MacGregor State School Newsletter 2023 Edition 2

Mobile Phones and Smart Watches

The following is an excerpt from the approved MacGregor State School Student Code of Behaviour regarding the use of mobile phones by students.  The rules also apply to smart watches which should not be used by students in school time.   

Use of mobile phones and other devices by students

Digital literacy refers to the skills needed to live, learn and work in a society where communication and access to information is dominated by digital technologies like mobile phones. However, the benefits brought about through these diverse technologies can be easily overshadowed by deliberate misuse which harms others or disrupts learning. Mobile phones are not permitted to be used by students at MacGregor State School during the school hours of 9:00am to 3:00pm. Students are encouraged not to bring a mobile phone to school, and instead access the school office for contact home where required. If a student needs to bring their mobile phone onto the school grounds, it should be handed in to the school office for safe keeping and collected at the end of the day. The school takes no responsibility for any mobile phones brought onto the site. Should a student need to use a mobile phone or other device outside of school hours, responsible use applies. Additionally, the use of any device at MacGregor State School at any time is subject to the following expectations: It is unacceptable for students at MacGregor State School to:

• use a mobile phone or other devices in an unlawful manner
• download, distribute or publish offensive messages or pictures
• use obscene, inflammatory, racist, discriminatory or derogatory language
• use language and/or threats of violence that may amount to bullying and/or harassment, or even stalking
• insult, harass or attack others or use obscene or abusive language
• ignore teacher directions for the use of social media, online email and internet chat
• use in-phone cameras anywhere a normal camera would be considered inappropriate, such as in change rooms or toilets
• invade someone's privacy by recording personal conversations or daily activities and/or the further distribution (e.g. forwarding, texting, uploading, Bluetooth use etc.) of such material
• use a mobile phone (including those with Bluetooth functionality) to cheat during exams or assessments

100th Day of School

The 100^th day of school is an important milestone in the school year as it roughly marks the halfway point for the academic year. The idea originated in 1979 by Lynn Taylor, David Cooper and Mary Hurdlow, who celebrated their first 100th day of school. Since that time, many teachers have expanded on the original idea and continued to create fun and exciting ways for the learners to celebrate their 100^th day of school.

On this day, at MacGregor State School, we celebrate and reflect on the learning that took place in the first half of the year, and the hard work and efforts of all learners. Our Prep and Year 1 students had a wonderful day on Wednesday, dressing up in all possible bright colours to show that they were “100 days brighter”. They participated in many engaging, hands-on activities, associated with number 100, that required collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking. Teachers and teacher aides were equally excited and did not shy away from dressing up to join in the fun. Our little learners finished the day by receiving a certificate and a pack of “Smarties”, creating long-lasting memories of joy in early years of primary school. Thank you to Prep and Year 1 Teams for their creativity and enthusiasm around this special event. Hope many of our learners came home and shared this special event with their families!

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Parent-teacher interviews are an important process to keep you informed about your child’s progress at school. They will take place in Week 3.

During these interviews, teachers will share further information on your child’s academic progress as well as provide you with the opportunity to ask questions and share your concerns. If you are not able to meet in Week 3, please make sure you contact the teacher to organise an alternative time.

Prep Vision Screening

Good vision is important for a child’s educational, physical and social development. Vision screening checks for common eye conditions that may impact your child’s ability to see and therefore impact their learning and development.

The following video explains the benefits of having your Prep child’s vision screened - “What is Prep Vision Screening?”

This is a reminder that the School Nurse will commence vision screening in our Prep classes this term on 27 July and between 31 July and 4 August 2023. Your child’s teacher will notify you about the screening dates for your class.

If your child’s vision is screened, you will be advised of the results in writing. If a vision concern is found, you will receive a phone call from the nurse to discuss referral to an eye health professional for further assessment. If a vision concern is identified and your child requires glasses, eligible health care card holders may be assisted with free basic glasses through the Spectacle Supply Scheme.

If you have any questions, please contact the Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program on 1800 687 372.

2024 Prep Enrolment applications are now open

If your child was born between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019, they are eligible to commence Prep in 2024. To assist the school with planning for 2024, we encourage all families residing in our catchment area to submit the enrolment applications now, to secure a place at MacGregor State School.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Parent-teacher interviews are an important process to keep you informed about your child’s progress at school. They will take place in Week 3.

