16 June 2016

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

We have nearly reached the end of a very long term!

Mrs McKeaten, Ms Hass and I are busily reading and reviewing report card marks and comments. Although it takes a long time, we enjoy reading report cards and seeing the achievements of the students. Report Cards will go home on Wednesday afternoon in sealed envelopes.

The LAP-A-THON is on next Tuesday. Parents and friends are welcome to attend to cheer the students on. There will be a coffee van and some sweet treats for spectators. It will be a nice way to catch up with other class or year level parents.

On Thursday 23, we will be holding a special NAIDOC Inquiry Day. All students will be involved in activities to raise awareness and build knowledge of Australia's Indigenous cultures. The day will start with a whole school assembly. Parents and friends are welcome to join us on the day.

Finally, the last day of term is Wild Onesies day! All children can come dressed in 'Onesies' and help support endangered animals and the environment. I am sure some of our staff will come in a Wild Onesie as well!

As you know, June 25 is the start of the winter holiday break. School resumes again on Monday July 11.

Have a great final week.

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Preps Ahoy!

The Prep students enjoyed a fun day of dress ups and treasure hunting last Thursday. Can you tell who's who amongst the pirates?

QSchools App for Graceville – have you downloaded the app yet and marked Graceville SS as a favourite?

The QSchools app is a convenient way to receive up-to-the minute information from Queensland state schools. We have decided to trial the use of this app for parents and families to get up to the minute information about many facets of school life at Graceville. The App is free to download and you can then identify Graceville as your favourite school where you will find located contact details, news feed, calendar events, links to school newsletters, fete newsletters, information about the tuckshop and uniform shop etc. We will also use the app as a means of sending out important school messages, notifications of upcoming events and emergency alerts and important updates. To receive school notifications you must permit 'push notifications' to come through on the settings on your phone.

How do I download the QSchools app?

To download the app visit the application store for your device:

• iPhone/iPad
• Android
• Windows phone
• Windows PC

If you have any feedback around the use of the QSchool app or questions, please send me an email at mhass10@eq.edu.au

Date Claimer: Prep Information Evening - Wednesday July 27 at 7pm.

Graceville State School recognises as its prime obligation the provision of access to an appropriate educational service for students resident within this community as defined by its local catchment area.

Please visit the following link which details our school enrolment management plan and also provides a link to the catchment area for Graceville State School:

This site also outlines the process for placing your child's name on our waiting list if you reside outside of our catchment area.

Calendar for last Junior assembly this term.

Below is the calendar for term 3 Junior assemblies.

From the Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

UQ Robotics Holiday Workshops

The University of Queensland offers a range of holiday workshops for students including the Robotics Holiday Workshops for Kids (students in Years 7 to 12) and the Robotics Holiday Workshop for Girls (girls in Years 5 to 12).

Wild Onsie Friday

To celebrate World Environment Day we are having a "Wild Onsie Friday" on the last day of this term – Friday 24th June. All members of the school community are encouraged to wear a Onsie (but bring a uniform as well). The Student Council will collect a gold coin donation from students and staff to fundraise for Endangered Species.

WHERE WILL THE FUNDS GO?

Funds raised during Wild Onesie Week 2016 will help WWF continue our work in protecting our most precious species and places.

It's hard to imagine a world without rock-wallabies, pandas, tigers, turtles or orang-utans in the wild. Sadly, that's the way these precious endangered animals are heading.

In 2016, we are shining the spotlight on a vulnerable Australian native species - the green turtle. Green turtles are a remarkable species that have inhabited our planet for more than 120 million years – longer than any human has. However, sadly, human activity over the last 200 hundred years has caused a catastrophic decline in many populations across Asia Pacific. If you've ever dived or snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef and been lucky enough to spot a turtle, it was most likely a green turtle. Our precious Great Barrier Reef is a vital ecosystem for green turtles, with large populations living, feeding and nesting there.

Donations towards Wild Onesie Week will support WWF's essential conservation work – protecting the habitat and ensuring the survival of endangered species locally and globally. This includes working with our partners to understand the sources and impacts of pollution on the Great Barrier Reef and our precious green turtles. The more we understand, the better we can protect our iconic marine life and ensure their survival for future generations.

Important cyber safety tips

The department has recently been alerted to random users contacting children using the social media app 'Instagram'.

The following tips are provided to parents on how their children can avoid random contact on social media:

1. Know which social media your child uses.
2. Discuss with your child who their online friends and followers are. Only be friends with people online who you know and trust in the real world.
3. Take a proactive approach and establish clear and agreed rules for your child's internet use.

