News from Around the School

Camp Quality Performance

On Tuesday, QoP were visited by the awesome Abbey and Jane from Camp Quality's School Education Program.

 

Abbey and Jane presented a puppet show about how some people sometimes get something called cancer. Children learnt how cancer can affect people and how laughter is often the best medicine.

 

Ask your child about what they learnt. If you would like more information visit www.campquality.org.au

The photo below shows the Stephenson family, including relatives from overseas at the Camp Quality performance.  This was  organised by Kai's Mum Kimberley, before she passed away in September. Kimberley was a dedicated and kind student, with Staff having fond memories of her time in the Queen Of Peace Community.  

Prep Prayer Night

"Music: Count Us In"

Here are some quotes from the students who wrote to Program Ambassador and co-writer, Mr John Foreman:

- I loved the song this year, it spoke to me and showed me how important music is.  I like where you get children to write the song and give multiple children chances. Our entire school joined in with some playing instruments, doing dancing and some doing sign language.  I like how this song shows that no one is alone and with music we can all be happy.

- I think we celebrate MCUI so that our whole school can stand side by side and enjoy music without having to worry about issues outside school. MCUI is about putting our differences aside and having fun. The lyric that spoke to me was, "You're not alone, just let the music take you home".  What these lyrics mean to me is that you will always have somebody by your side and that music can make you feel better when you're going through a rough time and need someone to talk to.  

 

- You don't have to worry about your problems because people and music will also be there to accompany you.

QoP iPad program

We have published a booklet that outlines the QOP iPad program and showcases learning using digital technologies. 

The booklet includes;

• A rationale
• An outline of the junior and senior iPad program.
• An outline of the 1:1 program.
• A showcase of learning in the juniors and seniors.
• Tips for healthy use and staying safe online.
• FAQ.

- Cameron Menadue, Digital Learning & STEM Leader

Walk to School month

Thank you to all the children, parents and families who walked to and from school this month. Our small but dedicated Central Square group increased in numbers as we walked along Queen Street and many families walked, rode or scootered to and from school along their own path. Hopefully everyone felt happy and healthy and keeps the activity up for the rest of Term 4.

- Marisa Te, Wellbeing Leader

Poppy Appeal

Thank you to the JSC members who helped to sell Poppy Appeal items to raise funds: Christopher H, Mia F,  Juan-Felipe F, Isabella M, Martin B

Genovieve G from Year 6 and Benjamin N, Chloe W, Michael M, Isabella J,

Jeanette T and William P from Year 5.

Funds raised help provide specialist services like crisis accommodation and health and wellbeing programs to thousands of veterans and their families.  We all appreciate the support of the QoP community and thank you for your kind donations.

Baby News

- Congratulations to Mrs Beth Farmer, Tim and Oscar on the safe arrival of Rosie May in October.  

- Charnea W (5A) and Mariusz W (PC) are excited to announce that they now have a little brother, Ermias. 

Amazing Sporting Achievements!

Congratulation Mia M (4B) who recently broke a Metro West District record with her Butterfly.  

I recently participated in the School Sports Victoria State Primary School Track and Field Championships representing Queen of Peace. I competed in the 12/13 year old discus competition and finished in 5th position with a best throw of 31.57 metres.

- Matthew M (6A)

"I moustache you a question..."

As you may have noticed, Cam, Pete and I have started growing our moustaches in an attempt to raise funds and awareness for men's health. 

 

If you would like to donate to our QOP team, you can follow the link below.   Any donations would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Many thanks

Patrick Craig & the QOP Moustache team

To donate to the team CLICK HERE  or go to https://moteam.co/qop

Healthy Eating at QoP

On Tuesday the students in years 3 and 4 learnt many things about being innovative with surplus vegetable and fruit supplies. Gina from Napoli’s Quality Fruit Market spoke about many ways to avoid wasting food such as making soup from leftover vegetables, using the best parts of fruit to make a fruit platter and how many people come to her shop to get food scraps for their animals and gardens. Gina also made some soup for the children to try.   Thanks Gina, certainly “food for thought”

How does your family minimise food wastage? 

Probably you could share your ideas with others. 

- Karen Currie (3B Teacher)

A huge thank you to Gina from Napoli’s Fruit & Veg for coming to talk to the Year 3&4 students about how she reduces food waste in her shop. Gina brought fruit for us to sample and soup that she made from the unsold vegetables! 

It was delicious!

Early leavers

To avoid disruption to classrooms, if children need to be collected early they should be picked up at the lunch break (at 1:30pm Monday or 1:40pm Tuesday-Friday).  It is also very disruptive for classes and the office to be passing on messages to children in the afternoons and interrupting sessions with phone calls to classes and announcements over the PA system.  It would be appreciated if these interruptions could be kept to a minimum.

Year 3's and 4's in the veggie patch

As part of our Term 4 Faith/Life Inquiry, the Years 3 and 4 students are looking at how we grow our food and will hopefully be using the produce we have grown to create some delicious dishes. 

