28 June 2018

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

We made it! The long 11-week term is just about to end! I think the children and teachers have earned a well-deserved break.

I will be staying home these holidays and relaxing. In talking to the children, it sounds like some families are going on holidays or doing some exciting things. I hope you all enjoy your family time together.

I would like to thank Mr Daunt and the many parent volunteers who helped at the Athletics Carnival this week. It was so wonderful to see the smiles on the faces of the parents who came to help and their kind words of encouragement to the children at each event. A day like the Athletics Carnival, with help from our volunteers, makes me realise how lucky we are as a school to have such great parental support. Equally, it was fantastic to see the children enjoying themselves, having a go, cheering, and encouraging each other on. Well done to all our students for participating with such great sportsmanship and excellent behaviour!

We had an exciting win last week at the Readers Cup! Our team won gold! Congratulations to the team and Mrs Hutchinson who helped them prepare and supported them along the way!

Finally a few quick reminders for early next term:

• 2019 Prep information night 18 July 7pm
• Parent Teacher Interviews offered from week 2 – 4 – teachers will make you aware of their availability – non mandatory interview with a focus on conversations related to report cards
• Study Tour from Taiwan arriving Friday 27 July
• Kath Murdoch Parent Information Night – 1 August – 5.30-6pm Nibbles and drinks. 6-8pm An Evening with Kath Murdoch

I hope you have a great holiday. See you back on Monday 16 July!

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

We are now at the half waypoint through the school year and as report cards and portfolios come home this week, it is a good time to reflect on the enormous growth and development of all of our students. I wish happy and safe holidays for all as we head off on our well earned break.

Study Tour 2018 – Minzu and Wenhua Schools are coming July 27 – August 11

I would like to thank all of the school families who have come forward to offer homestay places. We now have all 18 students accommodated which is wonderful! We look forward to holding a successful Study Tour from week 3 next term.

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.

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 forms.

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.

Lisa McKeaten

Deputy Prinicpal

2018 UNSW (University Of New South Wales) competitions:

• 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 appropriate day.

For the Digital Technologies competition, we had a large number of students not attend before school. Please make an effort to get your child here before school (Years 3-6). With the tests that take a longer time to complete, I can’t guarantee that they will have adequate time during the lunch break to complete them. We don’t want to interfere with class time to complete these tests, except for the Year 2 students, who are new to this experience.

Is your school ready for the plastic bag ban?

To protect the environment and wildlife, the Queensland Government is introducing a ban on the supply of single-use lightweight plastic shopping bags from 1 July.

School operations such as uniform shops, tuckshops and fetes are included. For information and resources for your school visit the Queensland Government website.

Time Out – protect students from spreading infectious diseases

When your child is ill, look after them at home to help reduce the spread of germs and prevent other children becoming ill. Keep surfaces, toys and equipment clean and encourage your child to wash their hands often, even when they feel well. If your child is suffering from a virus, gastroenteritis or another illness, there are rules about when they can return to school. Learn more about symptoms and exclusion rules in Queensland and take your child to the doctor if you are concerned.

Help reduce the spread of infection by keeping your child at home when they are ill. Keep surfaces clean and encourage children to wash their hands often, even when they feel well. Learn more below

Help reduce the spread of infection, keep your child at home when they are ill and get them to wash their hands often. Learn more

Money Matters

Anne Nixon

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

Naomi Lindh

We had an amazing time with our choir students last week. On Thursday the Junior Choir sang with Evie G, Toby W and Annie H at the NAIDOC assembly. They sang the song that has been co-written with students from other local schools, Elders and Aboriginal leaders and music teachers including myself, called Yuggera Djarra-Na, meaning On Yuggera Country. The song included many lyrics about the Yuggera land we live on, the sounds and all of the beautiful nature around us - water, animals, trees, colours and the people and their spirit.

Thank you to families for ensuring your child was here for the 8:15am rehearsal on Thursday morning. It certainly added to the choir's ability to sing with confidence at the formal assembly and I received many compliments about the performance and the song which is a credit to our students. Congratulations on a lovely performance Junior Choir and Megan Butner, our Choir Captain!

We went straight from a performance on Thursday to our choir incursion on Friday. All choir students spent the day singing alternately with our guest conductor Mr Stuart Gillard and accompanist Judy Collins and their own choir conductor (Ms Julie West and myself). Students had the opportunity to sing Mr Gillard's own compositions that were full of character and colour, fun and beautiful melodies. Both choirs sang songs with their own conductor and songs they had learnt with Mr Gillard at our afternoon concert. Our students were incredibly excited about the incursion and sang with such enthusiasm at the concert. Thank you to all of our students and Ms West for a fabulous incursion and concert!

Our music rehearsals will all resume in the first week next term, including Senior Choir on Monday 16 July.

Upcoming dates for music events:

• 30 July - 3 August Westcent Intermediate and Honours Camp (selected students only). Please note there will be NO INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS OR REHEARSALS THIS WEEK - Wed 1 and Thursday 2 August)
• Fete performances - Junior Band, Senior Band, Junior Choir and Senior Choir
• 28 August Junior Choir singing at Junior Assembly (songs from the fete performance)
• 29/30 August IM workshop for all instrumental students - performance 2pm on Thursday 30 August involving all instrumental students.
• 14 November - Annual Music Concert 6pm (all choirs and instrumental ensembles performing)
• 28 November - Grandparents' Concert - Junior Choir, Senior Choir and Senior Strings performing for their grandparents'/special guests

We thank our families for supporting your child's involvement in the music program this semester and wish you a very safe and relaxing holiday!