School Photos

School photos will be taken on Tuesday 19th July. Ordering envelopes will be sent home within the next few days.

University of New South Wales Competitions

Competition dates:

English - 02 August Yrs 2-6
Maths - 16 August Yrs 2-6

If your child is away on the day of any of the competitions, please let the class teacher know so we can look at an alternate day, before or after the sitting date.

Money Matters

Roberta Harycki

Voluntary Parent Contributions

Programs in developing Curiosity and Powerful Learning are underway. Any voluntary contributions at this point would be much appreciated to meet the school's targeted funds.

$60 single student family and $115 for 2 or more in family. Please refer to the Principal's letter and information sheet.

Credit in Account: All credits (e.g. -$10) in family accounts may be used with current invoices at the parent's request. BPoint payments over the invoiced amount will be added as a credit balance.

Request for Refund form for an excursion paid and not attended is available from the front office. Prepaid ticketing excursions and prepaid competition entries are non-refundable.

Payment of account days:

8am-3pm - Monday to Wednesday
8am-12pm - Thursday and Friday

BPoint is the preferred method of payment.

Eftpos, Debit Cards, Visa/Mastercard, cheque or cash payments are accepted.

BPOINT User Information

For payment of multiple items on your statement/invoice, you will need to do a separate entry for each item, entering the invoice number and the corresponding payment amount for that item only e.g.

Separate Entries for each line must be done to ensure the payment is allocated to the correct Excursion/Resource Fee.

BPOINT payments must be processed in time to clear (usually 2-3 business days) before the Due Date for payment.

Lapathon

5 more sleeps to go!!

It's LAP-A-THON time on Tuesday 21st June! Lap-a-thon is a fundraising event for Chaplaincy and designed to be a fun activity for our children. Last week the LAP-A-THON 2016 sponsorship forms and information note were sent home. If your family has not received a Lap-a-thon envelope, please ask at the office for spares. Students are encouraged to embrace this fun activity. Parents are welcome to come along on the day and watch the students run, jog, skip and walk their way around the course. Music will be playing to create a fun atmosphere with the focus being on students enjoying participating in the activity with their class. Popcorn will be sold for $1 on the oval at first break and Ice blocks will be sold for $1 at second break at the tuckshop. A coffee van will be on site for the morning. Schedules for the timing for each class are as follows and copies will be sent home this week.

Lapathon schedule for Tuesday June 21

Morning Session

9:00 Prep classes 9:30 Year 1 classes 10:00 Year 4 classes

Middle Session

11:30 Year 2 classes 12:00 Year 3 classes

Afternoon session

1:50 Year 5 classes 2:20 Year 6 classes

Thank you for your support of Chaplaincy.

Evonne Beruldsen on behalf of the Chaplaincy Committee.

Chappy's Chat

John Erichsen

The last week of school is almost upon us and after a very busy assessment and reporting period, teachers, students and families can see a light at the end of the tunnel. There is still plenty happening before the end of term, but with some luck it will be a slightly more relaxed kind of busy. I hear lots of chat regarding plans for the holiday break, so it seems many are looking forward to the break after such a long full term.

We have our fingers crossed for fine weather during this year's Lapathon next week and invite parents and caregivers to join us in cheering the students on.

Have a great week!

Active School Travel

TACO TUESDAY!

(Travel Actively Coming-to-school On)

CROSSING THE ROAD!!!!!

Please, please, please, use the designated crossings when crossing on Oxley Road and Acacia Avenue. This may take you a few more minutes, but it will mean that you get to your destination SAFELY! Imagine if you crossed the road, in a hurry, between parked cars because you were running a bit late….yes that time you made it across the road safely, but maybe next time you may not be that lucky! Set an example to your children so that when they cross the road unsupervised, they use the crossings and don't take a chance like you did previously. There was a VERY CLOSE call on Oxley Road a few weeks ago where two students were VERY VERY lucky to walk away unhurt (after attempting to cross the road away from the crossing unsupervised)…..thank goodness!!! Remember that the motorists on Oxley Road and also on Acacia Avenue don't always adhere to the speed limits and are often distracted by mobile phones. There are almost eight thousand cars passing by on Oxley Road each day and all it takes is for one motorist to be distracted! Recently the council installed the portable flashing speed sign (the one that gives a smiley face when you're doing the correct speed limit) on Oxley Road. Results were as follows:

Oxley Road is posted as 60km/h, except for during school zone hours Monday to Friday 7-9am and 2-4pm. The sign collected data for an approximate four week period from March to April 2016. During this time 215,033 (average 7,964 cars per day) passed through the portable speed sign zone.

