Victoria Park State School Newsletter - Week 5, Term 1, 2025
Principal's Report
As we end Week 5, we reach the halfway point of Term 1 and have been celebrating some amazing learning happening within our classrooms. This newsletter provides some information about staffing changes, school swimming, attendance and our leadership induction ceremony.
Staffing Changes
It's with mixed feelings that we farewell two staff members over the next couple of weeks. We will greatly miss Kylie Elkins from our ECDP who moves into a promotional position outside of the Department of Education. Her compassion, leadership and knowledge and skill when it comes to inclusive education are traits that will be greatly missed and we wish her all the best with her next adventure. We are excited to announce that Nicole West will be joining our ECDP team - our ECDP families will already be familiar with Nicole due to her casual work in this area of the school for the last couple of years. We're excited that we will see her on a more regular basis.
Similarly, we are sad to farewell our CEC, Kayla Scriha but incredibly proud of her achievement in earning an opportunity to commence her teaching career early on a Permission to Teach arrangement at Calen District State College. We will miss Kayla at Vic Park and know that Calen have scored themselves an excellent addition to their teaching staff.
School Swimming
Next week our Year 4-6 classes who have yet to enter the pool commence their swimming lessons. Years 1-3 continue their lessons as usual. We remain grateful for any assistance our parent volunteers are able to provide when it comes to swimming. Thank you to those who have been supporting our swimmers this term - we hope to continue to see lots of volunteers at the pool.
School Attendance
The current attendance rate for our school sits at an encouraging 91.2% - not a bad start to the year. It is at this point as we settle into school routines, that it is particularly important for families to consolidate high expectations and firm routines around school attendance.
Parents and caregivers are obligated to ensure their child attends school, on every school day unless there is a reasonable excuse. These include genuine illness, competing in a school sporting event, natural disasters or going on a school excursion. Conversely, birthdays, shopping trips, visiting family or friends, sleeping in, looking after other children and minor checks ups or care appointments such as haircuts are not considered to be reasonable excuses for keeping a child away from school.
Setting up strong routines is a great way to ensure continued high attendance at school. These could include enforcing a set bedtime, having uniforms and school bags ready the night before, setting a time for daily homework activities, speaking positively about school and remaining firm when communicating your expectation that your child will attend school every day. For more inspiration when it comes to school routines, check out our Year 5 teachers' star turn demonstrating this week's PBL goal of the week on our Facebook page.
Leadership Induction Ceremony
Don't forget our Leadership Induction Ceremony is scheduled for this coming Monday at 2pm. We hope to see lots of our families in attendance to officially welcome our new school leaders to their roles. Don't forget you can find all key dates on our live calendar which is linked at the top of our newsletter.
Sarah Mutton,
Principal
Celebrating Success
This week we celebrate the success of some of our star athletes. In particular, congratulations to Avaya and Reece for their selection in the Southern Suburbs Basketball team and to Logan, Talinn, Ezra, Bedner and Jurakai for making it through to the next round of the Southern Suburbs and Sarina Rugby League trials.
Highlight photos this week show some of the great learning happening in our classrooms, from Year 6's excellent writing work to Mini-lit literacy groups with our wonderful teacher aides to Year 5 Science experiments and report writing - our students have been kicking goals!
Sports Representatives
Photos of the Week
Date Claimers
Don't forget that you can find key dates in our live calendar linked below in addition to our weekly 'what's happening' card on SZapp.
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)
PBL Goals of the Week
Below you'll find links to videos that illustrate our two PBL goals for this fortnight;
- Be Ready for School
- Be a Team Player
School Improvement
Our Strategic Plan 2023 - 2026
Our 2023-2026 strategic plan encourages us to R.I.S.E. to the challenge;
R – Responsive Curriculum. We want to ensure that our curriculum is relevant to our local kids, is responsive to modern educational trends and is interesting for our students.
I – Innovative Instruction. We want to capitalise on being Mackay’s first school with laptop classes to ensure that through the use of engaging teaching approaches and clever use of digital technology, every lesson is exciting and engaging for our students.