The students have been hard at work planting, watering and ensuring they are meeting all the needs of the plants. To help us with this we have had Bunnings come and visit, sharing both their expertise and donating some plants to the school! We are also very thankful to Riley, our project manager on the recent building works at the school, who donated three frames for us to make scarecrows with. If you haven’t been to the veggie patch in a while, we encourage you to drop by and have a look at all our student’s hard work. 

- McCabe Craig, Year 4 teacher

“ The first thing we had to do in the garden was pulling out weeds (surprisingly I never knew what a weed looked like or if we had it!!) and it was just TIRING!!! Pulling out weeds was harder than I thought. It was like trying to lift 2 bricks with one hand!!

Planting

Now, this was when my brain went like ‘YES FINALLY!!’ We got to plant, which was the thing I’ve been dying for! It was like the feeling you get when you have wanted something so much, but you had to wait for Christmas.

 

We had to use a shovel to dig a hole for the plant, next the teacher provided us with a fresh plant, we put it into the hole. then you MUST pat soil onto the plant and pour water on the plant, then your job’s done!!! (Nearly.)

 

The final thing we got to do was put hay all over the plants as it helps keep water in the soil and protects the plants. It was sure messy but… it was fun!

- Minh L, 4B

Awesome Upcycling!

During our current school renovations, there have been some great opportunities for innovations. Mr Carlisle had the creative idea of upcycling the racks that were in the Grade 3 and 4 classrooms and using them in the Art Space. Mr Ozbun drew up the design and Mr Fred used his carpentry skills to make three wonderful purpose-built art drying trolleys. They are now used every week and are greatly appreciated in the Art Space.  Many thanks to all involved.

- Sue Rigby, Visual Arts Teacher

Artists on Display

Have you noticed the entrance foyer in the administration building looking a little more colourful lately?  Thanks to the hard work of our resident Art Curator, our visitors are now able to see and enjoy some of the creative works produced by our students.  We appreciate the time and effort Mrs Rigby is putting in to regularly change the pieces to showcase our talented students' artwork. 

Design a sticker and win a BYK bike!

**You can hand your entry form to the school office for Mrs Te to scan.  All entries MUST be received by 9am Monday 2nd December**.  

Do you love to draw or design? Well this is your chance to show off those skills. Ride2School are looking for new National Ride2School Day stickers and need your help! We want new stickers that celebrate the fun of walking, riding, scooting and skating to school and inspires even more students to get active. The winning sticker design will become Ride2School’s official stickers and be shared in schools across Australia in time for National Ride2School Day on Freaky Friday 13 March 2020. See attached PDF:

Sharing is Caring

Many thanks to Emmanuel College for providing their buses to take the Preps to the Children’s Week Picnic last month. Much appreciated. 

- Annette Gauci, Prep Teacher

Mt Saint Joseph girls choir

On Wednesday 6 November, the school was treated to a performance by MSJ students.  At the end of the performance they also invited keen QoP students to join in.

Voice lessons

Private singing lessons may be coming to QoP in 2020.  These sessions would be organised same way as the current violin and keyboard lessons, held during during the school day and organised directly with the tutor.  If you are interested, please see Irene's flyer below for details and call her on 0415 135 599 (not the phone number on the ad').   If there is enough interest, these lessons would commence in early 2020.

Year 3's BIG Day Out

Broom! Broom! Went the bus as we were going to Funtopia. When we arrived we got into our groups. First I went on the playground. I played tag and went down a metal slide but at first I was scared to go down then Ella helped me. Ring! Went a speaker it said “can all students on the Playground please go to the rock climbing area now “ so I did . Two people showed us how to do it, then we started I went onto a ladder, web and a tower. I made pizza for lunch. Later on it was time to go to the movies and watch the Ugly Dolls. The moral of the movie was no matter what you look like you can do anything. Now it was time for the pancake parlour my flavour was strawberry Duchess. When Charlotte got her dish everyone laughed because the ice cream was so small. - Alicia 3B

“Yeah!” We shouted, we were going to Funtopia and Highpoint, as soon as we left school we went into the bus I sat next to my friend Xavier.

 

When we arrived we came rushing into Funtopia. We went into the party room where we made pizza I added spinach to my pizza. Then we went into the playground I went on a very steep slide with my friend Mel.

 

After playing we ate our pizza. Mine was very yummy, I had three slices of pizza. When I finished we got to play on the playground again.

 

Next we did rock climbing we used something called a harness, I made it to the top of the bean-stalk and a pumped tube with handles, I raced some people too.

 

When I was on the bus I felt tired but I was still happy.

 

When we arrived at Highpoint we ate pancakes at the Pancake Parlour. I ate the Alice in Wonderland surprise. It was getting late when everyone finished.

 

Then we went back to school to get picked up by our parents. - Ryan O (3B)

Wow wow wow, we all had such an amazing time at the big day out.  We went to a place called Funtopia. They have so many cool things there. At the place we made some delicious pizza. I put olives, ham and pineapple on my pizza. Then we went on a massive playground. It had cool slides, great fun and amazing little shooting things. After that, we went rock climbing. When I was climbing I felt like I was going to drop, but then I got used to it. Then we left Funtopia, I climbed back on the bus and we drove to the movies. 

