a prayer card for you home in readiness for the funeral of Pope Francis.
In this Issue: |
Dear families,
As we come to the end of the term, it is a great time to stop and reflect on all that we have achieved as a school and community in one short term. Our new preps, all 71 of them have settled well and our year 1-6 children are settled and engaged in the explicit teaching happening in classrooms across the school.
This week saw the culmination of our Lent and Easter learning come together in our whole school Passion Play. Our passion play reflected the learning our children have engaged in during Religious Education throughout term 1. The reverent manner in which they all engaged and the storytelling that came from the experience was quite special. Thank You to our families who were able to attend.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to each of you, our wonderful families, for your ongoing support and commitment to Mary Queen of Heaven. Your involvement, encouragement, and partnership make such a positive impact on our students and their learning. We are truly grateful for the strong community we are building together, and we look forward to all that we will achieve in the months ahead.
A huge thank you to our incredible children for a fantastic term. Your hard work, enthusiasm, and kindness bring our school to life every day. We are so proud of all that you have accomplished and can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds!
Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing break.
Dani De Luca
Acting Principal
In this Issue: |
Dear families,
The last couple of weeks have seen us settle into the school year with learning and teaching taking top priority. Our classes are all following the MACS ‘Vision for Instruction’ in ensuring we are being explicit in our instruction and ensuring our students receive the very best. We remain committed to making the learning visible for our learners. Linked is the MACS ‘Vision for Instruction’ for parents so you can align the vision with our practices here at MQH.
Last week we gathered as a school for Ash Wednesday Mass. It was so lovely to see our students gather in faith, it was equally beautiful to welcome many of our families to the Mass. We thank Father Dishan for always making these special Masses meaningful and relatable to our children.
In this Issue: |
Dear families,
The start to our school year has been a really smooth and beautiful one. The children are settled into the routines of the day and our learning and teaching programs are a buzz with questions, curiosity and challenge.
In the coming weeks we will enter the season of Lent, a time when we remember the love of God that is poured out through His son Christ Jesus. It is a time for self reflection and to seek forgiveness for the wrongs we have done.
“Heavenly Father, I’m truly sorry for the moments today where I missed the mark. I ask for your forgiveness and the strength to better follow Your call tomorrow. Amen.”
The past weeks have seen us gather together at our Welcoming Mass. This was a beautiful celebration of our growing community. It was a special time to gather in prayer and acknowledge that it takes many parts to make a school successful and we are all contributors to that success. The children’s reverence and prayerful approach to Mass was beautiful to witness.
Today’s newsletter has a section on the importance of Cyber safety. Please ensure, as parents, you are monitoring your children’s online behavior including what they are watching. Viewing anything over PG is not recommended or primary aged children. We are currently actively stopping games on the yard related to Squid Games and the like – this is inappropriate for 5-12 year olds.
In this Issue: |
Our school photos will take place on Thursday 13th March. This date is on the school calendar and information was shared with you earlier this week in relation to ordering. Please note that if your child is absent on the day of school photos we cannot reschedule under any circumstances. Please direct any questions about our school photos directly to Advanced Life Photography.
https://www.advancedlife.com.au/
Lunch order began last week. We are so lucky to have Lunch Mums deliver us a variety of healthy options and treats on a Thursday for our Lunch Order Day. Please ensure you download the My School Connect App so that you can order your child’s lunch each Thursday.
Our school assembly takes place every third Friday. All of the assemblies are on our community calendar. We look forward to seeing many families at our assemblies, celebrating our children’s achievements.
Please note that our staff car park is for staff only. Families and children cannot access the space for any reason. Please ensure you refrain from using the space for safety reasons. This is inline with our OH&S and Child Safety policy.
BIG Childacre is our before and after care service. This is an excellent program that attends to all of your children’s needs before and after school. Our new program manager is Seamus, be sure to say hi to Seamus at drop off or pick up. BIG Childcare collects our preps at the end of the day each day and the rest of the children gather in the library area where Seames and staff meet them and take the roll.. If you are interested in utilising the service, please visit their website https://bigchildcare.com/ to make an inquiry.
In the coming weeks our school will be closed for the Labour Day public holiday (Monday 10th March) and the following day for our staff to engage in Professional Learning (Tuesday 11th March) Big Childcare will run on Tuesday 11th March.
Our two fundraisers for term 1 will be a Pasta Drive through ‘Gnoccheria- Coburg’ followed by our Easter Raffle. Information on the Pasta Drive has been shared, and the raffle will be released shortly. We are collecting Easter Eggs and Chocolates for our Easter raffle now, please bring donations into the school office. 
Please be reminded that enrolments for 2026 open on March 1st. Siblings MUST enrol in order to be allocated a position. Please visit the office to collect an enrolment form or download from the school website.
Our school has registered for this brilliant initiative. On Friday 28th February our senior children will be engaged in a Clean Up MQH mission. They will be wearing casual clothes on the day, armed with all they need to keep themselves safe and clean. They are excited and so are we to model how important it is that we all take care of our environment and they each and everyone of us has a responsibility to be a care takers. We thank our year 3-6 students and teachers in advance for their amazing work in this space!
