27 April 2017

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

I would like to thank the families who got up early to attend the ANZAC service on Tuesday morning. I would especially like to thank the small group of teachers and parents who helped to transport chairs and shade structures to and from the school. I would like to thank Will Bryce and Michael MacDermid for meeting me at the school at 6.30am so we could use their utes to help move the chairs to the park. I would also like to thank my husband Martin, Rosemary Mammino, Kerrie Byrne, Mr Vu Anh Tran and Gus Martin for loading and unloading the Ute’s at either end. Many thanks to the parents who helped us stack the chairs after the service and move them to the car park, too many to mention by name, but your help was greatly appreciated! Thankyou!

I was lucky to attend the Year 6 camp last week. It was a great camp which tested the limits of students on many high rope activities. The behaviour of students was exceptional for which we are very grateful and equally as proud! I would like to thank the staff who attended camp. As you may or may not be aware, teachers are not paid more money to attend camps. They volunteer their time so the children can have this rich experience. I greatly appreciated the dedication of our teachers to give up their personal time!

On Friday, Kath Murdoch our Inquiry expert will be working with teachers in our school. It will be a very exciting day as we continue to hone our skills in ‘what inquiry could look like’ in our classrooms. All teachers will be released to observe Kath teach and then take part in a debriefing of the lesson. A relief teacher or admin member will replace teachers while they are working with Kath. As admin team members will be backfilling in classes, we will not be available for appointments on Friday.

As you may have seen in last week’s newsletter, we have identified a series of dates and times for Parent Information Sessions this term. In week 4, the focus of our information sessions will be Inquiry and the Learning Assets. In week 6, the focus of our information session will be on Framing Higher Order Questions. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the session that was planned for Wednesday night of this week due to low interest. It was a repeat of a session we held last year and so we were expecting lower numbers. We will follow up and make individual contact with the couple of parents who expressed interest in attending the session. If you would like to attend any of the other sessions please RSVP as soon as possible. We will only hold the night time sessions if we have enough interest expressed prior to the night. The dates are listed below again as a reminder:

Week 4 (Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10) Inquiry and Learning Assets – Tuesday 9, 1.30-2.45pm OR Wednesday 10, 6 -7.30pm in the Waratah room

• This session will help you understand the schools Inquiry learning journey for teachers and students and introduce you to the Learning Assets (Thinker, Researcher, Communicator, Collaborator, Self Manager). This the first time the school is offering this session.

Week 6 (Tuesday 23 and 24) Framing Higher Order Questions – Tuesday 23, 1.30-2.45 OR Wednesday 24, 6-7.30pm

• This session will help you to understand the school focus on broadening teacher understanding of higher order questions and how to frame them in lessons to deepen student knowledge and understanding. This is the first time the school is offering this session.

Please RSVP to the school by phone 3716 2777or email admin@gracevilss.eq.edu.au if you would like to attend any of the above sessions. You will need to indicate the session title, date and time in your RSVP. The office staff will collate a list of attendees for each session so the presenters can be prepared. The night time session will only go ahead if we have enough interest expressed prior to the night. RSVP’s are essential!

Mother’s Day is only a week away. On Friday, 5 May, the student council will have a special treat for any mums who drop their children at the school gates. I thought I would give you some notice so you can make arrangements if you work!

Don’t forget the P&C meeting is being held at 7.30pm next Wednesday night (3 May)! It would be great to see you there!

Have a great week,
Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Unfortunately the school cross country events for our Prep to year 2 students was postponed on Wednesday due to the weather. We will make another date and let you know when this will happen.

Prep – Reading Eggs

We are using the program ‘Reading Eggs’ with our prep students from the beginning of this term. This online program is designed to motivate and excite students about reading and will be a useful addition to assist our classes in the reading process, which we view as one of the most important things for our preppies to learn as it unlocks all other areas in learning. Some families may already have a subscription, if you do please let your teacher know about this. School subscriptions are vastly cheaper for parents and students have access both at school and at home. Also with a school subscription, teachers can track student progress and achievement.

