Victoria Park State School Newsletter - Week 1, Term 4, 2025
Principal's Report
Welcome back to our last term of learning for the 2025 school year. Term 4 resumes tomorrow, October 7. This newsletter contains updates about school swimming, enrolment planning for 2026, staffing updates, including an update to our P&C executive and initial information about our school's Centenary which is scheduled to occur in 2026.
School Swimming
Teaching of school swimming is a part of the HPE curriculum. All grades complete swimming lessons this term, allowing every student to be coached by professional swimming staff in a safe environment. Lessons culminate in swimming nominations in Week 9 then our school swimming carnival in Week 10. When school swimming commences, your child will need;
- a completed consent form (this can be achieved through QParents under 'consent requests' or by collecting a paper form via the office if you've yet to do so
- to bring goggles, swimmers, a towel and a T-shirt or rash shirt to provide sun protection on your child's swimming day
- A plastic bag for wet clothes
Additionally, please note that sunscreen should be applied before coming to school and for safety reasons, watches and sleeper earrings should be removed and left at home on swimming days. Additionally all items of clothing (including shoes) must be labelled. Specific swimming times for your child's class can be found in your child's consent request on QParents or by using the survey link for parent volunteers below.
Our school swimming program relies on the support of parent volunteers, particularly for our younger grades. If you're able to assist as a parent volunteer please let us know using this survey: https://victoriaparkss.schoolzineplus.com/form/19
Enrolment Intentions for 2026
Families will now have received an e-survey that will help us commence planning our class lists for 2026. It should only take a few moments to complete. It's also the platform you use to communicate anything you think we need to know as we look to plan for 2026. This survey needs to be completed by the end of Week 1: https://victoriaparkss.schoolzineplus.com/form/18
Staffing Changes - Term 4
This week Mrs Jenny Milles, our wonderful music teacher and instrumental music teacher, commences long service leave prior to her retirement at the end of the year. Whilst she will return for a proper farewell at the end of the year, we were able to issue a musical tribute to her through our new bell system as she completed her last lesson on the last day of Term 3. Mrs Milles has made invaluable contributions to the students at Vic Park and our position as a leading school on The Arts and Cultural stage is no doubt due to her tireless efforts as our Instrumental Music Co-ordinator, Choir director and everything in between. She has inspired generations of young musicians coming through Vic Park. We wish her well for her leave in Term 4 and look forward to further celebrating her incredible career towards the end of the year.
Mr Kurt Wilk joins our team to backfill Mrs Milles in Term 4 and having worked closely with Mrs Milles throughout the year, Mrs Martina Nacev takes over as our Instrumental Music Co-ordinator. Any instrumental music questions can now be directed to her - mnace1@eq.edu.au
Additionally, we issue our best wishes to Mrs Karishma Patel and Ms Sam McNeil as they commence their maternity leave. Ms Emily Smith rejoins us from her own maternity leave to backfill Mrs Patel and we welcome Ms Summah Glossop to our team to backfill Ms McNeil. Additionally, with Mrs Rhiannon Bloxsidge returning to the pool as our swimming coach, we welcome back Ms Indya Burford as a more regular member of our teacher aide team.
P&C Executive
Additionally, I'd like to issue my own thanks and congratulations to Mr Brett Thomas who was successfully elected after putting his hand up to take over as our P&C President at the end of last term. We are incredibly fortunate to have a strong, dedicated P&C at Vic Park and I have no doubt it will continue to go from strength-to-strength under Brett's leadership. It's not too late to get involved with our P&C, particularly with our Christmas Fair fast approaching this term. Join us at our next general meeting which will be held on Thursday October 9th at 3:10pm in the meeting room adjacent to the school hall. See you there!
Vic Park turns 100 in 2026
Keep an eye out this term as we commence meetings to plan Victoria Park's Centenary celebrations which will occur in 2026. Spread the word far and wide - we are looking to reunite as many former and current members of our Vic Park Community as possible. Watch this space!
A Tribute to Ron 'Mengie' Meng
Having recently learned of the passing of Mr Meng, we'd like to pay tribute to a fierce friend of Vic Park. We will miss Mr Meng's addresses at school events during which he would regale audiences with tales of his time at Vic Park. At our most recent awards ceremony, we celebrated his legacy of excellence at Victoria Park, noting his lifelong support of the school and the special bond he had cultivated as a former student and proud graduate. We additionally celebrated his remarkable contribution to the school's tradition of celebrating academic excellence and specifically the extension of his sponsorship of our prestigious award, named in his honour, for generations to come. Our school is saddened by the loss of one of our greatest supporters but proud to be able to continue this association and recognise the outstanding efforts of our students in Mr Meng's name. We'd like to issue our most sincere condolences to Mr Meng's family.