Last week you received a letter voa Audiri reminding us all of the importance of keeping our children safe online. Please read over the information below and discuss these with your children.
Healthy Technology Habits at Home
A reminder to keep the school updated if you move house or if your child’s health conditions change. By providing up to date information, you assist us in maintaining a safe learning environment for your child
In recent days we have had one report of headlice in the year 2 area. Families in year 2 were notified of this on the day of the report. Please ensure all long hair is tied up and you are regularly checking your children’s hair for lice. Children who have long hair down, will be sent to First Aid where we will tie their hair up using our supply of hair elastics.
Please be reminded that all uniform needs to be purchased from the Noone Uniform shop. Black school shoes or black runners are to be worn on non PE days and any runners on PE days. All children wear their PE uniform on a Friday. Please ensure your children are wearing the correct uniform at all times. Earrings are to be studs or sleepers on for safety reasons, and nail policsh is not permitted. We thank you for supporting our uniform policy.
We are excited to host our first Learning Walk for the year, an opportunity for families to engage in their child’s learning. Our first learning walk will have a wellbeing focus; where you can see firsthand how we embed wellbeing practices and explicitly teach wellbeing strategies to support learning.
– Four sessions available for booking
– Open to existing families at Mary Queen of Heaven
– Book your spot: https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/8cvpn
We look forward to sharing how wellbeing and learning go hand in hand at Mary Queen of Heaven!
Calling All Green Thumbs!
We’re starting a Gardening Club to help beautify our outdoor spaces, and we need your help!
If you can commit 30 minutes to an hour a week during school hours, we’d love to have you on board. Tasks will not be labour intensive, and will include weeding, mulching, watering, and more!
Join us for an initial meeting to chat about our vision and get started (Date TBC)
Interested? Email Dani ddeluca@mqhgreenvale.catholic.edu.au
Let’s make our school grounds bloom!
THANK YOU to the 6 families who have joined our gardening club. You may see them watering, feeding, pruning or weeding to help keep our spaces beautiful. Your volunteering in this space is very much needed and very much appreciated. It’s not too late… if you’d like to join please send Dani and email!
Working on our emotional literacy gives us opportunities to develop our ability to understand and express different emotions. When we improve our emotional literacy, we can work towards recognising our own feelings and our ability to manage them. This allows us to cope with different life situations such as managing conflict, making friends, coping in difficult situations and being resilient when dealing with change. The Zones of Regulation help the students recognise when they are in the different Zones as well as learn how to use strategies to change or stay in the Zone they are in.
Ideas for home:
This is Part 5 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 5:
Schools must ensure that equity is upheld, and diverse needs respected in policy and practice
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/
At MQH we are very fortunate to have Sevda as our crossing guard. We see her at the French Rd crossing every morning and afternoon keeping students safe.
Sevda says that she really likes her job and seeing the kids. She loves seeing their smiling eyes. It makes her happy. Sevda says she likes the school and enjoys interacting with the families each day.
So when crossing the road at French Rd please be sure to say “Hi” to Sevda, a valued member of the Mary Queen of Heaven Community.
Home readers (Prep-2)
Take-Home Readers – Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey
At Mary Queen of Heaven, we are committed to supporting children in developing strong reading skills through a structured and engaging approach. Take-home readers are an important part of this journey, and you may notice that they are not assigned based on levels. Instead, children will receive one of two types of texts, depending on their learning needs:
🔹 Decodable Texts – These books help children practice the sounds they have been explicitly taught. They encourage children to segment (break down) and blend (put together) sounds to read words with increasing confidence.
🔹 Interest-Based Texts – These books are chosen to foster a love of reading and expose children to rich language and ideas. While they may contain words that are not fully decodable, they provide opportunities for discussion, comprehension, and engagement with texts that spark curiosity.
We encourage families to enjoy these books together—celebrating progress, talking about the stories, and making reading an enjoyable experience at home. If you have any questions about supporting your child’s reading, please reach out to your child’s teacher.
Why do we need to do reading at home?
Children need a lot of practice to become fluent and accurate
readers. Listening to your child read provides opportunities
for demonstration, correction and discussion in a supportive
environment. The more your child reads, the better your child’s
reading will become.
How long should my child spend reading to me?
Reading at home should be a successful and positive
experience for your child. Ten to fifteen minutes of daily
reading at home with a supportive adult can make all the
difference. It is best to have your reading session when your
child is not tired or hungry! If it is turning into a very stressful
time, please do consult your child’s class teacher for advice.
What kind of readers will my child bring home and why?
If your child is a confident and independent reader, any age-
and content-appropriate book, chosen by your child, can be
read. Books will be sent home from school or borrowed from
the library. If your child requires more reading support
and is not yet reading independently, the teacher will provide
suitable reading books based on the needs of your child. This
should be a book that has controlled vocabulary to provide
more targeted reading practice.
How should I support my child when reading at home?
