Dear Queenscliff Parents and Carers,
I hope all of our students and families enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and warm weather over the recent long weekend. I was excited to hear from students on Wednesday when they returned to school about their adventures over the weekend, from camping in the Grampians, ocean swims, dolphin spotting in Queenscliff and bike rides to visits to Melbourne and ferry trips to Sorrento. On Monday 4 November, our teachers engaged in professional learning and report writing as part of the Curriculum Day.
SRC - Cottage by the Sea Visit
Last Tuesday 29 October, Miss. Robertson, the SRC and myself visited Cottage by the Sea for a special tour and 'thank you' afternoon tea. The SRC had a tour of the facilities, including the slide in the front entrance and they learnt about the history of Cottage by the Sea. The SRC enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea provided by Cottage by the Sea as a way of showing their appreciation to our student leaders for organising the Toy and Book Fair fundraiser. It was a delightful afternoon. The SRC represented our school proudly and asked insightful questions whilst on the tour to learn more about the impact and history of Cottage by the Sea.
Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser
On Saturday 30th November, our school will be hosting a Bunnings BBQ at Leopold Bunnings from 8:00am until 4:00pm. All funds raised from the BBQ will go towards the Nature Play Space that will be constructed on our grounds in 2025. Thank you to the parents and families who have volunteered their time to support the barbeque or donated supplies for the event. All donated items can be dropped off at the school office over the coming weeks, before Saturday 30 November.
Our School Council member, Heidi Boyd is the key contact for the Bunnings Fundraiser. If you have any questions regarding the event, please message her on 0404 051 708.
Book and Stationery Packs and Voluntary Contributions 2025
On Friday 8 November, parents will receive information about how to purchase book and stationery supplies for your child for the 2025 school year and have the opportunity to make voluntary contributions to the school to support specialist subject supplies, technology, literacy and numeracy resources, first aid supplies and online learning subscriptions. Parents will be provided with a link to access the WINC portal whereby you can purchase your child’s book and stationery supplies and make voluntary contributions to the school. Book and stationery supplies will be delivered to your home. 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. Information regarding the Stationery Packs and Parent Payments for 2025 will be provided to your child on Friday 8 December in hard copy form. Additionally, parents will be able to access the information through Compass.
School Saving Bonus
In the final weeks of November, families will receive an email from the Government’s School Saving Bonus team with instructions on how to access the portal to redeem the $400 bonus for your child to support costs for excursions and school uniforms. The School Saving Bonus email will include a unique code for each child. A family with multiple siblings will receive multiple email codes. Parents can nominate up to $50 for uniforms or activities (camps, excursions). The $400 vouchers are a one-way nomination, so if the family allocated the full $4000 towards an item, it cannot be undone. Any unspent voucher money will be transferred to the family’s account at our school. If a family accidentally deletes the email, you will be required to call the helpdesk to have the email resent. The helpdesk phone number will be provided in the School Saving Bonus email and on the Department of Education’s website. All School Saving Bonus related concerns, questions or issues parents have are to be communicated through the SSB Helpdesk, not through our school directly.
I encourage all parents and carers to pay close attention in the coming weeks to look out for the School Saving Bonus email in your inbox so that you can access this financial support provided by the government. This bonus should be of great assistance to our families in supporting school-related costs.
Prep 2025 Transition
On Monday 11 November, our school will be hosting our third transition session for our new Prep class for 2025. The future preps will have an opportunity to meet specialist teachers, Mrs. Caldwell and Mrs. Fitzgerald by participating in Visual Arts and PE lessons. We look forward to seeing their smiling faces on Monday.
Bellarine Swimming Carnival
On Friday 1 November, our Year 3-6 students had the opportunity to compete in the Bellarine Swimming Carnival hosted at North Bellarine Aquatic Centre. We had 38 students compete on the day in a range of swimming races, including 25 metre and 50 metre freestyle events. Students represented our school proudly, demonstrating sportsmanship, persistence. It was wonderful to see our students cheering each other on and providing words of encouragement to students from other schools on the Bellarine. It is the first time this event has been organised for our students and I am grateful for the outstanding leadership and organisation of our PE Coordinator, Mrs. Melissa Fitzgerald, for providing this wonderful opportunity for our students to participate in.