Date Claimers
Date Claimers for Term 4 can be found on our live school calendar here;
Celebrating Success
Irish Dancing Achievement
Two of our students have achieved outstanding results in Irish dancing and will now be representing at the State Championships in Brisbane. Emmaleigh placed second and Isabelle placed fourth in their respective categories. Their dedication and commitment to their dancing has been rewarded, and we are very proud of them and their achievements.
Students of the Week
Students of the week - Week 9
Prep C | Isaac | Amazing effort when sounding out and writing words. |
Prep C | Kylan | For terrific work when handwriting. |
1A | Finn | For having a great attempt at all classroom tasks. |
1A | Lucas | For participating in classroom discussions with enthusiasm. |
2A | Jensen | For showing resilience and a positive attitude. Well done, Jensen! |
2A | Zoey | For always being ready to learn. Keep up the great work, Zoey! |
2B | Ivy | Ivy has settled into her new school with confidence and positive attitude towards learning.
|
2C | Archer | Conducting himself positively throughout all learning areas this week has been amazing to watch |
2C | Maui | For his amazing approach to learning this week has been incredible to watch. Keep it up mate! |
3A | Kylo | For being a kind and helpful member of our class and always giving tasks his best! |
3A | Laney | For always being willing to lend a helping hand to her peers! You are a superstar! |
3C | Eli | For being a Maths superstar at dividing items into equal groups. You should be so proud! |
3C | Ethan | For using your creativity to write excellent poetry. Well done Ethan! |
3/4 | Amity | For being an 'out-of-the-box' thinker and willing to have a go at anything and everything! |
3/4 | John | For always having a respectful attitude and beautiful manners. |
4A | Quorra | For being a model student in all class activities. |
4A | Shannon | For his enthusiasm and determination with the book week project. |
4B | Serena | For impressive writing skills. |
4B | Zara | For impressive writing skills. |
4C | Laqwantaye | For being confident and capable, Lahqwantaye willingly takes on the role of leader when needed. |
4C | Royce | For his enthusiastic approach to learning and always trying his best to complete set tasks. |
5A | Augustine | For your valuable participation, not only in the classroom, but in our school music program. You are an inspiration! |
5A | Kenzie | For showing dedication in all areas of learning and is a member of our school musical program. |
5B | Marikia | For being good socially and hard learning. |
5/6M | Axl | Superstar effort on his film review about The Wild Robot. |
5/6M | Zekotah | As text detective you have learned to identify contextual clues to answer inferential questions. |
5/6S | Klaus | For asking questions and seeking feedback about your work. Great job Klaus! |
5/6S | Orion | The progress you have made in your writing this term is phenomenal! You have nailed your goal! |
6A | Raneira | For an excellent political cartoon depicting the Rats of Tobruk. |
6A | Reagan | For interacting cooperatively and happily with your peers. |
6B | Avaya | Approaching everything you do with a positive attitude and always working to achieve your best! |
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)
PBL Goals of the Week
Below are our two PBL goals for this fortnight.
- - Week 9 = Being a Learner
- - Week 10 = A review of ll T
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
Health & Safety
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.
P&C September General Meeting
Thursday 9th October at 3.10pm in the meeting room in the hall.
.........................................
Christmas Fair Sponsors & Donations Request
Dear Families of Vic Park,
It’s that time of year again, the P&C is now seeking sponsorship and donations for this year’s Christmas Fair.
Attached are two letters we’ve prepared for local businesses inviting their support. If you own a business or know someone who might be interested in sponsoring or donating towards the 2025 Christmas Fair, we’d love to hear from you!
Your support helps us make the Christmas Fair a truly special event for our school community.
Thank you for helping us bring the magic to life!
Old style sports shirts further price reduction 
Order on Flexischools today or pop into the uniform shop Monday mornings or Wednesday afternoons.
$10 - while stock lasts
(Please note new design shirt prices will be at regular price of $35 each and in first wave will be limited to 1 shirt per child).
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
GALLERY
Bush Dance
Victoria Park Community Noticeboard
School Holiday Cartoon Camp
School Holidays Power Camp
Run for MI Life