Before reading, set the scene by asking your child to predict what the book may be about and link the book to any prior knowledge. Encourage your child to
read carefully and with expression. If a word is read incorrectly
or your child gets stuck use the following steps:
correct or work out the unfamiliar word. Don’t jump in straightaway.
independently, guide his or her attention back to the
word. Don’t ask your child to guess the word from
context or by looking at the picture. Rather, encourage
him/her to look carefully at the word and provide a
prompt related to the letters and the sounds they make,
e.g., point to the letters ‘ai’ in ‘rain’ and say, “The letters
‘a’ and ‘i’ together say /ay/. Can you read the word
now?” Very unusual or irregular words should simply be
provided.
prompting, simply tell him or her the word and move on
to maintain comprehension and enjoyment of the story.
Remember to praise your child when he or she tries to work
out a word, whether or not they are successful.
After each couple of paragraphs or pages, ask questions to
check that your child has understood what has been read.
Children can practise their reading fluency and expression by
rereading a section of text.
At the end of the session, ask your child to summarise the story
and discuss any themes arising from the book.
Should I still read to my child?
Yes! Reading quality storybooks, chapter books or information
books to your child is a valuable way to build vocabulary and
comprehension, and to enrich their understanding of the
world. It is also a great opportunity to expose your child to
literature that they may not be ready to read on their own.
How can I encourage my child to read independently?
Some children will naturally find time to read to themselves,
while others need a little more encouragement. Setting aside
10 minutes to read independently at bedtime is one way of
encouraging your child to read. Children are more likely to
be motivated to read if the book is about something that they
are interested in. Your local library or bookshop will be a good
source of ideas for suitable reading material.
How should I use the Reading Diary?
Each year, your child will be given a new Home
Reading Diary. Each Home Reading Diary contains helpful
information about reading with your child and a few little
reading and spelling games at the back of the book. The
instructions will help you to engage your child with the book.
Keep a record of the books your child has read aloud to you
and record any books that you have read to your child or that
they have read independently. Provide plenty of praise when a
book is completed!
What else can I do to support my child at home?
Literacy and oral language are strongly connected. It is highly
recommended that you use informal opportunities to develop
your child’s general language skills at home. Talk to your child,
using interesting vocabulary. Explain new words. Record these
new words in the back of the Home Reading Diary so that you
can revisit them on different occasions. Tell your child stories or
ask them to tell you about their day. This work can be done, and
is just as beneficial, in English or in your home language. You
can also support your child’s reading and spelling by playing
word games, e.g., I-Spy, hangman, and by practising the tricky
words they have learnt. Most importantly, keep anything you do
with your child light and playful but purposeful.
Children will soon be bringing home books from our school library. These books are selected based on their interests and enjoyment. There is no expectation that your child will be able to read the book independently. We encourage you to read with them, talk about the story, or simply let them explore the pictures. This helps foster a love of reading and builds important early literacy skills. Happy reading!
Please refer to correspondence from your child’s educator regarding when books need to be returned.
How Oral Language supports emotional wellbeing
Welcome to the first SPS Speech Box for 2025. This Speech Box discusses how oral language skills and support a student’s emotional wellbeing. Feel free to include it in your next school newsletter.
How Oral Language supports emotional wellbeing
Research shows that children with stronger language skills in Year 1 are more likely to develop better emotional regulation by Year 6. This means that building your child’s language skills from an early age can help them manage their emotions, navigate challenges, and develop resilience.
Talking about past experiences, future events, and emotions helps children develop
vocabulary and thinking skills needed to understand their feelings and the feelings of others.
These conversations also help children make sense of the world, reflect on their experiences, and build resilience by learning how to express and process emotions.
Self-talk—the internal dialogue we all have—also plays an important role in emotional regulation. Children with strong language skills are better equipped to use self-talk to calm themselves, think through challenges, and problem-solve when faced with difficult situations.
You can help strengthen your child’s language and emotional skills through simple, everyday interactions:
Explain how and why things happen – e.g., “We need to leave now because your brother isn’t feeling well.”
Make connections to past experiences – e.g., “We’re flying to visit Aunt Kate. Remember when we took a plane to Sydney last year?”
Encourage your child to predict what might happen – e.g., “I wonder what games they’ll play at the birthday party?”
Brainstorm solutions to problems together – e.g., “Oh no, we ran out of bread. What else could we use for a sandwich?”
Talk about emotions—yours and theirs – e.g., “I’m feeling a little sad today because I miss Grandad.”
Help your child understand other people’s feelings – e.g., “I think that boy is upset because someone took his toy.”
———–
If you would like further information, please contact the SPS Speech Pathologist at your school.
Telling the Time at Home
Here are some helpful tips you can try with your child. Learning to tell the time can be challenging, especially since most clocks at home are digital. It’s really important to have an analogue clock visible, and regularly pointing out the hour, half-hour, and quarter-hour marks will help students in Year 1/2 get the hang of these times. Once they’re comfortable with this, you can move on to the 5-minute increments, and then eventually work with the minute marks.
Teaching Time
he current hour.
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