Victoria Park State School Newsletter - Week 2, Term 2, 2025
Principal's Report
Welcome back to another great term of learning at Victoria Park State School! Term 2 is an exciting term at our school with lots of great events such as our Athletics Carnivals and the first of our School Camps on our calendar. Don't forget, all events get uploaded to our live calendar which can be accessed at any time here.
ANZAC Day
Last week we came together as a school community to honour the courage, sacrifice and spirit of the ANZACs. It was a meaningful ceremony, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to our special guests, Mayor Greg Williamson and Mr Michael Tynan, who joined us and shared in this important commemoration.
A sincere thank you to Mrs Janet Jackson for accompanying our wonderful school choir on keyboard during their beautiful performance, to the honour guards from Mackay State High School for their respectful presence, as well as to our students for their respectful participation, and to our dedicated staff and helpers who made the event possible.
Additionally, we are incredibly proud of the outstanding turnout from our school community at this year’s ANZAC Day March. It was heartwarming to see so many students, staff, and families come together to honour and remember those who have served. Thank you to everyone who represented our school with pride and respect. Your presence truly reflected the spirit of unity and gratitude. Special thanks to Mackay Regional Council and Miss G for capturing some powerful moments from the morning which we've shared in our photos of the week album below.
Lest we forget.
Winter Uniform
As the weather starts to turn cool, we issued reminders to students on Parade this week about our winter uniform. Specifically, our uniform policy states that students are to wear a navy-blue jumper. If you missed the P&C's jumper order last term, be sure to check in with the uniform shop in case there are jumpers left in stock. Alternately, a plain navy jumper (such as those available at Target, Kmart or Best and Less) will suffice. Please additionally ensure that all jumpers have your child's name on them. Any found around the school that can't be identified will be displayed on our lost property hooks near the uniform shop.
Do It for Dolly Day.
Next Friday May 9, our school, like many others, will recognise Do It for Dolly Day. This day helps us to remember how important it is to be kind to everyone around us. This includes doing nice things, saying kind words and doing our best to help others not to feel alone or sad.
It’s a day to remind us that every kind word or action can make a big difference in someone’s day.
Our teachers use this explanation to focus on the importance of kindness and community support whilst acknowledging the day in a way that is age-appropriate. Our staff respect the right of parents to have conversations about mental health with their children when they feel it is appropriate. We are here however to provide assistance if desired. If you require support, please reach out to our school psychologist via your child's phase leader or other support services such as Reach Out and Lifeline. You can find additional resources around having conversations with your kids here.
Students are invited to wear blue next Friday to raise awareness of the important message behind Do It For Dolly Day which is to be kind. We will not take gold coin donations however should any of our families wish to donate to the foundation behind Dolly's Dream, they can do so here.
Sarah Mutton,
Principal
Photos of the Week
Celebrating Success
Renae Kunst Gala Day
What an amazing morning!
Our girls had an absolute blast at their gala day with rugby league legend Renae Kunst! They worked on tackling techniques, practiced passing and throwing, and learnt a range of footy moves like ball handling, defensive drills, and teamwork strategies and it was incredible to see their confidence grow during the session.
A huge thank you to Renae and her team for sharing their knowledge and inspiring our future rugby league stars! An additional special thanks to Mrs Dinsdale and to Mrs Warrell for organising this spectacular day and helping the girls get out of their comfort zones and giving it a go.
Netball Team Photo
Southside Strings Fest
Born out of our combined rehearsing at the Mackay Eisteddfod, over 100 strings students from schools on the south side of the river came together this week for a day of musical collaboration, skill development and inspiration. Congratulations to our Strings students for their participation in the inaugural Southside Strings Fest! Thank you to Ms Mora, Mrs Milles, Ms Menzies, Mrs Brown, Ms Pengelly, Mrs Teong and Mr Carpenter - our music teachers from Victoria Park, Chelona, Mackay West and Mackay State High School respectively for facilitating this great event! How lucky we are to have such dedicated strings teachers and such talented students in our part of the world!
Students of the Week
Week 1
Prep A | Nysha | For always following our school's universal expectations. |
Prep A | Oliver | For trying hard to write letters and words during daily tasks. |
Prep B | Emilea | For incredible work speaking at the ANZAC Day parade. |
Prep B |
| For incredible work speaking at the ANZAC Day parade. |
1A | Jan | For being an amazing worker that always has a smile. |
1A | Sebastion | For being an amazing maths whizz. |
1C | Ellura | For believing in yourself and producing amazing work—your confidence is shining bright! |
1C | Raiden | For always giving 110% and staying super focused. Your hard work truly shines! |
1D | Cash | For participating in class activities and being a kind friend to all of your peers. Well done! |
1D | Gwyneth | For trying your best and completing all of your work. Well done Gwyneth! |
2/3 | Haneen | For always completing her spelling activities with 100% effort. Great work, Haneen! |
2/3 | Olivia | For trying her best in all her learning activities and being a helpful classmate. Great work! |
3A | Jacob | For having a great start back to term 2. Well done. |
3A | Tala | For always having a positive attitude in and outside the classroom. |
3B | Kylisha | For your excellent effort in literacy groups. |
4A | Hunter | For a great start to the term. Keep it up! |
4A | Tessa | For being a responsible student. |
4B | Ariah | Amazing commitment to her learning by researching at home. Love your work Ariah! |
4B | Serena | A beautifully crafted letter that nailed the brief! Lovely work Serena! |
4C | Alyanh | Being an attentive listener, who is focused and able to work independently. |
4C | Lahqwantaye | Being an independent worker who completes activities to the best of her ability. |
5A | William | For your hard work and continuous efforts in completing tasks. I'm impressed! |
5B | Zayley | For always being a kind and helpful class member and has a great positive learning attitude. |
5/6M | Jace | Great understanding of 12 and 24 hour time concepts. |
5/6M | Karina | Making excellent responsible choices. |
5/6S | Edel | For an engaging and well-written narrative in English. |
6A | James | For completing all assessment tasks to a very high standard before going on early holiday. |
6B | Lilly | For always having a positive attitude and working hard to do your absolute best! |
6C | Slater | For working well with your group to practice your performance for drama. |
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.
Cluster Moderation
At the end of last term, our staff combined with the teachers at Mackay West State School to engage in moderation of students' assessment tasks - a key action that assists us to deliver a responsive curriculum. As students completed their culminating tasks for units of work completing in Term 1, teachers met to confirm that tasks represent a true reflection of the standards represented in the Australian Curriculum and to ensure that we prioritise quality and consistency when it comes to marking assessment tasks. In other words, we confirm that an 'A' awarded at our school represents the same standard of quality as an 'A' in other schools. Facilitated by Mrs Elworthy, the session not only confirmed that we are maintaining a high standard of planning and assessing at Victoria Park but gave teachers an opportunity to reflect on Term 1's learning in order to make improvements for future teaching and learning activities whilst collaborating with our colleagues across town.
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!
P&C Meetings are held every 2nd Wednesday at 3pm or 6pm.
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
