“At Queen of Peace, we value our rich religious traditions and culture. We provide opportunities for our children and their families to celebrate our Catholic heritage, in many different sacramental and non-sacramental ways.”

Principal’s Message

Dear Parents,

It is my privilege to extend you a warm welcome to Queen of Peace Parish Primary School, Altona Meadows. We hope that all who are associated with this school find it to be a pleasant environment where Gospel values are lived.

We especially welcome all families who are new to the school and/or new to the area and hope that you feel welcome in our community of Queen of Peace and will be able to look back on your time here with fond memories.

At Queen of Peace we strive to make these hopes a reality. We have a dedicated staff who with many years of experience are able to offer:

  • A welcoming, friendly atmosphere
  • A Gospel based approach to all that we do
  • Learning Communities based around a personalised learning environment
  • A caring and happy school, where all children are treated with respect
  • The chance for children to perform to the best of their ability

Queen of Peace is one of five Catholic Primary Schools in the Holy Trinity Parish. These schools form the Holy Trinity Catholic Education Community (HTCEC). The other Primary schools in the Parish are: St Martin de Porres (Laverton), Lumen Christi (Point Cook), Stella Maris (Point Cook West) and St Mary of the Cross (Point Cook South). As HTCEC, we share resources and educational opportunities which enhance the overall educational experience for children and staff in our schools.

As a Catholic school, our focus is on the faith development of our children and ensuring religion and the Gospel values are integrated into the curriculum and teaching of all learning areas. At Queen of Peace we implement a Faith Life Inquiry Approach which brings together the learning we do of our religion and faith with the learning we do of the world. We believe that children learn best when education in faith and life are connected to all learning.

At Queen of Peace, we value our rich religious traditions and culture. We provide opportunities for our children and their families to celebrate our Catholic heritage, in many different sacramental and non-sacramental ways.

We recognise that parents are the child’s first teacher and it is our aim to work in partnership with parents in the continuing education of the children. Together we can make a huge difference if we are on the same page. There will be many opportunities for us to work in these partnerships and strengthen the bonds of communication as well as involving you in the various learning experiences that will happen here at school.

As a school community, we look forward to joining with you in the educational journey of your child. We value your input and look forward to an open and honest dialogue over the years ahead.

We hope you enjoy your time at Queen of Peace Primary School and feel part of the community.

Rod Sims
Principal

Democratic Principles

Vision Statement

Queen of Peace is a learning community that is Christ centered, valuing Our Catholic Faith, The Human Person, Justice and the pursuit of Excellence

We are children of God journeying together in our relationship with Jesus, alive in our world

We all have talents and capabilities that are nurtured in an environment that respects the dignity and worth of the whole person.

We welcome all people into a peaceful environment that empowers them to become proactive members of our global community.

We respect all people, in an environment that is just and free from discrimination and inequality

We value opportunities for learning and reflection that challenge us to aspire to individual excellence.

Mission Statement

We are committed to:

  • providing opportunities for people to explore and ritualise their faith journey within the rich cultural and religious traditions of our community.
  • demonstrating collaborative, proactive and compassionate leadership.
  • providing an educational experience which develops attitudes and values that support a person through life.
  • working in partnership with families, recognising their rights and responsibilities in the education of their children.
  • recognising, celebrating and supporting individuals in their pursuit of excellence.
  • providing an environment that embraces change and encourages risk taking.
  • providing a comprehensive, inclusive and evolving curriculum that empowers students to engage actively in an ever-changing global society.

History

Queen of Peace school opened in 1982 under the name of Altona Bay Catholic School. The school began with an enrolment of 121 students. The enrolment grew by as many as 30-40 pupils in some years, peaking in 1998 at approximately 650 pupils. In 1987, the Registered Schools Board officially registered the school’s name as “Queen of Peace Parish Primary School”.

The initial building, designed by Mr Paul Archibald, was not ready for occupancy at the beginning of 1982 so classes were held at St Martin de Porres Laverton for the first term. Since the initial stage of building in 1982 there have been a number of additions and minor renovations in 1988, 1998, 2006 and 2010.

From early 1982 to the end of 1992, the Queen of Peace School facilities were used as a Mass Centre. Mass was celebrated in the school itself. In 1987 two rooms were added to be used (mainly) as a Chapel until the Church was built. The first permanent place of worship for the Queen of Peace Catholic Community was constructed in 1992. Designed by Architects Jeff Sneath and Bridget King, the Church is one of the most outstanding and attractive buildings in the area.

