Term 1 2025 Newsletter
Principal’s message
Welcome Back!
What an amazing start to 2025! My name is Courtney Leahy and I will be the acting principal for Term 1 while Mr Winney takes some leave and spends time with his family. For the last two weeks, I have had the privilege of getting to know the respectful, passionate learners at Moreton Downs State School.
A special welcome to the new families who will be joining us this year. To our prep families who are starting school for the first time – welcome! It is such a special time and it has been wonderful seeing our prep students excelling as they eagerly participate in dancing, play and hands on learning. They have quickly developed their knowledge of daily routines and are learning to engage in group tasks and make new friends.
Priority Areas for 2025
This year we will continue our focus on the implementation of Version 9 Australian Curriculum in the areas of English, Mathematics and Health and Physical Education. The pupil free days prior to the start of the school year provided a great opportunity for teachers to engage in some of this work, participating in professional learning around inclusive practices, reading, pedagogical practices, mathematics, the respectful relationships curriculum, planning sessions and professional discussions.
The Moreton Downs Way will continue to be explicitly taught to students through fortnightly ‘Be Connect’ lessons. Over the last two weeks, we have been unpacking class and school routines.
We will continue to refine our work in the area of reading through the Australian Curriculum developing consistent vocabulary instruction across the learning areas to support students to read and understand complex texts.
We will be investigating innovative digital pedagogies throughout the year and look forward to sharing this with you.
Stop Drop and Go
This week we had the opportunity to open our Stop Drop and Go. Information was sent out to all families via email earlier this week. We really appreciate the way you have supported our monitors as we continue to refine our processes and teach students and families how to use the ‘Stop Drop and Go’. If you do not have the name plate for your passenger sun visor please stop in at the office.
Student Leaders Investiture
On Thursday, our Student Leaders for 2025 and their families participated in our student leader investiture parade. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our new leaders and recognise the important role they play in supporting our school community. I look forward to watching all of you grow and thrive as leaders this year.
Swimming Carnival
We had our school swimming carnival on Friday for students who have nominated to participate in the event. The event was held at Deception Bay Pool and students had a fantastic time. A huge thank you to Mr Paul Dunn for coordinating the event. It was lovely to meet some of our families who were there to support their children.
Thank You
Finally, I would like to thank all of the staff, students and families at Moreton Downs State School. I am looking forward to getting to know you throughout Term 1 as we share students learning and building our Moreton Downs Community.
Courtney Leahy
Welcome Back to School!
Welcome Back to School! 🎉📚
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome back to another exciting school year! We hope you and your children had a fantastic break and are feeling refreshed and ready for a wonderful year ahead.
Our Prep, Year 1, and Year 2 students have calmly begun their learning journey, quickly settling into morning routines. Our classrooms are already buzzing with enthusiasm as we make new friends, explore exciting learning opportunities, and build strong foundations in literacy, numeracy, and social skills.
Exciting Events This Term
We have many wonderful events planned this term:
📅 Parent-Teacher Interviews – Tuesday, 18th February
🎉 Community Picnic – Thursday, 20th February
🎭 Whole School Parade – Thursday, 27th February
🏊 Year 2-4 Swimming – Commences Monday, 24th March
💻 Year 2 Scratch Jnr – Wednesday, 26th March
🏫 Open Classrooms – Monday, 31st March
🏃♂️ Cross Country (Prep – Year 6) – Tuesday, 1st April
🎭 Whole School Parade – Thursday, 3rd April
📆 Last Day of Term 1 – Friday, 4th April
The Big 6
To support your child’s learning and wellbeing, we encourage families to focus on:
🌙 Sleep Builds Brains – Prioritising good sleep habits
🥦 Healthy Eating – Healthy food grows healthy kids
🧼 Good Hygiene Habits – Supporting student health and wellbeing
👕 Dressed for Success – Wearing the correct school uniform
🎒 Ready for the Day – Being prepared and on time
🏫 Attendance Matters – Going to school counts!
For further information, please see the attached The Big 6.
