Queen of Peace Parish Primary School Newsletter

From the Principal

 

Dear Parents & Carers

Welcome back to Queen of Peace for the 2023 school year! It has been wonderful to see all of the smiling faces coming through the gates in the morning. It is great to see the high levels of engagement, especially from the 79 new Prep students. We continue to grow as a school community with a total enrolment of 513 students.

 

The assessment days in the first week provided a great opportunity for the students to gradually move back into "school mode" and for the Teachers and Learning Support Officers to get to know specific learning needs of the students they will be working closely with this year. This means that specific learning tasks can be designed to meet the specific needs of students from the first week onwards. It also means that we do not need to replace teachers in classrooms with relief teachers while they spend the first weeks gathering this specific information in a one on one situation.

 

We believe our approach is extremely beneficial to student academic learning. 

 

We also started the year with Prep children attending for the first two days without the other students in 1-6 present. We believe this approach best supports their transition from kinder into prep, where they can explore the space prior to the whole school attending. All students have settled in well and are engaging fully in the curriculum.

 

I am looking forward to the year ahead, seeing and hearing about all of the learning experiences in the different year levels.

 

We hired several staff members and appreciate the insights and experiences they bring to Queen of Peace. 

New Staff 2023

Hannah Parker (5A) - From Southbrook School, Rangiora, New Zealand

Melissa Merheb (3A) - From Lumen Christi, Point Cook

Jenny Sare (4B) - Was a CRT at QoP throughout 2022

Veronica Chan ( 1C) - Graduate from Victoria University

Stephanie Streets (Visual Arts) - From St Mary’s Williamstown

Jack Stephen (Phys Ed) - From St Joseph’s Brunswick West

Returning to QOP

Loren Jubb (4B) - sharing with Jenny Sare

Belinda Palamara (3B) - sharing with Suzanne Gracias

Laura Taylor (1C) - sharing with Veronica Chan

We also welcome a new Learning Support Officer (LSO)  

Ms Carolina Perri 

 

A full list of staff and contact details can be found on our Website.

Click Here

 

 

 

Safety Reminders

We ask all members of the QoP community to walk bikes and scooters in the school yard. Please also be mindful of heavy foot traffic on the surrounding footpaths. This will help to ensure the safety of all as they move around the school.

 

Morning Drop off

When parking in the car park to walk your children to school, please park in the two rows closest to the road. The lane closest to the school is for drop off only. To maintain the flow of traffic, please refrain from parking in the rows closest to the school. 

Children are able to exit vehicles between the two zebra crossings. They don’t need to wait until the end of the queue unless traffic is moving. Please refrain from dropping children off in front of the church or the front office, even if the queue isn’t moving. This is for the safety of all children and to maintain the flow of traffic.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. 

2023 Important Dates

Listed below are our school closure days for 2023. These are student free days.  Staff use these days to further develop their learning and keep informed of current practice and procedures.

  • Monday February 13 ( Term 1) - Three Way Conversations
  • Monday April 24  (Term 2) - Professional Learning; PBL, RE, Maths
  • TBD (Term 3) - Professional Development
  • Monday 6th November  (Term 4) - Professional Learning
  • Friday 24th November (Term 4) - Forward planning for 2024
  • 15th December (Term 4) - Final Day of the Year for children (3.30pm finish)
  • The final day of Terms 1-3 will conclude at 1.30pm- dates are:-
    • Thursday April 6, Friday June 23, Friday September 15

NOTE: These dates are subject to change due to circumstances beyond our control.

 

Additionally, many in our community are curious about who will be appointed as the next principal at Queen of Peace. This process will begin on March 18 when the position will be advertised. Interviews will commence in the first week of May, and we hope to announce the new principal in the middle of Term 2. We will provide you with more information as we know more. 

 

 

Warm regards

Michael Ozbun

Acting Principal