17 October 2025

Principal

Abi Hurdley

Dear Graceville Families and Friends,

Welcome to Term 4!

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful break and had the chance to rest, recharge, and spend time with family and friends. As we return for another exciting term, there’s a great sense of energy and anticipation in the air. We’re looking forward to reconnecting with our students, continuing the great learning already underway, and finishing the year on a high with plenty of memorable moments and celebrations ahead.

GRACEVILLE STATE SCHOOL STRATEGIC PLAN (2024 -2027)

Graceville State School’s Strategic priority focus areas are:

1. Innovative Teaching and Learning
2. Empowering and Nurturing Environment
3. Connected Community

This year we will have two priorities in our Annual Improvement Plan that will guide our work for each of these focus areas:

• Enhance and extend a whole school, inclusive approach to support student learning beginning in the classroom so that resources are most effectively used to lift student learning.
• Deepening personal empowerment and embedding a nurturing environment to maximise curiosity, positive engagement and success for all.

SHOWCASE OF CHOICE THEORY AT GRACEVILLE STATE SCHOOL

This week, we were delighted to welcome back Jane Newman from NewCore Consulting to Graceville for our Showcase of Choice Theory session. Parents and carers joined Jane for an engaging and insightful conversation about understanding behaviour through the lens of internal control psychology. Together, they explored how this approach helps families better understand the “how” and “why” behind behaviour — in both children and adults — to strengthen relationships, improve communication, and support emotional wellbeing at home. Jane also unpacked the five basic human needs — survival, connection, personal empowerment, freedom, and fun — explaining how all behaviour is an attempt to meet one or more of these needs.

This learning closely aligns with our Annual Improvement Plan priority of deepening personal empowerment and embedding a nurturing environment to maximise curiosity, positive engagement and success for all. Thank you to Jane for sharing her expertise, and to our parent community for taking the time to engage in this valuable learning opportunity.

YEAR 4 CAMP AT PGL KINDILAN

Last week I had the pleasure of joining our Year 4 students at PGL Kindilan in Redland Bay for their much-anticipated camp. It was a joy to see our students challenge themselves and work together through a range of exciting activities including archery, canoeing, the flying fox, and low ropes. Their enthusiasm, teamwork, and positive attitude were wonderful to witness. They truly represented Graceville with pride. A huge thank you to all the staff who attended camp and those who supported the organisation behind the scenes. Your energy, care and commitment made this experience such a memorable and successful one for our students.

GRACEVILLE STATE SCHOOL P&C TRIVIA NIGHT AND SPELLATHON  

Our wonderful P&C has been busy organising two fantastic community events this month! The ever-popular P&C Trivia Night is coming up on Friday 25 October, and we’re looking forward to seeing parents and carers come together for a fun evening of laughter, friendly competition, and connection. A huge thank you to our P&C team for the time and effort that goes into planning such a great night for our community.

Hot on its heels is the P&C Spellathon, taking place on Monday 28 October. Thank you to all our families for your support in helping students gather sponsors. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate learning while raising valuable funds for our school. We’re so grateful to our P&C for their continued energy, creativity, and dedication to bringing our community together and supporting Graceville students.

SCHOOL CHAPLAIN TERM 4 FUNDRASIER – CHRISTMAS MARKET AND MOVIE NIGHT

Get ready for a festive evening at our Graceville Christmas Markets and Movie Night on Saturday 22 November.  This community event is a wonderful way to come together as we head into the holiday season, with market stalls, food, and a family-friendly movie. All funds raised will go towards supporting our school chaplaincy program, helping us to maintain Chappy John’s current hours at Graceville State School. A huge thank you to our Chaplain Support Team for their time and effort in organising this special event. Keep an eye on our Graceville State School Facebook page for more details in the coming weeks.

Abi Hurdley
Principal

Upcoming Events

Planned events are listed – we may have to postpone or cancel based on advice closer to the time.

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

Term 4

Just a few reminders of things coming up in Term 4:

• Other School events coming up for fundraising:
  • Student Council will be doing an event yet to be confirmed
  • P & C Trivia night Saturday 25^th October
  • P & C Spellathon 28^th October
  • Chaplaincy Christmas markets & Movie night Friday 22^nd November

Deputy Principal

Liam Bray

At Graceville State School, we believe that a strong, positive school culture is built on a foundation of shared values. As part of our ongoing commitment to student wellbeing and community engagement, we’re proud to share an important update to our school’s Code of Conduct, which now places a renewed focus on three key pillars: Respect for Self, Respect for Others, and Respect for Place.