We’re looking forward to a fantastic term ahead and can’t wait to see all the amazing learning and growth in our students!
Stephen Carmody
Deputy Principal
Moreton Downs State School
Message from Year 3-6 Deputy Principal
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to our first newsletter of the school year at Moreton Downs State School! I am delighted to share that our Year 3-6 students have settled in wonderfully, embracing both school and class routines with enthusiasm. We understand that change can be challenging, especially with meeting new teachers, but we believe these transitions foster resilience and growth in our young learners.
At Moreton Downs State School, we prioritize creating a safe and respectful environment where students can thrive as learners. Our school values of safety, respect, and learning are at the core of everything we do.
Our Term 1 Parent Teacher Interviews are in week 4 on Tuesday 18th Feb. This is an excellent opportunity to meet the teacher and get some information on how your child is settling in. It is also a great opportunity to let the teacher know what works best for your child. Please book in via the link that was emailed to all families.
Our Community Picnic is being held on Thursday 20th Feb. Notes have been sent home. This event is a highlight of the term and a great way of connecting with family and the school community. Please ensure you send back the permission note so students can join in.
Our whole school parades will be held in Week 5 and Week 10. These events are great opportunities for our school community to come together and celebrate our students' achievements.
I am personally looking forward to partnering with each family to ensure that every child at Moreton Downs State School achieves excellent learning outcomes. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or if there's anything you'd like to discuss regarding your child's education.
Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community. Together, we can make this a fantastic year of growth and success for our students.
Warm regards,
Mrs L Newlands
Deputy Principal
Year 3
It has been wonderful getting to know the Year 3s over the past week. I look forward to seeing the great narrative writing they create and hearing about their learning of solids and liquids in Science and Australia’s special events in HASS.
Year 4
The Year 4s have settled in very well to their new classes. They are underwayreading Nim’s Island and are loving it. So many students have commented how much they are enjoying learning Japanese for the first time and there are some very excited feelings about their first camp later in the year!
Year 5
The Year 5 students have had a great start to the year. All the staff have commented on how respectfully they are playing on the oval and moving between areas. As they are becoming more proficient readers, the Year 5s this term will be reviewing narratives they read. Ask your child what their opinion is so far about their main text – The Wild Robot.
Year 6
Such an exciting year for our Year 6 students. The students are enjoying having an oval to themselves at the top of the school. When talking with the students, they are really looking forward to some of the big Yr 6 events like Camp and Graduation.
We will be putting together a Parent Graduation Committee in a few weeks’ time to plan out the important events for our graduating year 6 students. Keep an eye out for an invitation. We really value parent input and believe that together, we can make a very special event for our Yr 6 students.
Specialists
During Health and STEM, students are learning to work together through respectful friendship and creating pages in STEM to display what actions they can do to achieve this during year.
Term 1 Curriculum Overviews
An exciting term with many engaging and varied opportunities for learning has been planned by the teachers for Term 1.
Please click on the link to read about what your child will be learning about this term. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher.
(All teachers at Moreton Downs State School teach the Australian Curriculum)
Be Connected
Be Connected is a unique program at MDSS where teachers and students work to build positive relationships and create the environment where students are ready to learn. Within this program students learn the behaviour that is expected at school. Each fortnight we have a focus. The focus for week 1 and 2 is:
I can follow my school and class expectations and routines
A note about hats….
One of MDSS expectations is that all students have a hat on when they are outside the classroom.
If your child does not have a hat, they can be purchased from the tuckshop or School Locker for $17.
HIVE News
Welcome to another year of supporting learning. Moreton Downs State School operates the HIVE Program to support individual needs. The first point of call to discuss support is your child's class teacher. Teachers work closely with HIVE Inclusion Teachers to plan and teach for diversity. Based on needs, student may receive extra support in groups or more intensively. All support begins in the classroom. Students can use materials and resources to assist their learning. Parents can supply or we have a variety of support resources at school. We link in with therapists, medical specialist and local community groups.
Introducing the HIVE Inclusion Teachers. If you would like a chat, organise a time to pop into the HIVE, located at the top of the school in D Block.
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