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator

Chappy’s Chat

Last week was filled with exciting events. The 2018 Lapathon, last Wednesday, had especially pleasant weather and was loads of fun. Exhausting fun for many, looking at the number of laps completed. The NAIDOC assembly on Thursday morning was a very moving time. Everyone involved in organising this special assembly should be very proud. It was such a powerful message about respecting culture and honouring those who have gone before us. Finally on Friday, our choir students had an all-day Incursion, culminating in a brilliant concert in the afternoon. Excellent performances by both junior and senior choirs and a fitting close to a week of showcasing our students’ fantastic efforts. I would like to pass on a special thank you to all the parents and care-givers who made the time to attend these events. Everything is better with support and encouragement and your presence at school events is a wonderful expression of that to our students.

As this long term draws to an end, I hope you have shared some wonderful school memories, continued to build on strong connections within the school community and planned a holiday break filled with fun and refreshing. May your school holiday experiences be rich, wherever you are and whatever you do! Stay safe and I look forward to hearing about exciting holiday tales upon your return.

Have an amazing couple of weeks!
John Erichsen

Lap-a-thon

LAP-A-THON Thank you

Thank you for your wonderful support of the Lap-a-thon. It was a beautiful day for running! There were also lots of smiles with the very popular warm popcorn! Thank you to those who were able to come and cheer on their runners. Thank you also to all those families who have already begun returning their envelopes before the holidays. All donations are tax deductible.

Evonne Beruldsen on behalf of the Chaplaincy Committee

Fete News

Term 3, here we come and that means FETE!!!

If you haven't heard, Saturday, 25 August is Fete Day - keep it free!

There are only 6 weeks until Fete Day once we get back from holidays so Class Reps please make sure you have read and understood your allocated Stall Holder Requirement Forms (SRF). If you have any questions needing clarification please contact our Stall Convenors at: gracevillefetestalls@gmail.com

The next Class Rep meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 9 August at 7pm. This is another opportunity to have any queries answered and to also discuss Treasury procedures. Please mark that date in your diary and keep it free.

Holidays are a great time to cook up some jams, chutneys, relishes and preserves. They can be delivered to the tuckshop from Wednesday, 18 July.

Decluttering is good for the soul so use the break to go though household items, books and toys to make our Grand Bazaar the best one ever. Get the kids involved! Small items can be delivered to boxes in front of the office from Monday, 16 July and bigger items can be delivered to the POD which arrives in the Tuckshop car park on Wednesday, 1 August. Remember, no TVs, computer monitors or BBQs and no clothes, shoes or soft toys.

Thanks and have a great break.
Fete Committee

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Size 10 trackpants are out of stock, new stock will arrive early next term.

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. Also please be aware that if you paid by credit card you will need that card for the refund.

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

Thank you to all our volunteers in Term 2. We made it - phew!

Volunteers for Week 1 Term 3

Monday, 16/7 Leslie Wong
Tuesday, 17/7 Lauren Thomson and Gemma Dean
Wednesday, 18/7 Jasmine Gualandi and Kristine Dart and Mel Stainlay
Thursday, 19/7 Lowry Doble and Heidi Marshall and Shona Luke
Friday, 20/7 Helen Purdy and Jayne Bryson and Rowanne Wright and
Briony Kachab and Lynn Griffiths

Have a great break and see you all in Term 3.

Anne and Amanda
Tuckshop Convenors

School Plus

The second last week of the school term has been filled with excitement, creativity and much more children’s choice! The children loved having the ability to vote and program different areas throughout the week at After School Care. They did thoroughly enjoy the staff programmed activities such as Button Portraits, Making Kites, new outdoor equipment and our two sensory items Green Noodles and Jelly Play. At the afternoon tea chat time the children suggested and voted for activities including Waffle Blocks, Dot Paintings, Origami, Making Slime and much more! The slight change over the last couple of weeks has proven to be effective and will now permanently be a part of the programming process. The children have also been loving the menu items and we have received a lot of positive feedback and future suggestions, who would have thought pineapple cake would have been so popular! The excitement of the end of term is drawing closer with only one week to go until we jump into our fun jammed packed Vacation Care program!

Graceville State School Tennis Coaching – Term 3

Before School, Lunch Time and After School Coaching will commence from Tuesday 24th July 2018.

Enrolments close by Thursday 19 July 2018. 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.

A tennis meeting will be held at lunchtime (1st Break) on Monday 23 July on the School Tennis Court to advise of your lesson time – Please ensure your child attends.

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 2nd to Wednesday 4th July 2018. Time: 8.30am -12 noon each day Cost: $135

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

Thanks Jim

Community Notices

GO SPORTS Coaching Term 3

Join us for all the FUN! Learn a new game or just improve skills.
NETBALL : Grades 1-4 commencing Wednesday 1st August (7.45-8.30am)
SOCCER : Grades Prep-3 commencing Wednesday 1st August (7.45-8.30am)
To Register go to the website below and click on Register Online