26 April 2018

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

The weather for the Cross County was wonderful and we were happy to see so many parents supporting their children! Unfortunately, I was unable to attend as I was at a meeting but Ms Hass sent me some photos along the way!

I would like to thank the Year 6 teachers, Mrs McKeaten and Chappy for taking our Year 6 students away on school camp. I was privileged to spend a few days with the students as they challenged themselves on the high ropes! Our Year 6 students are an amazing group. It was an absolute pleasure to spend time with them. I would also like to thank them for being such wonderful ambassadors for the school, displaying exemplary behaviour, self-management, kindness and compassion for one another.

Thank you to the families who came to march in the ANZAC day parade and service on Wednesday. It is always hearting to see so many families pay their respects to our servicemen, past and present. I always get goose bumps taking part in such moving ceremonies as I reflect on the sacrifices others have made for us.

Next week our teacher writing team will take their next steps towards researching and developing our schools approach to writing. We are deep in reading the literature about effective writing practices and pedagogy, always mindful of the needs of our students and community. We will keep you posted as we progress in our learning!

Have a great week,
Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Cross Country runners well done!

What a bright cool sunny day presented itself for cross country this year and our students in Prep to year 3 participated in these races with gusto. Here are some photos. Lots of firsts for our preps this year as they join in with all of our whole school activities.

ANZAC Day assembly

We had another successful ANZAC assembly on Tuesday this week. Thank you to year 3 parents who supplied morning tea and the great number of helper parents who came and served and cleaned up, greatly appreciated. Great job year 3 students and teachers! Each adult attending assembly received a unique program, the cover constructed by a year 3 student who inquired into symbols of commemoration and shared their ideas and drawings, some of these students even sharing on the assembly speaking confidently in front of about 800 people. The senior choir sang beautifully with some people asking about the lovely song chosen, thank you Ms West. I also have to thank Harry and Drew from 5/6E who very ably worked the sound system during the assembly and to Mr Dowling who helped with set up for the occasion. Great team effort!

School Technology Plan and Committee – Friday April 27 at 8am in school library

In 2016 we developed a technology plan for the next 5 years which covers the distribution of devices in the school and planning for the renewal of devices as required. The P&C support technology in the school by providing 75% of voluntary contributions towards technology. I would like to invite any parents who might like to get involved in this committee to come to our first meeting for the year to discuss how things ‘technologically’ are going in the school on Friday April 27 at 8:00am in the school library. All parents welcome.

Study Tour 2018

We will be hosting a Study Tour from Taiwan, from Minzu and Wenhau Elementary schools this year. The dates will be July 27 until August 11 for two weeks. Please as a family start to think about if you are able to offer a place to host one of these students. It is a rewarding opportunity. We have been notified that a group of 22 students with 2 tour escorts will be coming. If you are interested and maybe able to host a student please return the expression of interest or email me a response at mhass10@eq.edu.au I will shortly hold an information session after school and an evening time to give information so that families can make a decision. We need to shortly commence ‘blue card’ applications if parents don’t have one to be a host family. This is free and sent off at school. Please email me any questions that you may have about the study tour and hosting.

Waiting List for Prep for 2019 – opened at the beginning of this term.

The waiting list for 2019 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. 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 2019 Information evening will be held in our school hall on Wednesday July 18 at 7pm.

Below is the calendar for term 2 Junior assemblies. Everyone welcome, we are on from 2.15pm on these Tuesdays in the hall.

Money Matters

Anne Nixon

Just a reminder please don’t pay Spellathon money into the school bank account.

Thank you for your payments for excursions and resources to date.

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 2018 are:

• Prep Requirements ($70)
• Instrumental Music Programs – Instrument Hire ($100), Percussion Maintenance ($50), Music Participation ($80) & Choir ($30)
• Religious Education Program ($10)
• Mathletics On-line registration (Years 1 - 6) ($12)
• Origo Maths (years 3, 4 and 5) ($6)
• Year 4/5 maths levy ($17.50)
• ESmart Digital Licence Yr 5 ($10)

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

VOLUNTARY PARENT CONTRIBUTIONS

Your valuable contribution to this school’s Learning Targets is most welcome.

$100 single student.

You can either pay the Voluntary Contribution in the office, or by direct deposit into the school bank account referencing the payment “VC” with your child’s name. Our bank account details are

BSB: 064-111
Account Number: 00090051
Account Name: Graceville State School

Credit in Account: Credits from 2017 rolled over to this year can be applied to current invoices at the parent’s request.

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

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.

Music News

Thank you to our Senior Choir for their beautiful singing at the ANZAC Day service this week. We really appreciate their contribution to this special event and the efforts of Ms Julie West assisting the students to prepare for it. Thank you also to any family members who were able to attend.

