22 June 2017

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

It is amazing to think we have finished another term! The winter holiday break is here and I think both students and school staff are looking forward to a good rest! I am staying home most of these holidays and really looking forward to it! I will be helping my brother (who owns a plant nursery) at the Nambour Garden Show on the last Friday of the school holidays. If you love gardening it is a great show to go to! I am certainly not an expert on plants so I just help with sales and enjoy looking after his beautiful hand reared parrots that he takes along for display.

I would like to thank Mr Daunt for hosting a fantastic Athletics Carnival at the UQ Athletics fields on Tuesday. It is always a great day! I would also like to thank the wonderful parent volunteers who helped at each event. We could not manage the day without your help and support!

You should have received your child’s report card in a sealed envelope on Wednesday. We hope this is the last Semester report cards to be sent home in paper format. Next Semester we hope to use email and/or QParent. This change will be much more environmentally friendly and financially viable.

The NAIDOC inquiry day is on Friday. Mrs Martin, with the help of the Benawarra community group, have organised a fantastic day. I am looking forward to seeing some of the activities!

As you are aware, the LAP-A-THON has been moved to early next term. Now Chappy only works 3 days a week at Graceville, we need to find a date that will be suitable. We will notify of the change of date in the first newsletter of next term.

A few important dates to remember for early next term are:

• Creative Generations week 1
• Study Tour from Taiwan arrives Tuesday of week 2
• Free Dress for the fete Friday of week 2
• Prep Information night 7pm Wednesday of week 3

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Elsa Des Jardins for her many years of service at Graceville and much longer with DET. Mrs Des Jardins has been thinking about retiring for a few years now and finally made the decision during this term to retire. Mrs Des Jardins will be using the remainder of her long service leave to go on a well-earned overseas holiday and then settle into retirement. I feel very privileged to have worked alongside Mrs Des Jardins, she is a teacher who has always had the best interests of her students at heart and had high expectations for them in learning. I wish her well as she transitions into retirement. Miss Grace Bailey will teach the class for the remainder of 2017.

In early Term 3, teachers will offer parents the opportunity to attend an interview to discuss report cards. Please understand this is not a compulsory interview. These interviews are held for only those parents who would like further clarification on a specific aspect of their child’s report card. Teachers will make parents aware when they are available to meet by the end of week 1.

I hope you have a great winter break. Please stay safe if you are travelling,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Happy and safe holidays everyone after a busy term, recharge those batteries for a hectic term 3!

New items of technology – thanks to voluntary contributions

Due to the decision this year to make 75% of the family voluntary contributions go towards updating our devices in the school we have been able to purchase so far the following items:

+8 laptops now being used by year 1 classes to update very old desktop computers

+10 new desktop computers in our lab which all classes across the school access

+A new mobile screen for the library and which can be used in classrooms to display data and videos when interactive whiteboards go down and for all classes when using the library space. Thank you!

We have a plan for further purchases if more voluntary contributions come in, it is certainly not too late!

All things Study Tour:

Inbound Tour: July 18 – August 6

Meeting for homestay families – Tuesday July 11 at either 3pm or 7pm in the Waratah room. At this meeting I will go over the tour itinerary, drop off and pick-ups, weekend activities etc.

Outbound Study Tour: September 13 - 24

Plans are progressing well, early next term I will start to meet with students regularly as we prepare to head out at the end of term 3 to Taiwan.

Date Claimer:

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

All welcome to attend.

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.

Junior Assemblies for Term 3 and Cross Country presentations

We are currently compiling the calendar of class items for next term. Our junior assemblies will be in odd numbered weeks beginning in week 1, on Tuesday afternoons commencing at 2:15pm.

At this first assembly on July 11, we will be handing out the cross country medals to those winning students listed below.

From the Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

Change in dates for the School Photos this year.

Due to the Study Tour arrival & Assembly on Tuesday 18 July, we have changed the School Photo day to Tuesday 8 August.

