26 October 2017

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

I have been on school camp this week with the Year 5 students and teachers. I love attending camps. It is a great way to get to know the students outside of the formal learning setting. The students were very well behaved and showed great team and leadership skills. Thank you to the teachers for giving up time with their own families to attend camp!

Friday is World Teachers Day! As you will have experienced we have highly committed and dedicated teachers who put student learning at the heart of what they do! Last week our teachers willingly engaged in our Self-Initiated Annual Review. This is a school based initiative and something our school committed to as a way of measuring and celebrating our progress towards the goals in our 2016-2019 Strategic Plan. The reviewers go through each classroom, observing teaching and learning through the lens of the Curiosity and Powerful Learning Theories of Action we have focused on as a school. I would like to share with you some of the key findings of which we are very proud!

1. There is embedded practice of the Theories of Action Reviewed
2. There is a strong focus on high quality questioning across the school
3. There is evidence of engaged students who are increasingly finding their voice
4. There is a school culture of experimentation, innovation, team collaboration, risk taking, reflection and learning
5. There is demonstrated willingness to share and seek feedback on professional practice from both internal and external sources
6. There is reduced variability of practice across the school, yet the importance of teacher personality and individuality in delivery of the curriculum is evident and valued
7. The development of an inquiry stance is evident across the school and the school is encouraged to continue this journey and consider sharing and teaching other schools how to move forward in this area
8. There is evidence of a highly effective strategic approach by the leadership team to the implementation of whole school Curiosity and Powerful Learning reforms
9. The school is encouraged to submit an application for DET Showcase 2018 to articulate and celebrate the school’s improvement journey.

It was recommended that we map our journey so far and continue to commit to quality team collaboration to maximise the impact of teaching and learning to improve student outcomes. We are very proud as the work we are undertaking is ‘hard’ work. It involves a lot of new learning and shifts in mindsets of both leaders and teachers. The feedback we received has renewed our confidence and energy to continue to be even better as a team of teachers and leaders!

I am sure you know Graceville is a great school, when we started this journey, we were aiming for excellence and we are well on our way to achieving that! None of this would be possible if it were not for the willingness of our teachers and leaders to engage, refine and enhance their current practice to ensure alignment with the shared vision of the school as written in the 2016-2019 Strategic Plan. John Hattie, a prominent educational researcher, says that ‘teachers have the greatest impact/effect size’ on student learning in the classroom. We need to celebrate our teachers and value them for the commitment they have to improving student learning in their classrooms! I have goose bumps just writing this as I feel so passionately about it and am so proud of our teachers! Happy World Teachers Day to our amazing teachers!

Don’t forget, the Book Fair continues until Wednesday, and students can wear a red shirt on Friday to support Day for Daniel.

Finally, the school disco is on Wednesday 1 November.

Have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Date Claimer: Remembrance Day school assembly

All parents and community members are invited to attend our school assembly at the special time of 10:15 am on Friday November 10 in our school hall.

Poppies will soon be on sale at both gates before school leading up to November 10. Year 4 parents are providing morning tea after the assembly, thank you!

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 met with. 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 now.

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
16th January: 3-6pm (please note change of date from 17th to 16th)

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.

Calendar for Junior Assemblies for Term 4

Waiting List for Prep for 2018

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.

From the Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

Borobi Boogie — have you got the moves?

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) mascot Borobi is inviting our students to dance with him.

This is a great way for our school community to experience the Games, unleash our creativity and show how we are Embracing 2018.

All participating students receive a Borobi Award certificate, and our school will go into the draw to receive a GC2018 Get into the Games sports pack.

Find out more at GC2018 Embrace Learning and talk to a teacher to get involved.

Borobi Boogie closes on Friday 1 December 2017.

Tomorrow’s artists on show — 2017 Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Art

Find out who Queensland’s artists of tomorrow might be.

State and non-state schools offering senior visual art were invited to submit entries in this year’s Creative Excellence Awards in Visual Art, and 520 entries were received from 192 schools.

Details of the 2017 award recipients and images of all works are available through the awards website.

The 31 excellence award winners will have their work exhibited at the prestigious Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane from 21 April–29 July 2018.

Every day counts at school

The importance of a team effort in achieving school attendance is the main theme in the next animation and comic book in The adventures of Jimmy and Sam the Dog series, developed by the Department of Education and Training.

