Message from Chris Shaddock 

Our swimming carnival and water fun day was held on Monday 26 February and students had an amazing day.  A tremendous amount of work goes in behind the scenes to ensure that all our children get the opportunity to participate. Thank you to all the staff who supported our wonderful event organisers Andrew Gibson and Melissah Cook before and after the event, and to the parents and KSS high school student volunteers on the day. I also appreciate the parents who took the time to offer their constructive feedback, as this helps us to work with the pool to enhance our processes in future years. Last but not least, congratulations to our delightful students who were absolutely outstanding on the day. They were cheering and supporting each other, regardless of their House groups, and it was an absolute pleasure to witness.

PBL Whole School Positive Recognition System

Last week, we launched our PBL Whole School Positive Recognition system which is now displayed in the school foyer. When students follow our school expectations, they receive a W@M token. When they receive 20 tokens they move up a level and receive a PBL hero card. There are 12 levels in total, and students get prizes from the PBL shop at levels 1 & 2 (bronze prizes), level 6 (silver prizes), level 10 (gold prizes), and level 12 (platinum prizes). These are individual rewards, but the tokens students receive also get collected in our Whole School Positive Recognition system and work towards whole school rewards.  When students collect enough tokens to hit our  “Mystery Target” (some point between 2000 and 10000 tokens) we hold a whole school reward. 

The first reward will be a “Choose Your Own Adventure - Move or Movie” week. Once the reward is triggered,  we will nominate a week in the future (so it doesn’t impact on already planned lessons) for cohorts to pick a 90 minute session to hold their reward. Students will choose from two simultaneously run activities, either a movie or movement (PE) activity. Those choosing to watch the movie will stay inside and the others will go out for extra PE/outdoor play with the other cohort teachers. Thank you to all members of the school community for promoting our school expectations of being Safe, Respectful, Responsible, Learners.

How should early reading and spelling be taught?

Beginning readers/spellers need to be told from the very start that spoken words are made of sounds, which we write with letters. This seems obvious to literate adults, but is not at all obvious to young children, or many older learners.

The sounds in our speech are invisible, quick and smoosh into each other, so splitting them up in order to spell them is hard. English is a mishmash of languages, warped over time so our writing system relates 44 speech sounds to 26 letters using five different types of logic:

1. One sound can be written with one letter.

2. One sound can be written with two, three or four letters e.g. sh, ou, dge, augh.

3. Most sounds are written more than one way e.g. out, cow, drought.

4. Some spellings represent more than one sound e.g. out, you, touch, cough, soul.

5. Meaningful parts used to build longer words often have special spellings e.g. er, ed, ly, al, est, ous, chron.

InitiaLit provides us with a systematic way to teach the above as well as how to explicitly introduce and practice to mastery, any ‘tricky words’ that may not fit conventions.

We will be running some information sessions about early years literacy learning closer to the end of term. Parents of children in years K-3 and LSG will benefit from attending one of the sessions if you are interested in learning more. Keep an eye out on SeeSaw for dates and times.

I look forward to seeing you in and around the school.

Bye for now,

Chris Shaddock

Principal

Parent Portal 

Parent Portal reminders

Parent Portal is now available. It is a secure online platform used to share student information between you and your child’s teachers.

Some reminders about Parent Portal:

·         If you already have a Parent Portal account, use this Parent Portal access link to start using the great features.

·         You can’t access Parent Portal directly through the ACT Digital Account website, you need to use the link above.

·         When you are logged into Parent Portal, we recommend saving the browser as a favourite or to the homepage on your mobile phone for quick access in the future.

·         The website can only be viewed using a web browser on your computer, mobile phone or tablet. An app is not available at this time.

·         If you still need to register, you will need an access key and a Parent Portal registration link via email to link your existing account to your child’s records. If you haven’t received this, please contact the school’s front office team for assistance.

Pre-school - Water Fun Day

During week 5 Preschool hosted a Water Fun Day! Gudamang, Guginya, Buru and Walga were given the opportunity to explore several water based activities throughout their day at preschool. This included a baby washing station, water in the sandpit, ducks in a pool with nets, a water wheel trough, watering the preschool plants, Fozia sprinkling water on children who wanted to be wet, and of course the water blasters  were a huge hit with everyone! There was definitely something for all preschoolers during our Water Fun Day at Macgregor Preschool.

Notes sent home  

• Year 5 camp - notes due back 3 April

• 2024 SSACT Primary Regional Swimming Championships 

Spotlight on Staff 

What an amazing start to the year we have had in kindergarten! So many settled children, smiling faces and fun learning experiences and it is only week 6! We would like to thank all of our families for your support as we have settled into big school!