2017 International competitions

In 2017 we will be participating in the following competitions in the school hall:

• English 1 August (Yr 2-6) Yr 3-6 – 7.30 start/ Yr 2 school time 11.30
• Mathematics 15 August $8.00 (Yr 2-6) – 7.30 start/ Yr 2 school time 11.30

Religious Instruction Program Term 3 & 4

The RI program for Years 3, 4, 5 & 5/6E (Yr 6s) will commence in Week 1 of Term 3. All changes have now been made to the permissions and I have allocated students to classes & teachers, based on the information we have or parents have returned. Please be aware that I won’t be making any further changes to classes as this have a huge impact on the numbers of students in the groups, either doing the Co-operative program or the students not attending an RI program. If any families wish to make a change in their preference for their child this has to be done in writing and it will be taken into account prior to starting the Term 4 program. I am happy to re-adjust the classes & teachers ready for term 4, but there will not be any changes made during Term 3.

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.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending the St Peters Sing Together day and evening concert with Ms Julie West and the Senior Choir. There were students in choirs from a number of schools attending including Brookfield State School, Good News Lutheran College, Holy Family School, St Peters Lutheran College Indooroopilly and St Peters Lutheran College Springfield. Our students spent the day singing as a massed choir with a guest conductor, Ms Kathryn Morton, assistant conductor of the Brisbane Chamber Choir, Director of the St Johns Consort, Senior Vocal Tutor at St Johns Anglican Cathedral, voice teacher and conductor at St Peters and a speech pathologist. We had over 50 students attending and representing the school at the evening concert. Choirs from each school sang individually then performed four songs from the workshop as a massed choir with Kathryn Morton conducting. I would like to thank our students for their tireless efforts on the day and preparation for their Senior Choir item conducted by Ms Julie West, as well as our families who came to the evening concert to support our students. Their item was the first performance at the concert and they sang beautifully. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of their conductor Ms West who has been very committed to our students and school since joining our team in 2015.

Next Friday morning 23 June, the Junior Choir will be performing a song at the special NAIDOC assembly at 9am. Our families and members of the school community are warmly invited to attend the assembly. Please note, the Junior Choir rehearsal on Friday 23 June will be held in the hall at 7:55am so we can rehearse on the stage.

Thank you to all of our instrumental students and staff for a fabulous semester of music. We wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday and look forward to our performances next term which will include the fete (Senior Band and choir performances) and 2 day instrumental music workshop.

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
Naomi Lindh - nclos1@eq.edu.au

Thank you for supporting our music program.

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator

Fete News

Term 3 here we come and term 3 means FETE!!! Get excited - we are.

First up, have you liked us on Facebook? We'll even send you reminders to keep you up to date and informed about everything in time. No last minute panicking.

Things to do on the holidays, besides relax?

Clean out your cupboards! We need your good quality, saleable cast offs. Our Grand Bazaar has a great spot for them. POD arrives on 1 August so let's fill it! Another one arrives on 18 August. Let's do it! Did you see the Grand Bazaar flyer last week? If not, check out the website at the link below.

Next, get the pots on and start jamming! Empty clean jars, with metal lids, no plastic ones, can be left outside the office from Monday, 10 July. In the meantime, fill your own. You can leave your filled jars at the tuckshop from Monday, 10 July. We'll have a spot just for them. Everything you need to know about the jam stall will be revealed in the Jam Stall Flyer sent home this week. Keep an eye out for it.

Or, are preserving lemons and making lemon curd more your thing? We have a fabulous fresh lemon source locally. Give us a shout at gracevillefete@gmail.com and we'll make arrangements for you to collect as many as you need.

Finally, enjoy the break and come back fresh and ready. Brace yourselves - fete fever will be in full drive from week 1 and the countdown will be on.

Tuckshop News

Second last week of term was a doozie! Sick kids, packing and organising for holidays thank goodness for Ally! Thank you so much Ally for holding the fort!

Order numbers for last week were:

Mon, 12/6 32
Tues, 13/6 44
Wed, 14/6 52
Thurs, 15/6 83
Fri, 16/6 126

Wowsers! We need more volunteers please. We need another 4 volunteers to help on a Thursday, so if you can help once every 4 weeks on a Thursday, please email us. Also we need a new volunteer for a Monday spot in our roster. Please email us if you can help at tuckshop.gss@gmail.com.

Volunteers for Week 1 Term 3 - yep Term 3

Mon, 10/7 Barbara Graff
Tues, 11/7 Trish Atkinson and Julie Woolfield
Wed, 12/7 Evie Askew and Sara Williams
Thurs, 13/7 Leisa Battig and Penelope Shaw
Fri, 14/7 Krystina Jones, Kellie Himstedt, Rowanne Wright and Liz Fourie

Have a wonderful break!

