11 September 2025

From the Principal – Liam Hackwood

Regular school attendance is one of the most important factors in your child’s academic success and wellbeing. When students attend school consistently, they build strong learning habits, maintain social connections, and benefit from the full range of educational experiences.

📊 Did you know?

Missing just one day every two weeks adds up to four weeks of lost learning each year.

Students with regular attendance are more likely to achieve higher academic outcomes and develop strong social-emotional skills.

Building good attendance habits in primary school sets students up for success in high school and beyond.

Here are our current attendance rates across the school:

• Prep – 88.9%
• Year 1 – 86.7%
• Year 2 – 87.9%
• Year 3 – 86.6%
• Year 4 – 84.7%
• Year 5 – 87.3%
• Year 6 – 85.2%

While we celebrate the efforts of our students and families, we know there is room to grow. Let’s work together to lift these numbers and ensure every child gets the most out of every school day. If your family is experiencing challenges with attendance, please reach out. We’re here to help.

Welcoming Chappy Rachel - Our New Chaplain Starting Term 4

We are delighted to announce that a new Chaplain will be joining Morayfield East State School in Term 4. Our Chaplain will play a key role in supporting student wellbeing, offering a friendly ear, and helping to build a caring and inclusive school culture. We look forward to introducing them to our community and seeing the positive impact they will have on our students and families. Here is a welcome message from Chappy Rachel:

Hello, My name is Rachel and I am so looking forward to serving as your school Chaplain. My background is in floristry and I ran my own florist shop in Peninsula Fair at Kippa Ring for approximately 8 years. 

I love living in Morayfield. I am a wife and mother of four children, and two grand children who I enjoy spending time with. I LOVE most games (except for chess!) and have a reputation for being a little competitive.

I love adventure, exploring new places, sunny beach weather, a good movie when it's raining, open fires on chilly nights, good food and great coffee. I value honesty, justice, hard work, fun and compassion and I care deeply for people. 

I look forward to meeting you all soon. 

Chappy Rachel 

Free Dress Day and Alpha Show – Monday Fun Ahead!

Next Monday promises to be a fun-filled day with our Free Dress Day and the Alpha Show performance. Students are invited to wear free dress (gold coin donation appreciated) and enjoy a live theatre experience that brings learning to life through storytelling and performance. All money raised will go towards our students accessing the ALPHA Show. These events add colour and excitement to the school week and are a great way to celebrate creativity and community.

Proposed Student Resource Scheme (SRS) for 2026

As mentioned previously, we are reviewing our Student Resource Scheme for 2026. The proposed model aims to centralise more resources through the school, reducing costs for families and ensuring consistency across classrooms. This proposal will be discussed at the upcoming September P&C meeting next Monday. Your voice matters in shaping the future of our school and it has spoken loudly about the support of this initiative.

Year 5 Camp – Building Independence and Connection

This week, our Year 5 students headed off to camp – an exciting milestone in their primary school journey. This is our first Year 5 Camp and will set our children up for success next year. Camp provides a unique opportunity for students to build independence, strengthen friendships, and challenge themselves in new environments. We are incredibly proud of our students for embracing this adventure with enthusiasm and courage. A huge thank you to our staff for the extensive planning and care that went into making camp a safe, fun, and memorable experience. Information has been sent out already for our 2026 Camps for our Year 5&6 students.

Instrumental Music Showcase – A Celebration of Talent

Our Instrumental Music students continue to impress with their dedication and growth. Next Tuesday at 6:00pm, our students will be performing with many other students from across the region. This is occurring at our School Hall from 6:00pm. Whether it’s strings, percussion, or woodwind, the progress our students are making is a credit to their hard work and the guidance of our talented music teachers. We encourage families to attend upcoming performances and celebrate the joy of music learning. It’s wonderful to see our students expressing themselves creatively and confidently.

Year 6 Bridges Excursion – Learning Through Design

Last week, our Year 6 students participated in a hands-on excursion focused on bridge design and engineering. It was the second year in a row that I got to attend and I have to say, the staff and students know how to put on a wonderful day. Some of our students even thought that the planes (who were practising for Riverfire) were there just for us!!!! The excitement and engagement from our students was fantastic to see, and we thank our staff for organising such a rich learning opportunity.

As we approach the end of Term 3, I want to take a moment to thank our students, staff, and families for another fantastic term at Morayfield East State School. From excursions and performances to camps, music, and hands-on learning experiences, our students have had so many rich opportunities to grow, connect, and thrive. These activities don’t just happen by chance – they are the result of dedicated planning, passionate staff, and a supportive community. I am incredibly proud of the diverse and engaging learning experiences we offer, and I know they are creating lasting memories for our students.