ANZAC Day school assembly thank you

A big thank you to our year 3 parents who provided the morning tea for our visitors at our school assembly on Monday this week. Some of these parents also came and assisted in the set up and serving of morning tea as well – thank you very much.

The order of service were individually designed by our year 3 students as well as part of their inquiry learning into our local community and significant events, so if you were able to attend then you would have received one of these personalised programs. Great effort year 3s!

Thank you to the Senior Choir and Ms West for their performance of “The Last ANZAC” during the assembly as well.

Date Claimers:

Next school Technology Community Committee meeting – Friday May 5 at 7:50am in the school library. All welcome.

Under 8’s Week is this term and our celebrations will include our annual ‘fun on the oval’ on Friday May 26, 8:45 – 10:45 for our prep to year 2 students. Parents are encouraged to attend. Please see flyer attached.

Waiting List for Prep for 2018 is now open.

Please let any interested people know that forms and information can be obtained from our school office. Families from within our catchment area we also invite you to obtain enrolment forms to begin the process when convenient. For in catchment families a birth certificate and proof of residency in our catchment is required along with the completed enrolment form.

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.

Date Claimer: Prep 2018 information evening – Wednesday July 26 at 7:00pm.

All welcome to attend.

2017 Outbound Study Tour to Taiwan

Term 2 meeting for parents and students will be on Thursday April 27 at 7pm in the Waratah room.

If a parent is unable to attend please let me know so that forms can go home that need to be completed early next term.

Inbound Study Tour – From Minzu Elementary School in Taiwan to Graceville State School

We still need more school families to volunteer to host a student.

We cannot undertake this study tour without the support of our school families. Students from Taiwan will be 10-12 years of age. School families with younger children can be a homestay family as all students will be assigned a school buddy as well. Could you please indicate on the form attached if you would be interested in hosting a student for this upcoming study tour. Please return the form to the admin office ASAP or email me at mhass10@eq.edu.au I will arrange an information session for all families who indicate interest to go through in detail what would be involved. Families who host a student will be funded $200 to assist in covering the costs in providing for a visiting student.

If there are any questions that you may have about being a homestay family please email me or call the office to speak with me.

I look forward to hearing from interested families.

From the Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

2017 International competitions

All competitions have been entered prior to the Easter holidays. No new entries will be considered.

In 2017 we will be participating in the following competitions:

• Digital Technologies 23 May (Yr 3-6) 7.45 start
• Science 30 May (Yr 2-6) Yr 3-6 – 7.30 start/Yr 2 – school time
• Spelling 14 June (Yr 2-6) Yr 3-6 – 7.30 start
• Writing 13 June (Yr 3-6) Yr 3-6 – 7.45 start
• English 1 August (Yr 2-6) Yr 3-6 – 7.30 start/ Yr 2 school time
• Mathematics 15 August $8.00 (Yr 2-6) – 7.30 start/ Yr 2 school time

All competitions are non-refundable as they are pre-paid.

These competitions are valued by us and parents but they do take a considerable amount of time out of class, for often the same groups of children, so this year we will be conducting the competitions before school (except for Year 2). Running these comps at another time, eg. lunchtime, is not in the best interests of the students. This may mean that for that week your child may have to miss eg. Senior choir or an Instrumental practice, but it would only be very infrequently. We do have to run the tests on the day indicated above, unless children are sick or absent. If this occurs we try to make-up the tests in the day or 2 after, if possible. We will remind parents prior to each competition what time they need to arrive on each particular day.

NAPLAN testing – 9, 10 & 11 May

On Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 May, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will take part in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy, or NAPLAN, as it is commonly known.

Skills that will be tested include: reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy.

These tests are done here at school and are considered just another part of the curriculum.

