Dear Queenscliff Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to a new school year. It has been an exciting and positive start to school this year, with our students settling back into school routines smoothly, getting to know their new teachers and classmates. I hope our QPS families had a relaxing and rejuvenating Christmas and summer holiday and enjoyed quality times with family and loved ones. On Tuesday 4 February, our Prep class had their first day of school with Mrs. Morris and we were impressed with their school readiness, engagement and enthusiasm for learning.

2025 is going to be a brilliant year! Our school’s priorities for this year include:

• Improving student literacy and numeracy outcomes

• Enriching student wellbeing

• Enhancing student voice, agency and parent/community engagement and participation in our school

Term Ahead and Parent Calendar

Parents will receive a Term 1 Term Ahead and Parent Calendar this Friday 7 February. The Term Ahead overviews provide information for families about the curriculum and key learning experiences their child will engage in throughout the term across a range of subjects. Term Ahead can also be accessed via Compass.

New Staff

I would like to warmly welcome our new staff to the QPS Team for 2025:

• Miss Mackenzie Woodman - Education Support

• Mrs Sarah Edgley - Education Support

Parent Information Evening

Parents are invited to attend a Parent Information Evening on Tuesday 11 February (Week 3) from 5pm to 6pm. The Parent Information Evening will be delivered by your child’s class teacher in their classroom. Teachers will deliver presentations on school procedures, practices, curriculum, and events. After the presentations, all families are invited to the down ball court for an official welcome by our school leadership team. We encourage all families to join us for this special evening and to take the opportunity to connect with other families in your child’s class for 2025.

Parent Teacher Meet and Greets

In Week 4, we will host ‘Meet and Greet’ Interviews with parents and teachers on Monday 17 February and Tuesday 28 February from 3:10-5:30pm. This is an opportunity for parents to meet with their child’s teacher and to provide important information about their son or daughter, including their strengths, interests, challenges and goals for 2025. Parents will be required to book an interview time for the ‘Meet and Greet’ with their child’s teacher online. Bookings for ‘Meet and Greet’ interviews open online on Compass on Monday 10 February 2025 at 2pm. A reminder notification will be sent to families on this day prior to bookings opening. If you are having difficulties booking an interview time, please contact the school office.

Student Diaries

Each student has been provided with a student diary. Students are to bring the school diary to school every day. The student diaries have important information about the school, including policies, dates and expectations. The school diaries are used to support student organisation, time management and parent/school communication. Parents are encouraged to use the diaries to communicate with teachers or to provide reminders to their child. Students/parents are to record home reading in the diary each night, including the title of the book. Student diaries will be checked and signed by teachers and support staff each day.

Spelling Mastery

This term, we will be implementing a new spelling program for students in Year 3 to 6, titled ‘Spelling Mastery’. Spelling Mastery program will build dependable spelling skills for students through a highly structured direct instruction method that blends the following approaches:

• Phonemic approach - helps beginning spellers learn the relationships between spoken sounds and written letters and then apply them to spelling

• Morphemic approach - exposes advanced spellers to prefixes, bases, and suffixes

• Whole-word approach - gives spellers at all levels the meaning and root of a word and shows how the word's spelling is influenced.

Spelling Mastery interweaves these three approaches according to students' skill development. Explicit instruction, careful selection of spelling words, and repeated and cumulative practice will help students master each concept and reinforce and retain key information. The Spelling Mastery program is differentiated and students will be working in different groups with different teachers and ES throughout the week. The Spelling Mastery program aligns seamlessly with the Department of Education’s Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 and their mandate for explicit instruction. Students will commence the Spelling Mastery lessons in Week 3.

School Council Nominations 2025

This term we will be hosting an election for four parent members to join our School Council for the next two years. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Naomi Stacey, Sharna Thomason and Richard Fewster for their contributions to School Council over the past two years. They have been valued members of our School Council. Heidi Boyd and Lisa Golightly will remain on the School Council as elected members from 2024.

The School Council is made up of elected parent members, staff and community members. The School Council meets twice a term to discuss the School's strategic direction, Annual Implementation Plan, financial and school operations.

From Monday 17 February 2025, nominations for Parent Members to join our School Council will open. Parents can collect nomination forms from our School Office. Parents may wish to self-nominate themselves for the position or have another member of our community nominate them for the position. Nominations will close on Monday 3 March 2025. All signed nomination forms are to be returned to the School Office or emailed to queenscliff.ps@education.vic.gov.au by the closing date to be considered.

Depending on the number of nominations, a ballot will be formed for the community to vote for our parent members to join the School Council. Ballots forms can be collected from the School Office and forms will be emailed to all families. All completed ballot forms must be submitted in person at the School Office or sent via post. The Ballot process will open on Wednesday 5 March 2025 and close on Wednesday 19 March 2025.

If you require any further information on the School Council nominations and ballot process, please contact our School Office or connect with one of our current School Council members.

Pick Up and Drop Off

We encourage parents and carers to be mindful when picking up or dropping off their child to not park in front of local residence driveways on Stevens or Stokes Streets. We have had several neighbours contact our school informing us that some families have been parking in front of their driveways, impacting their ability to enter and exit their property. If you are having difficulty getting a park, we encourage families to park further down on Stevens or Stokes Street and walk to collect or drop off your child. Also, families are to not park within close distance to the school crossing on Stevens Street, as it impedes pedestrians' view of the street. We would greatly appreciate your support in ensuring we maintain safety at these busy times during the school day.