Wishing all of our families a safe, restful, and enjoyable September holiday. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in Term 4 for another exciting chapter of learning and growth. Don’t forget, school resumes on Tuesday 7 October.

Yours in learning, Liam

Deputy News Prep – Natalie Arthur

Term 3 is nearly complete

End of term is an important time where teaching and learning culminates in final screeners and assessment tasks for our students. These tasks enable our students to demonstrate what they know and can do, and teachers find time to celebrate the wonderful achievements of our littlest students.

For our students, this can sometimes be a challenging time as they are more tired after a full term of learning but are still expected to be working hard in their classrooms. To support your child to be successful we recommend an early bedtime routine and a good breakfast before school.

Please also remember Walking Club and Breakfast Club on the oval in the mornings. Many children benefit from some morning exercise and an extra slice of toast to help start their day. Parents are welcome to walk the oval with their children for a positive start to the day.

Prep 2026 Enrolments

If you have a child born between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021 then they are eligible for Prep in 2026. Families are encouraged to contact the school and book their enrolment interview as soon as possible, so you and your child can participate in the Orientation Days. Our first Prep 2026 Orientation Session is on Wednesday 17^th of September.

Date claimers in our Prep calendar

11 September                         RUOK? Day

17 September                         Prep 2026 Orientation – Session 1

19 September                         Final day of Term 3

Dudes and Donuts

Last Thursday our amazing Prep team hosted a lovely afternoon of celebration for our students, parents and families. As I walked around and visited classrooms, there was a lovely atmosphere and many dads, uncles and grandparents having a lovely time with their little people in the lead up to Father’s Day.

As always, the shaving cream was popular in many classrooms. I also saw Mini Golf in Prep D, roasting marshmallows around a campfire in Prep B, footy and ball games in Prep G, sock decoration in Prep E, tie making in Prep A, construction in Prep C and some young dads introducing themselves and having a great yarn in Prep F.

Thank you to all families for making this a special afternoon
that your child will remember.

Morayfield East Mini’s Playgroup

News from Prep A with Mrs Kay

This term in Prep A we have been super busy as always. We've been learning about materials and their properties and built amazing houses using our knowledge for The Three Little Pigs.

We've been measuring, weighing, counting sharing and learning how to add and subtract in Maths and in English we have been doing lots of writing and building our confidence when speaking in front of an audience and of course...having loads of fun while doing all this learning!

We have also been collecting cans and bottles for the Cash for Cans competition and can't wait to see what our grand total will be at the end!

Another wonderful term has almost come to an end. As always, we are blown away by how hard the preppies are working and learning to be good learners and respect each other.

You are all superstars, Prep A!

News from Prep E with Mrs Godfrey

Here in Prep E we have been very busy practicing our reading and listening to the story of Pig the Pug. We are learning that the characters are Pig the Pug and Trevor the sausage dog. The story is set in a flat. Students drew Pig and will then drew Trevor to use in their story retell.

We also learnt that Pigs don’t fly, oh dear!

News from Mini Leap with Ms Fidler

News from Camp Australia

This fortnight at Camp Australia, we have enjoyed building our communication skills and making memories with our friends as we played some social deduction games, such as 'Werewolf'. 

On the Pupil Free Day last Friday, the Camp Australia children baked and decorated delicious cupcakes.

With school holidays upcoming, the children are most excited about designing their own DIY canvas shoes!

Deputy News Years 1 & 2 Team

We are racing towards the end of term. Within the next few weeks, students and teachers will be undertaking further assessment in English and Maths etc. The year one students will be undertaking a new initiative with the Year 1 Phonics Check. Please see below for further details and links to online resources for the program. Have a great break, before we begin the mad rush to the end of the year.

Year 1 Phonics Check

As part of a new education initiative, all year 1 students will partake in a Phonics Check. Your child’s teacher will use a quick and easy Phonics Check to better understand the phonics knowledge of all students. The Check looks at how well your child can 'decode' written words. The teacher will listen to how the child sounds out the letter and letter groups and how they blend these sounds together from left to right to make words.

The Phonics Check helps your child's teacher and the school to confirm whether your child is making their expected progress in reading. Teachers and schools can then use this information to inform their teaching program. Your child’s teacher will conduct the check in the second half of this week and then continuing in Week 10.

How does the Phonics Check work?

• Your child will sit with a teacher they know and be asked to read up to 40 words aloud.
• These words are a mix of real words and made-up words (sometimes called 'pseudo words', 'non-words' or 'nonsense words').
• Your child may have read some of the words before, while others, like the made-up words will be completely new.
• The Phonics Check normally takes just a few minutes to complete and is carefully designed not to be stressful. There is no set time limit for it and if your child is struggling, the teacher will stop.

How does the Phonics Check work?

