Mac St News - Friday 24th July 2026

Principal's Report

Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members,

Welcome back to Term 3! I hope all of our students enjoyed a wonderful break and have returned refreshed and ready for what promises to be a busy and exciting term.

We have started the term with visits from the school dental service. While some students were understandably a little apprehensive, they all showed great courage during their check-ups. It's been wonderful to see so many bright, healthy smiles around the school.

This week also marked the beginning of our school's first Auskick program. It has been fantastic to see our students' enthusiasm for football continue to grow, and we hope this inspires even more children to become involved with local football clubs outside of school.

Next Tuesday, 28 July, our Foundation students will celebrate their 100th day of school, a big milestone for them. To mark the occasion, all students are invited to join in the fun by dressing up as "100-year-olds" for the day.

The remainder of the term will be filled with exciting learning opportunities and special events. Students are already busy rehearsing for our school production, and it has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm building as classes practise their songs and students embrace their roles. We also have a fantastic line-up of events to look forward to, including the Grade 5/6 Football and Netball matches against Invermay and Creswick North Primary Schools, Book Week dress-up celebrations, the Grade 5/6 Futsal Tournament, our school concert, and an excursion to the Ballarat Observatory.

It has been a fantastic start to Term 3, and I look forward to seeing our students continue to learn, grow and enjoy the many opportunities the term has to offer.

Have a great weekend.

Anthony Cross

Staffing Update - Welcome Kristie

Kristie has joined our office team and will be working in the office every Tuesday. BJ will be working out of the office on Tuesdays and may not always be available during the day. Kristie will be available to assist with enquiries and if she's unable to help with something straight away, she'll ensure your message is passed on or follow up with you as soon as possible.

A bit about Kristie -

Describe your perfect day?
A relaxed morning with a coffee, watching my kids play sport, spending time with family and friends, and finishing the day with a good meal and a movie.

Or taking a drive, having a picnic with the family.

What’s a movie you could watch every day?
Growing up, I watched Grease on repeat, I think I could recite the whole movie at one stage..

Now, I enjoy a good romantic comedy!

What is your favourite food?
Too hard to choose one! Thai, Mexican, Italian... However, I love a home cooked roast.

If you were to have a superpower, what would it be and why?
“The Power of the Snap” – With a single click of their fingers, they can make anything happen instantly. Click - washing folded, Click - dishes done

What’s one thing about you that you think would surprise people?
I’m actually a lot quieter when I first meet people than most expect. I don't like being the centre of attention.

I’m usually the person behind the scenes making things happen rather than being in the spotlight which I prefer.

2026 Dates

Monday 27th July 2026

AusKick Program for students who have registered and paid via the Auskick portal - 3.30pm - 4.30pm at school.
Food Bank Cooking Program
Selected families starting at 3.15pm
Tuesday 28th July 2026

Foundation celebrates 100 days of school
All students (F-6) are invited to dress as 100 years old.
Monday 3rd August 2026

AusKick Program for students who have registered and paid via the Auskick portal - 3.30pm - 4.30pm at school.
Food Bank Cooking Program
Selected families starting at 3.15pm
Monday 10th August 2026

Student Free Day - NO SCHOOL - OSHC Closed

Foundation News - Mrs Emily Burns

We have had a lovely start to Term 3. We are learning all about the four seasons this term, which has us talking about why and how it is so cold at the moment. We are learning about a thermometer and how it tells us the temperature. In Writing, we are writing sentences and expanding using 2 question words; when and where. In Maths, we are learning about plus 1 and length by finding halfway.

We have started talking about and listening to our concert songs and will begin learning the words and making up some moves very soon! A reminder next week on Tuesday is our 100 days of school celebration – come dressed as 100 years old!

Grade 1 News - Mrs Tanya Vanderkley

Welcome to Term 3!

The Grade One students have settled back into school wonderfully and are well and truly “entrenched” in their learning. It has been fantastic to see students return with enthusiasm and engage so positively in their learning.

