26 July 2018

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

Have you booked in for the Kath Murdoch Parent Evening yet? There are still some places available so please contact the office ASAP. The P&C have organised wine and cheese from 5.30-6pm with Kath’s session starting at 6pm on the dot! This is an amazing one off opportunity and we would love for as many parents as possible to be able to attend. I hope to see you on Wednesday 1 August!

The Study Tour arrives this Friday and I am sure the Graceville community will welcome our guests with open arms! I am very grateful to the families who will be hosting students and to Mr Guthrie and his family and my own family for hosting the teachers. It should be a fun few weeks!

The Fete countdown is on! Have you heard the Fete is going cashless this year? From 9-5, at all Graceville school stalls, you will need to use Cash Cards. You can pre-order the cards or buy them on the day. The Fete committee are trying their best to get the message out to all families so they can be organised for the day. The cash cards will mean less volunteers are needed throughout the day, taking a weight off the volunteer pool. I hope you can support the P&C as they move to a cashless Fete by pre-ordering your cash cards.

The P&C meeting was held on Wednesday morning. The following were aspects of my report:

• Update on the building works on the admin block – a few weeks left to go
• Thankyou to the P&C for purchasing the new pads for the poles in the quadrangle
• Made the P&C aware of the money raised so far from the Voluntary contribution – unfortunately we are $8,000 down on predictions as compared to this time last year
• Ms Hass explained how we are reviewing our Responsible Behaviour Plan and explained she will be calling for parent volunteers to provide feedback later this term

Finally I would like to wish Ms Gallagher the best of luck as she heads off on maternity leave. We look forward to hearing about her bub in the weeks to come! Ms Anwen Horey will be replacing Mrs Gallagher for the remainder of the year.

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 July 27 – August 11

We are on countdown!

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!

Everyone is invited to attend our welcome assembly on Friday July 27 at 2.15 and also our farewell assembly on Friday August 10 at 11.30am in our school hall.

Stay tuned for some photos now of the many activities that the students will be involved in.

Prep Enrolments for 2019

We held our annual prep information session last week. Throughout term 3 I will be conducting interviews with families of our new preppies and there is also a brochure available in the office regarding ‘Get set for Prep’ sessions and orientation information.

If you are an in-catchment new family or current school family with a preppie for 2019 I encourage you to now start the process by obtaining enrolment forms if you haven’t done so already from the school office.

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

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.

Below is the calendar for term 3 Junior assemblies. Everyone welcome, we are on from 2.15pm on these Tuesdays in the hall.

Lisa McKeaten

Deputy Principal

School Photos – Monday 20th August 2018

This year we will be having our School Photo Day on Monday 20th August. Envelopes with the online ordering information will be coming home soon. Envelopes for the sibling photos, which will be taken before school on that day, will be placed in the office as of next week. Online ordering for all photos needs to be prior to 20/8/18. Sibling photo ordering will close at midnight on Thursday 16th August. On Friday 17th they will inform me about how many sibling photos have been ordered and I will let everyone know via a text message – what time they will start before school on Monday 20th. Sibling photos will be in the hall, the same as the class photos and they need to be completed by 8.40am. Starting time for sibling photos will probably be fairly early, depending on the number of orders.

2018 UNSW (University Of New South Wales) competitions:

• English 31 July $8.00 (Yr 2-6) – Yr 3-6 7.30 start; Yr 2 11.30am
• Mathematics 14 August $8.00 (Yr 2-6) Yr 3-6 7.30am; Yr 2 11.30am

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

ACTF 2018 My Place Short Story Competition

Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) is launching the 2018 My Place Short Story Competition, a national contest for students in Years 3–6.

The competition opens on 20 July and students will be asked to create an imaginary character in the 2018 My Place series and write about them.

Entries close 31 August 2018. Visit the ACTF website for more information

EKKA competitions for students

If you are looking for free school holiday activities, it is worth taking a look at the 2018 Royal Queensland Show (EKKA) competitions for young people.