In 2007, Queen of Peace celebrated 25 years of Catholic Education in Altona Meadows. An Anniversary Garden which connects the school to the church was constructed to commemorate this important milestone.

In 2016 a Peace Garden was developed in the area between the church and the school hall that was left vacant after the hall was built. This was a combined school and parish initiative and has given the community an outdoor space for prayer and contemplation.

Queen of Peace school is well appointed, well-resourced and able to tackle the challenges of providing a contemporary Catholic Education for the community of Altona Meadows.

School Principals:

Alan Williams
1982 – 1987

Basil Ryan
1988 – 2002

Leon Colla
2003 – June 2013

Anne Price (Acting)
July – December 2013

Anthony Drill
2014 – September 2017

Anne Price (Acting)
September – December 2017

Darren Gibbons
2018 – 2022

Michael Ozbun (Acting)
January – June 2023

Rodney Sims
July 2023 –

Profile

Queen of Peace Primary School is located in Altona Meadows; a suburb in the west of Melbourne and is one of five Catholic schools, within the Holy Trinity Catholic Parish. The parish church is on site and is a visible focal point to all children and families. It provides a shared space for worship and the school is well supported and encouraged by the parish and assistant priests.

The schools in the parish work collaboratively to ensure the best possible models for Catholic education are provided for students. The principals of the five schools and the parish priest comprise the Laverton Catholic Education Community (LCEC), which meets regularly and has been operating for approximately thirteen years. This group has developed and implemented many shared initiatives including a consistent enrolment process for those who desire that their children attend one of the parish schools.

Queen of Peace Primary School opened in 1982 and in 2017 celebrated 35 years of Catholic education to the Altona Meadows community. In 2017 there were 62 teachers and support staff that cater for the needs of the children across 21 class groupings.

The total number of children enrolled at our February Census was 516. Of the 516 students, 94% were born in Australia. 87% of students are from Catholic or Orthodox families while 6.5% are from other religions. The remaining 6.5% are from families who do not associate with any religion. Queen of Peace has 24 children supported by the Students with Disabilities (SWD) funding. The school has a high English as an Additional Language (EAL) component with 37 different languages spoken at home. Over recent years the population demographic has changed from predominantly European to a greater mix of Asian and African nationalities.

The school is well resourced with eight portable classrooms and a permanent building which houses staff and administration facilities, library, computer room and a range of learning spaces. A separate building is used for music and visual arts and a large hall incorporates the canteen, office space and a multipurpose space with stage.

The school aims to provide curricula, co-curricular and extra curricular initiatives that enable a wide range of learning experiences to improve spiritual, academic, physical, and social and emotional outcomes. The school runs developmentally appropriate P – Year 6 on and off site camp programs including camp days for the Prep – Year 2 children. Classes have Italian, Phys Ed, Art and Music lessons on a rotational basis. Access to and use of a range of digital technologies ensure staff can plan collaboratively and effectively. Students also have access to up to date technologies from Prep to Year 6 to assist with their learning program. Levels of communication have been improved giving students, staff and parents greater and more immediate access to learning.

Facilities

The Queen of Peace school site covers approximately 2.65 hectares. The school is well resourced with eight portable classrooms and a permanent building which houses staff and administration facilities, resource space (library and computer room) plus a range of learning spaces.  A separate building is used for music and visual arts and a large hall incorporates the canteen, office space and a multipurpose space with stage.

The Queen of Peace church is located on the same property as the school.

2019 saw the commencement of a large building project which began with the repurposing of the old administration area to create the new resource space and the refurbishment of the existing 3/4 learning spaces.  This project also included extensive external works, services, soft and hard landscaping and the provision of external outdoor learning and play spaces.

The final stage of our 2019 building project was completed in 2020 with the refurbishment of the existing Prep learning spaces and outdoor learning spaces.  This completed project involved the construction of a new administration wing and front entry of the school.  This development provides a ‘Front of House’, welcoming administration area with adequate space for offices, meetings spaces, first aid, a wellbeing area and a staff room.

The playground is spacious and contains two adventure playgrounds for the children, a large sandpit, Children’s Garden for quiet play, synthetic soccer pitch and an AFL space. There is also a full size synthetic basketball court and a half size court. The area under the sails has tables for children to sit at.  In mid 2021 a large, native adventure playground was installed.

Staff & Class Groups

The school is staffed by a highly dedicated group of people who strive to generate a strong sense of community and to provide quality catholic education for all the students.