Huff and Puff

Our Huff and Puff program will commence in Week 3 on Monday 18 February. We encourage students to arrive at school at 8:25am for an 8:30am start. Huff and Puff is an opportunity for students to get active and participate in fun and inclusive physical games and activities in the morning until 8:50am. Huff and Puff will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and coordinated by school staff. Information on the Huff and Puff activities for Week 3-6 will be posted.

The Importance of Attendance

School attendance is vital for all students. If your child is unwell or unable to attend school, parents are required to provide a reason using the Compass app. According to Department of Education Attendance Policy, parents/carers are legally required to ensure their child attends school every day, and if an absence is required, you must provide an explanation. Explanations can be provided to the school using the Compass App or contacting the school office directly via email or phone.

Going to school every day is an important part of your child’s education. Children and young people learn new things at school every day, connect with friends, have fun and develop good habits that help them to succeed after school. Attending and participating in school will help your child:

• develop important skills and knowledge to help them learn

• develop social and emotional skills such as good communication, resilience and teamwork

• establish friendships with peers which help develop self-esteem and a sense of belonging.

There is no safe number of days for missing school. Being away from school for 1 day a fortnight adds up to missing 4 whole weeks of school a year. Where possible, you should avoid your child missing school, for example, make appointments for your child outside of school hours and keep family holidays to outside term time.

Late Arrival Process

If your child arrives at school after 8:50am, they are required to enter through the School Office to sign in. Your child will be provided with a yellow slip to hand to their class teacher when they arrive at their classroom. Parents and students are not permitted to enter into the classroom directly if arriving after 8:50am. We require all students to be signed in and their attendance recorded. This process is completed through the School Office. Thank you for your support with our school wide processes for managing student attendance.

Technology User Agreements

All students and families are required to read the Technology User Agreements located in your child’s school diary. The Technology User Agreement outlines how students are to keep themselves and others safe when online and how to respect school technology devices. We ask that all families that take time to review the User Agreement with their child and sign at the bottom of the page.

Grounds and Gardens

Over the break, we had our works for the new Specialist Classroom completed. Students will use this new classroom for their specialist subjects including Art, First Nations, Performing Arts and Science/STEM. The exterior brick of our school was also painted over the holiday period to refurbish the physical appearance of the school’s main building and as part of an essential maintenance program. We will be installing a new sign stating ‘Queenscliff Primary School’ close to the front doors to the school.

Thank you to Chris Wilmot, Nathan Ulph and Stuart Kent who have spent time and energy working to complete the bike storage area. Nathan and Stuart installed the new bars for students to place their bikes onto using their seats, and Chris has greatly assisted with the fencing, landscaping and installation of the shipping container. We are excited to have our students create a mural on the shipping container, representative of our local area and environment later in the year. Later in the term, we will be organising a working bee with families to assist us in landscaping the bike storage area with native indigenous plants and trees. It has been wonderful seeing our students already using the bike storage area correctly and safely.

Riding to School

A reminder to those students who ride to school and pass the Marine Discovery Centre, they are to ensure they remain on the bike path at all times and pay close attention to their surroundings, including traffic entering and exiting the Marine Discovery Centre car park. We have had reports from staff at the Marine Discovery Centre that some of our students have been riding through the car park and on pathways/areas that are not designated for bikes.

Curriculum Days in 2025

This year our school will have the following days as Curriculum Days whereby staff will be engaging in professional development in alignment with our school’s Annual Implementation Plan, as well as planning, assessment and reporting practices.

Curriculum Days (student free days) for 2025 include:

• Tuesday 22 April (Easter Public Holiday Weekend)

• Tuesday 10 June (King's Birthday Long Weekend)

• Monday 21 July

• Monday 3 November (Melbourne Cup Public Holiday on Tuesday 4 November)

• Friday 19 December

  

Parent Class Representatives

We are seeking 2 parents to be Class Representatives for each class in 2025. Parent Representatives aim to increase the communication between the school and parent community. Class Representatives will meet with the School Leadership Team termly and facilitate communication in organising class/grade level events outside of school hours. Class Representatives will also assist in organising parent volunteers for school events, functions and fundraisers. Parents and carers who are interested in being a Class Representative for their child’s class are to email their child’s teacher directly or register their interest at the Parent Information Evening held on Tuesday 11 February.

Assembly

Our first school assembly for 2025 will be held on Friday 21 February. We will have Year 2, 5/6C and 3/4T showcasing their learning at the assembly and we will have our new School Leaders hosting for the first time. We encourage all parents, friends and community members to come along to join us for this occasion. Assembly will commence at 9am on the hardcourt area outside the main building.

School Council

Our first School Council meeting for 2025 will be held on Monday 24 February 2025. I am excited to meet with our School Council and to commence working together to achieve our school’s goals for this year. Our School Council’s AGM will be held on Monday 24 March 2025, whereby our new members to School Council will be announced following the nomination and ballot process.

I look forward to seeing parents and carers next Tuesday 11 February at our Parent Information Evening from 5pm.

Nyatne baa Gobata

(Thank you and take care)

Mat McRae

Principal