S – Strengthened Systems. Our 2022 school review revealed that there are strong systems in place with regards to how we operate at VPSS. In deference to the great work that has come before, we want to ensure that we strengthen these to continue our great progress.
E – Expert Educators. We want to ensure that our kids at Victoria Park are learning from the very best educators and have committed to facilitating this.
2025 Annual Implementation Plan
The overarching theme of 2025's AIP is epitomised by a quote from Barack Obama; "reading is a gateway skill that makes all other learning possible." This year we've committed to achieving even greater heights when it comes to our kids learning to read. In particular, we are committing to reviewing how we teach phonics and spelling, developing consistent approaches across the school when it comes to how we teach reading and exploring new ways to set goals that help every student realise their reading potential. We're also looking to engage our families in our reading improvement journey - watch this space!
Attendance Awards
Each week we celebrate the classes with the highest attendance. Classes compete to win our coveted Attendance Trophies and Sid the Pig mascots.
Week 4
Students of the Week
Week 4
Prep C | Caleb | Trying his best to do set activities. |
Prep C | Hazel | For good thinking when completing set tasks. |
1A | Abrielle | For her great efforts with story retelling this week. |
1A | Ebony | For an amazing directional instruction in maths. |
1B | Cody | For being a great role model for other students in 1B |
1B | Mylah | For always following the four Vic. Park School rules. |
1C | Charlotte | For displaying a positive outlook and attitude. Thank you for brightening everyone's day! |
1C | Oshen | For having a happy and enthusiastic attitude towards her learning. You are a superstar Oshen! |
2A | Phoenix | For always being a respectful and responsible student of Victoria Park State School. Great work! |
2A | Shem | For trying hard in class while writing an Information Report about ants. Well done, Shem! |
2C | Hayden | For always trying really hard with his writing. |
2C | Lorraine | For always being ready to learn |
2/3 | Alexis | For trying her best in all learning activities and being a role model to her classmates. |
2/3 | Leyland | For working to the best of his ability in class at all times. Great work Leyland! |
3A | Regan | For being a responsible member of the class and completing all tasks to the best of her ability. |
3B | Leighton | For working well and supporting classmates |
3B | Nova | For your amazing work ethic and organisational skills |
3/4 | Elianna | For always being a thoughtful, polite and respectful student. Great work! |
3/4 | Jada | For being an engaged and diligent learner. Keep up the great work! |
4A | Keiran | For working hard throughout the week on his schoolwork. Keep it up. |
4A | Maleah | For a positive attitude towards learning. Well done. |
4B | Alaina | Great effort researching interesting information about a pink dolphin! |
4B | Houston | For an excellent effort with Mathematics and symmetry tasks!! |
4C | Evie | For your creativity and imagination when creating our H.A.S.S learning wall resources. |
4C | Jahkeel | For being open and responsive to feedback to improve your work. |
5A | Kodie | For the principled way in which you complete all tasks. You're a fantastic role model! |
5A | Mahalia | For the principled way in which you complete all tasks. You're a fantastic role model! |
5B | Bronik | For showing bravery and resilience. You are an inspiration. |
5B | Makayla | For always being the first to offer a friendly hand to anyone who needs it. |
5/6M | Montell | Superstar work and effort on spelling tasks. |
6A | Caleb | Super job with your maths assessment. |
6A | Rizajeth | Fantastic focus in the classroom. |
6B | Avaya | For being an always hard-working, respectful and helpful member of our class. |
6C | Kaliece | For being an active learner and sharing ideas respectfully during class discussions. |
Week 5
Prep A | Elayna | For demonstrating improved confidence in the classroom. |
Prep A | Joan | For being a safe, respectful and responsible learner. |
Prep B | Alfie | For outstanding behaviour and effort in all areas of Prep. |
Prep B | Hudson | For being a responsible and respectful learner |