Over the year, our staff have gone through a review of our previous Code of Conduct and together, we have reshaped some of the language. Many parts of the Code of Conduct remain the same, as they are mandated by the Department of Education.

At the end of last term, I presented some of this work at our ‘Coffee and Connect’ parent session. It was great to have a number of parents engage in this session and also provide some feedback.

Below is a breakdown of what that language of Respect looks like at Graceville State School.

Respect for Self

We are encouraging students to develop confidence, resilience, and self-awareness. Respecting yourself means taking responsibility for your actions, doing your best in all situations, and making choices that support your physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.

Respect for Others

At Graceville, kindness, empathy, and inclusion are non-negotiable. Our updated code highlights the importance of treating peers, teachers, and all members of our school community with dignity and fairness. We are fostering an environment where every voice is valued, and every individual feels safe and supported.

Respect for Place

Whether in the classroom, on the oval, or in other areas of the school, we want students to take pride in the environment around them. Respecting our place means caring for school property, keeping spaces clean and safe, and understanding our role as caretakers of the world we live in.

I have also included a link to the PowerPoint that I presented to parents at the end of Term 3. This slide show highlights some of the key changes we are implementing, as well as giving parents the ability to provide some feedback via a Microsoft Forms link on the last slide.

Attached is a PDF of the information presented at the Coffee and Connect Session.

Prep 2026 Enrolment information

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of our 2026 Prep families through enrolment interviews, school tours, and our Get Set for Prep Sessions. It’s been a joy to begin forming relationships with the children and their families as we take the first steps together on this exciting journey.

Our team is passionate about creating a warm and inclusive environment where every child feels seen, supported, and celebrated from the very beginning. We know that a strong start lays the foundation for a love of learning that lasts a lifetime.

Please visit the school website https://gracevilless.eq.edu.au/enrolments/prep for all the information about Prep 2026 including dates for Get Set for Prep sessions.

If you have any questions about 2026 enrolment, please contact the office.

Chess

Last term we had a number of our students take part in Regional Chess tournament. It is so great to see our students have the opportunity to compete in events like this. Thanks so much to Dianne from Gardiner Chess and all the parents for giving the students this opportunity. This is what a couple of our students said about the last tournament:

“We had lots of fun at the tournament and am looking forward to another one.”  Felix

“I can't wait for the next tournament.”  Jack

Term 4 Junior Assembly

Music News

Naomi Lindh

IM Workshops

This term we have our IM workshop for the students who have not been involved in an instrumental workshop yet this year - the Senior Band, Intermediate Strings and Senior Strings. The Senior Band workshop will be all day on Wednesday 29 October and the Intermediate Strings and Senior Strings will rehearse alternately (attending sometime during class and some time at the workshop) on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 October). We will have a short concert in the afternoon with these ensembles performing on Wednesday 29 October. Due to space limitations in the hall, we are encouraging family members to attend our Annual Music Concert 12 November.

Annual Music Concert 

All students in the choirs and instrumental ensembles will be performing at the Annual Music Concert on Wednesday 12 November at 6.00pm in the hall. This concert will conclude by around 7:15pm. We request all our choral and instrumental students to attend to perform and celebrate a year of making music together, as well as our graduating year 6 students. As this is a formal concert, we request students to wear full school uniform to this concert. IM teachers will let students know what time they need to arrive to tune instruments etc (which will be approximately 5:30pm). Choral students can arrive a few minutes before the concert starts at around 5:50pm. We look forward to sharing our music with the school community!

Instrumental Music Recruitment 

If your child is interested in being considered for a place in the IM program and they are currently in either year 2 or year 3, please see the links to the recruitment letters. It is important to return the expression of interest by the due date. There is a lot of important information in the letters and things to consider prior to applying for or accepting a place, including the commitment to regular practice. We appreciate families taking the time to consider and discuss this with their children.  

Thank you for supporting your child's involvement in our music program!