• The Phonics Check includes a mix of real words and non-words. The teacher will tell your child before the Phonics Check that there will be made-up words that they will not have seen before. Children might be familiar with this because many schools already use non-words when they teach phonics.
• Non-words are important to include because words such as ‘vap' or ‘jound' are new to all children. Children cannot read the pseudo words by using their memory or vocabulary; they have to use their decoding skills. This is a fair way to assess their ability to decode.

How does the Phonics Check work?

• Your child's teacher can tell you about your child's progress in phonics and their results from the Phonics Check. If your child has found the check difficult, the teacher should also tell you what support has been put in place to help them improve. The check ensures that teachers understand which children need extra help with phonic decoding.
• Remember that all children are individuals and develop at different rates.
• You can find some great ideas for supporting your child to read through phonics in the resources to support reading at home.

Supporting the Phonics Check at home

• Here is a list of words similar to the ones used in the school Phonics Check. You can practice these words at home with your child. To help you, here is a guide to how your child should pronounce the words. Make any comments or any questions you have on the pronunciation guide as your child reads the words. You can then discuss your observations with your child’s teacher.
• Let your child know that some of the words are real and some are made-up words. The made-up words are the names of the friendly monsters pictured next to the made-up words.
• Try to choose a time when your child is feeling happy and relaxed. It is important that your child feels good about their efforts in reading the words to you.
• Your child’s teacher will explain the different letter sounds and letter–sound combinations your child has been learning in class. They will be able to tell you what you can expect your child to know and how you can help them improve their knowledge of letter sound relationships and reading at home. You might like to ask how you can support your child to take the next step in reading.

Book Week Parade and Next Assembly for Pre – Year 2 (Term 4 Week 2).

Thanks to all the students, parents and Staff who participated in the Book Week celebrations and parade. It was a great event. Some parents went the extra mile with some amazing costumes. The parade was a real “Adventure!”.

Our next assembly for Prep – Year 2 is Term 4 Week 2 Friday 17 October.

Deputy News Years 3 & 4 – Sue Clifton

It has been such a busy term and hard to believe that next term will take us through to the Christmas holidays.

Across the next few weeks, students will be busy working on their assessments prior to the term ending. There is still lots of fun learning happening in classrooms and it is always lovely as I walk through classes to see the learning.

Year 3

This term, students in 3D have been developing their mathematical knowledge on fractions and three-dimensional shapes. Students engaged enthusiastically with fractions and now demonstrate a strong understanding of the concept as a part of a whole. They can accurately identify and use the terms denominator and numerator, explaining that the denominator shows the number of equal parts the whole is divided into, while the numerator indicates how many of those parts are considered.

Students have also explored three-dimensional shapes, investigating a variety of prisms and pyramids. They have identified and described the key features of shapes, including faces, edges, and vertices. Through hands-on activities, using plasticine and matchsticks, students constructed and examined 3D shapes, then recorded their observations in written form.

In 3C, students have been budding Scientists, conducting experiments about solids and liquids, looking at how they change state when heat is added or taken away. They have predicted, recorded observations, drawn scientific diagrams and suggested reasons for their findings. They have also talked about safety and fairness and how these were considered within their experiments.

Year 4

Students in 4C have been putting their newly found digital access to good use, learning all about the many roles and responsibilities of local government. This week, they visited the City of Moreton Bay website to find out what happens to the rubbish they produce. They learnt that general waste goes to the Caboolture Waste Management Facility, and that their recycling is collected and processed by a council contractor called Visy. They then tested themselves using Stile, dragging and dropping the steps in this process into the correct order.

Students have been excited to begin using their brand-new 1:1 laptop in class. These devices are helping students build independence and confidence in their learning, especially as they work through assessments. Mrs Croft, the year 4 Diverse Learning Teacher has been teaching students how to use voice-to-text.  This allows students to capture their ideas quickly and focus on expressing their thoughts in detail. It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm and effort students are showing as they use these tools to do their very best.

This term in Maths, 4D have been busy learning how to measure length and mass. Students have enjoyed plenty of hands-on activities, using real-world objects to put their measuring skills into practice.  In English, we have been working towards presenting their persuasive speeches. Students have been learning the OREO persuasive writing structure and were especially motivated when Oreo cookies were involved!

4C continue their learning in PCL lessons with courage and integrity having been the focus. Students have been sharing stories of times they have needed to be brave in their learning and in the playground. They have also explored what integrity means, doing the right thing even when no one is watching. These conversations are helping to build a supportive and connected classroom where everyone feels valued. It has also been a joy to welcome a new student into 4D in Week 9.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break, and I look forward to seeing you all in Term 4.

