11 May 2018

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

This week has been a very short one for me as I have been on a Leadership course for experienced principals. The course is a total of seven days across the school year, with phase 1 being three days. It is very interesting as we learn more about ourselves as leaders and are introduced to the thinking of leaders from outside of education. I would like to thank Ms Hass and Mrs McKeaten for holding the fort while I have been out this week. I will of course be sharing my learning with our leadership team and this may result in some enhancements to the way we work.

On Thursday the P&C presented the prizes from the Spell-a-thon. We are very grateful for the support of the Spell-a-thon as the funds raised go directly towards an improvement area of the school. This year funds will be directed towards supporting the resourcing of writing.

Next week is the NAPLAN test for Year 3 and 5 students. The NAPLAN test is a point in time test with a narrow focus. We have to remember our children are whole humans with intelligences in many areas, most of which are not assessed by NAPLAN. Despite knowing this, NAPLAN can be a stressful time for some children. I wish all of the children the best of luck and remind them this is a point in time test and does not define who they are or what they can do. We all learn and grow throughout our lives.

Many of our teachers will take part in our Peer Coaching Triad process next week. As you may be aware, our teachers work in teams of three, helping to provide support and feedback to each other on their teaching. Triads are also a great way to learn from and with each other. Our focus for Triads this year is how our teachers are setting challenging learning tasks for all students.

On Friday our school will host Dr Linda Kaser and Dr Judy Halbert from the University of British Columbia. This is a joint initiative with our network schools in Curiosity and Powerful Learning. Dr Kaser and Dr Halbert are world leading educators who promote the use of Spirals of Inquiry to help improve student learning in schools. It is wonderful to have school colleagues who are willing to pool financial resources to ensure our leaders and teachers have access to world leading experts in their fields. Due to this event, the hall will not be accessible on Friday and parking may be a little more difficult around the school.

Finally, I would like to wish all our families a Happy Mother’s Day. My mum and dad just left for a month long trip to Canada which they have been wanting to do all their lives. I won’t see my mum on Mother’s Day but she will be in my thoughts and I know she will be loving her Canadian holiday!

I hope you have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Study Tour 2018 – Minzu and Wenhua Schools are coming!

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 hold an information session after school on Wednesday May 23 at 3pm in the Waratah room and again at 6.30pm to give information about homestay requirements and study tour outline. 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. We now also have pamphlets in the office with other dates for 2018 such as the Get Set for Prep and Prep Orientation sessions.

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

Lisa McKeaten

Deputy Prinicpal

NAPLAN testing – 15, 16 & 17 May

On Tuesday 15, Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 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. Any missed tests will be made-up on Friday 18 May only.

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.

2018 International competitions

In 2018 we will be participating in the following competitions:

• Science 29 May $8.00 (Yr 2-6)
• Spelling 13 June $11.00 (Yr 2-6)
• Writing 14 June $17.00 (Yr 3-6)
• English 31 July $8.00 (Yr 2-6)
• Mathematics 14 August $8.00 (Yr 2-6)

Students who have been entered in any of these competitions need to make sure that they are present on the day.

If any students don’t wish to participate in the competitions and you have entered them, please let me know. These competitions have already been paid for so there are no refunds. Please finalise all payments for these events, if you haven’t done so already.

Mother’s Day flowers

In the morning on Friday, May 11th the Graceville Events Committee will be saying thank you to all the hard-working, wonderful mothers in our community. Groups of Year Six students will be positioned across the school giving away small tokens of appreciation to mums, step-mums and grandmas as they drop off their children. The Events Committee hope to see you there.

Camp Quality will be visiting us on Friday 8 June!

The Camp Quality Puppet Show will be visiting us:

• 8.45 – Prep & Yr 1 classes
• 9.45 – Yr 2 & 3 classes
• 11.30 – Yrs 4-6

I would recommend you discussing this with your child, especially if children have siblings, family members or friends dealing with cancer. Also inform your child’s class teacher if you are concerned about how they may react to the puppet show.

Parents are most welcome to attend any of the performances 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

Many of our Junior instrumental students have recently started rehearsals. Starting at this time of year allows students to attend lessons for around 10 weeks prior to playing with their ensemble. We hope they enjoyed their first rehearsal! Please note that rehearsals are a mandatory part of the IM program and we request that parents contact their child's conductor/teacher if they are unable to attend. Regular attendance is an important part of skill, repertoire and musical development for each child as well as the ensemble and their ability to perform together. We appreciate parents' support with regular attendance at rehearsals as well as instrumental lessons. Please note that the Beginner String students will join the Junior String rehearsals later in the year on Wednesdays at first break.

