MacGregor State School eNewsletter

From the Principal

Dear Parents & caregivers,

We are almost half-way through Term 4 with the ‘silly season’ almost upon us. Please keep an eye on the newsletter for information and details about all of the forthcoming end-of-year celebrations & ceremonies which are part of the MacGregor State School tradition. Many thanks to Mrs Keating and the wonderful Year Five team for a terrific school camp at Yandina earlier this week. I was privileged to be able to attend on Monday and Tuesday to join in the fun and the learning. Please enjoy the attached photo gallery of 2023 Year Five camp memories.

Early Arrival Students

Recently we have noticed that some students are being dropped off at school before 7.30am which is far too early.

Students should not be at school before 8am at the earliest. We offer limited supervision in Harmony Place and the Canteen covered area from 8.15am. Members of the leadership team will be taking names and calling parents of children dropped off too early at school. Parents who need to drop children earlier than 8am should enrol their children at MacGregor Outside School Hours Care (MOSHC).

Sunny Park Shopping Centre

Parents are asked not to allow their students to wait for them in Sunny Park Shopping Centre after school or be there unaccompanied before school. We have had complaints from centre management of students misbehaving and loitering unaccompanied.

This is not a safe place for your children to be without adult supervision.

Thank you to our wonderful P&C!

Our P&C fundraising efforts are well on-track toward their $80 000 target with $53 790 being raised so far. This term we still have the Movie Night (24^th Nov) and Swimming Carnival Canteens (5^th and 6^th December) which, with your wonderful community support, will hopefully nail our target!

At the most recent P&C meeting, a motion was moved to transfer $76 934 to the school, in addition to the $30 000 donated from fundraising funds earlier this year. Part of this donation will be used to replace shade structures in the junior play areas and in the AA courtyard space that have been damaged by vandalism or weather events. We are hugely grateful to the P&C for making the completion of this work possible before the predicted hot summer weather hits us in full. Other funds will be spent in replacing ICT devices which have reached the end of their life.

This donation was made possible not just through fundraising but also through the donation of surplus profits from the P&C businesses, the tuckshop, uniform and stationery shop and MOSHC. The P&C have also sponsored students successful in being selected for sporting excellence events as well as supporting students who have applied for the Paula Davoron Bursary for MacGregor SHS with an additional donation of $200 for each runner-up.

Finally, the P&C also generously donated $1750 in seed-funding to assist co-ordination of the Year 6 Graduation Ceremony, which is being held off-site this year at Nissan Arena. This brings the P&C contribution to our school in 2023 to well over $100 000 which is a remarkable achievement which is very gratefully received.

Please consider how you can support our wonderful P&C to make a difference in our student’s lives each and every day. The next and final meeting for 2023 will be held at MOSHC at 6.30pm on 21^st November 2023. All welcome!

Voluntary Contributions & Donations

Are you interested in making a donation or voluntary contribution to a specific area in our school?

Are you passionate about the performing arts as I am?

Are you wanting to contribute a donation to support forthcoming graduations or awards?

Would you like to see improved outdoor learning spaces?

Would you like to support the purchase of additional resources for a specific part of the school such as the LET team (support for students with complex needs)?

Recently a number of parents and business owners in our area have asked how they go about this – if you are interested in making a voluntary contribution, please make an appointment to discuss this with me and I’ll be happy to assist.

There are many options available to school community members who wish to support the work in our school and these contributions are always gratefully received and acknowledged.

Yours in equity and excellence,

Lee Gerchow

Prep and Year One

Welcome to Week 4!

We are approaching the busiest time of the school year. During this time, our learners will begin to complete a number of assessments to demonstrate and celebrate their progress in learning. Assessments play a crucial role in the learning journey, and we kindly request your support in ensuring that your child attends school every day, as every day of learning counts. If you have plans for a holiday before the year concludes, we kindly ask that you communicate this with both the classroom teacher and the office.

Hats at school

In the last newsletter, I have written about the importance of every child coming to school with their school hat. Unfortunately, we still have a large number of students in Prep and Year 1 sector who come to school without their hats, requiring constant redirection during the breaks to stay in the shade. Please help us keep your children well and Sun Safe by ensuring they come to school with their hat every day.

Swimming

Thank you to all families who continue to support our swimming program and send their children prepared for swimming lessons. Please note that swimming is a part of the mandated curriculum. Unless your child has a medical condition that prevents them from participating in swimming classes, they must attend the lessons. Please speak with your child’s classroom teacher if you have any concerns or reservations about swimming lessons.

Below are the pictures from one of the swimming lessons in Prep and Year 1. As you can see, all children are enjoying the class and are supported by qualified staff.