Sue Clifton
Deputy Principal

Deputy News Years 5 & 6 – Karen Herburg

Wow! I can’t believe we are heading into the final two weeks of Term 3.  I would like to acknowledge once again, the wonderful support of our school community throughout this term who ensure their children turn up to school every day for learning.

Year 5 Camp

Well done to all Year 5 students who were on time and ready in the hall for camp.  A huge thank you to all the parents who had students there on time.  As this is our first year attending the Apex Youth Centre at Twin Water, I have to say, the facilities are absolutely fantastic.  Students were straight into activities, and I was impressed with how they were working in teams in activities.  Check out some of the photos of Day 1 of Camp.

Book Week

What a fantastic Book Week celebration we had at school.  I was super impressed with all the students who had a fun day dressing up as their favourite book character.  I especially loved how our students in Years 3 to 6 lined the walkways to clap and high five the Prep to Year 2 students who participated in a Parade in the hall.  Thank you to the many teachers and teacher aides who also got into the spirit of the day with their very creative costumes.  It was a great day!

Year 5 Leadership Program

All Year 5 students will be given the opportunity to participate in the leadership program.  I am very excited to start working with a new group of students who will become our Senior Leaders for 2026.  We will be holding a Leadership Day next term for all participating students, and I look forward to seeing them work in teams and shine on the day.  A note will go home about this in early Term 4.  Students will access a nomination form online through the student emails after Year 5 camp.

Year 6 Year Book

The Year 6 teachers spend a lot of time creating this wonderful memory for our outgoing Year 6 students.  Included in this will be a Prep photo and a Year 6 photo of the students.  If you have not already, please send a Prep photo to your students class teacher for inclusion in this wonderful memento of Primary School.

With only two weeks to go before the end of the term, I would like to wish the staff of Morayfield East State School and you and your children a safe and relaxing Spring Vacation, and we look forward with enthusiasm to the final term for 2025. 

Have a wonderful break

Karen Herburg

Date Claimers

P&C News

Hello, Morayfield East Families and Friends,

As Term 3 wraps up, we are finishing strong — a bit like The Bad Guys on a mission to prove just how great they really are!

We hope all our dads had a great Father’s Day this Term! Our Father’s Day stall was, as always, a huge hit. A massive thankyou to our incredible tuckshop crew - especially Katie – and our amazing volunteers for their hard work running the stall over the three days. couldn’t have done it without you all!

Thankyou also to everyone who entered the Father’s Day Meat Raffle – we hope the lucky winners enjoyed their prizes!

It has been a fantastic term, but we are not done yet!

Our Holiday Movie Event is just around the corner! Join us for a fun night out on Monday, 22 September at 5:30pm at Limelight Cinemas, Morayfield. Book your tickets now via QKR so you don’t miss out on all the fun and mischievous plans The Bad Guys have in store for us!

Heading into Term 4 we are keen to see more volunteers so if you are interested in helping with any of our upcoming events or wanting more information, please don’t hesitate to email us at:

• fundmess@outlook.com (Fundraising and Events)
• messpandc@gmail.com (General Enquires)

Our next general meeting will be held on Monday, 15 September. These meetings are a great opportunity to stay informed on what’s happening around the school, contribute your ideas, and help shape upcoming events and initiatives. Whether you're a regular or it's your first time, everyone's welcome!

Warm Regards,
The MESS P&C

News from the Tuckshop

Paper bag orders can be placed at the tuckshop before school, or you can use the QKR App if you wish to order online.

QKR is a convenient way to order food, uniforms, sports shirts and purchase tickets for discos and other P&C events. If you need assistance using QKR, please see Katie at the tuckshop.

QKR online cut off time is 8.30am. (If you are halfway through an order at 8.30am it will not work! You will need to come into the school or ring up. If there is no answer in the morning before school (especially Friday) you will need to come in!)

PLEASE NOTE: If orders are made over the phone or after 9am, only the sandwich package will be available. This includes a sandwich (choice of one of the following Cheese, Vegemite or Jam), an apple, popper or water and an ice block for $7

There are no over-the-counter sales for 1st break, these must be pre-ordered. Students can purchase drinks and ice creams as normal at 2nd break.

If you have any questions regarding the tuckshop, please contact Katie on 5428 8423.

Katie, Chrissy and Kristen are our awesome tuckshop workers all do an amazing job of making sure the orders go out fresh and on time, but they are always in need of extra hands! If you can help out any day at any time even just for an hour please let Katie know. If you volunteer for four hours in one day you will receive a $10 credit in the tuckshop for your child.

When you are volunteering, please ensure that you sign in and out of the main office before and after each shift.  Before commencing your first shift you will need to complete the Parent and Community Volunteer Policy paperwork, available at the office.

Community News

Self Esteem Holiday Workshop