22 August 2018

Newsletter Articles

Science and Book Week

Many thanks to our students, staff and parents for joining in last week with our Science Week and Book Week celebrations. It was certainly a busy week with a number of activities and hopefully it was a week full of wonder and inspiration for all.

Did you know

1. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have been clearly visible in the early evening sky. You should book your family in for a visit to the Mapleton Observatory one evening for a wonderful couple of hours searching the night sky. On a recent visit there, not only did we see these four planets through the telescope but we looked at galaxies far away and saw man-made satellites flying overhead and even a handful of meteors. An action packed few hours.
2. The recent satellite launch from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida has our school name on a microchip as it heads for our closest encounter even with the sun.

Wednesday saw wonderful student scientists everywhere and it was topped off with a visit by Street Science and scientist Mel, who referenced some famous scientists and conducted a number of scientific experiments.

‘Fire and a big bang’ always has the students wanting more and I think the same applied to our parents who came along.

On Thursday our senior students performed a number of forensic searches in a crime scene setup and learnt more about DNA, fingerprints and crime solving techniques.

Our Book Week parade wrapped the week up and the school was full of a huge number of book characters who eagerly ‘performed in character’ on the stage.

Father’s Day

It’s on again this year - don’t forget Chappy Sam’s wonderful, delightfully yummy Father’s Day BBQ.

August 30 in the school forecourt area from 7:30am. It will be a relaxed and a social start to the day for our fathers. Just so we know how many bacon and egg burgers to prepare and cook if you are attending please contact the office and leave your name and number of students attending.

Swimming – Term 4

Even though the mornings are chilly we are planning our Term 4 swimming programme. Learning to swim and reinforcing these swimming skills are vital especially living so close to a major waterway and the ocean. Our Prep to Year 5 students will be attending swim sessions at Cotton Tree Pool with their class teacher and qualified swim instructors. A note will be coming home next week as all the swimming arrangements are confirmed and Mrs Pool shall add it to our Facebook posts.

For our Year 6 students we just awaiting the return of the parent survey to finalise whether we participate in the swim sessions at Cotton Tree or surf awareness at Mooloolaba beach.

Of all things – Flossing!

For many weeks a dedicated band of ‘flossers’ have at break times just enjoyed dancing and doing their ‘flossing thing’. On Tuesday some 90 students were in the Hall for the Flossing Competition and a number of year level champions were announced. It has been wonderful to see some many students keen and interested in joining in during break times. Congratulations to:

Phoenix and Kobe from Prep. Sari and Kobe from Year 1. Montannah and Krista from Year 2. Kirra, Indie, Jett, Finn, Kyran and Hugh from Year 3. Jaimelee from Year 4. Jacoby and Zach from Year 5. Destiny from Year 6.

Upper school most enthusiastic class – Year 3LS and Year 3MS. Two winners!
Early phase most enthusiastic class – P/1 Bilbies
Three cheers to the ‘Supreme Flossers’ - Kirra and Indi.

MSHS Enrolment for Year 7 2019

Maroochydore State High School for Year 7 2019 – students must be enrolled prior to attending the upcoming transition days.

MSHS Programs of Excellence – Audition days

SPORT / MUSIC

Thursday 23rd August (week 6)
8:35 – 2:35pm – Students to meet in the Jubilee Hall

All students who selected these classes as a first or second preference should attend. A small number of students may be required to attend on both days.

Active Healthy Children

Two suggestions to have your children involved and active:

a) Mooloolaba Surf Club is holding its nipper sign on day at Mountain Creek swimming pool this Sunday. Nippers caters for children aged five to 13. The sign on day will run from 9am to 12 noon. Visit:

b) Maroochy Little Athletics. Located at Maroochydore State High School, the club will have open days on Saturday (9am till 12noon) and on August 31 (6pm – 8pm). Visit:

School Opinion Survey

Late last week the oldest student of each family was sent home with a large envelope containing information around the 2018 School Opinion Survey. We urge all parents to reflectively complete the survey online promptly. Please make contact with the office if you require access to a computer in the Library to complete the survey.

In anticipation, we thank you for your support and completion of the survey. The survey closes this Friday.

The data is used by staff to guide our priorities and actions to support our school teaching and learning plans.

Staff Car Park Area

BE Safe – is one of our 4 school rules.

Could all parents and students ensure they DO NOT use the staff car park area as a thoroughfare or a place for dropping off or picking children up from.

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.

Be Responsible

Please reinforce with your child the idea that we do not solve disagreements by being physical. That we use our words, walk away or seek a teacher to assist.

Rule: Be Responsible Buzz Phrase “I Choose to Defuse”

• I say STOP if someone or something is upsetting me.
• I WALK away from the situation to a safe place.
• I TALK to someone I can trust.
• I CONTROL myself and keep my COOL.
• I can solve problems in a calm manner.

Resilience in this context means that students need to take responsibility for their own actions. Regardless of what bad things we experience or others may do to us we are still responsible for how we react. It is not acceptable to justify our inappropriate behaviour as a result of someone else’s behaviour towards us.

School Absence and Text Messaging Service

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/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.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Every day counts

Semester 1 Whole School Student Attendance Rate – 88.0%
Our whole school target is 94%

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.

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.

Term 3 Dates

August 23 – Year 6 SPORT and MUSIC Auditions - Programs of Excellence to MSHS
September 9 – Bright Minds No. 3
September 11 and 12 – Sunshine Coast Regional Athletics – Sunshine Coast University track
September 12 – MSHS Program of Excellence letters sent to students.
September 21 – last day of term 3

Year 6 Important Dates