3 April 2019

Newsletter Articles

Term 1

No doubt you too are amazed that’s its April already. Though the easing of the humidity has been more than welcome by most as is the greening up of our oval again with the recent rain.

Mrs Pool and I, along with our teachers, are amazed at the competency, creativity and skill being shown by the students as they access a number of their learning activities on their individual iPads.

We encourage all parents to do a check in with their child and class teacher to see what work is now being done digitally. We feel we are already equipping them with the skills they will need now and in the future.

On behalf of all staff we wish you a wonderful and safe Easter holiday period and we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday April 23 for Term 2.

NAPLAN Year 3 Year 5 News

14 – 24 May

Urgent – parents of students in Year 3 and Year 5 please ensure your child has a set of headphones to successfully access the audio in the NAPLAN Online.

Again this year our Year 3 and Year 5 students will access the NAPLAN test online with the exception of the Year 3 writing test. We are also doing a first and having the students use their individual school provided iPad to access and complete the tests.

All students will need to have their own headphones to hear the instructions and access the test components.

PE News

Each Thursday morning Mr Turner has had a small band of keen distance runners who are working towards achieving qualifying times for the district cross country. Later on in the year we shall have our traditional fun tough obstacle course for all students to participate in. Last year we added colour to the course which delighted the runners.

Easter Hat Parade

Friday from c.8:45am in our Hall Prep to Year 2 students are invited to display their Easter Hat.

This year we have proposed a different challenge to be included in the hat. See if you can add a bee to your design.

The same challenge goes to our Year 3 to Year 6 students who are also invited to come along if they create an Easter hat.

Sunshine Plaza Opening

We had a number of positive comments made about our school leaders following the Sunshine Plaza extension opening. Well done to our school leaders for the role they played and for being wonderful ambassadors for all our students.

Ride 2 School Day

Friday March 22

Congratulations to Clair (Yr 4CH) and Upenjit (Yr 5 SB) who were the random winners of movie passes from the Ride2School promotion on March 22.

Anzac Day April 25 – Maroochydore RSL

All students are welcome to participate in the Maroochy RSL Anzac Day March on Thursday April 25.

Students are asked to meet our Student Leaders, Mrs Pool and myself from 8:00am – 8:20am at the traffic lights in front of the Maroochy RSL with the March commencing at 8:30am.

All parents are then asked to meet our school group when we complete the march near the Cenotaph area in Cotton Tree Park. This then allows parents and their children to attend as a family group for the main part of the service.

All students need to wear their school uniform and to bring their hat.

Yarning Circle

Mrs White will send home information for our Indigenous students about an upcoming Yarning Circle. Please keep an eye out for these details.

Mother’s Day Stall

Again, this year the P&C will be holding a Mother’s Day Stall on Thursday May 9 outside the Chappy’s Room.

In class groups on the Wednesday, students will visit the stall to have a look at the gifts and become aware of the prices and come home with a special request for a few dollars.

A range of gifts will be available with a maximum price of $5.

On the Thursday, again in class groups the students will go to the Mother’s Day stall with their money and make their purchase.

Voluntary Financial Contribution

Participation in the Voluntary Financial Contribution ($70) is voluntary and you are under no obligation to join. However, please be aware that we enhance the resources available for our students with extra materials and consumables that are used in class across each week.

Its purpose is to provide you, the parent, with a cost effective, value for money alternative to purchasing extra resources, consumables and materials not included on the school’s book and stationery list from elsewhere.

These resources and materials will enhance classroom projects and investigations (including photocopied materials), art and craft activities and maintain the use of technologies across the school. We do ask for your continued support to enhance what we offer at our school.

Please refer to the following information sheet.

Should you wish to contribute please see Robyn in the Office with your payment or part payment if you would like to pay in small instalments.

Free Dress Day

Along with our school leaders we thank you for your assistance in raising $293 for the Guide Dogs of Queensland.

Bullying No Way

Maroochydore State School is participating in the annual Bullying, No Way programme this year.

We continually remind our students to speak nicely and respectfully at all times as we know that name calling and teasing is not positive or helpful in promoting a happy learning environment.

From time to time some children have disagreements with other children in the playground. Teachers are very present in the playground and can act immediately to assist students and guide them to a positive and supported outcome. Class teachers can then also assist by doing check ins with both the student and their parents in an ongoing approach.

Teachers, Mrs Pool and I spend a lot of time listening to all sides of an incident, being reflective with students and then supporting all students in aiming to be safe, confident and reflective.

Woolworths Earn & Learn

We’d love your support. We are asking all families to collect as many stickers as they can when shopping at Woolworths during the promotion period from May 1 to June 25. These can be stuck on the sticker sheets for collation at school.