Hands on learning in 1B – Literacy and Numeracy activities

1B have been enjoying consolidating Maths and Literacy concepts through hands on activities. In Maths they have focussed on representing numbers in a variety of ways, skip counting and using this knowledge to count collections and complete number patterns. In literacy, our 1B learners continued to use their phonics knowledge to read and spell. The children have also loved participating in Reader’s Theatre to improve their fluency and bringing the characters to life.

Welcome back to Term 4

Welcome back to the start of the final term for the year. This is a very busy term with lots of activities and events happening in and around the school.

Year 3 Swimming

A reminder that all Year 3 classes will be swimming this term as part of the PE program. It is important that all students bring their swimming gear each week and participate in lessons.

Sun Safety

Please ensure that your child brings a hat and water bottle to school each day. As the weather is starting to warm up, these items are essential each day.

Assemblies – Year 2 & 3

We have two assemblies left for the year. These will be held on Monday 23^rd October at 12.35pm and Monday 6^th November at 2.35pm.

Our Academic Awards Assembly will be held on Wednesday 29^th November.

Term 3 Wrap Up

During Term 3 students had some great opportunities to enhance their learning. These including both in class activities and visiting presentations.

Year 2 History Incursion

Students were able to explore what it was like living many, many, years ago. Trialling devices and equipment that some of us grew up with, but to the children would be a whole new experience. Actively participating in hands on activities without the use of digital devices posed some challenging encounters for them. These hands on learning experiences are invaluable to their learning.

Students in 3D have been very busy participating in a range of hands-on learning experiences in their classroom. Investigating the properties of 3D shapes, the students were provided with a range of materials to create and them identify the features of each shape. As you can see from the smiles on their faces, they thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE

Students from 2D with Ms Fox were very excited to receive their certificates from the Premier's Reading Challenge. This challenge is available every year and provides the students with an opportunity to focus on their reading progress and development. Students had to read a minimum of 15 books to complete the challenge, with some students reading in excess of 100 books.

Congratulations to these students, plus a shout out to all the other students who completed the 2023 challenge.

FUN AND EXCITING LEARNING IN 2B WITH MRS NUGUS

Sharing learning experiences in the classroom provides a rich and supportive environment for learning to take place. Students in 2B with Mrs Nugus love sharing their learning with each other.

Flexible learning spaces allow the children to feel a sense of comfort whilst learning, opens up clear lines of communication between each other and offers new and exciting learning opportunities for them.

Year Four and Five

Wow, what a massive 3 days at camp. Firstly I would like to say thank you to the parents for undertaking our first ever Online Consent and electronic medical and dietary forms. The hours we saved by using this process meant, we were able to put more time and effort into making camp an amazing experience.

Camps require staff to leave their families and undertake the task of caring for 150+students full-time for the entirety of cmp. I would like to thank the amazing staff who attended and made camp a fun and supportive time for our Year 5’s – Mrs Sawbridge, Ms Warren, Miss French, Ms De Roche, Mrs Arthur, Miss O’Donnell, Mr Carter-Cusack, Mrs Brandson, Mrs Van den Boogard, Mr Gerchow, Mr Thie, Mrs Jones, Mrs Pahor and Mr Kumar. I would also like to thank Mrs Kanowski, Mrs McShanag and our EQ Physio Erik De Grier who made the trip up Tuesday to support our students with disabilities to participate in activities that required more support.

The children excelled at giving everything a go and what impressed me the most was the positivity and encouragement they provided each other, especially when someone was faced with a challenge or they became emotional. We apologise if your portion sizes at home increase, the food was excellent and most nights we were scraping the trays clean after serving the majority of students with seconds. I hope they came home and filled you in on all the fun and excitement they had.

As we are nearing the halfway mark of our final school term, I would like to remind everyone that we still need to follow the School Rules and expectations:

Students in eLearning classes need to ensure they are not accessing other programs or websites during school hours
Students should not be online messaging others in a negative way
Students should not be visiting the shopping centre before or after school without an adult

Thank you in advance for supporting us and ensuring your child follows these reminders.

This Semester Year 4 have put their Semester One Science curriculum in practise by designing and creating their own Pinball games for their Technology assessment. Whilst we are more involved with the electronic version of gaming these days, the students certainly demonstrated excellent creativity in their PinBall designs.

Year Six

Online Safety – a shared responsibility

We continue to experience challenges supporting some of our students in understanding appropriate and respectful online engagement.

E-Learning students at MacGregor State School sign an agreement with their parents before they join the e-learning program that clearly outline their roles and responsibilities as a digital learner. Most students have carried out their responsibilities in alignment with this agreement to a very good standard.

For others, we continue to provide reminders, support and subsequently firm warnings that online bullying, inappropriate language and concepts will not be tolerated.