During these interviews, teachers will share further information on your child’s academic progress as well as provide you with the opportunity to ask questions and share your concerns. If you are not able to meet in Week 3, please make sure you contact the teacher to organise an alternative time.

ICAS 2023 at MacGregor State School

We are delighted to inform you that MacGregor State School will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS competition this year.  

And, we are excited to share that we are opening this opportunity to learners from Year 2 through to Year 6.

What is ICAS?  

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies.  

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals. 

Learn more about ICAS here: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/ )

How to participate in ICAS  

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

Please note that the ICAS assessments shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.   

In 2023 we will be offering:

A timetable for administration will be provided to teachers after the closing date. Due to projected participation numbers, ICAS will be administered in the Hall between 9am and 11am.

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records.  

ICAS Results and Certificates 

We will notify you of the date(s) that we run ICAS at the school and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. Once we have received your child’s ICAS certificate, we will send it home with your child. The back of the certificate shows ICAS results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”, that you and your child need to enter the Results Portal orti.icasassessments.com/ortiStudent.  

Privacy Collection Statement  from ICAS Assessment

The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.  

ICAS Assessment is owned by Janison Solutions Pty Ltd (We, Us, Our).

To deliver assessment products, Janison will require your child’s School to obtain your consent to provide Janison with certain personal information of students. Janison will collect, store, use, disclose and otherwise deal with such personal information in accordance with its privacy policy (below). We are aware of our responsibility to protect personal information related to children and students from being disclosed when we deliver an ICAS Assessments product. Unless you, as the child’s legal guardian consents, we will not:

• collect any personal information or data of children other than the information we need for the successful completion of an assessment, test, or exam.
• transfer any personal information we obtain from a child in the delivery of assessments and tests to any jurisdiction outside of Australia.
• share any personal information relating to children with any third parties (except for those third parties necessary for us to carry out our Services or provide our Products e.g., medal engraving).
• use any personal information or data relating to children for marketing purposes.

You can view our full privacy policy at https://www.janison.com/privacy-policy/.

We may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com or by contacting icasassessments@janison.com.

We wish to reiterate that ALL registrations for ICAS 2023 are to be accessed via the Parent Portal as outlined on page one of this letter. MacGregor SS will not be registering students or accepting monies for registration.

We are proud to offer ICAS to our school community and look forward to some fantastic results later in the year.  Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions.  

Lone Pine Excursion

At the end of Week 1, all Year 4 families were emailed the permission letter and invoices for their excursion in Week 4.  Please ensure all payments and permission slips are made and returned by Friday of Week 3 (28^th July).

Inquiry-based Learning

4B are working on their Inquiry based learning and are learning to use the library search engine to locate information texts about curriculum areas to be studied. 

Leadership project

On Thursday we met with all Year 5 students to discuss the leadership project.  This is the first stage if they are considering applying for a Captain’s role for Year 6, however, all students are welcome to participate.  Below are some key messages:

           *   Return permission slip by Thursday of week 2

           *   Participating students are identified by their activity of choice (individual or pairs)

           *   During week 3, students are supported in completing their Project book with Year 5 staff

           *   Week 4 – 8 the students lead their activity with their lower school students

           *   Week 9 – catch up week if required

           *   Friday week 9 – students' hand in their completed Project book to their teacher

           *   Leadership certificates will be handed out late week 10.

Any student who has successfully completed their Leadership project and has a certificate are then eligible to apply for a Captain’s positions in Term 4.

Outdoor Learning with Year 5

Year 5 have taken their maths lessons outdoors this week.  5C explored Perimeter and Area by drawing shapes on the concrete and providing their partner with measurements to solve. 

5AB solved fraction word problems and then had to work cooperatively to get their blindfolded buddy to the mat with the answer on it.

Year 5 Camp – Maranatha Recreation site – Yandina

Preparations are under way for the Year 5 camp.  In the near future notes will be coming home with the permission forms and costs to allow you time to make payment for this camp. 

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Parent-teacher interviews are an important process to keep you informed about your child’s progress at school. They will take place in Week 3.

During these interviews, teachers will share further information on your child’s academic progress as well as provide you with the opportunity to ask questions and share your concerns. If you are not able to meet in Week 3, please make sure you contact the teacher to organise an alternative time.