It is important for you and your child to know that NAPLAN is not a pass/fail test. It simply looks at what level students are achieving in literacy and numeracy against National Standards and compared with student peers throughout Australia.

NAPLAN cannot be studied for and students are not expected to do so. The best way you can help your child prepare for NAPLAN is to let them know that it is just a routine part of their school program, and to urge them to do the best they can on the day.

All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to participate in NAPLAN testing. Please ensure that if you have a child in Years 3 or 5 that they are in attendance during that week in May. Please avoid booking holidays or appointments during those days. If you can’t avoid those days eg. specialist appointment, please try to make it in the afternoon. All testing will be completed by 12.45 on those days.

Later in the year we will send you an individual student NAPLAN report that you can use to view and monitor how your child is progressing.

More information is available on the NAP website.

If you have any concerns, please contact the class teacher or myself.

Money Matters

Anne Nixon

All excursions and events require payment and a permission form to be returned by the due date or your child will not be permitted to attend.

Student Resource Schemes (SRS) for 2017 are:

• Prep Requirements ($60)
• Instrumental Music Programs – Instrument Hire ($100), Percussion Maintenance ($50), Music Participation ($30) & Choir ($30)
• Religious Education Program ($10)
• Mathletics On-line registration (Years Prep - 6) ($12)
• Origo Maths (years 3, 4 and 5) ($6)
• Reading Eggs (Prep only) $22.50
• Year 5 Digital Licence $11.00

All students involved in these programs must return a completed SRS form.

VOLUNTARY PARENT CONTRIBUTIONS

Your valuable contribution to this school’s Learning Targets are most welcomed.

$100 per student.

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

Payment of account days:

8am-3.00pm - 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

Please ensure when paying via BPoint, that you log onto to the following website. You must put the entire website address as this has the biller code.

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. If this is not done, your child might not be able to attend the activity.

LIBRARY NEWS

Melanie Hutchinson

A great big THANK YOU goes out to those many parents and friends who support our school library ‘Contact Club.’

These fantastic volunteers continue to meet on a monthly basis in the library for book covering, alongside having a hot cup of tea with a great catch up.

There are also those fabulous volunteers who regularly take a bag of books home to cover so as there is no backlog of library books.

If you are interested in coming along or helping out in the library, the next scheduled Contact Club gathering is on Wednesday 3rd May. Or you can visit the library at any time to cover, or take some books home.

We encourage families to remind their children the importance of reading, and talk to them about the different types of books they can read and experience. It is important that children enjoy what they are reading, whether it be a book, magazine, graphic novel, comic strip, informative text or poetry. They will then continue to appreciate the pleasure reading can give.

Remember the library is OPEN BEFORE and AFTER SCHOOL, and at LUNCH TIME for student borrowing. Children are asked to bring their school library bags to borrow.

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB

Scholastic Book Club is up and running again this term, thanks to our fantastic volunteers. This term’s issue’s flyer (Issue 3) has been handed out to the classes – to order, just look over the flyer with your child, select the books you want and mark them on the order form on the back of the flyer.

Then ORDER ONLINE WITH THE CORRECT PAYMENT, by the closing date FRIDAY 5TH MAY.

Preferred method of payment:

CREDIT CARD payments online, or through the LOOP APP [LOOP : Linked Online Ordering and Payment available via the weblink below or download the LOOP Apple or Android app]. The order forms do not need to be returned to school.

If paying by credit card on the phone or with a cheque made to Scholastic Australia, return the order form to the school library by Friday 5th May.

NO CASH ORDERS PLEASE – GRACEVILLE STATE SCHOOL IS RUNNING A CASHLESS BOOK CLUB.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

The Junior Choir rehearsal scheduled for Friday 28 April will be cancelled as I am attending a staff professional development session with Kath Murdoch. Junior Choir rehearsals will resume next week on Friday morning.

Thank you to Ms Julie West and the Senior Choir for your contribution to the school ANZAC Day ceremony this week, performing The Last ANZAC by Michael Travis. I had the opportunity to hear the choir sing this song at the Voices from the Trenches Concert last term and it was a very moving performance.