The Senior Strings and Senior Band will be performing at the Education Queensland Fanfare competition on 29 May. Further information has been given to students via a letter and we will need permission slips returned for student attendance. As it is a Band/Orchestra performance we need all members to attend the excursion and perform with their ensemble. A link to the letter is also included below. This is an exciting performance event and families/members of the school community are able to attend the performance at Sherwood SS on the day. We are also requesting 2 parents to attend the event including the bus travel with 2 of our music teaching staff. If you are able to assist on the day please contact me ASAP (nclos1@eq.edu.au). At this stage more parent volunteers are required, to ensure appropriate student/supervisor ratios for the excursion.

On 22 June we have a choir incursion organised, with composer and experienced conductor Stuart Gillard attending. On this day the Junior Choir and Senior Choir will have the opportunity to learn songs he has composed (with him working with each choir separately) and the day will culminate with a concert at 2:15pm. Families and members of the school community are warmly invited to this choir concert on Friday 22 June at 2:15pm. Choirs will perform songs with their school conductor as well as our guest conductor and composer, Stuart Gillard, at the performance. Please ensure your child has paid their choir levies to enable them to attend the incursion. We have spare student resource forms in the music room which your child can collect at our next rehearsal if they did not receive one earlier this year ($30 for annual membership).

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.

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

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

You can purchase the representative shirts for interschool sports 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 now 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 NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS, PLEASE!!!! The uniform store lost some valuable volunteers at the end of last year and will be losing more at the end of this year so we really need more people to help out. At the moment it would require you to be there from 8.15-9.00am on Monday, Tuesday or Friday each week, if there are more people willing to lend a hand then it wouldn't have to be every week. So, if you think you could spare some time and help out that would be great, just send an email to the address below or come to the store and have a chat, thank you.

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster for week ending 18th of May 2018

Thank you to all our volunteers!

Hooray! Last week School 24 behaved itself and we had no downtime in ordering online. However please remember, if you have tried to order on School24 and experience technological problems with the system, you can go back to the old-fashion system of using the brown paper bag with cash payment in it to pay for your order.

Please do not try to place an order by phone. In a school our size with approximately 800 students, we are unable to answer the phone for everyone in a situation such as this and make manual adjustments to your School24 account. Hopefully there won’t be too many occasions when this happens, but please follow this procedure should it occur again.

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

Active School Travel

Stride To School Tuesday

Wear your crazy socks and decorate your shoes on Friday May 18th to celebrate Walk Safely to School Day. Walk Safely to School Day is an annual, national event when all primary school children are encouraged to walk to school. It promotes road safety, health, and the environment.

Help us to win the golden boot award by walking every Tuesday in May and also on Friday 18th May!

Being part of the Active School Travel program, we are already leading by example and encouraging our students to actively travel every week. Being part of a national day also shows our students they are part of a much bigger, international movement encouraging healthier habits and a greener environment. Active School Travel is one of the easiest ways to incorporate physical activity into everyday life for all children.

What are the benefits of walking to school?

• Children who walk or ride to school are more likely to be fitter and more active than others - It’s recommended that children have at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.
• Walking to school helps your child get the amount of exercise they need to stay healthy and helps them learn as well -Research shows that exercise is beneficial in helping your child think, concentrate and solve problems, all of which are essential skills when it comes to learning.
• Walking, riding or scooting to school is also good for the environment. There are fewer car trips and it can promote a stronger sense of belonging and community.
• It is a great opportunity to spend time with your child. You can give them undivided attention and your relationship with your child may grow by sharing this quality time together.

Walking is a great way for your child to:

• get to know their local area
• meet other children in their neighbourhood
• learn safety skills, like crossing the road
• gain confidence and the ability to travel independently as they get older.

So join in the fun, be active and healthy, and walk to school with your child on the Friday May 18th

May the fourth be with you!!!!!

Thank you to all the students, parents and teachers who took part in this annual event a Graceville.

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 let’s 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 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.

School Plus

Week 3 of the school term has come to another fast end! This week we started our Monday morning off playing with playdough that the children made themselves, which they thoroughly enjoyed! We had a variety of craft throughout the week that included Funny Face Balloons, Making Masks, Paper Plate Animals, Glitter Cards and Tissue Paper Creations! The children are loving the different craft activities programmed and each week we aim to make them even more creative and fun! One of the week’s highlights was definitely Making Slime! The children really enjoyed playing in the Quadrangle with the Slime and went home a little messy! Luckily the main ingredient in the slime was actually laundry detergent! We ended the week with Aboriginal Face Painting, Wiggle Carts and Lamingtons! Throughout the week the children also enjoyed our delicious snacks including bacon and eggs, English muffins, raisin toast for breakfast and for the afternoon mini pizza’s, apple crumble and much more. A sneak peak of next week’s program includes a new sensory activity “Noodle Play” along with Bead Jewellery and Making Kites!

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!

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