Staffing
I would like to congratulate Mrs. Nicki Reefman on being successfully appointed to the position of School Administration for our school. Nicki has extensive experience in the role and has previously been employed at Drysdale Primary School and Norwood Secondary College in Ringwood. Nicki brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our school and she will be a tremendous asset to our team. Nicki will commence her appointment on Monday 18 November. Please join me in welcoming Nicki to our school community.
Specialist Subjects 2025
In 2025, students will engage in four specialist subjects as part of their weekly learning program. First Nations/Visual Arts, Physical Education, Science/STEM and Performing Arts. In 2025, our school will no longer offer Japanese as a specialist subject. This decision was based on survey results from the parent community at the end of 2023, the learning needs of our students and the School Council. Our students will have the opportunity to learn Wadawurrung language as part of the First Nations specialist program. As a result of this change, Mrs. Katelyn Hurley will conclude her appointment at our school this year. Katelyn has been successfully appointed to teach Japanese at Fyans Park Primary School in Geelong in 2025. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Katelyn on her new appointment and thank her for your significant contributions to our school in delivering the Japanese specialist program. Our school community will have the opportunity to farewell Katelyn in the final weeks of the school year.
Congratulations Xavier!
I would like to congratulate Xavier Grainger who competed in the Under 10’s State Soccer Championships held in Shepparton. Xavier represented Surf Coast Football Club. Xavier’s team won the championships overall, competing against 23 clubs across the state. Xavier has demonstrated outstanding commitment, discipline and persistence in training for the event and displayed sportsmanship both on and off the field. We are incredibly proud of your achievements Xavier. Well done!
Student Leader Applications
Student Leader applications are due on Friday 8 November. Year 5 students have the opportunity to apply for School Leader, Deputy School Leader or House Leader in 2025. Students who wish to apply for a position are required to submit an application answering specific questions related to the roles and responsibilities of a school leader. Following this, our school will review all student applications and shortlist students for the second round. The second round involves students having an interview with the Principal and Assistant Principal and delivering a speech to staff and students in Year 2 to 6. Student leaders are not selected based solely on the voting process. Instead all aspects of the process are weighed and evaluated to determine the successful candidates, including the written application, interview, quality of the speech as well as the number of votes from their peers and teachers. Student leaders for 2025 will be announced at our final assembly on Friday 13 December. Please note: Year 5 students in 2024 will only be able to apply for Student Leader positions in 2025. Students in Year 4 in 2024 will be able to apply to become a Huff and Puff leader in 2025.
Grounds and Gardens
In exciting news, our school has been granted a specialist classroom by the Victorian Schools Building Authority (VSBA). The specialist classroom will be relocatable and located next to the 5/6PH classroom. Currently the plan is for the specialist classroom to be installed in December. Further updates will be provided to families in the coming weeks on the specific date for construction and installation of the specialist classroom. The specialist classroom will be used for Visual Arts, Science/STEM and Performing Arts. I am absolutely delighted with this news and believe it will make a significant difference to the quality of instruction of specialist teachers, enhance students’ access to resources and reduce the noise level in the main building in 2025.
Plans for the next phase of construction for the bike storage area are well underway. I would like to thank Nathan Ulph, Stuart Kent and Chris Wilmot who have been instrumental in supporting the plans and development of the project. In the coming weeks, the area will be cleared and levelled further, followed by concreting and installation of bike racks for students to use. In addition to this, a shipping container will be placed at the back of the bike area for school storage.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Grounds and Gardens committee, made up of parents and staff, for all of their hard work, advocacy and care in supporting initiatives and plans to improve our school grounds for our students and wider community to enjoy.
Semester 2 Reports
Families will receive their child’s Semester 2 School Report on Wednesday 18 December via Compass.
Assembly
Parents and friends of our school community are invited to join us for our next assembly scheduled for Friday 15 November at 9:00am. We will have 3/4F, Japanese, 5/6C and 3/4TA showcasing their learning at the assembly.
Nyatne baa Gobata
(Thank you and take care)
Mat McRae
Principal