The Senior Choir students will also be attending the biennial Sing Together Day at St Peters on Wednesday 14 June which will include an evening concert. Please note this date in your calendars for the concert. Further information will be provided to students about excursion during the term. The cost of $10 which is included on term accounts is to cover the music and we pay this directly to St Peters. The supply teachers for Julie and I to attend and supervise students as well as the bus to and from the venue will be covered by the instrumental music budget.

Please note the Junior Band rehearsals will start on Wednesday 3 May in the music room at 7:45am. The Beginner/Junior Strings will rehearse on Wednesdays at first break.

Music staff email contacts

Alex Grodecki - agrod3@eq.edu.au
James Kukulies - jkuku2@eq.edu.au
Ruth Prout - rprou5@eq.edu.au
Steve Stiller - sstil2@eq.edu.au
Julie West - jwest269@eq.edu.au

Thank you for supporting our music program.

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator

Honours Choral Camp

Congratulations Metropolitan Region Honours Choral Honours Program Representatives!

Graceville State School is proud to have had four representatives Amy P, Ruby D, Annabelle H and Evie G. They attended the Metropolitan Region Honours Program from Monday 27 March 2017 to Wednesday 29 March 2017 which concluded with an evening concert. This three day activity was designed to cater for advanced choral students in Years 5 and 6. There were 90 students from state primary schools across Metropolitan Region that were selected to participate.

The students sang in one of two different choirs and had the opportunity to work with renowned Choral Conductors Barbara McGeever and Kate Albury as well as a range of other musicians and accompanists.

I would like to thank Amy P, Ruby D, Annabelle H and Evie G on representing our school in the Metropolitan Region Honours Choral Honours Program for 2017. I had the privilege of joining the choir rehearsals on the first a final day and then at the final evening concert. It was a wonderful event and they did Graceville State School proud with their enthusiasm and commitment. Well Done!

Yours in Music,
Julie West

Classroom Music Specialist and Senior Choir Conductor.

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” – Arthur O’Shaughnessy

Fete News

Fete funds to power school’s solar drive

The date has been set, so please mark it in your diary.

This year’s Graceville State School fete is set down for Saturday, August 26. While that may seem a long way off, planning is already well under way for the big day.

The fete is the P&C’s biggest fundraiser and has contributed over the years to many improvements at the school, including air-conditioning of classrooms, construction of the adventure playground, new musical instruments, electronic whiteboards – and lots more.

A significant portion of the profits from this year’s event will go towards making our school greener and having a more sustainable electricity supply through solar power. A solar system installed courtesy of P&C funding at the start of the year is already making a considerable contribution to reducing the running costs of the school. That means the school budget can be spent on teaching the children, rather than paying for ever-increasing power bills. The P&C is hoping to increase the sustainable power supply to the school with a series of systems totalling 100kW.

In coming weeks, your class reps will send you updates about what classes, parents and students need to do in the lead-up to the fete. Each class has already been assigned a stall to run and calls will soon be put out for volunteers for a range of roles.

For parents who are new to the school or those who haven’t been involved in the fete before, we’d love you to get involved. There are lots of ways to play a part.

Here is the schedule for the day, including starting times for some of the key attractions.

Saturday, August 26

6am: Grand Bazaar – books, toys and garage sale items, with a breakfast barbecue and coffee
9am: Jams, Cakes and Sweets
10am: Coffee shop
11am: Quad Market, food stalls and the Dunking Machine
11.30am: Class performances begin
12.30pm: Rides start
2.15pm: First Cent Sale draw (to be confirmed)
3pm: Live auction for lots of great prizes
3.15pm: Second Cent Sale draw (to be confirmed)
6.15pm: Raffle drawn
7pm: Fireworks
7.30pm: Close

The aim each year with the fete is simple – we want to maximise fun for the children and minimise effort for parents. For this to happen it always takes a big team effort.