Once again NRL star Sam Thaiday plays Sam the Dog, with a cameo appearance by Johnathan Thurston, plus former Queensland Firebird Beryl Friday and two Solid Pathways students.

Research shows that school attendance leads to positive student outcomes, and can help children build social and emotional skills.

Head to the Every day counts website.

Occupational Therapy Week

Occupational Therapy Week, 22–28 October 2017, raises awareness of the many ways occupational therapy can help students with disability to reach their full potential.

Our school-based occupational therapist collaborates with teachers, parents and their associated networks to support students’ wellbeing, participation and success in school life.

Learn more online about how occupational therapy in schools can support a child’s educational achievements.

Wear Red and Educate — Day for Daniel on Friday 27 October 2017

We are proud to be joining with schools throughout Australia in the annual Day for Daniel on Friday 27 October 2017.

Day for Daniel aims to raise awareness about child safety and protection and promote a safer community for children.

The day also aims to educate children regarding their personal safety and empower them to Recognise, React and Report if they feel something is not right.

The theme of Day for Daniel is Wear Red and Educate — something that we will be doing to help create a safer community for all children.

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.

As per previous newsletters the Department has made a commitment that by the end of 2017 all of business units will no longer accept Credit Card details over the phone or in person if paying accounts outside of normal receipting hours. Departments will no longer be allowed to keep this information as previously required for Audit purposes.

To still provide this service to our clients, BPOINT IVR is a payment solution that enables business units and Schools to charge card payments via a bank hosted IVR phone service in real time achieving full Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance.

This will be compulsory for all Schools. Once implemented, no credit card payments will be taken over the phone unless they are processed via BPOINT IVR (1300 631 073)

When contacting the 1300 number the caller will need their customer reference and invoice details which can be found on the student invoice.

We will be implementing BPOINT IVR from now.

In 2018 we will also no longer be able to provide our school bank details for those parents who choose to do internet banking.

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 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

Thank you to Mr Kukulies and our Junior Band students for their performance at the Brisbane Bands Festival on Sunday 22 October. It was very well attended by our students and their families. The Junior Band's performance was fabulous and they were awarded a Gold. Our students demonstrated the ability to collaborate by working together and listening to each other during rehearsals and the performance and to be excellent self-managers with their preparation, organisation and behaviour. Congratulations to Mr Kukulies and the Junior Band for their performance and thank you to our families for supporting this event.

Our annual evening concert is scheduled for Wednesday 15 November at 6pm. All choirs and ensembles will perform at this concert and families and members of the school community are warmly invited to the concert. This is a formal concert and all students are requested to wear full school uniform.

Performance dates for term 4

22 November - Junior Band performance - further details to be emailed to parents (please contact Mr Kukulies if you have not received this information)

15 November - 6pm - Annual Music Concert - all choirs and instrumental music students will perform at this concert - full school uniform

22 November - 10am Grandparents Concert - Junior Choir, Senior Choir and Senior Strings will perform for their grandparents/special guests then join us for a shared morning tea.

Please note: choir rehearsals will continue until the Grandparents' Concert. This concert includes a shared morning tea afterwards and is the last concert of the year, so there will be no choir rehearsals after 22 November. The last choir rehearsal for Senior Choir will be 21 November and Junior Choir on 17 November. Thank you to our choir students who have attended rehearsals throughout the year and performed at a number of concerts. Ms Julie West and I have thoroughly appreciated your commitment!

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

Well done Mr Kukulies and the Junior Band!

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator

LIBRARY NEWS

Melanie Hutchinson

ANNUAL BOOK FAIR

A love of reading is the greatest educational gift you can give your children.

Our school’s BOOK FAIR, which STARTS NEXT WEEK is a great way to give this gift to our children. Every student gets to visit the Fair and we hope you and other family members will stop by as well. The Book Fair is open to everyone! You will find a great selection of the best books available for all children.

We look forward to seeing you at the BOOK FAIR!

When: Wednesday 25 October until Wednesday 1 November
Times: Begins after school Wed 25th at 3-4 pm
then each day from 8 – 9 am & 3 – 4 pm
until the morning of Wed 1st

Remember all Book Fair purchases benefit our school and more importantly, our school library. Keep an eye out for the information flyers that will be sent home with each student.