 

At the movies we grabbed some delicious buttered popcorn. The movie we saw was ugly dolls, ugly dolls was such a good movie. I liked the meaning of the story and the characters were so funny. The moral of the story was don’t let people change you, and if you have a big dream go do it. After the movies we went to the Pancake Parlour.

 

This particular pancake parlour was Alice in Wonderland theme. I had the Cheshire Cat. It came with chicken, potato wedges and a pancake on the side. After that we went back on the bus and went straight back to school.

 

I had the best time ever!!!  Thanks! - Sienna K (3B)

Forgotten lunch orders

Teachers remind their classes at the start of the day to hand in notes for the office and lunch orders for the canteen. Unfortunately, some children don't realise until it's time to start eating lunch, that they actually forgot to hand in their order.  Last-minute, desperate dashes to the canteen are taking place when the canteen is shutting down, ovens are off and staff are cleaning up.  It has been decided that when children have forgotten to hand in their lunch order they will now be offered a vegemite or cheese sandwich.  This will reduce wastage (previously extra food has been put into ovens, just in case) and allow the canteen to close on time, instead of having to taking foods out again to make up particular orders.  It might also encourage students to remember their morning routine and hand in lunch orders with the rest of the class.  

Donations for hampers

Dear Parents,

A big part of Christmas is giving, especially to the people who need it most. Mini Vinnies are collecting items for hampers that St Vincent de Paul will distribute to needy families in our local area. The items below are being collected by each of the year levels.

Prep A: Shampoo & Conditioner

Prep B: Toothpaste & toothbrushes

Prep C: Soap & deodorant

Year 1: Cereal

Year 2: Rice

Year 3: Pasta & pasta sauce

Year 4: Long life milk

Year 5: Canned food

Year 6: Christmas food e.g. custard, puddings, popcorn, tinned ham

Each class will have a basket in which to collect their donations up until *TBC December 2019. Thank for your support and generosity.

Directed Play

At Queen of Peace we encourage directed play to support children in establishing positive social relationships with peers. The following timetable lists what is on offer. ALL children are welcome to join in!

Prep - 2:

Years 3 - 6:

Commonwealth Student Banking

Parent helpers are needed for next year, would you like to volunteer?  Each Tuesday morning during the school term, three kind parents volunteer their time to record the deposits of students who send in their Commonwealth Student bank book.  We are looking for volunteers for next year.   Volunteers will be needed each Tuesday 9:30am – 11:30am approximately and training will be provided.  Would you like to help?  Please contact the school office if you think you would like to help. 

'Nude Food Day' every Wednesday

In Term 4, Queen of Peace will continue its commitment to becoming a more sustainable school. Whilst many parents are already supporting this initiative by packing lunchboxes with only nude food, we are encouraging all students and families to commit to making a special effort: every Wednesday we ask that there is no wrappers in their child's lunch box. 

Canteen Volunteers

Thank you to the following volunteers for giving up their time to help Antoinette in the canteen:

Can you spare time to help Antoinette in the canteen?  See attached request form with details. All volunteers must have a current Working with Children Check registered with the school office. Approximate times 10am - 2pm.  Please contact the school office if you are unable to help out on your rostered day.  To volunteer, please fill  out the following  form and return to the school office.  

The current canteen menu is attached below.

Coffee pod recycling

Recycle your coffee pods by depositing them into the recycling box which is located in the front of the sports hall (outside the canteen window).  Unfortunately Aldi pods cannot be accepted.

Learning at QoP - Term 3

*Term 3 Whole School Overview has been uploaded to the website CLICK HERE and emailed to families via CareMonkey. The specific learning that is happening at Queen of Peace is communicated to parents and caregivers through the 'Learning at QoP' publication in conjunction with the SeeSaw app. 

Story Time for pre-schoolers

Please meet in the Hall foyer 9am (the Library has been relocated whilst during new building works). Every Thursday during school terms.

Uniform Shop

The usual shop opening time is Friday 8:30am-9:15am. Please always check the latest newsletter and FlexiBuzz for any changes.  Orders can be left with the office if you are unable to attend at this time.  CLICK HERE to print out an order form.  As we no longer have plastic bags, when placing orders could you please supply something from home for us to return the protected item.   CLICK HERE to read the Uniform Policy or refer to the STUDENT HAND, BOOK 2019. 

Early Arrival & Supervision

Parents are strongly encouraged to ensure their child is at school in plenty of time to begin class at 8:50am.  Our aim is to have all children arrive between 8:30 am and 8:45 am.   It is very inconvenient for children to be arriving at the classroom after the bell.  Yard Duty supervision of children begins at 8:30am when the gate between the hall and the new Admin Building is opened. For their own safety, children are not permitted on the school grounds unsupervised before 8:30am. If parents wish to leave children at school earlier than 8:30am, children must be registered and booked into the Before School Care program. This service is provided by OSHclub. Further information can be found by calling OSHclub head office 8564 9000 or at www.oshclub.com.au