New Staff to our Teams

ICAS 2023 at MacGregor State School

We are delighted to inform you that MacGregor State School will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS competition this year.  

And, we are excited to share that we are opening this opportunity to learners from Year 2 through to Year 6.

What is ICAS?  

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies.  

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals. 

Learn more about ICAS here: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/ )

How to participate in ICAS  

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

Please note that the ICAS assessments shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.   

In 2023 we will be offering:

A timetable for administration will be provided to teachers after the closing date. Due to projected participation numbers, ICAS will be administered in the Hall between 9am and 11am.

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records.  

ICAS Results and Certificates 

We will notify you of the date(s) that we run ICAS at the school and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. Once we have received your child’s ICAS certificate, we will send it home with your child. The back of the certificate shows ICAS results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”, that you and your child need to enter the Results Portal orti.icasassessments.com/ortiStudent.  

Privacy Collection Statement  from ICAS Assessment

The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.  

ICAS Assessment is owned by Janison Solutions Pty Ltd (We, Us, Our).

To deliver assessment products, Janison will require your child’s School to obtain your consent to provide Janison with certain personal information of students. Janison will collect, store, use, disclose and otherwise deal with such personal information in accordance with its privacy policy (below). We are aware of our responsibility to protect personal information related to children and students from being disclosed when we deliver an ICAS Assessments product. Unless you, as the child’s legal guardian consents, we will not:

• collect any personal information or data of children other than the information we need for the successful completion of an assessment, test, or exam.
• transfer any personal information we obtain from a child in the delivery of assessments and tests to any jurisdiction outside of Australia.
• share any personal information relating to children with any third parties (except for those third parties necessary for us to carry out our Services or provide our Products e.g., medal engraving).
• use any personal information or data relating to children for marketing purposes.

You can view our full privacy policy at https://www.janison.com/privacy-policy/.

We may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com or by contacting icasassessments@janison.com.

We wish to reiterate that ALL registrations for ICAS 2023 are to be accessed via the Parent Portal as outlined on page one of this letter. MacGregor SS will not be registering students or accepting monies for registration.

We are proud to offer ICAS to our school community and look forward to some fantastic results later in the year.  Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions.  

Camp Mapleton + Australia Zoo

Thank you to all of our Year 6 families who were able to finalise their commitment to our year 6 Camp. We now have our final numbers so we can finalise cabin groupings, medical requirements and getting ready for camp information.

We would like to reassure all families that as a team, we see the camp adventure being about the children. We want them to be with their friends and therefore provide opportunities for them to have some ownership over their decisions. At the same time, during camp activities we do mix the students up so that they can expand their friendship groups, get to know others and develop skills for getting along with each other.

We are really looking forward to this years camp and know that your child will have a fantastic time with us at Mapleton and Australia Zoo!

Year 4 with Mr McNab and 4D 

I have been very fortunate to be able to spend some learning time with the students of 4D as they travel through their English novel, Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda.

We are collaboratively bringing this heroes journey to life using a mural to stimulate imagination and visualisation. The students have also been engaging in collaborative learning routines such as Hot Potato where they build their knowledge of key characters using butchers paper and markers. Hot Potato is a fast-paced co-operative learning routine that promotes the contribution of different and new ideas. It enables all learners to contribute by asking them to dig deeper through each rotation and the change of pace is energising for students who require movement. 4D did an outstanding job with the first Hot Potato…every student was engaged and contributing.

We have also started to visualise characters starting with Sheba the village witch!
The images shared were created by 4D – they referred to theauthors description of Sheba then drew their ideas to share with others.

Year 5 STEM Challenge with
Sunnybank State High School!

Congratulations to the 18 students in Year 5 who have been nominated to represent MacGregor State School in the 2023 STEM Challenge at Sunnybank State High School. Our students, along with teams from 7 other local primary schools will come together for a day of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Selection for this event was incredibly difficult given the calibre of learners in Year 5 who demonstrate passion, academic performance and a genuine disposition towards curiosity about our world. Today, I am sharing with you just some examples of our clever Scientific thinkers – I am sure you will agree they have the scope to make a big difference to our world:

In response to the provocation:
STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering Mathematics.

Which one of these areas is your favourite and why?

We’ll be sharing more about this event in upcoming newsletters!

ICAS 2023 at MacGregor State School

We are delighted to inform you that MacGregor State School will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS competition this year.  