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop News

Volunteers for the week commencing Monday, 30th of October 2017 are -

Thank you to all our volunteers!

Please remember to check your confirmatory emails that your order has been placed and for the right day. Also check that you haven’t ordered twice as this can sometimes happen.

If you do need to cancel an order, you can easily do so on School24 right up until the 8.30am cut-off time the day of your order. Once you have logged in to School24, just look at the left hand of your screen for options available and cancel an order is right there! You can also view your order history to check orders you have placed.

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

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Does anyone have a camping shower pop up tent we could borrow during the prep selling days that we could use as a change room? We only have the one change room in the store and its going to be very busy and very hot, we would really appreciate it!!

Prep selling days are:

14th November 3-6pm
23rd November 8.15-11am
28th November 8.15-11am
16th January 3-6pm

Families that are already at Graceville State School are encouraged to come during normal uniform store hours as the prep selling days are much busier than usual.

Donations of 2nd hand uniforms are always appreciated, if you have some smaller sizes that you no longer need we would love to have them, it is coming up to our prep selling days and we are low stock in dresses, shorts, culottes, skorts and shirts.

Backpacks and library bags are back in stock.

We have some swimming gear available including long sleeve rashies, lycra and silicone swim caps, swim bags and quick dry towels in your house colours.

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

New volunteers would be greatly appreciated and will be needed as some of the current volunteers will be leaving the school at the end of the year. It only requires you to be there from 8.15-9.00am on Mondays, Tuesdays or Fridays, if you think you could help out please send an email to the above address or just come to the store and have a chat.

I have 4 plain navy blue backpacks for $55 each in stock that are perfect for high school, if you are needing something like this come and see me in store or send an email to the above address.

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

As the Interschool sport program heads towards finals in two weeks’ time, many of our teams are in contention to make grand finals. It has been encouraging to see students displaying their improved skills and understanding of their chosen sports. With sport, often there are winners and losers. Students have to find a way to work with that sometimes harsh and even unfair reality. Referees don’t always make perfect decisions and accepting some rough calls and finding a way to turn them into a positive can be a powerful life-skill. Good luck to all our teams over the next couple of weeks and may the best teams win.

Thank you to the school families able to contribute to the MIlpera clothing collection last term. It was greatly appreciated and the items were quickly put to good use. In fact, one delivery was just in time to address a clothing shortfall for a student hoping to board the bus and head to camp that morning, but without enough clothes to last the camp. Again, thank you for your generosity and willingness to give. It makes a very real difference.

At next week’s disco, the Chaplaincy Service will provide a sausage sizzle. A sausage on bread will cost $2 and it may be a convenient way to fill hungry tummies on disco night.

In closing this week, it is certainly lovely to see the sun out and the oval open for play. The rain has been wonderful and everything is looking fresh and clean. Now, we can hear the breeze whistling in the leaves of the trees, the sweet song of the local birdlife and the coughing and spluttering of mowers going in all directions. Spring in Queensland is a wonderful thing!

Have a fantastic week!

John Erichsen
(Chappy)

Active School Travel

TACO TUESDAY!

(Travel Actively Coming-to-school On)

Melbourne Cup

Decorate your School Hats

On Tuesday 7th November please decorate your school hats on Melbourne Cup day, which also happens to be TACO Tuesday! There will be lots of great prizes to be won including tuckshop vouchers so get busy decorating! Decorations need to be on or over your school hats.

Cr Nicole Johnston will be providing us all with fruit and juice on the day so come along and have some fun!!

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, in order for this program to keep running we need the support of parents and caregivers. If you can help in any way please contact Jo Richards at sajrichards@iinet.net.au for more information.

School Plus

A snapshot of After School Care – learning through play

Outdoor activities are a great way to unwind after concentrating in the classroom all day! The children in After School Care have had a keen interest in playing team sports of late, with the latest craze being field hockey. The competition can be fierce and competitive but the games are played in good spirit with everyone having a great deal of fun. Team sports are not only beneficial to ensure that children achieve their required physical activity for the day but they also encourage social interactions, providing a platform for strengthening and forging new relationships with their peers, developing problem solving and negotiation skills and enhancing self-belief, all while having a great deal of FUN! The children have experienced the satisfaction of team work and the joy that comes with playing a great game of sport. We will continue to support the children’s natural interest by playing a range of team sports to challenge them and encouraging their participation.