• During school hours 23,037 vehicles passed through the sign with 4,263 or 18.5% of all drivers were recorded travelling above the posted speed limit. Of the vehicles speeding, 85% were travelling at or below 50km/hr. When prompted, 1,865 speeding vehicles reduced their speed by an average of 6kms to 44km/hr within the speed camera range.
• During normal hours, 191,996 vehicles passed through the sign with 9,793 vehicles or 5.1% of all drivers were recorded travelling above the posted speed limit. Of the vehicles speeding, 85% of speeding drivers were travelling at or below 66km/hr. when prompted 3,324 speeding drivers reduced their speeds by an average of 11kms to 63km/hr within the speed camera range.

Important Safety Reminder:

2 minute Drop off/pick up zones – how they work:

There is a drop off & pick up zone outside the front gates of the school on Acacia Street. The design of this drop off area is as follows:

• Only the top three cars, i.e. those closest to the front gates are to stop and drop off children. The rest must wait until these cars have moved on, then move up to the front of the zone and stop, then your children will be allowed to get into the cars.
• The driver is not to leave the car at any time while in this line. Helping get bags out of the boot is OK – but having a conversation with other drivers, going into the office or inside the school gates is not acceptable and only disrupts the flow of traffic
• Discourage your children from entering or exiting on the roadside of the car – the road is too narrow!
• The sign says 2mins, however, please be mindful of all other parents and carers in this line and move on as fast as possible.
• It is not acceptable to move up on the right hand side past waiting cars with your indicator on to park up ahead of those waiting cars. This causes double parking, lack of sight for leaving cars and a dangerous situation for both drivers and children exiting cars. Please be patient and wait your turn.
• When pulling out after dropping off – wait for the car in front to move forward first. This way we don't have cars jutting out and causing congestion.
• Please do not park over the safe crossing area at any time.
• There are staff on duty to help the process run smoothly. Please don't encourage your children to disregard their instructions e.g. jumping the fence to enter your car.
• There is also a 2 minute drop off zone at the back of the school near the prep buildings.
• This area is not a parking bay. If you want to park & get out of the car to go into the school – park in another location!
• You are not permitted to turn right after coming out of this drop off area. It is not safe for those walking to school and using the traffic island.
• As above - the driver is not to leave the car at any time while in this line. Helping get bags out of the boot is OK – but having a conversation with other drivers is not acceptable
• Please move on as soon as possible.

If you have any suggestions on how the pickup / drop off zones can be improved please email Jo Richards at sajrichards@iinet.net.au

If you have a few spare hours a month to help us run this fantastic program we are looking for volunteers to join our Active Travel Committee. Our next meeting will be on 28th July @ 10:45am in the Waratah Room. Please contact Jo Richards at sajrichards@iinet.net.au for more information.

P & C

ROAD SAFETY

You will notice an increased Police presence around the school roads and council parking officers monitoring the 2 minute zones. Unfortunately we have had a couple of incidents and near misses recently involving our kids. Good news is that everyone is fine, but it reminds us to be vigilant in the safety of everyone around the school. The Active School Travel committee are working hard with the council and administration to do the best we can to improve things and particularly in the 2 minute pickup zones.

BUILDING FUND

The P&C, like most other P&Cs, offers parents an opportunity to take part in a Tax Deductible Voluntary Contribution Scheme. If you wish to contribute to the P&C building work projects for the school, please contact the P&C Executive at the email below and we will send you the details. The building fund is going towards climate controlling the school, continuing to air condition the class rooms and the major project of fixing the ventilation of the hall.

NEXT MEETING

All members of our school community are welcome to our next meeting Wednesday 20 July at 7.30pm in the Waratah Room (which is beside the staff room in the main reception block).

Please feel free to contact the P&C executive via email: pandc@gracevilss.eq.edu.au

Fete Update

Second fete newsletter will be issued Friday, 17 June. This time, printed for you to read with your evening cup of tea, or coffee, or wine....

Keep any eye out for it, you can't miss it. It will tell you everything you need to know.

Kathy and Anne

Uniform and Stationery

Opening Hours: Monday, Tuesday and Friday 8.15am to 9.00am.

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop News

You'll see a new face in the Tuckshop for the last 2 weeks of term 2 and the first week of term 3 (are we REALLY saying term 3 already?). Amanda is away and the wonderful Ally O'Keefe has agreed to step in as our "backup Convenor". Ally will cover this absence and any others we may have due to illness, ours or our children's, and also on the Friday before Fete day when I will be assisting Kathy for the day. Ally has been volunteering in the Tuckshop for years and will continue to do so, but when needed, she'll step in and fill the Convenor role.