And, we are excited to share that we are opening this opportunity to learners from Year 2 through to Year 6.

What is ICAS?  

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies.  

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals. 

Learn more about ICAS here: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/ )

How to participate in ICAS  

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

Please note that the ICAS assessments shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.   

In 2023 we will be offering:

A timetable for administration will be provided to teachers after the closing date. Due to projected participation numbers, ICAS will be administered in the Hall between 9am and 11am.

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records.  

ICAS Results and Certificates 

We will notify you of the date(s) that we run ICAS at the school and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. Once we have received your child’s ICAS certificate, we will send it home with your child. The back of the certificate shows ICAS results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”, that you and your child need to enter the Results Portal orti.icasassessments.com/ortiStudent.  

Privacy Collection Statement  from ICAS Assessment

The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.  

ICAS Assessment is owned by Janison Solutions Pty Ltd (We, Us, Our).

To deliver assessment products, Janison will require your child’s School to obtain your consent to provide Janison with certain personal information of students. Janison will collect, store, use, disclose and otherwise deal with such personal information in accordance with its privacy policy (below). We are aware of our responsibility to protect personal information related to children and students from being disclosed when we deliver an ICAS Assessments product. Unless you, as the child’s legal guardian consents, we will not:

• collect any personal information or data of children other than the information we need for the successful completion of an assessment, test, or exam.
• transfer any personal information we obtain from a child in the delivery of assessments and tests to any jurisdiction outside of Australia.
• share any personal information relating to children with any third parties (except for those third parties necessary for us to carry out our Services or provide our Products e.g., medal engraving).
• use any personal information or data relating to children for marketing purposes.

You can view our full privacy policy at https://www.janison.com/privacy-policy/.

We may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com or by contacting icasassessments@janison.com.

We wish to reiterate that ALL registrations for ICAS 2023 are to be accessed via the Parent Portal as outlined on page one of this letter. MacGregor SS will not be registering students or accepting monies for registration.

We are proud to offer ICAS to our school community and look forward to some fantastic results later in the year.  Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions.  

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Parent-teacher interviews are an important process to keep you informed about your child’s progress at school. They will take place in Week 3.

During these interviews, teachers will share further information on your child’s academic progress as well as provide you with the opportunity to ask questions and share your concerns. If you are not able to meet in Week 3, please make sure you contact the teacher to organise an alternative time.

Importance of Play

Play is an important part of learning.  It allows us to explore the world around us and build vital skills for the future.  When we play, we build our confidence, social, physical, communication and language skills.  Depending of the age group, play can look very different.  The amount of time that should be allowed for play differs also depending to the age group. 

0–1 years should have some physical activity, such as floor play, each day

1–5 years should be physically active for at least three hours each day, with activity spread across the day

5–18 years should do at least one hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. 

The article below outlines the different types of play and what play can look like at different age groups.

Performing Arts Photos

All students who participate in a performing arts group will be involved in MSP Performing Arts photos on Wednesday 26^th and Thursday 27^th July. A note with the photo schedule will be sent home to families soon – please check it carefully so your child comes to school ready for their photo on the correct day and time.

Band and Strings: Wear full performing arts uniform and bring instrument (no folder needed)

Choral: Year 2-6 students wear full performing arts uniform. Students in Year 1 Speech choir or Year 1 Vocal Wonders will wear their formal uniform (Monday uniform).

Dance: Year 2, 3, 4/5 & 6 Dance and Dance Excellence groups will be given a costume to wear for their photo. Prep and Year 1 Dancers need to wear their formal uniform (Monday uniform).

JAM Band: Wear formal uniform

Musical Cast & Band: Wear formal uniform

Open Rehearsal Week

This term we have an exciting opportunity for parents to witness the magic of our music ensembles in rehearsal. Week 4 (31^st July – 4^th August) is Open rehearsal week for all band, string and senior choral groups, where parents are invited to attend their child’s music ensemble rehearsal and observe what goes into their weekly rehearsals. Please arrive 5 minutes before your child’s rehearsal starts. We look forward to sharing some wonderful music with you soon!

TERM 3 EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

This term will see a number of our performing arts groups head off to compete in Eisteddfods at both the Gold Coast and Beenleigh.

