7 September 2017

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

A week to go! The term has flown by!

As you know, next week is the last week of the school term. On Wednesday, Ms Hass, Mr Guthrie and I will be travelling to Taiwan with 22 Graceville State School students. We are making the final preparations and are excited about being part of an amazing cultural experience. The Study Tour returns on 24 September. Mrs McKeaten will be in charge of the school in my absence.

The P-3 Sports Carnival is being held next Thursday from 8.45- 1.15pm. We hope families can come along and support the students as they participate in some sporting events!

This week we sent home Nomination Forms to those students who handed in an Expression of Interest earlier this year. The school has a process that starts early in the school year for entry to the Enhancement Classes. We do not take any late Expressions of Interest. The Nomination Forms need to be returned by Friday 6 October. No late forms will be accepted.

On Thursday, I sent home a note to the families of Year 5 parents making them aware of the upcoming Student Leadership process. Nomination Forms for School Leadership Positons for the 2018 school year will go home on the first day back of Term 4.

Thank you to the families who returned their ‘Intent to Return to Graceville State School’ forms over the past few weeks. The office staff have now started ringing families who did not return their forms to ensure we have the most accurate information for the 2018 school year. I hope to have finalised numbers for 2018 by next Monday.

Last week we established the Parent Graduation Committee for 2017. The Graduation night is Wednesday 6 December. The committee will work together to prepare for the Graduation night. The committee follow a guide that has been created by past parents to ensure the smooth running of the night. The committee will need extra support for setting up and packing up the hall so if you can lend a hand they would be very grateful. I am sure the committee will be in touch with all Year 6 parents very soon to share information about the night and seek any help they need.

School Plus have a lease agreement with our school to be the Outside School Hours Provider. School Plus have access to many parts of the school grounds as part of the lease agreement so the 100 or more students who required care before or after school can spread out and play in a supervised capacity in the school grounds. It is important to note, families who like to remain and chat and play in the school grounds after school, need to be mindful of sharing the space with School Plus. From 3.20pm (half an hour after the end of the official school day), School Plus have priority access to the oval and play equipment for the 100 students in their care. They can ask children and parents to move from spaces that they require for the students in their care. We would be grateful if families could either move from the oval and adventure playgrounds by 3.20pm or find a location that will not impact on the ability for School Plus to supervise the students in their care.

Finally, a reminder school starts on Tuesday the 3rd in Term 4!

Have a great week,
Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Getting Set for Prep at Graceville State School

If you are an in-catchment family and have a preppie for next year and haven’t lodged the enrolment forms please do so as soon as possible so that we can gather firm numbers for classes for next year.

Please see flyer attached for new events we are holding during term 4 this year to assist in preparing enrolled students and parents to commence at prep in 2018. These will be opportunities for pre-prep students to spend some time at school with their parents familiarising with our school and some practical information for parents on ways to assist their children have the most positive start at school. RSVP for each event is essential!

All families who put their name down for a meeting at our Information session have been contacted and meeting times set. If you haven’t arranged this meeting and would like to discuss your child commencing in prep in 2018 please come into the office and make a time.

Date Claimer: our prep orientation meetings will be held on Thursday November 23 when new families will be invited to come to a session at prep, meeting staff and learning more about starting prep at our school.

Special Prep Uniform selling times:

14th November: 3-6pm
23rd November: 8.15-11am (Orientation morning)
28th November: 8.15-11am
17th January: 3-6pm (tbc)

If you think your child will need a very small sized uniform then please come in sooner rather than later as these special orders take 4 – 6 weeks to come in. Our uniform shop is open every Monday, Tuesday and Friday 8:15 – 9:00am.

Minzu Study Tour – September 13 – 24

We had a meeting together yesterday and the students told me we had 13 days until take off, the excitement is mounting!

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.

Calendar for remainder of Junior Assemblies for Term 3

From the Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

Whole School Assembly next week- Thursday 14th Sept

Next week, being the last week of the term, we will be having a whole school assembly to celebrate some of our achievements. We will have our Curiosity and Random Acts of Kindness awards, as usual. We will also have our Creative Generation students performing for us to showcase their great dance moves. Lastly we will show a HUGE slideshow to celebrate our recent fete day. We would love to see parents coming along to celebrate a great term of work from our staff, students and parents. If you are coming along on that day for the Junior school sports day, why not stay on? Assembly starts at 2.15pm.

Swimming for Preps, Year 1 & 2 – term 4

Swimming will start for Prep, Year 1 & 2 will commence in Week 1 of Term 4. Permission letters and invoices have been sent to families. Swimming will run from Week 1-8 and the cost will be $68 for the whole term’s program. Last day for payment is this Friday 8th September. Permission forms also need to be sent back to the teachers by the end of this term.