Ally, Anne and Amanda

Active School Travel

TACO TUESDAY!

(Travel Actively Coming-to-school On)

Active Travel BBQ

What a great turn out we had for our BBQ on Friday 16th June. We must say a big thank you to Cr Johnston for providing us with the fruit, sausages and juice and also to Chappy who was working hard over the grill making sure that nobody went hungry.

AST would like to wish you all a great holiday – remember to stay safe while out on and about.

STOP
LOOK
LISTEN
THINK

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. The next meeting will be on 20th July @ 10:45am in the Waratah Room. Can you help? Please contact Jo Richards at sajrichards@iinet.net.au for more information.

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Our supplier is out of stock of size 4 track pants so won't be available in the uniform store until early next term.

All size rugby shirts and polar fleece are in stock.

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

Band folders are available for $15.

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: uniformstore@gracevilss.eq.edu.au.

Donations of 2nd hand uniforms are always appreciated. Good stocks are available for sale now.

New volunteers would be greatly appreciated, it only requires you to be there from 8.15-9.00. If you think you could help out please send an email to the above address, if you have any questions please ask.

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

Well done for all the hard work this term over a wide array of activities. The chilly mornings and bleak rainy days have made it crystal clear that the days of summer have passed. Having said that, it is nice to see the sun out after the bleakness of last week. These school holidays, I expect some families will make to most of this “fresh” time of year and find some exhilarating pastimes to pursue. Of course, the winter break is also a perfect time to rug up, find a warm, cosy spot and lose oneself in a good book. Whichever approach is most appealing to you and your loved ones, I hope it is exactly what you need to “reset” after a very busy term 2 and refresh in preparation for term 3.

LAPATHON

The Chaplaincy Lapathon will take place on Friday 14th July. As soon as the date is confirmed, the school community will be advised. Thank you for those already chasing up sponsors for the event. All contributions to chaplaincy are greatly appreciated and can be made at any time, either in person at the school office or via the electronic link listed below.

HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES

For those looking for some holiday activity options with a difference, consider checking out the following websites.

Real snow at Southbank for some frosty holiday fun

An open air ice skating rink in King George Square

An assortment of activities is available at the Museum of Brisbane during the school holidays

QLD’s largest second-hand book sale

The largest Marvel exhibition ever presented

Medieval Europe in our own backyard

Wherever your holiday plans take you, I hope your break is filled with love and laughter in the company of the special people in your world. May the memories created these holidays be ones you cherish forever. Stay safe and look out for those around you. See you in Term 3!

Have a refreshing holiday break!

John Erichsen
(Chappy)

P&C News

*** IMPORTANT *** VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION

The school and the P&C have worked closely to identify and create a strategy to turn around the aging technology in our school. Rather than go down the very expensive route of a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy as many schools are forced to do, the P&C strongly supports a voluntary contribution of $100 per child which started this year. This voluntary contribution route only works if everyone contributes! Contributions are still below 50% of the children in the school. Contributions are voluntary and of course can be part payments. All funds are used for the technology budget of the school. Contributions can be made to the office at any time.

2016 MEETING DATES

At the P&C meeting on 3 May, updated meeting dates for the remainder of 2016 were agreed. For your diaries:

Wednesday 7 June
Wednesday 26 July (morning meeting)
Wednesday 23 August (if required – fete week)
Wednesday 11 October
Wednesday 29 November

UNIFORM SHOP

We are looking for more volunteers in the uniform shop and also in the tuckshop. Any assistance would be very welcome. These businesses do rely on volunteer labour.

LOST PROPERTY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Labelled lost property finds its way back to your children thanks to the work of wonderful volunteers. Are you able to help out for a couple of hours every few weeks? Our lost property team is ready to handover! Please email the P&C if you can help.

And PLEASE label all of your children's belongings with first AND last names!

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

The next regular meeting of the P&C is to be held in the Waratah Room on Wednesday 7 June at 7:30pm.

CONTACT: pandc@gracevilss.eq.edu.au.

Jim Joyce Term 3 Tennis Coaching

Before School, Lunch Time and After School Coaching will commence from Tuesday 18 July 2017 (during the second week back after the holidays).

Enrolments close on Friday 14 July 2017. 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, 2 and 3 will receive a free tennis racquet when joining for the first time.

For further enquiries please contact Jim Joyce on 0417 771022

Graceville State School Chess Program

Community News