BEENLEIGH EISTEDDFOD

Dance groups will be performing on Friday 4^th August at the Beenleigh Eisteddfod.  These groups include:

Year 3 MacGregor Dancers

Year 4/5 MacGregor Dancers

Year 6 MacGregor Dancers and

Dance Excellence.

Students will need to be at school by 7.15am on this day as the buses will depart at 7.30am.  Our first group is competing in the 8.30am session.

JUNIOR STRINGS WORKSHOP

Students in Junior Strings will have an opportunity to participate in a workshop on Thursday 7^th September.  Please keep an eye out for further information.

INTERMEDIATE STRINGS WORKSHOP

Students from Intermediate Strings will be participating in a workshop with other local primary schools on Thursday 17^th August at Warrigal Road State School.  Students will need to be dropped off at Warrigal Road State School on this day and collected at 3.45pm once they have finished performing.

This is another great initiative, which allows out students to mix with students from other local primary school and develop a greater love of music and playing in a larger orchestra.

Interschool Sport 

On Friday 14^th students in year 4-6 took part in inter school sport trials for semester two sport. Students had a choice of sports including basketball, AFL, volleyball and boys touch football. Students who are not taking part in inter school sport will be arranged in groups and do an intra sport program.

Mt Gravatt District Trials

Mt Gravatt District Track and Field trials are coming up. Students that have been selected to attend have been notified. We wish them well in their preparation.

The Thriving Kids and Parents School Project

There are 2 weeks left to access the Thriving Kids and Parents Schools Project seminars. Parents/carers will only be able to access the seminars until the 5th of August.

Attending all three seminars will provide you with the strategies you need to best support your child’s development and help them thrive now and into adolescence. Seminar topics:

• Power of Positive Parenting (Triple P Seminar)
• Helping Your Child to Manage Anxiety (Fear-Less Triple P Seminar)
• Keeping your Child Safe from Bullying (Resilience Triple P Seminar)

Want to get involved?

• Register via the following link: https://able.adelaide.edu.au/education/thriving-kids-and-parents/for-parents#power-of-positive-parenting 
• If you have any questions, you can contact the project team at: thrivingkidsandparents@uq.edu.au

Story Dogs

Story Dogs returned in Term 2 to help students in Yr 2 to gain confidence in reading books with the help of Mrs Val and her special therapy dog Dougle. There were 4 selected students who spent 20 minutes each to read individually with Mrs Val and in the company of Dougle. So far, the feedback from the students and Mrs Val has been positive and students are progressing.

Pancake Day

Pancake Fundraising Drive on the last day of Term 2. As a special treat to celebrate the last day of Semester 1, we prepared hundreds of delicious pancakes on Friday morning for the entire school. Special thanks to McDonald's Sunnybank for donating 190 delicious Macca's pancakes and very special thanks to Angie for her expertise in getting the other few hundred pancakes ready the day before. Also thank you to the Yr 6 volunteers who distributed the pancakes and collected the golden coin donation. 

The event went very well, all pancakes got eaten, students loved the taste of the pancakes and nice amount of money raised to go towards Chaplain resources.

Please contact our office if you require assistance setting up your Qparents account.

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.

Winter Menu

The winter menu runs for term 2 and term 3. The new winter daily specials have been very popular amongst the students. Follow this link and take a look at the menu - https://msspc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Winter-2023-3.pdf

Performing Arts Success

Congratulations to:

Sarah S, Bella S, Ryan K & Ethan K for receiving a high distinction (100%!) in their Grade 2 AMEB Theory exams

Jonathan Z for receiving an A+ in his Grade 5 AMEB Double Bass exam.

Jared L for receiving an A+ in his Grade 4 AMEB Double Bass exam.

Monique B for receiving the following awards in the Wynnum Eisteddfod vocal sections: 2nd in Australian Composer 7-8yr old, 3rd in English Folk Song 7-8yr old, HC in musical theatre 7-8yr old, 3rd in jazz/pop/blue 10 and under and 3rd in grade 2 exam level. Congratulations!

Eden C for receiving an A in his Grade 7 AMEB Piano exam.

NAIDOC ART Winners

Thank you to all that participated in the Art Competition. So many wonderful entries!

Congratulations to the following Book Prize winners:

Hank X.
Emma Q.
Alec W.
Youran N.
Katherine C.
Evelyn N.
Bahadur S. D.