Music Teacher Contact Details

Mr Alex Chin - Instrumental Music Teacher - Strings - Email: achin4@eq.edu.au
Mrs Naomi Lindh - Classroom Music Teacher/Choir Conductor - Email: nclos1@eq.edu.au
Mr Tom Stewart - Instrumental Music Teacher - Band Email: tstew97@eq.edu.au

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

LIBRARY NEWS

The library is once again off to a busy start for our final term!  Classes and borrowing began again this week and the library staff would like to welcome everyone to visit the library.

We are encouraging students to come in and borrow as often as they wish to make the most of accessing our wonderful library collection for the last term of the year.

You can visit and borrow before school from 8.15am and during first lunch break every day.  Remember, children are required to have a waterproof, sealable library bag to borrow.

GSS BOOK FAIR IS COMING…

It’s that time of year again - the school library is hosting its annual BOOK FAIR!!

In Week Four, from Wednesday 29th October – Tuesday 4 November, Book Fair will take place in the LIBRARY.

It will be huge for everyone – there will be lots of fabulous books from publishers all over the world, with exclusive titles and great-value books for every child’s reading interest and level, so don’t miss out!  (Don’t forget books make fantastic gifts - come in and get your Xmas shopping done early!).

Remember, every purchase you make the library earns a percentage to gain great books and other resources for our library and classrooms.

So, if you love bringing children and books together, help us celebrate reading with our students and the school community.  Keep an eye out for the Book Fair Flyer which will be sent home soon. 

P&C News

👋 From the P&C Association

The GSS P&C welcomes you back to school! We hope you all had a great holiday! This term is shaping up to be a busy few weeks leading up to Christmas with various school events! The P&C have 2 more exciting events for this year! Check out the latest information for our Trivia and Spellathon fundraisers below! We are also looking to the future.

📣 Have Your Say – 2025 P&C Survey Launching Next Week!

Next week, we’ll be launching the 2025 Graceville State School P&C Survey, and we’d love your input! 

Every few years, we ask our school community to help shape the future direction of our fundraising efforts — deciding which projects, big or small, will make the greatest impact for our students and families. It only takes two minutes to complete, but your opinion will help set our priorities for the next 1-2 years. Keep an eye out for the survey link next Thursday 23rd October and make sure your family’s voice is heard! 

The survey will be open 23^rd of October - 6^th of November.

🎤 Trivia Night - 25th of October! 

Hey Trivia fans!  

Our school Trivia Night is NEXT SATURDAY and things are getting exciting!

To kick off the festivities, our TRIVIA NIGHT RAFFLE IS NOW LIVE and full of fabulous prizes generously donated by local businesses. Please click HERE to purchase tickets or scan the QR code below.

IMPORTANT: This raffle is open to the whole school. You don't have to attend trivia to purchase raffle tickets! Best of luck!

Trivia Convenors - Carrie and Anna

🎓 Spellathon 2025 - 28^th of October

It's Spellathon time again!!!

Students will have been sent home with their sponsorship forms THIS WEEK, with *Spellathon day* *on Tuesday 28th October*.

There will be prizes* for each year level fund-raisers!!!

This year the funds raised from our 2025 Spellathon will go to the Instrumental Music Program, computing resources or literacy resources. 

 *Sponsorship forms and payment due back to the office by Friday 14th November to be eligible.

GOOD LUCK!

Spellathon Convenor - Jane

🎾 Get your Tennis rackets out! - GSS Tennis Court Hire

It’s so easy to play Tennis at Graceville State School! We encourage you to book a court, grab a racquet and have a hit with your family and friends!

When you book a court online, we'll send you a PIN to access the court/s you have booked.

Please note: Your booking PIN code will take 30 minutes to activate after you have made your booking online. Please book at least 30 minutes prior to the time you want to access the courts.

All funds raised for the tennis court hire go back to the Graceville P&C Association who, alongside the school help to both run and maintain our newly refurbished courts!

🗓️ Save the Date: Next P&C General Meeting

Our next P&C General Meeting had been moved to Wednesday, 22nd October 2025 at 6:30 PM in the Waratah Room and online. We encourage all members to attend, and we warmly welcome any new faces. It’s a great way to stay informed, have your say, and connect with our school community.

Anna Law
President
Graceville State School P&C Association 

Tuckshop

Welcome to term 4, the year is certainly flying. Hope everyone had a restful break!