Maths tournament 2017 – Monday 4th September

Every year we host a Maths Tournament at GSS for a number of schools in Brisbane. This Competition is also run at 3 other schools across Brisbane simultaneously – Brighton SS, Fig Tree Pocket SS and Albany Hills SS. We had 21 teams participating at Graceville on Monday. Of these teams, 4 are made up of our students from Years 5 & 6. This year our students all performed very well. We had a great day filled with lots of interesting maths problems to challenge everyone’s thinking. One of our teams came second on that day. One team from Indooroopilly SS came first and one from Ironside SS came third.

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.

We would just like to advise parents that from Term 4 we will not be able to process payments over the phone. You will either need to pay via BPoint, or in the school office.

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. This also may include excursions where transport has been arranged. These are also 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 website below. 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

We have had an incredibly busy and exciting couple of weeks with the fete performances and the instrumental workshop last week. I would like to acknowledge the huge effort our instrumental teachers put into these 2 days, choosing appropriate music, rehearsing weekly throughout the year and conducting intensive rehearsal sessions during the workshop. Our instrumental music students also have the opportunity to work with specialist tutors to build their musicianship and performance skills throughout the workshop. On Thursday afternoon we held a full school instrumental music concert for all students, staff and members of our school community. The opportunity to play music in an ensemble is often what students enjoy most about being in the instrumental program. Making music together builds a larger, stronger sound than a student is able to do on their own and every student is an important part of the overall sound. The concert provided our students with the opportunity to perform and share the music they have learned and their love of music, as well as listen to all of the other instrumental ensembles within our school. Sharing this with the school community including families is incredibly meaningful for our students, teachers and conductors. Thank you to Mrs Ruth Prout, Mr Steve Stiller and Mr James Kukulies who conducted our orchestras and bands throughout the workshop and Mr Alex Grodecki who swapped his days to attend the whole workshop and tutor our trumpet students!

I would also like to thank the many parents who volunteered their time to assist with serving the students lunches on Wednesday and Thursday and Chappy for cooking the delicious BBQ. We ended up having more parents than required which is a testament to our supportive school community. Anne and Amanda helped immensely with the tuckshop ordering and organisation for our BBQs. They were definitely enjoyed by the students!

During the workshop all of our instrumental students were out of their classes for 2 days. We would like to thank our staff for their understanding and support with this.

Please note that Mrs Prout will be on sick leave from 7 September. She will be replaced by Lisa Kirk next term, but she will not be replaced for the last 2 weeks of this term. There are a number of performances in term 4 so we request that our string students and families maintain their commitment to the program and their ensemble once lessons and rehearsals resume at the beginning of term 4.

Performance dates for term 4

15 November - 6pm - Annual Music Concert - all choirs and instrumental music students will perform at this concert
22 November - 10am Grandparents Concert - Junior Choir, Senior Choir and Senior Strings will perform for their grandparents/special guests

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

Thanks again to our instrumental teachers and conductors for their tireless efforts at our workshop last week!

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

BOOK WEEK CELEBRATIONS

Once again this year we will be celebrating Book Week with a whole school DRESS UP DAY!

On WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER (next week) students are invited to come to school dressed as their FAVOURITE (or any) STORY BOOK CHARACTER.

This will be a fantastic way to celebrate books and reading, and a great way to encourage reading for enjoyment, particularly during the upcoming September holidays!

Please take the opportunity to talk to your children about their love of books, story book characters they like, and reading for pleasure. Start planning or suggesting what characters they could possibly come dressed as. Persuade them to come up with something creative and imaginative! There is no need to hire or buy a costume.

BOOK WEEK DRAWING COMPETITION

This year, students are invited to enter the GSS BOOK WEEK DRAWING COMPETITION. Choose your favourite book character and get drawing, colouring, cutting and pasting.

GUIDELINES:

• Draw any book character : person, animal or thing
• Maximum Size is one standard A4 sheet of paper or cardboard
• Criteria for judging - Creativity and Effort; Prizes for the winners
• Entries must be handed in to the Library by FRIDAY 8 SEPTEMBER (end of Week 9)

Please put your full name, class and the character details on the back of your artwork/submission.

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

Last week saw our Instrumental music students showcased with a concert following a two day workshop. This event is a brilliant opportunity for students to develop and grow as musicians and the concert is always a highlight on the school calendar. I would like to extend a huge thank you to all the music teachers who work so diligently to make the workshop a huge success.

As the weather warms up its important to remind students to keep hydrated and stay sun safe. Hats are a must at school for students to play outside, but regular sunscreen application is important too. I know, all too well, the damage that sun exposure can do and hopefully, we can protect our students from experiencing the same.