Next Tuesday 1 May there will be no Junior Choir Rehearsal as I will be attending a staff professional development session with Kath Murdoch. This cancellation is unavoidable due to the PD however I would like rehearsals to return to normal the following week on 8 May so we can prepare our new songs for upcoming performances later this term.

The Senior Strings and Senior Band will be performing at the Education Queensland Fanfare competition on 29 May. Further information will be provided to families via a letter.

The Junior String rehearsals will start in week 3 this term, 2 May on Wednesdays at first break in the music room. Please note that Beginner Strings will join them later in the year, with the date TBA. The Junior Band will start rehearsals on 9 May at 7:30am in the music room.

Please ensure payment for the Choir and Instrumental Music levies have now been paid or contact the office urgently if they haven't. Payment for the instrumental music program was due by the end of week 8 last term. At the end of last year with the approval and input from the P and C we changed the IM levy process and included the workshop in a non-refundable $80 annual levy due by the end of week 4 as well as instrumental hire if applicable or the percussion maintenance fee. This information was included in the Newsletter sent out to families on 23 November 2017 and letter to students beginning in the program

2018 Rehearsal schedule

Monday 7:45am Senior Choir (year 4/5/6 students) - Ms Julie West
Tuesday 7:45am Junior Choir (year 2/3 students) - Mrs Naomi Lindh
Wednesday 7:30am Junior Band (year 4 band students) - Mr James Kukulies (please note this will not begin until 9 May at 7:30am in the music room)
Wednesday - first break - Junior/Beginner Strings - Mrs Ruth Prout (rehearsals begin in week 3, 2 May in the music room for Junior Strings and the Beginner Strings will join them later in the year)
Wednesday 3:00-4:00pm Senior Band (year 5/6 band students) - Mr Steve Stiller
Thursday 7:45am Senior Strings

Please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions or concerns about your child's involvement in the music program or if they are unable to attend a rehearsal.

Thanks again to the Senior Choir for their lovely singing at the ANZAC Day service.

Alex Grodecki - agrod3@eq.edu.au

Ruth Prout - rprou5@eq.edu.au
James Kukulies - jkuku2@eq.edu.au
Steve Stiller - sstil2@eq.edu.au
Julie West - jwest269@eq.edu.au
Naomi Lindh - nclos1@eq.edu.au

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator
Graceville State School

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

GSS READERS’ CUP 2018

On Thursday 29th March, 26 enthusiastic teams of Year 5 & 6 students participated in the Graceville SS Readers’ Cup. Each team read five stories before the day and were quizzed on their knowledge of these books. They were also quizzed on their knowledge of books and reading in general.

At the end of six challenging rounds, SCHOOL OF SPIES: Toby, Molly, Megan, Ella, Tessa, Lorraine and Eliza were the ultimate winners of the GSS READERS CUP trophy; with READING RESTAURANT team: Maya, Stephanie, Elise, Tessa, Annabel, Alisha and Charlotte coming in Second. Successfully coming Third were CIAs (Crazily Insane Academic Skill): Jasper, Tom, Sam, Giles, Benny, Harry, Drew Elgar and Blake.

Congratulations to the SCHOOL OFF SPIES team who were gracious winners and will now have their team name engraved upon the Readers’ Cup trophy. Congratulations also to all the other teams who participated in the spirit of the day and walked away with some fabulous prizes. It was just fantastic! A special thanks to Mrs Hornstra, Mr Guthrie, Mr Osburn, Mr Jordan, Ms Ellis, Mr Arnold and Ms Elliott for being our judges for the competition. We look forward to holding a Readers’ Cup again in 2019.

Melanie Hutchinson
Readers’ Cup Co-ordinator
Teacher Librarian

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

INTERSCHOOL SPORT

Interschool sports have started for years 5 and 6, you can purchase the representative shirts from the uniform store for $35.

Size 10 skorts are out of stock, they will be back in 3-4 weeks

Polar fleece jackets and rugby shirts are available in store.

Donations of 2nd hand uniforms are always appreciated, so please keep them coming but can you please make sure that all items are in a good, clean and saleable condition.

Please be advised that refunds will ONLY be given if you have the original receipt and items should not have been washed or worn.

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 via the teachers pigeon hole in the main office.

Email address for school uniform store is:

uniformstore@gracevilss.eq.edu.au

WE REALLY NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS, PLEASE!!!!

It only requires you to be there from 8.15-9.00am on Mondays, Tuesdays or Fridays, if you think you could spare some time and help out that would be great, if so please send an email to the above address or just come to the store and have a chat, thank you.

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster for week ending 4th of May 2018

Thank you to all our volunteers!

Our roster for Tuckshop this term still needs a few more volunteers. We are already experiencing volunteer gaps due to changes in circumstances and family sicknesses. If you and your children love having tuckshop and you could offer three hours once a term we’d love to hear from you. Your help is essential to keeping the Tuckshop open five days a week!

