Principal's Message - 17 December

‘Tis the Season of Giving

Dear Queenscliff Parents and Carers,

‘Tis the Season of Giving

As the festive season is upon us, we are organising a special gift drive for Feed Me Bellarine. Families are invited to donate a wrapped gift for a child and place it under the Christmas tree in the foyer from the beginning of next week, Monday 25 November. Please ensure your gift is wrapped and labelled with the gender and age range that is suitable for the gift. If the gift is suitable for both genders, please write ‘neutral’. We will be delivering the donated gifts to Fed Me Bellarine on Friday 20 December.

Year 6 Graduation

Year 6 Graduation

Last Thursday 12 December, we hosted our Year 6 Graduation evening at 360Q. It was a splendid evening celebrating the success and achievements of our Year 6 students. Families, students and staff enjoyed dinner together and Year 6 students were presented with their Graduation certificates and a gift bag. Students had fun in the photo booth and families enjoyed the video presentation showcasing the key moments from our Year 6 students' life at Queenscliff Primary School. Our School Leaders, Ella Tamblyn and Elli Smith delivered a thoughtful and well written speech to staff and families. I would like to thank Mrs. Yvette Hurley, Mrs. Ebony Tannouri, Mrs. Hannah Petrie and Mr. Leigh Churchill, as well as our Year 6 parents for their outstanding organisation of the event. It was a fabulous celebration and we wish our Year 6 students all the best as they begin their next chapter of schooling in 2025.

I would like to thank Ella Tambly, Elli Smith, Sol Eldridge and Charlie High for being outstanding school leaders and ambassadors for our school this year. As leaders, you have done a remarkable job and we have enjoyed witnessing you grow in your roles. I would also like to extend a thank you to our tremendous House Leaders and Wellbeing Leaders for 2024.

Year 6 Graduates for 2024:

  • Aike Martino

  • Beau Mieszkowski

  • Henry Morris

  • Elli Smith

  • Ella Tamblyn

  • Jamie Dean

  • Jasmine Le Rodda

  • Jemma Sheridan

  • Meeri-Miryam Hamidi

  • Myles Erichsen

  • Ronan Fox

End of Year Concert

On Friday 13 December, our school celebrated the end of another brilliant year with an End of Year Concert. Students showcased with musical talents with solo and duet performances with our Music Teacher, Mr. Jarrah Wishart. Also, we had class items presented by Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 and students in Year 3-6 who performed a Christmas Megamix performance. It was wonderful to see our community come together to connect and celebrate the festive season.


NAPLAN Results 2024

I would like to congratulate students, staff and our school community on our outstanding NAPLAN results in 2024. Our school was ranked in the top 5 schools for NAPLAN results for the Geelong and Surf Coast region. It is an incredible achievement and is a direct result of the commitment and dedication of our students and staff for excellence, as well as improved teaching pedagogies and curriculum at Queenscliff Primary School. Congratulations!


Farewell

On Friday at our final assembly, we farewelled staff and families who are leaving the Queenscliff Primary School community at the end of the year. We wish Sensei Hurley all the best as she undertakes a Japanese teaching position at Fyans Park Primary School in 2025. We farewell Miss. Charlotte McKenzie and Mr. Simon Finch, who have been incredible Education Support staff members. Both Charlotte and Simon have completed their education degrees and have been appointed Classroom Teacher positions at St Leonards Primary School and Riverwalk Primary School in Werribee. Also, this year we say farewell to Mr. Jarrah Wishart, our instrumental music teacher. Jarrah has supported our students in learning musical instruments over the past 5 years, and he has fostered confidence and a love for performing within our students. We wish Jarrah all the best for his future in Melbourne.

We bid farewell to families of our Year 6 students who have completed their journey at Queenscliff Primary School.

  • Erin and Jules Mieszkowski (Beau)

  • Sam and Megan Smith (Elli)

  • Belinda Dean (Jamie)

  • Tahnh and Justin Le-Rodda (Jasmine)

  • Anna King (Ronan)

Class Awards

At our final assembly on Friday 13 December, students from class groups were awarded special awards.

  • The Excellence Award, recognising outstanding academic achievement and exceptional performance throughout the year.

  • The Endeavour Award, celebrating the continuous effort, perseverance, and a commitment to improvement,

and

  • the Citizenship Award, honouring individuals who have demonstrated exemplary character, leadership, and a positive impact on the school community.

Congratulations to the following students.