1A | Abrielle | For a great effort with retell writing this week. |
1A | Taytum | For trying his best at all maths activities this week. |
1C | Dante | For being a kind friend and demonstrating resilience and persistence during learning times. |
1C | Vela | For being a responsible student of Vic Park. Well done, Chronicle! |
2A | Chronical | For being a responsible student of Vic Park. Well done, Chronicle! |
2A | Phoebe | For contributing well to classroom discussions. Keep up the great work, Phoebe! |
2B | Clyde | For being organised and ready to learn every day. |
2B | Led | For always presenting his work to a high standard. |
2C | Brooklyn | For trying really hard with her demand writing. |
2C | Xavier | For active participation in classroom discussions |
2/3 | Hayley | For consistently trying her best in class and being an excellent learner. Great work Hayley! |
2/3 | Mason | For being persistent in his learning to complete his writing and art to a high level. Great job! |
3A | Brock | Your optimism and can-do attitude are inspiring to your classmates. Amazing work and positivity! |
3A | Jacob | Your incredible effort and interest in mapping during Maths is really paying off. Great work! |
3B | Asha Deah | Being an amazing classmate! |
3B | Laura | Applying herself to all learning tasks. |
3C | Ethan | For always taking initiative to help his peers in class |
3C | Zoey | For always paying attention in class |
3/4 | Hannah | For always being a polite, respectful and hard-working student. Keep it up! |
3/4 | John | For being a responsible and trustworthy Class Captain. Great work! |
4A | Abby | For always having a positive attitude to her learning. |
4A | Isaac | For working well in class and trying his best to complete all his work. Well done, Isaac! |
4B | Veronica | Consistently following classroom expectations promptly. You're a star Veronica! |
4B | Yaxsi | Excellent effort in Mathematics. Keep it up Yaxsi! |
5A | Blaise | For the way in which you conduct yourself during class. What a positive influence you are! |
5A | Zane | For your valuable contributions and attention during our class reading of Deltora Quest. |
5B | Jack | For your confidence and willingness to give anything a go. |
5B | Keira | For being hard working and always trying your best. |
5/6M | Paul | Working mathematically with integers. |
5/6S | Marey | For always showing initiative and being a great helper in the classroom. |
5/6S | Orion | For actively contributing to Science lesson discussions around Cyclones and weather. |
6A | Dusty | Great focus in the classroom during discussion |
6A | Senuli | Supporting her peers during class time. |
6B | Lachlan | For contributing valuably to class discussions during our science lessons. |
6C | Maddison | For always maintaining a positive mindset in her learning |
From the P&C
Victoria Park State School is lucky to have an incredible Parents and Citizens Association. Here you can find out all about what our committee is up to. We very much encourage anyone and everyone to get involved - many hands make light work!
Contact Us
Phase Leaders
To ensure we get to know each and every one of our students, each member of our school leadership team oversees a cohort of students. 'Phase Leaders' are the next step to resolving an issue after the classroom teacher has been contacted.
ECDP Phase Leader: Ms Roanna Capone - ecapo4@eq.edu.au
Prep Phase Leader: Mrs Kristi Elworthy - kelwo2@eq.edu.au
Year 1 Phase Leader: Ms Roanna Capone - ecapo4@eq.edu.au
Year 2 Phase Leader: Mrs Kristi Elworthy - kelwo2@eq.edu.au
Year 3 Phase Leader: Mrs Jenny Whittington - jwhit211@eq.edu.au
Year 4 Phase Leader: Mrs Jenny Whittington - jwhit211@eq.edu.au
Year 5 Phase Leader: Mrs Sarah Mutton - samut0@eq.edu.au
Year 6 Phase Leader: Mrs Sarah Mutton - samut0@eq.edu.au
Phone conversations or appointments to speak to Phase Leaders can be made by calling the office (4951 6333).
Staff List
Email addresses for all teaching staff can be found below. We ask that parents respect teachers' right to disconnect outside of work hours and be reminded that emails may not always be answered immediately - especially during the day when teachers are teaching. Urgent messages should instead be communicated to the office via a phone call (4951 6333).
Staff Contact List: https://victoriaparkss.schoolzineplus.com/staff-email-list
Victoria Park Community Noticeboard