Just in time for the hot weather, we are trialling some new refreshing new frozen treats in the tuckshop: Icy Swing lemonade icy poles, which we will hopefully be able to soon add in raspberry flavour too.

Don’t forget we have a delicious range of sushi from Big Crunch on our Wednesday Specials menu, also a great choice for the hot summer term! Sushi needs to be pre-ordered by 11am on Tuesdays for delivery on a Wednesday. Maki rolls, mini sushi rolls, onigiri sushi sandwiches and sushi salad cups are all available in a range of different varieties, including plenty of vegetarian options.

Look out for some new hot meals on the menu this term, too.

If there are any chicken-owners at the school who are interested in food scraps to take home as chicken feed, please get in touch; we have a bucket or two a week available to collect from the tuckshop.

If you’re interested in helping out in the tuckshop, please join the volunteers WhatsApp group for all the news and to find out when we need extra help:

Tuckshop Ordering

Ordering for Tuckshop is all done through the online platform Qkr!, either using the web portal, or the Qkr! App on your mobile device. If you haven’t used it before, you need to create a new account and add the details for each of your children before you can make purchases. Please have a look at the how-to guides below for details. 

• Orders must be placed by 8am. Classes collect the tuckshop at 10:45am and take it to the class eating areas.
• To collect frozen treats, the students need to bring their tuckshop bag showing their order to the tuckshop counter during the play period of break after 11am, except for the Prep students who will receive frozen treats in their tuckshop bags.
• Year 1-6 students and staff can also purchase a range of snacks and drinks from the tuckshop counter with cash or card during the play period, 11:00 - 11:20am. 
• The Emergency Menu is available until 11:30am daily for cases of lost or forgotten lunches or other unforeseen circumstances.
• If your child is absent you can cancel your order before 8am using the Qkr! app. After that time, please call us as soon as possible and we may still be able to cancel or postpone the order (we won’t necessarily have a chance to check emails during the morning).

Please feel free to get in touch and let us know of any dietary allergies or sensitivities that your child might have so we can do our best to accommodate them.

Team Tuckshop
tuckshop@gracevillepandc.org.au
Ph. 37162777 (main school office and ask for the tuckshop)

Uniform Shop

Michelle Fanning

Hi everyone!

Here we are, the final term for 2025! I hope you all enjoyed a short break and are ready for the whirlwind of Term 4. 

APPOINTMENTS 

Term 4 is my busiest time of the year, due to many families booking appointments for their Preppies starting in 2026. I highly encourage you to also book an appointment during this time to avoid wait times, especially if your child needs to try on uniform items. 

SWIMMING CAPS AND GOGGLES

Now that we are back into swimming weather, many swimming caps have been purchased over the past 2 weeks. I have just ordered more in a fun variety of colours and expect to receive them next week. They are available in store and online for $12. I have decided to trial some goggles as I've had a few parents ask for them. They will be $15. 

DRESSES 

As the weather warms up this term, it's the perfect time to look at dresses. They were a very popular item over summer being a lightweight cotton mix fabric. Feel free to make an appointment to try them on. We also have an extensive range of sizes in the older style dress on the 2nd hand rack, at great prices.

OUT OF STOCK/LOW STOCK

Skorts - size 8
Gold Polo - size 6

Both items have been reordered, and I hope to have them back in store in a couple of weeks. 

2nd HAND STOCK

Why not look at our 2nd hand rack. Items start at just $5 and are always marked at 50% off or less! Pop by the store on a Tuesday or Thursday morning for a look or send me an email with what you’re after so I can help.

RETURNS/REFUNDS

Please be advised that refunds will only be given if you have your receipt which will be sent to you via email or text message. Items should be in perfect condition, so should not have been worn or washed and any original tags should still be attached. You have 60 days for returns and refunds.

DONATIONS

We are always grateful for donations of 2nd hand uniforms that are freshly washed, in saleable condition with no tears or holes. We also ask that donations are our SCHOOL BRANDED ITEMS ONLY, so no items from any outside stores. Please do not leave donations at the uniform shop when it is closed. Thank you for your generosity and understanding.

Email address for school uniform store is
uniformshop@gracevillepandc.org.au

Thanks everyone!
Michelle

Tennis

Community Notices