Throughout the year, the Grade One students have thoroughly enjoyed listening to stories read aloud to the whole class, and this has become a favourite part of our literacy learning! As a class, we have explored some wonderful Roald Dahl classics, including The Twits, The Magic Finger and George’s Marvellous Medicine. We have now embarked on an exciting new literary adventure with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! The students are already thoroughly invested and enjoying the story and are eager to discover what happens next.

There are many benefits to a teacher reading a class novel aloud while Grade 1 students listen and enjoy the story. This is often referred to as a read-aloud or shared reading experience, and it is a valuable part of literacy learning.

Some benefits include-

Building a love of reading: Students experience the enjoyment of stories without the pressure of decoding every word themselves.
Developing listening comprehension: Students practice understanding and following a longer text, building their ability to listen carefully and remember details.
Expanding vocabulary: Students hear new and interesting words in context and can discuss their meanings.
Building background knowledge: Novels expose students to new people, places, experiences, ideas and topics.
Developing imagination: Students create mental images of characters, settings and events as they listen.
Modeling fluent reading: Students hear appropriate pace, expression, phrasing, and intonation from a fluent reader.
Developing comprehension skills: Teachers can pause to discuss predictions, characters, vocabulary, connections and important events.
Building classroom community: Sharing a story creates a positive, enjoyable experience that the whole class can participate in together.

For Grade 1, it is particularly important to remember that reading is more than decoding words. A teacher read-aloud provides opportunities to develop language comprehension, vocabulary, knowledge, imagination and a positive relationship with books.

GRADE 2 NEWS – Miss Rhiannon Eustice

Have you noticed the stars at night but wondered where they have gone during the day? Well, the answer is they haven't gone anywhere. They are there all the time. During the day, the sun creates light that fills our atmosphere and makes the sky appear blue, because of this we cannot see the stars in outer space! This is just some of the knowledge the Grade 2 students have been learning about this term in Reading and Knowledge. Our Earth takes 365 days to orbit the sun and 24 hours to rotate on it’s axis.

Students did an activity last week where they tracked their shadows movement using the sun and some chalk. Students couldn't believe how a couple of hours not only changed the direction of our shadows, but the size and shape. Crazy to think that although the sun looks like it is moving, it is Earth that is rotating!

GRADE 3/4 NEWS – Mr Andrew Goodson

Every Monday afternoon, the 3/4 class participates Open Parachute - our school's wellbeing program. Open Parachute is aimed at helping students develop resilience, confidence and healthy relationships. Through short videos, class discussions and practical activities, students learn important skills such as understanding emotions, showing empathy, solving problems and knowing how to seek help when they need it.

Each lesson follows a simple and engaging format. Students watch a short video, discuss the key ideas with their class and take part in activities that help them apply what they have learned. The program provides a safe and supportive way for students to build positive wellbeing skills that benefit them both at school and in everyday life.

So far this year, we’ve worked our way through modules based on:

Friendship Skills
Expressing Ourselves and Feelings

Self-Awareness and Positive Thinking

GRADE 5/6 NEWS – Mrs Bonnie Irving

Welcome back to another wonderful term. We have settled back into our routines and have enjoyed reading our new class novel A Wrinkle in Time. A Wrinkle in Time follows Meg Murry, her gifted younger brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin O'Keefe as they travel through the fifth dimension using a "tesseract". Guided by celestial beings (Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Witch), they journey to rescue Meg's physicist father from "IT”. We are looking forwards to seeing if Meg can save her father.

Over the last fortnight we also began to practise our item for the school concert. We have cast our main roles as well as the main roles within our class item. There will be communication home with more information over the coming weeks.

We have thoroughly enjoyed breaking our days up with some impromptu singing practise.

In Maths we have been looking at using distributive property to solve 2, 3 and 4 digit multiplication equations. By using distributive property, we can solve large multiplication equations with ease!

Student birthdays

Happy Birthday to all students who will celebrate their birthday in the coming days/ week.

Luna
Phelix
Jackson