13 October 2016

Newsletter Articles

Term 4

Did you know – on Friday September 23 during the school holidays 12 staff, 2 students and a parent, some of our motorhome campers and 80 Lendlease workers donated time to doing a major facelift to the garden areas around the ECDP and Prep building. There was painting, garden constructions, planting, clean ups and an extended sand pit area created over a very busy day.

I hear the ECDP students are excited about their extra sand for play as well as the new herb and flower gardens. Over at Prep the fairy garden is a bit of a hit with many new gnome friends to be looked after.

Sincere thanks to everyone who contributed as it has made such a difference to the whole area.

Pupil Free Day – Monday

Please note that this Monday, October 17, is a designated Pupil Free Day.

Our teachers and teacher aides will have professional learning around the IT skills we are teaching and using with our students. Coding, makerspace and robotics activities.

Swimming – weather – so far so good!

On Monday the students returned to school excitedly and full of chatter after their first swimming session. Hopefully this wonderful weather continues and the students make giant gains in their swimming ability. At our weekly Parade I asked students to take their own towel and togs out of their bag and hang them up to dry each afternoon. I do wonder how many actually did this to help out?

End of Year Science Activity

On Monday December 5 all students are invited to attend our end of year science activity – Street Science. Thank you to our P&C who will fund this activity following a motion that was passed at the last meeting to provide an opportunity each term for all students to attend a performance. A wonderful initiative for all our students and school community.

Day for Daniel – Keeping Kids Safe – 8:30am October 28

On Friday October 28 all students are invited to wear something red and join in our whole school activity on the school oval at 8:30am. Following this we are inviting grandparents to come along to the classrooms and join in with an activity or two.

Grandparents Day

It was wonderful last year to welcome a large number of grandparents to our classrooms, with a memory of what school was like for grandparents. Following our school activity for Day for Daniel all grandparents are welcome to visit the classrooms. This will start around 9am.

End of Year Prep to Year 5 Movie

Mrs Skehan is getting a little bit excited as she is working with the cinema on having a new release movie on offer for this enjoyable end of year class activity. More information to come.

Prep will be compulsory from 2017

The Queensland Parliament recently made important changes to the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006. From next year, it will be compulsory for all Queensland children to undertake the Preparatory (Prep) Year, prior to entering Year 1. The legislation identifies specific exceptions that can be determined by principals on a case-by-case basis. To minimise disruption to schools and families, the new requirement will not apply to children already enrolled in Year 1 for 2017. There has been such positive learning outcomes since the introduction of Prep. The Education Department is pleased all children will now enjoy this important start to their learning.

Prep 2017 Information

Playgrounds after school

It is great to see students and families enjoy the wonderful facilities and playgrounds straight after school. However, I need all of the community to please support this practice in the following way. If students are to use the playground after school, their parent must be actively supervising their child from right next to the playground. I appreciate everyone’s support with this.

Term 4 Dates

Swimming Sessions – Monday October 10 to Friday October 14
Pupil Free Day - Monday October 17
Day for Daniel & Grandparents Day – Friday October 28
Year 6 End of Year Night – Tuesday December 6
Year 6 End of Year Excursion – Wednesday December 7
Prep to Year 5 Movie Day – Thursday December 7
Term 4 finishes – Friday December 9

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Our student attendance average is just over 91% - we still think we can obtain 95%

Every day counts

Parents are reminded of the importance of sending children to school every day. Being at school every day is important, if with one day absent each week quickly adding up to two months of missed lessons in a year.

Unless your child is ill, it is expected that your child will be at school learning every day of the school year.

More information on the importance of regular school attendance click the link below. The videos associated with this link highlight issues often faced by parents and dispel some myths about absences form school and are worth a look.

By sending your child to school every day we are together developing good habits for success at primary school and beyond. When parents do not support developing a solid routine of attending school every day issues of truancy and poor work habits can emerge.

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s attendance, please do not hesitate to contact the school for support.

P&C News

Term 4 tuckshop – only open Friday mornings.

Just a few things from the P&C…

• Tuckshop Volunteers

We also have our usual request for volunteers to help in the tuckshop. We cannot keep the tuckshop open without volunteer help, and we are desperate for people to help on a Friday. Anytime you can give is great, even if it is just an hour or two every now and then – we don’t need you to make a regular commitment. Morning tea is provided for volunteers, and there are a range of different things that need doing, so Bronny will be able to find something you feel confident doing (and most of the tasks are things we do daily at home anyway!) Please see her at the tuckshop, email me on doncobeth@gmail.com, or leave your name at the office and we can contact you back.