With little over a week left in this term, the many weary ones at school are closing in on the break they need. It has been a massive term with many exciting events and awesome activities. Some engaging excursions and the fantastic fete have made term 3 hectic but so very rewarding. One last busy week and then we can rest for a little.

In my travels around the school, I have been very impressed with the collaboration I am seeing from students, even when at break times. Students seem to have engaged very well with this KLA and are working well together to problem solve in a variety of ways. It’s very exciting!

Have an amazing week!

John Erichsen

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop News

Volunteers for the last week of term 3, week commencing Monday, 11th of September 2017 are -

Thank you to all our volunteers. Tuckshop re-opens in Term 4 on Tuesday 3rd of October. There will be no sushi in the first week of term. It will resume to order for Tuesday and Wednesday of week 2.

Tuckshop is operated as an online ordering system. 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

Have a safe and happy holidays!

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Prep selling days are:

14th November 3-6pm
23rd November 8.15-11am
28th November 8.15-11am
17th Jan 3-6pm (to be confirmed)

If you are an existing family at the school it is strongly recommended to come outside of these days as they are extremely busy!

Size 6 skorts are currently out of stock but will be available again beginning of term 4.

Get ready for term 4 with most of your swimming gear available from the uniform store. Attached is a form to order long sleeve rashies, swim caps, bags and quick dry towels in your house colours. Orders need to be in no later than the 8th September. There will be limited stock kept in the uniform store of these items.

If you are wanting to order a long sleeve gold shirt, please could you let me no later than this Friday, a special order needs to be paid for upfront.

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 and can be emailed to the uniform shop at the below address, 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.

P&C News

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.

REMAINING 2017 MEETING DATES

For your diaries:

Wednesday 11 October
Wednesday 29 November

CONTACT: pandc@gracevilss.eq.edu.au

Graceville State School Tennis Coaching – Term 4

Before School, Lunch Time and After School Coaching will commence from Tuesday 3 October 2017 (first week back after the holidays).

Enrolments close on Monday 11 September 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

Holiday Tennis Clinic

We will be running a Tennis clinic at West Brisbane Tennis Centre from Monday 18th to Wednesday 20th September 2017. Time: 8.30am -12 noon each day Cost: $135

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

Thanks Jim

September Holiday Swim Clinics

A great way to get your children ready for the 4th term swim program is to join the holiday swim clinics being held at the school pool. All ability levels are catered for with learn to swim, stroke correction and squad classes on offer. The first clinic will be held from Monday 18th of September to Friday 22nd and the second clinic from Monday 25th of September to Friday 29th. You do not need to attend every day of the clinic as long as you mention your availability when enrolling. If you are joining for the first time please call Pete to discuss your child's ability and needs. Children in holiday school care may also join the program as staff are able to bring students to the pool and pick them up after their lesson. If you have inquired about the clinics already and have not received a confirmation email from Pete Geraghty please send another email to make sure you are included in the schedule. My swim school is always looking for good teachers so if you know anyone interested in working at Graceville pool who is qualified or interested in becoming a certified swim teacher please put them in touch with me.Please direct all inquiries to Pete Geraghty via email petegeraghty@hotmail.com or phone 0432407442.

SchoolsPlus

Community Notices

Woolworths Earn and Learn Stickers

Keep collecting earn-and-learn stickers from your Woolworths shop and deliver these to the box in the school office! The more stickers we as a school collect, the more educational resources we earn via the Woolworth's redemption program with Modern Teaching Aids.

Insert Speak Up Studio image

Speech and Drama & Musical Theatre Classes at Graceville State School

We are excited to invite all students at Graceville to join us for an obligation free introduction class in speech and drama next term!

+Chatterbees, Speech & Drama (prep - grade 2) Friday 3:00pm - 3:30pm
Discobees, Speech & Drama (prep - grade 2) Friday 3:30pm - 4:00pm
+Chatterboxes, Speech & Drama (grade 3 - grade 6) Friday 4:00pm - 4:45pm

Speak Up Studio’s annual concert is held at the end of each year and all students are welcome and encouraged to participate in this amazing opportunity. The concert is a wonderful way for students to gain performance experience, and for families and friends to celebrate their development! Our concert this year will be held on Saturday 2nd December and we are excited to announce our theme … Hundred Acre Wood

Graceville Holiday Club - Super Impossible Promises

Tuesday 26th September- Friday 29th September, 9am-3pm

Prep to Year 6 kids can spend their holiday enjoying dramas, games and crafts centred around God’s Super Impossible promises in the Bible. There will also be a jumping castle, outdoor challenges and loads of fun. Morning Tea and Lunch provided.

Cost: $50/child/week, $90/family/week or $15/child/day
Hosted by Graceville Presbyterian Church, 12 Bank Rd, Graceville.
Register online at http://bit.ly/booksuper
More info contact Pastor Rohan Pieris on 0422 033 405.