Parents – we seek your ongoing vigilance outside of school hours by way of being aware of what your child is doing online. Who are they connecting with? What are they discussing? Do they need your help?

We strongly encourage parents to visit the eSafety Commissioners website (available in a broad range of languages) both independently and with your child/ren to learn more about how to support your child as a digital device user. Please visit https://www.esafety.gov.au/ for ways to start this important conversation with your child/ren.

Strengthening community partnerships

Wonderful things happen when our school communities come together.

During Monday’s assembly, MacGregor State School and MacGregor State High School’s respective P&C’s awarded two ‘runner-up’ prizes to Abigail Pearson and Hannah Webb for their outstanding applications for the 2023 Paula Davoren Bursary.

On hand to present these awards where Mrs Diana Ghusn (Deputy Principal) and Brendan Barlow (Principal – MacGregor State High School).

Also present was Charlotte Richard-Preston who is the 2023 Paula Davoren Bursary recipient.

Thank you to both of our P&C’s for supporting our students in their transition to secondary.

Is your child in Year 6 in 2024?

All Year 6 students enrolled at MacGregor State School in 2024 are eligible to apply for the 2024 Paula Daveron Bursary – head to our school website, click on Our Community and select The Paula Daveron Bursary tab. If you have any questions, please email me at jbail154@eq.edu.au

ICAS 2023 Certificate Distribution – Important Information for Families

Our Year 4 and Year 6 ICAS High Distinction and Distinction recipients were acknowledged on assembly on Monday – well done to those students pictured!

Any students who missed this assembly will be acknowledged on assembly in Week 6.

SAVE THE DATE 2023 Year 6 Graduation

Our Year 6 students have just over 30 days of primary school remaining! With a very busy Term 4, this time will fly by and before we know it, we will be

Planning is well underway for our exciting end of year event at Nissan Arena. As shared with our community last term, the 2023 Year 6 Graduation will be held at Nissan Arena on Tuesday 5^th December from 6pm. This will be an evening event held off-site for the first time in many years. To accommodate our families, this year there will be no limit to tickets per family however as shared earlier in the year, families will be asked to pre-purchase tickets via Ticketek.

Official invitations to our families will be distributed however to assist in your planning, ticket prices will be as follows:

Ticket Type	Cost
Year 6 MacGregor SS graduating student	Free of charge
Adults	$25 per person
Concession – Senior Card Holders	$20 per person
Child – 14 years and under	$10 per child

Save the Date – Wet + Wild Friday 1^st December

Parents of our Year 6 students, keep an eye out on your QParents App for consent and excursion details for our annual Year 6 Wet + Wild fun day on Friday 1^st December!

This annual event has been a great way for our Year 6 students to come together for their very last excursion together.

To assist in your preparations, I can share the following:

Students do not need to wear their school uniform on this day but their clothing must be sun-safe (covered shoulders and hat)
Students bring sunscreen, lunch, snacks, spending money and change of clothes for their trip home all in a secure backpack/ bag.

H.O.D. Update

We have enjoyed showcasing some class learning in the Library.

Prep E had been reading about Elmer the Elephant, written by David McKee. They discussed how everyone is special and we all have different things that we are good at.

They combined their learning in Mathematics on creating and making patterns to add their own border to their writing.

It was wonderful reading about all the things that make them special.

4E are our current showcase class. They have been learning about the art of Friedensreich Hunertwasser. They have created some villages inspired by this artist’s work.

We look forward to showcasing more learning this term and into 2024.

PARENT LEARNING FORUMS

Our first parent learning forum will be held on Tuesday 7^th November. There will be a session at 9:30am which will be repeated at 5:00pm. Keep an eye out for more details in the coming week.

Learning Engagement Team Update

Support Maia’s freedom for a Wheelchair Van

Maia is a current student at Macgregor State School. She dreams of travelling in her family car like her peers to exciting destinations. Maia is confined to an electronic wheelchair.

Currently, Maia’s Mum, Tegan is having to transfer Maia from her wheelchair into and out of a car seat in her Honda CRV, which is getting increasingly difficult as Maia grows and due to the fact that Maia is unable to weight bare.

Tegan has started up a fundraiser to help assist in getting Maia’s dream van. This van will be equipped to get them around Queensland and beyond, and they are excited by what the future will bring them both with this transport option.

Please donate via the link below and share wide with friends and family. Tegan greatly appreciates any support to help them to reach their goal.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-maias-freedom-with-a-wheelchair-van?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet-first-launch&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

Sports Update

Inter and Intra sport is fast coming to an end. Currently it is set to finish on 3^rd November. This might change if rain impacts any upcoming dates. The students have been doing an amazing job this season and we look forward to watching them finish with a bang.
On Saturday 21^st the Touch Excellence teams competed in the Brisbane All School Touch event. This was another learning and development opportunity for the students as they move forward to the QLD All Schools in 2 weeks. All teams performed extremely well and should be commended on how they represented the school. Congratulations to the Boys A team that made it to the semi-final, unfortunately they lost in an exciting drop off but displayed great sportsmanship under pressure.