Stay tuned for regular updates via this newsletter, a new website we are developing and your class reps.

And if anyone has any questions or suggestions, just send me an email at gracevillefete@gmail.com.

Anne Canalese
Fete Convenor

Active School Travel

May the fourth be with you!!!!!

Our next event will be on Thursday 4th May. Get dressed up as your favourite Star Wars character and walk to school. Those who took part in last years “may the fourth” walk will remember what fun it was and all the great costumes that the students (parents and teachers) wore on the day. There will be prizes for the best costumes. Judging will be in the quadrangle at 8:20am.

Passports

Students who received passports last year are still able to present these for stamping each week. If you require a new passport they will be available at the stamping station.

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. We meet once a term and plan one key event a term. Parents run our committee with three staff members so we are in much need of additional support. Can you help? Please contact Jo Richards at sajrichards@iinet.net.au for more information.

Tuckshop News

Volunteers for the week commencing Monday, 1st May 2017 are -

Please note there will be no sushi this coming week (1/5) due to the May Day holiday.

Tuckshop is operated as an online ordering system. If you need to open a Tuckshop account, please visit school24.net.au and use Graceville’s School Registration ID: 25314963 and follow the prompts. There is an information page and login guide on the Graceville State School website, under P&C and the Tuckshop, if you need any help.

If you have any questions or concerns, please see us at the Tuckshop or drop us an email at tuckshop.gss@gmail.com

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

All House Shirts (Cook, Kennedy and Flinders) are available in size 4 and up.

I have in stock 1 size 10 long sleeve gold shirt for $35. This is the last one and these shirts are specially ordered so be quick as no more will be ordered until later in the year.

Band folders are available for $15.

Donations of 2nd hand uniforms are always appreciated. Good stocks are available for sale now, including lots of jumpers and good gold shirts.

The Year 6 shirts have arrived and will be sent to the classroom this week.

Order forms are available on the School website. If you email the order, the items will be sent to the classroom.

Email address for school uniform store is:

If you would like to volunteer in the uniform shop please send an email to the above address, if you have any questions please ask, your help would be greatly appreciated.

Trivia Night

IF YOU THOUGHT LAST YEAR WAS A BLAST FROM THE PAST, THEN BE PREPARED TO ‘LET IT GO’, ‘WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK’ AND TO ‘GO TO INFINITY AND BEYOND’ - THIS YEAR’S TRIVIA NIGHT THEME IS…….

THE ANNUAL GRACEVILLE STATE SCHOOL TRIVIA NIGHT IS COMING UP ON JUNE 3. AFTER THE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL NIGHT LAST YEAR, THE WORD IS SPREADING THAT THIS IS A GREAT NIGHT OF ADULTS ONLY FUN, IN WHICH THERE IS A BAR AND PIZZAS AVAILABLE (AS WELL AS SOME QUESTIONS BEING ASKED) AND LOTS OF FUN TO BE HAD BY ALL!! BOOKING SHEETS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE IN NEXT WEEK’S NEWSLETTER SO START THINKING ABOUT GETTING YOUR TABLE OF 10 TOGETHER AND WHAT ‘THEME’ YOUR TABLE WILL TAKE…..

THIS YEAR, THE COMMITTEE IS LOOKING FOR SUCCESSORS THAT MIGHT LIKE TO ‘GET IN ON THE ACTION’ WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED OR JUST WANT TO SEE WHAT’S INVOLVED – THEN CONTACT JUANITA BENNETT (TRIVIA NIGHT CHAIRPERSON) ON 0488649090 OR AAJBENNETT1@BIGPOND.COM FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

Community News

GO SPORTS Coaching Term 2

Join us for all the FUN!!

SOCCER Grades Prep-4 commencing 3rd May 7.50-8.35am

NETBALL Grades 1-4 commencing 3rd May 7.50-8.35am