Pikki Street Building Construction

Shortly, work will commence on the vacant block of land next door to the school in Pikki Street. Around safety for students, parents and staff, the gate access and access road for the teacher’s carpark will be closed off during the construction period.

Students and parents will be asked to access the school via the access pathway into the Prep and ECDP and to follow the path up to the primary school building areas. The reverse procedure will occur in the afternoon with students and parents exiting the school at the Prep and ECDP access gate.

The playground will be closed, with safety for all in mind around the construction period.

Uniform Shop

Please note the changed operating times.

Monday c. 8:00am – c. 8:20am

Medication during school hours

Does your child require medication during school hours?

If your child requires medication while at school, please ensure you request an Administration of medication record sheet from your school’s office.

You will also need to provide the school with the prescription-labelled medication in the original packaging with clear directions for its use.

Maroochydore State High School

Parents of Year 6 students are asked to regularly check the dates at the end of this newsletter for key dates specifically for Year 6 students as we begin the transition programme with Maroochydore State High School.

You will be invited to parent information sessions, need to complete enrolment forms and or apply for excellence programmes and your child will attend transition days as your enrolment forms are confirmed by the high school.

P&C News

What is the P&C funding this year?

This year, the P&C is donating $8,000 to the school to purchase new books for the library.

The P&C also fund the incursions each term for the whole school.

This money comes from the fundraising efforts in previous years so THANK YOU for your support! It’s great to see the kids get these extra resources.

Upcoming Funding Commitments

The P&C has committed to help fund new playgrounds in the school. This is a big fundraising commitment for our small school, so if you have any fundraising ideas, we would love to hear them. But especially, we need helping hands to put those ideas into action.

The P&C email address is maroochydorestatepc@gmail.com, or you can catch one of us in the tuckshop or uniform shop or around the school.

Vauxhall Car Display

Click on the link for more details:

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:

Be Respectful Be Responsible Be Safe Be a Learner

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.

Jewellery – could all necklaces and bracelets/bangles stay safe at home?

Make-up is not necessary at primary school and all students are reminded not to wear to school.

We are encouraging all students to actively play and socialise during first break this year and as such the Library is closed during this time.

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

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 – Did you know?

Mars is the current focus for most planetary exploration. Mars’ diameter about half that of the Earth and its atmosphere is very thin, about 1% as thick as Earth’s. Because it is farther from the Sun, Mars is a cold and barren world. It has thin seasonal ice-caps and frequent planet wide dust storms. Mars has the tallest mountain in the Solar System –Olympus, an extinct volcano which is 400km wide at its base and three times higher than Mt Everest at its peak.

Our Solar System is basically divided into two halves. The inner half includes Earth and Mars, which are known as the rocky planets, and are quite small, made of rock and have thin atmospheres or none to speak of, in the case of Mercury. The outer planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are known as the Gas Giants, and are all huge and made mainly of gas. Pluto, on the outer extremity of the Solar System, is small and made of rock and ice.

• Venus used to be called Earth’s sister planet. Size aside, Venus is very unearth-like with an atmosphere of almost pure carbon dioxide, clouds of sulphuric acid droplets, and a temperature of 900 degrees Fahrenheit! The few Russian spacecraft that landed there lasted only a few hours before being baked and crushed! Venus rotates backward on its own axis. The rotation is so slow, that a Venusian day (243 Earth days) is longer than its year (224.7 Earth days)!
• Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. Like the other Gas Giant planets (Saturn. Uranus and Neptune), it doesn’t have a solid surface that we can see; rather, we see the tops of its complex atmospheric cloud system. The most prominent feature of Jupiter’s atmosphere is the Great Red Spot –a huge red-coloured cyclone bigger than the Earth. Galileo first saw the Great Red Spot almost 400 years ago, so it has been going for at least that long if not more.
• Saturn is the planet with the famous rings. The planet is made mainly of gas with a hidden rocky core. Saturn’s overall density is very low. If you had a body of water big enough to put it in, Saturn would float!
• Uranus & Neptune are” twin worlds” about four times the diameter of Earth. Their blue/green atmospheres are dominated by strong winds blowing at up to 2,000 kph –the fastest winds in the Solar System! Pluto is small and made entirely of ice.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Every day counts

Term 1 Whole School Student Attendance Rate – 90.9%

Our whole school target is 94%

Best year level attendance: Prep and closely followed by Year 6.

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.

We have 4 school rules. Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful and Be a Learner.

Term 1 Dates

Term 2 Dates

Year 6 Important Dates for Transition to High School

Term 2 Dates

Term 3 Dates

Term 4 Dates