We had another week of more "manual" orders than normal; these are ones we didn't receive via School24. We have also had feedback that School24 is frustratingly slow on Friday mornings. We are following this up with School24 and hope to have some resolution shortly. In the meantime, please try to order your Friday lunches on or before Thursday evening and ensure your confirmatory email is received and that all details are correct. Please note that there are 2 dates - the order date and delivery date. You must ensure that the delivery date is when you want lunch provided. Please take the time to check this.

Our generous volunteers who work so hard to feed your children for week commencing Monday, 20/6, last week of term 2 are:

Finally, due to a number of students not getting through their iceblocks during first break, the School has decided that students can only buy one iceblock at a time, namely, Zings, TNTs or Iced Monys. Students can also only buy two Jelly Joys at a time. No ice blocks will be sold to any student after 11.15am.

Come and see us if you need to, but please remember to come to the door, the shutter stays down to keep us warm. Or, drop us an email at tuckshop.gss@gmail.com

See you in the tuckshop.

Amanda, Ally and Anne

School Banking

School Banking is every Monday

• Place your money into your yellow Banking Wallet, complete your deposit slip (leave student no. blank the 1st time) and place the wallet into the Grey Banking Satchel in the classroom on Monday morning.
• We will keep a record of your Deposits.
• Once 10 tokens have been recorded we will issue a reward coupon to redeem a reward. Reward cards will be issued at school in 2016.
• Branches do not have access to tokens or rewards.
• The School Banking program rewards individual saving. Minimum 5cent Deposit
• School Banking is processed by parent volunteer School Banking Coordinators. Please take the time to thank them for their efforts as this is a great fundraiser for our School.
• Happy Saving!

School Plus

What a fantastic week we've all had! To tee things off, on Monday afternoon we had a big game of Tee-Ball with Coen on the oval. Everyone had a fantastic time catching and throwing the ball back and forth to each other as everyone took their turn to hit the ball off the tee, running around the bases to score the highest score. It was great to see everyone playing so well as a team! The game kept everyone warm and happy while keeping active.

Recently we made a small change to our afternoon tea routine. The prep children are now eating their afternoon inside, separate from the junior afternoon tea area. This allows the prep children to enjoy their afternoon tea in a calmer space and with a smaller group. This relieves the numbers outside, giving the other children more space to eat their afternoon tea and more time to enjoy their food without the worry of long lines. As a result, the children are now finishing their afternoon tea earlier, meaning that they get to get back to their exciting activities faster. Overall, this slight change to afternoon tea has made a momentous difference for all of the children and staff.

We are now accepting bookings for the school holidays! Vacation Care is now only just around the corner with only a few weeks left in the term. If you're still deciding on whether to come along or if you're not sure what we've got planned for the vacation care period, come on in and ask for a program at the front desk of the service or ask one of the friendly staff members for any information you need or questions you may have.

Lastly, we would like to urge parents to remind children to bring some warm clothes for before and after school as the temperatures are beginning to drop quite low in the mornings and later in the afternoon. This is the season where children will easily become sick if they don't keep warm and with a service as large as ours, sickness is very easily spread therefore it is of paramount importance that we are keeping on top of it all. We are always reminding children to practice safe hygiene and wash their hands afterward blowing their noses to help diminish the spread of any germs.

If there are any ideas or suggestions you may have, feel free to let one of the staff know or write it down and pop into our blue suggestions box on the front desk of the service.

As always, we hope you have wonderful week and a magnificent weekend!

Community Sport Notices

Graceville State School Tennis Coaching – Term 3

Before School, Lunch Time and After School Coaching will commence on Tuesday 19th July 2016 (during the second week back after the holidays).

Enrolments close on Friday 15th July 2016. Spare enrolment forms are available from the School Office, they can also be downloaded from the School Newsletter. To ensure a place in class, forms must be returned by this date to the School Office. Do not return forms to the School Office after this date contact Jim Joyce directly on 0417 771022.

Special Offer – All new students in Grade 1 and 2 will receive a free tennis racquet when joining for the first time.

For further enquiries please contact Jim Joyce on 0417 771022

Holiday Tennis Clinic

We will be running a Tennis clinic at West Brisbane Tennis Centre from Monday 27th June to Wednesday 29th June 2016. Time: 8.30am -12 noon each day Cost: $135

Enquiries & Bookings jim@westbrisbanetennis.com.au Phone 0417 771022