Excellence Award

Endeavour Award

Citizenship Award

Prep

Maggie Vogel

Noah B

Remi Boyd

Year 1

Charlie Berry

Hazel Cini

Edie Green

Year 2

Tariq Sayegh

Thomas Clifford

Stella Serong

3/4F

Alice High

James Rishton

Macy Monahan

3/4TA

Jude Spencer

Finn Leigh

Macy Murphy

3/4TH

Hugo Stacey

Nienke Martino

Amelia Miller

5/6C

Charlie High

Dusty Montgomery

Ruby Vistarini

5/6PH

Suhani Kehni

Sass Fitzgerald

Joshi Peters

Year 5 and 6 Community Awards

Congratulations to the following Year 6 students who were recipients of awards and bursaries at our final assembly:

Corangamite Leadership and Community Spirit Award

Elli Smith

Cosmopolitan Lodge 96 Award

Elli Smith

Jemma Sheridan

Borough of Queenscliff Award

Jasmine Le Rodda

Beau Mieszkowski

Bellarine Community Leadership Award

Zuri Lapham

Bellarine Secondary College Scholarship

Aike Martino

The Bob Fuller Environmental Award

Anouk Ulph

Lighthouse Theatre Group Award

Lily Golightly

Student Leaders for 2025

Congratulations to our Year 6 Student Leaders for 2025.

School Leaders

Anouk Ulph

Ruby Vistarini

Deputy School Leaders

Jack McDonald

Loretta Boyd

Learmonth House Leaders

Suhani Kheni

Charlie High

Hobson House Leaders

Tom May

Olivia Warring

Gellibrand House Leaders

Aydin Sayegh

Mae Gorgievski

Fraser House Leaders

Lily Golightly

Asher Clayden

Student Wellbeing Leaders

Saskia Fitzgerald

Laila Follett

Student Representative Council Leaders

Annabelle Clingan

Willow Lund

Performing Arts Leaders

Dusty Montgomery

Winter Boyd

Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser

On Saturday 30 November, our school hosted a Bunnings BBQ fundraiser to raise funds to support our Nature Play Space project in 2025. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our School Council member, Heidi Boyd, for her outstanding leadership and organisation of the event.

Thank you to the following families who donated supplies for the barbeque, from soft drinks, serviettes, garbage bags to condiments and foil trays. Your donations greatly support the success of the fundraiser.

  • McDonald Family

  • Grainger Family

  • Sayegh Family

  • Evans Family

  • Harris Family

  • Whitton Family

  • Harandian Family

  • Serong Family

  • Follett Family

  • Clingan Family

  • Vistarini Family

Thank you to the following volunteers who assisted on the day serving customers, cooking sausages and onions and doing lots of different odd jobs to make it a smooth operation.

  • Heidi and Mat Boyd

  • Martin Monster

  • Andy Gaskell

  • Guy Le Page

  • Belinda Dean

  • Catherine Healy

  • Xavier Fitzgerald

  • James Clifford

  • Mel Vistarini

  • Holly Tatterson

  • Fred Rhoads

  • Fleur Hewitt

  • Graham Hewitt

Overall, the barbecue raised $2000. An impressive result and this event will contribute significantly to the construction of the Nature Play Space in 2025.

Reminder - Book and Stationery Packs and Voluntary Contributions 2025

Parents and families received information regarding the 2025 Parent Payments for stationery, curriculum and other contributions to our school. Notes were distributed and information was provided via a Compass notification, including a video presentation explaining how to access the WINC portal.

To access information regarding our School’s Parent Payments for 2025, families can visit our school website using the link below.

Parent Payment Information 2025

To review the video presentation explaining how to access the WINC portal please use the link below.

Parent Payment Video Presentation

Students will be required to bring their book and stationery supplies to school on the first day of school in 2025. Students may wish to label their books with their name and class. We ask that all stationery items are not to be labelled with individual student names. WINC are offering free delivery of your child’s stationery packs if orders are placed by 6 December 2024.

Final Day of 2024

Classes will host end of year celebrations on the last day of school on Thursday 19 December. Students will be invited to bring in a plate of food to contribute to their class’ celebration.

On Thursday 19 December, school will conclude at 1:00pm. After school care will not be provided on this day. McHarry’s Bus Service will not be coordinating a pick up for students at 1:00pm. We encourage families to organise their own transport options for their child.

Semester 2 Reports

Families will receive their child’s Semester 2 School Report on Wednesday 18 December via Compass.

Grounds and Gardens

Last week, the Specialist Classroom was installed on our school grounds. The works will continue with the installation of a path, access ramp and essential services including plumbing and electricity this week. In 2025, we will host a parent working bee to establish gardens in and around the new classroom. In January, the exterior brick of our school will be painted to refurbish the appearance of the main school building and raised garden beds.