Message from The Guidance Officer

As we continue to prioritise the safety and well-being of our students, we will be taking part in Day for Daniel.

Date: Friday 27^th October

What to Wear: Red T-Shirt

On Friday, we will be participating in Australia largest child safety event. We encourage all our students to wear a red t-shirt on this day. The colour red symbolises child safety and our commitment to raising awareness for the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

Donate and Make a Difference

We encourage children to bring a gold coin donation. These donations play a vital role in supporting the Daniel Morcombe Foundation's efforts to develop free education initiatives and provide support to young victims. Every contribution, no matter how small, can make a significant impact.

What is Day for Daniel?

Day for Daniel is Australia's largest child safety education and awareness day. It serves as a reminder that child safety is a shared responsibility involving parents, carers, educators, and the broader community. This day encourages open conversations between adults and children about personal safety.

The key child safety message on Day for Daniel revolves around the three Rs:

Recognise: Children are taught to recognise situations that may make them feel unsafe or uncomfortable.
React: They are empowered to react by making safe choices, whether it's walking away from a potentially risky situation or seeking help from a trusted adult.
Report: Encouraging children to report any concerns or incidents to a trusted adult is an essential step in ensuring their safety.

We believe that teaching children about personal safety is crucial, and Day for Daniel provides a wonderful opportunity to reinforce these important messages.

We thank you for your continued support in creating a safe and nurturing environment for our students.

High School Transition

Please see below a valuable resource for parents and carers. Headspace is hosting a free webinar to provide guidance and support for parents during the transition to secondary school. This information session is designed to assist parents in understanding the challenges and adjustments that come with this important transition.

Hello from our Chappy Mr T.

My Office

Hope you are having a good week and keeping cool in this warm weather.

Location location location. I'm talking about my office located in Harmony Place. I use this space to work with students on group work, check ins, social and emotional support.

There's games, colouring books and Lego. This space is shared with a specialist teacher Mrs Dekker.

Please feel free to knock on the door and say hi when I'm there.

MacGregor State School Peace Code

The focus for Weeks 4 and 5 is:

Rules at School. The students will be discussing what our rules are and why we have these rules.

Performing Arts

Date Claimers
MEX Recital - Thursday 2^nd November
SUNPAC Summerfest - Saturday 4^th November
Junior & Senior Music Gala- Thursday 9^th November

Finance Update

For invitation and registration assistance with QParents, please contact Marcia Crichton at mcric14@eq.edu.au.

We appreciate your support in adopting this new process as we aim to streamline and enhance the way we manage permissions for our school activities.

Invoices

Invoices for the following have been issued and are now overdue. Please make immediate payment.

YEAR 1 INCURSION – ‘WILD RANGERS, WILD ENCOUNTERS’
YEAR 4 EXCURSION - WASTE, RECYCLING AND RESOURCES CENTRE

Mac Shack News

Volunteers Needed

The Mac Snack Shack needs your help to keep our tuckshop running smoothly and efficiently. We are looking for volunteers who can spare a few hours a week to assist in the tuckshop. No experience necessary, just a friendly smile and a willingness to learn. Please follow this link to sign up – https://msspc.org.au/tuck-shop/

Online Ordering

Flexischools continues to be the fastest and easiest way to place orders. You can sign up online at https://flexischools.com.au/parents or download the Flexischools app. Orders must be placed before 8.30am for same day orders. Alternatively, you can order up to a month in advance.

Summer Menu

The summer menu runs for term 4 2023 and term 1 2024. The tuckshop will continue to make our most popular daily specials, Pasta and our Bento Box. New daily specials will be available, as well as some new items added to our regular menu. Check out the new menu here https://msspc.org.au/tuck-shop/

Uniform Shop

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS

Opening Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:00 am to 9:00 am

SWIMMING

Swimming has re-commenced in Term 4. The Uniform Shop has stock of swimming caps, priced at $7.00 and swim bags, $10.00, to help you get organised for classes.

ONLINE ORDERING

Online ordering using My Student Account is available at the Uniform Shop.

Orders for uniform and stationery requirements can be placed and delivered to your child's classroom.

https://macgregorss.mystudentaccount.com

Contact us: uniformshop@msspc.org.au

P&C website: https://msspc.org.au/

WORLD TEACHERS' DAY

Student Achievements

Congratulations to Mia Z from 5F who recently competed in the Queensland State Figure Skating Championships and came first in the advance novice lady's division.

MacGregor State School Newsletter 2023 Edition 8