We are an online only ordering Tuckshop. If you would like to use the Tuckshop, please register your details on School24 at school24.net.au and follow the prompts. Use the Graceville School ID code 25314963.

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

CONTACT CLUB

The Contact Club meets next Wednesday the 2nd of May in the Library straight after drop-off or reading groups. All welcome!

Come along to see the great new resources in our library catalogue while you cover them. We had a great turnout last month, thank you to all who came! Tea and coffee are supplied. If you can’t attend the group day and would like to help, please ask our friendly Librarians about taking books home to cover. We would love your help! Any enquiries please email contact club.gss@gmail.com, or see you there on Wednesday!

CONTACT CLUB

The Contact Club meets next Wednesday the 2nd of May in the Library straight after drop-off or reading groups. All welcome!

Come along to see the great new resources in our library catalogue while you cover them. We had a great turnout last month, thank you to all who came! Tea and coffee are supplied. If you can’t attend the group day and would like to help, please ask our friendly Librarians about taking books home to cover. We would love your help! Any enquiries please email contact club.gss@gmail.com, or see you there on Wednesday!

Active School Travel

Stride To School Tuesday

May the fourth be with you!!!!!

Our next event will be on Fridayth 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. Don’t forget to bring along your passports for a bonus stamp!

The Golden Boot!

All Active School Travel (AST) schools compete in our monthly interschool competition for the prestigious Golden Boot Award and trophy. There are two Golden Boot Awards - one for first year schools and another for second and third year schools. The winning criteria changes each month to ensure all schools have an opportunity to win.

Help Graceville State School to win a $100 sports equipment voucher by being active every Tuesday.

The criteria for April is “most improvement from baseline”, and May is “highest percentage walking”. So lets give it a go Graceville and dust off those walking shoes and walk to school with a friend (or group of friends) or your family / carer on Tuesday in April and May.

We need you!!!!!

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 are especially in need of a parent, caregiver or member of the community to head up the committee for 2018, with lots of ongoing support from the current members. Without the support of parents and caregivers this program will be unable to continue in the school.

Please contact Jo Richards at sajrichards@iinet.net.au for more information.

Schools Plus

“Old Macdonald’s” Animal Farm, what a great way to kick of the last day of Vacation Care and start the first week of Term 2! Week one has passed us like the speed of light! It was such an exciting start with getting back into the school rhythm and trying to get out of our fun vacation holiday mode and hit the books!

Since the children enjoyed Vacation Care so much, we have started to incorporate a greater variety of programmed activities for both before and after school care, with a larger focus on creativity and craft. Since our numbers are growing, we have also split our 5pm group games in two! With Preps and 1’s together and grades 2-6 together, which now enables more age appropriate games.

The children had great first week back and thoroughly enjoyed new games and activities including, stamp paintings, box creations, cricket and particularly using our new basketballs and footballs! A sneak peek for next week’s program includes more new activities such as, making Playdough and Spaghetti Worms but first, we’ll be needing some brain food and luckily well be having delicious corn on a cob for afternoon tea!

Trivia Night

Ever wondered what it was like to ‘Rock around the Clock’ and hang out with Ritchie and the Fonz in ‘Happy Days’ or ride along with Clint in ‘Rawhide’? Do you ever wish that you lived in the era of ‘Call the Midwife’, Elvis Presley or the Beatles, or had a house that looked like June Cleaver’s?

Come dressed in your favourite theme of the era and decorate your table of 10 to match!

6:30pm
Saturday 16th June
Graceville State School Hall
Tickets: $20 per person or $200 per Table of 10
Includes:

• A bottle of wine/beers per table
• Additional drinks available at the bar
• Pizzas available for purchase on site

Prizes on the night for Best Dressed Male/Female/Table
Heaps of Raffle Prizes also to be won!

There will be ‘games’ on the night so start saving your gold coins!

Booking forms will be out shortly – Please keep an eye on the Newsletters.

The Trivia Night Committee are always looking for sponsors and prizes, if you or your company would like to be involved, please contact Juanita Bennett for details (aajbennett1@bigpond.com).

Trivia Night – like the Fete – is looking for someone to take over. Unless someone comes forward to learn the ways of Trivia Night – 2018 will be the last one! We are also looking for someone to take over the ‘brains’ of the night in Question Writer. If you are interested or want to know what goes on behind the scenes, please contact Juanita ASAP so that wisdom can be transferred!!

Community Notices

GO SPORTS Coaching Term 2

Join us for all the FUN!! Learn a new game or improve skills.
NETBALL : Grades 1-4 commencing Wednesday 2nd May (7.45-8.30am)
SOCCER : Grades 1-4 commencing Wednesday 2nd May (7.45-8.30am)
Please see attached flyer
To Register go to the link below and click on Register Online