Maths

In maths we have been exploring patterns. We have asked questions like “what makes a pattern?” and we have created our own repeating patterns using different materials. Here are some of our creations:

English

Lots of fine motor skills development this term. We are working on strengthening our hand muscles and building our stamina as beginning writers. Some of our activities have included threading and beading, cutting and glueing and using our whiteboards to practise writing our names and words that are special to us. We enjoy big books every day, including reading together and talking with our learning partners about the stories we are reading. Another area we have focused on is our speaking and listening skills. We have played I Spy, created pictures together to enhance our communication skills and of course lots of circle times where we talk about issues that are important to kindergarten - like what is your favourite food? And if you could have any pet in the world what would you choose? The conversations have been fantastic and it has helped us all to get to know one another. Here are some examples of our English learning so far:

Other Exciting Learning in Kindergarten So Far…

Constable Kenny - what a great afternoon! Constable Kenny taught us all about staying O.K. in our community, including how to keep ourselves safe, happy and healthy!

Water Fun Day - So much fun was had at our water fun day. We did lots of activities that involved water and we all had a blast!

Fitness Fridays - every Friday we do Fitness in Kindergarten! This includes working on our gross motor skills such as running, jumping and balancing as well as throwing and catching.

Goodbye for now!

Ms. Natalie, Ms. Michelle, Ms. Renee, Ms. Mia and Ms.Gabby

Spotlight on Library 

The Chief Minister’s Challenge has been launched at our school!

This fun filled challenge is designed to help foster or strengthen an already well established love of reading. Students will log books individually or as a whole class (depending on the year level).

Fondly embraced by our whole community we are keen to make 2024 a wonderful year for reading!

Please encourage your child to document the books they are reading at home.

Individual reading lists can be accessed via your child’s teacher if you would like a hard copy, however even a note with books read at home can be transferred onto official lists when they get to school each day.

Please see information below on how your child will be participating in the challenge this year:

Feel free to chat to your child's teacher if further explanation is required or pop into the library and either speak to Hannah or myself will be happy to guide you.

Happy reading! 

Lisa Kunkel 

Library Technician 

Book Club News 

We have decided to go with one book celebration each term this year.

This term is ‘Book Club’

Pamphlets will come home with your children in the next couple of days.

Please place orders on line by Thursday 28 March.

Books may be delivered to the school in week 10 or week 1 of term 2 and

Will be distributed to classes as soon is possible after that to your keen readers :)

Enjoy!

Harmony Day 

Harmony Week is the celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from all different backgrounds.

It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone 

Harmony Day is on Thursday March 21. 

To mark the day students are welcome to wear orange or cultural dress to celebrate.

Canteen Harmony Day Information 

In conjunction with the school celebrating Harmony day the canteen will be offering a special lunch for Harmony day on Thursday 21 March, this will be the only hot food available for lunch on the day. Recess will still be available to order

This can be ordered on Flexischool, the cut off date is Tuesday 19 March COB.

This can also be ordered at the canteen with the order sheet attached. 

Kind regards

Kate

ThinkUKnow

This week, our Years 5 & 6 students benefited from a ThinkUKnow Presentation by the Australian Federal Police. The session focused on online safety, guiding our students on responsible digital behavior and awareness of potential risks.

The ThinkUKnow program is designed to empower students with a deeper understanding of potential online risks and how to protect themselves in the digital space. The AFP experts covered various topics, including safe online behaviors, social media awareness, and strategies for handling potential online challenges.

We believe that fostering a culture of responsible digital citizenship is essential for our students. The ThinkUKnow Presentation provided valuable insights, ensuring our students are well-prepared to make informed choices in their online interactions. We appreciate the AFP's efforts in enhancing our students' online safety knowledge. Massive thanks to Corey for organising this insightful presentation

For More Information

https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/resources-tab/parents-and-carers

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

https://kidshelpline.com.au/

Clean up Australia Day 

This week, our school participated in Clean Up Australia Day, a collective effort to keep our environment clean and beautiful. Students, teachers, and volunteers worked together, contributing to the well-being of our local community. We are proud of our students' commitment to environmental stewardship.

Thank you to everyone who joined hands in making a positive impact on our surroundings! Thanks to Lisa, Corey & Lyndall for preparing and supporting another successful clean up Australia day

Transport Survey 

As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability, we invite you to participate in our upcoming transport survey. This initiative aims to better understand the transportation choices made by our school community and their collective impact on the environment. Your valuable insights will contribute to the development of eco-friendly initiatives and promote responsible commuting habits. Let's work together to make informed choices that reduce our carbon footprint and create a positive impact on the planet.

https://forms.gle/43W8CFTQczJEEx1e7

Up coming events 

• Monday 11 March  - Canberra day

• Thursday 21 March - Harmony Day 

Drop off and collection of children 

Our main priority at Macgregor Primary School is to keep our students,  staff and Macgregor community safe. The surrounding streets and car parks can be very busy during morning drop off and afternoon pick up.  

For everyone's safety we ask that you meet your child/ren at the classroom or on the partway to escorted them to your vehicle in a safe manner .

Children on Leave

Could we ask that if your child is away for any reason that you contact the front office by sending an email to macgregorps.info@act.edu.au or phone 02 61421600.  Please do not message the teacher directly on Seesaw.  Thank you 

Community Information  

Family Contact Details  

It is important that the school maintain an accurate and up to date record of family/carers email, home addresses and telephone numbers for all children. Please notify the school immediately with changes to your contact details by sending an email to info@macgregorps.act.edu.au, or phone 61421600.