Thank you

As they say “It takes a village to raise a child”, or in our case “educate a child”, and with this I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the QPS parent community for your support in 2024. Your commitment to supporting our school and your child’s education is valued and makes our school community so unique and special. Thank you for volunteering on excursions, sports days and in classrooms, supporting fundraisers with your donations and time, and assisting with grounds and gardens projects. Your involvement and contributions have had a significant impact in making our school a great school. I would like to extend a special thank you to our amazing Class Reps who have done a tremendous job in bringing class parent groups together and improving the communication between home and school. Thank you!

Thank you to our amazing team of educators at Queenscliff Primary School. I am extremely grateful to our teachers, support staff and admin team for all of their efforts, enthusiasm, dedication and passion they have contributed to our school this year. They go above and beyond each and every day to make our school a positive, supportive and inclusive place for learning for all of our students. Thank you!

Thank you to our School Council members, Sharna Thomason, Richard Fewster, Naomi Stacey, Lisa Golightly, Heidi Boyd, Mrs. Ebony Tannour, Mrs. Tansy Young and Mrs. Melissa Fitzgerald. We are grateful for your contributions, encouragement and insights to support our school’s improvement and operations as School Council members.

I am extremely proud of our students and teachers and what they have accomplished in 2024. I hope all our students, families and friends of Queenscliff Primary School have a wonderful Christmas with loved ones and have a relaxing and safe holiday season. Relax. Connect. Refresh! I look forward to seeing you all in 2025 for another spectacular year of learning, challenges and opportunities.

Merry Christmas!

Nyatne baa Gobata

(Thank you and take care)

Mat McRae

Principal

Class News

Grade 6 Graduation

Congratulations to all the Grade 6 graduates of 2024! 🎉🎓

You've worked so hard to get to this amazing milestone. We are so proud of all your achievements and can't wait to see all the incredible things you will accomplish in high school and beyond! Best of luck in this exciting new chapter of your journey. Keep reaching for the stars! 🌟✨

Grade 1 - Procedural Writing

This term, the Year Ones have been learning about Procedural writing. We have created lots of fun things to help us with our writing. We have made potions, squishies, slime, fish habitats, paper airplanes and more! After we made each thing, we used a template to help us structure our writing. We followed the Writing Process to create some amazing Procedural texts! Charlie's favourite thing we made was the DIY squishies and Eve loved making slime.

Grade 3/4TA - Storm Boy

Grade 3/4TA has been diving into the captivating world of Storm Boy, a heartwarming tale of friendship and the natural world. Students have been delving into the rich vocabulary of the novel like sternly, seldom, trampling, trickly and sedately.

We have also been exploring the themes of animal companionship and the importance of preserving our environment. Students engaged in a thought-provoking debate on the role of humans in the natural world. We explored the complex issue of whether humans should intervene in animal life cycles.

To further enrich our understanding, we recently watched the 2019 film adaptation of Storm Boy. We used Venn diagrams to compare and contrast the book and movie, identifying similarities and differences in characters, plot, and themes. This visual tool helped us organize our thoughts and sparked lively discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of each medium.

By comparing the novel and the movie, students were able to analyse the different storytelling techniques and visual styles used to convey the same story. See attached photo of our Venn Diagram analysis and our thoughts and opinions regarding humans intervening with wild animals.

Physical Education Newsletter – Term 4 Highlights

What an exciting and action-packed Term 4 we’ve had in Physical Education! The students have participated in a variety of activities, building skills, teamwork, and enjoying plenty of fun along the way.


Tennis Unit: We kicked off the term with a fantastic tennis unit where the students learned essential tennis skills such as serving, forehand and backhand. They also gained a good understanding of the scoring system and rules of the game. To wrap up the unit, the students played mini tennis matches, putting all their newly acquired skills to the test.

Lawn Bowls Unit: Following our tennis adventures, the Grade 3-6 students enjoyed a unit on lawn bowls. We were thrilled to welcome Steve Cummings, who ran engaging and informative clinics, teaching students the finer points of the game. To take their learning even further, we traveled to the Queenscliff Bowling Green to test our skills on the real greens. A big thank you to the volunteers from the Point Lonsdale Bowling Club, who were there to guide us through the experience and even handed out chocolates for students who managed to land their bowl close to the jack!

Class Favourite Games: To finish off the term with a bang, students participated in a selection of class-favourite games, including T-ball, fruit salad, golden child, rob the nest, basketball, downball, high jump, and, of course, plenty of running races. The energy and enthusiasm in these games were infectious, and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of a busy and successful term.

A Fantastic Term: It’s been such a rewarding term, filled with laughter, teamwork, and skill-building in all the different activities. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the students develop their abilities and work together in a supportive and fun environment.

As we head into the holidays, I want to wish everyone a safe and happy break. I look forward to another fantastic year of Physical Education in 2025!

Melissa Fitzgerald

Community News