Leaders / Coordinators

 

Principal Rodney Sims principal@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Deputy Principal & Diversity in Learning Leader    Erin Jenkins     ejenkins@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Acting Deputy Principal & Numeracy Leader Josie Kirby jkirby@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Director of Learning & Teaching    Joanne Pearce      jpearce@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Director of Students & Diversity in Learning Leader Rose Gusman      rgusman@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Literacy Leader  Rita Arrigo rarrigo@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Technology & ICT Leader      Cameron Menadue  cmenadue@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Religious Education Leader      Suzanne Gracias sgracias@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Wellbeing Leader Marisa Te mte@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Family Engagement in Learning Leader Nicole Woodward nwoodward@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Junior Level Leader    
Middle Level Leader Nicole Williams nwilliams@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Senior Level Leader Nicole Woodward nwoodward@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classroom Teachers

 

Prep A Teacher Karen Currie kcurrie@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Prep B Teacher Annette Gauci agauci@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Prep C Teacher Margot O’Malley momalley@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Prep B&C Teacher Carmela Vezzoso cvezzoso@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 1A Teacher Cherie Bitar cbitar@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 1A Teacher Gina Camilleri gcamilleri@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 1B Teacher Dubravka Zahtila dzahtila@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 1C Teacher Veronica Chan vchan@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 1C Teacher Laura Taylor ltaylor@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 2A Teacher Gayle Fava gfava@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 2B Teacher Judith Alves jalves@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 2B Teacher Hannah Luja hluja@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 2C Teacher Trish Morrison tmorrison@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 2C Teacher Sarah McGregor smcgregor@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 3A Teacher Melissa Merheb mmerheb@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 3B Teacher Suzanne Gracias sgracias@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 3B Teacher Belinda Palamara bpalamara@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 3B Teacher Suzanne Gracias sgracias@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 3C Teacher Jackson Menadue jmenadue@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 4A Teacher Patrick Craig pcraig@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 4B Teacher Jenny Sare jsare@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 4B Teacher Loren Jubb ljubb@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 4C Teacher Nicole Williams nwilliams@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 4C Teacher Michelle Mamone mmamone@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 5A Teacher Hannah Parker hparker@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 5B Teacher Nicole Woodward nwoodward@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 5C Teacher Laura Granato lgranato@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 6A Teacher Tina Krstevski tkrstevski@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 6B Teacher Peter Carlisle pcarlisle@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 6B Teacher Beth Farmer bfarmer@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Year 6C Teacher Lisa Vella lvella@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au

 

Specialist Teachers

 

Phys Ed Jack Stephen jstephen@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Performing Arts/Music (3-6) Alicia Wilson awilson@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Performing Arts/Music (P-2) Sally Jamieson sjamieson@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Library Rosa Favata rfavata@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Art Stephanie Streets sstreets@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
     
Literacy Support Karen Seychell kseychell@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Literacy Support Natasha Manger nmanger@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Prep Support   Maree Bracken mbracken@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officers

 

Learning Support Officer Ruth Bonnici rbonnici@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Pauline Cassar pcassar@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Kerryn Quarrier kquarrier@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Kristen Doell kdoell@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Jenny Evans jevans@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Debbie Langham dlangham@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Kathleen Englefield kenglefield@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Marisa Cogliandro mcogliandro@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Belinda Massarany bmassarany@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Elena Franze efranze@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Keisha Quarrier kquarrier@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Georgie Brearley gbrearley@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Joe Johnson jjohnson@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Emily Parkinson eparkinson@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Carolina Perri cperri@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Alean Alrousan aalrousan@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Connie Buhagiar cbuhagiar@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Learning Support Officer Celeste Paten cpaten@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Administration

 

Business Manager    
Bursar Cathy Tutton ctutton@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Bursar & Accounts  Sheralyn Chapman schapman@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Administration Samantha St Leon sstleon@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
Administration & Uniform Shop Leanne MacGibbon lmacgibbon@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au
First Aid Officer Patricia Donaldson pdonaldson@qopaltonameadows.catholic.edu.au

Parish Information

The Holy Trinity Catholic Parish incorporates the Catholic communities of Laverton, Altona Meadows and Point Cook.

The Holy Trinity Catholic Parish is a vibrant and growing community that from humble beginnings in 1968 with a church and school set up in Laverton, has now grown into a Parish with three mass centres, five primary schools and a co-ed secondary college.

For more information about our parish, please follow the link below.