19 September 2018

Newsletter Articles

Huge Congratulations to Elle Owens

In October Elle will be heading to Cairns to represent the Sunshine Coast Region at the 10-12 Track & Field Championships.

Elle is competing in an event called the Tetrathlon which is run over two days. This event has four parts 1) a 100m sprint, 2) a long jump, 3) a shot put and 4) finishes off with an 800m run. A true all-rounder event and we all wish Elle well for each event across the two days.

World of Science

Year 5 and Year 6 students have been presenting their group assessment pieces recently and a number of students have been selected to travel to Brightwater SS on Wednesday with Mr Spurr to compete in the regional World of Science competition.

We all wish much success and great science thinking to Nate B, Jack C, Jett H, Niki H, Zoe J, Rishitha, Henry M and Leah T.

Friday - $5 for a Farmer

On Friday we are hoping all students come dressed in their best farmer outfits and bring along a $5 note to support the buy a bale campaign for the drought affected farmers.

We are hoping we can make this our biggest free dress fundraiser of the year.

School Holidays

We wish all students and their families a safe and wonderful two week holiday. Take extra care on and around roads and be safe at all times. We look forward to seeing everyone return to school fit and healthy on Monday October 8 for Term 4 learning.

Please note Monday October 22 is a Pupil Free Day.

Staff PD

Mrs Pool and Mr Maish yesterday spent a day at Coomera Rivers SS on the Gold Coast. We learnt more about how other teachers are using their iPads in class and we have come away with a number of ideas to share and implement. We also came away from the day firmly believing that our students have wonderful access to IT and we look forward to extending their learning, knowledge and capabilities across term 4 and into 2019.

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

Term 3 Whole School Student Attendance Rate – 87.8%
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

September 21 – last day of term 3

Term 4 Dates

October 8 – first day of Term 4
October 22 – Pupil Free Day
December 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 – Prep to Year 5 Swimming at Cotton Tree Olympic Swimming Pool
December 10, 11 and 12 – Year 6 Surf Awareness at Mooloolaba Beach
December 12 Wednesday – Year 6 End of Year Night 5pm sharp
December 13 – Prep to Year 5 Movie Day
December 13 – Year 6 end of year AussieWorld activity
December 14 – last day of school

Year 6 Important Dates