1 February 2018

Newsletter Articles

A new school year - 2018

Welcome to the hidden gem of Maroochydore – Maroochydore State School

Amazing! This time last year we watched as 239 students marched in for Day One of the new school year. This year we currently have 258 enrolled students.

Thank you to everyone for such a nice start to the year as we welcomed in our new families and continued to give smiles and that friendly wave to our returning families.

The first week has zoomed by and we note perfect uniform standards, an excellent attitude and an eagerness to quickly settle into a learning routine. This also included our newest learners in the prep classes and it was certainly exciting to see these students leap into their activities!

Thank you very much to the wonderful efforts by all of our staff, the P&C volunteers and parents in having both the school and children so well prepared for the beginning of the new school year.

We welcome Mr Leis back to the Year 5 class and to two new staff members. Mrs Noke who is assisting in LS and to Mr Habel who is a Deputy Principal and on secondment to our school.

We’ve started the year with 11 classes from Prep to Year 6. Our teaching staff:

Routines and Expectations

Wearing the correct school uniform including a broad brimmed hat for play times.

All students should be dropped off at school from 8:20 to 8:30am.

School learning starts at 8:30am sharp.

There are high expectations around student work, personal achievements and behaviour.

For any student absence please call the school before 8:30am on the day of the absence. 5475 1555

Our 4 School Rules are:

All student mobile phones are to be taken to the School Office for safe keeping during the school day. Students collect them at the end of the school teaching and learning day at 2:30pm.

Hats – all students should have a green bucket hat for outside activities including both breaks. Parents please ensure your child’s hat is named.

Toys – all students are to leave their toys at home for play at home and to not disrupt the teaching and learning of the teacher and other students.

School Learning Times

As it is the start of a new year it is also a good time to remind everyone about being prepared for the school learning day.

Remember classrooms at open at 8:20am at the latest every school day. This allows time for students to unpack their bags, come in and get their learning space organised.

This ensures all students are organised and ready to start learning at 8:30am every school day.

Please note after 8:45am, if students and parents are running a little bit late you BOTH must come to the Office for a late slip as ONLY the parent is required to give a reason for the lateness.

School Absence and Text Messaging Service

IT technicians are working on a fault in the student absence messaging service to parents and we hope to have it rectified by Friday.

A reminder:

If your student is absent - Phone the Student Absence Line before 9:00am to advise of any/all occasions when your child/ren will be away from school. This is a 24hr recorded service, you can call it anytime (convenient if your child is up ill during the night!). The Maroochydore State School Student Absence Line number is 07 5475 1555 – then dial 2 and leave clearly state your child’s name class and a reason for your child’s absence.

If your student is late and the class teacher has marked the rolls - Children who arrive after the roll has closed will be required to go to the office WITH THEIR PARENT to collect a LATE SLIP for presentation to their teacher. Legally a child’s explanation for their lateness is not acceptable and is recorded as an UNEXPLAINED ABSENCE.

If/when you receive an SMS message, reply to the SMS with the reason for your child’s absence and their name immediately OR if you believe your child/ren is/should be at school contact the school office immediately to notify us.

Playground Use

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.

The Sky Above

A total lunar eclipse tonight – keep your fingers crossed that the skies stay clear later tonight. It will be too late for our students but parents could view and take some wonderful photos to share with their child/children tomorrow morning.

Partial eclipse begins – 9:49pm AEST/10:48pm AEDT
Total lunar eclipse begins – 10:51pm AEST/11:51pm AEDT
Partial eclipse ends – 1:11am AEST/2:11am AEST

The Australian Science Channel has an informative link. See below

P&C News

Monday February 12 is the P&C’s first meeting of the year. All parents are welcome to come along from 8:45am and join in supporting your child’s school. We are meeting in the staffroom in the Administration Block.

Chappy Sam

Chappy Sam is here on a Monday and Thursday again this year. All parents and students are invited to catch up with Chappy Sam in her room or to make an appointment please ring the Office 5475 1555

Breakfast Club – on a Monday and a Thursday with toast and a drink. * Please note the food delivery has not arrived at the time of finalising this newsletter so it may not happen this Thursday.

Students and families are welcome to come to the main forecourt area from 8:00am. and join in the Breakfast Club social start to the day.

Term 1 Dates

Welcome to Class to parents by class teachers – Tuesday February 6
The Protectors performance – Tuesday February 22
Vision Screening for Prep Students – Tuesday February 27
Starlab visit – Wednesday March 20
World Science Excursion – Thursday March 21
Parent/Teacher Interviews – Weeks 9 and 10 March 12-23
End of Term – Thursday March 29

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Every day counts

Parents are reminded of the importance of sending children to school every day. Being at school every day is important, 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 is available via 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.

This week’s rules of the week is – Be Safe. Walking on the concrete is a safe option, walk your bike on school grounds, don’t forget to have your hat for outside play.