Ideas include contests to design a showbag , race around EKKA to film an advertisement, bush poetry and homemade cheese .

Visit the EKKA Education website for more information.

Day for Daniel on 26 October — save the date!

Day for Daniel will be held on Friday 26 October.

The theme for 2018 is ‘Wear Red, Educate and Donate’. With a goal to make Australia a safe place for children, Day for Daniel promotes child safety awareness and education.

Register your school to participate and receive a free resource kit. 

Calling all children and teenagers growing up in Queensland

The Growing up in Queensland project gives children and teenagers a voice about their community, the opportunities and challenges they face and what they need as they take their steps into the future.

Children and young people aged between 4 and 18 years can participate:

• 4–6-year-olds or students attending special education primary schools can express their views through an art activity
• 13–18-year-olds can complete the online survey
• 7–18-year-olds can become a citizen journalist.

Check out the Queensland Family & Child Commission website for more information. Submissions close on 22 July 2018.

Parenting is hard, but you’re not alone

The Queensland Family and Child Commission has recently launched the Talking Families campaign.

The campaign encourages parents or families who are experiencing difficulties to talk to someone and not be reluctant to ask for help.

Further information is available at the Talking Families website.

Latest Queensland parenting magazine out now, free!

The latest issue of the free Queensland Triple P Tippaper is out now.

The theme for this issue is ‘Assertive Discipline’ so there are some great tips on effectively guiding children's behaviour. Plus real-life Queensland families and stories including the dad who had to overcome his initial panic at the thought of being home alone with a toddler all day; the mum who saw through the social media ‘perfect parent’ hype; and ways to encourage kids to grow and eat healthy food.

Look for free copies in your community or read it now online.

ACTF 2018 My Place Short Story Competition

Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) is launching the 2018 My Place Short Story Competition, a national contest for students in Years 3–6.

Students are required to create an imaginary character in the 2018 My Place series and write about them.

Entries are open on 20 July 2018 and will close 31 August 2018. Visit the ACTF website for more information.

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

This Friday 27 July the Senior Choir will be singing 'Eye of the Needle' at the whole school assembly at 2:15pm to welcome our study tour students and staff. This is a song by an Australian composer which the choir shared with the school at our incursion concert towards the end of last term.

Thank you to the students who attended their music lessons and rehearsals last week. It was great to have many students back playing and singing. Please note that there will be no instrumental lessons next week due to the West Cent camps Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 August (selected students only attending) as all of the instrumental teachers attend the camp for a week and evening concert on Friday night 3 August.

This term the Beginner Strings will join the Junior String rehearsals on Wednesdays at first break from 10:45 - 11:20am. Students should bring their lunch, drink, instrument and music book/folder to the music room at this time.

The Junior Choir and year 6 students involved in the Yuggera Djarra-na songwriting project have been invited to sing at the Milpera SHS NAIDOC assembly, following their lovely performance of the song at our NAIDOC assembly at the end of last term. This is a wonderful opportunity to share the song about the Yuggera land we live on and includes some Yuggera language, which was the purpose of writing the song. Please note that as students will walk to Milpera SHS for the performance we need all students to return a permission slip to enable them to attend. The letter and permission slip are included in this email or your child may already have given this to you.

Upcoming dates for music events:

• 27 July - Senior Choir performing 'Eye of the Needle' at the whole school assembly - Friday 27 July at 2:15pm
• 30 July - 3 August West Cent 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)
• 17 August - Junior Choir and selected year 6 students performing at Milpera SHS (Yuggera Djarra-na song)
• 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.
• 30 October - school music photos (students can bring their instrument in for the photo but this is not essential)
• 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

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 (All Beginner String students should now be attending these rehearsals)
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

Thank you for supporting our music program.

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

Term 3 has arrived bringing with it some perfect weather. Fresh mornings pass and glorious sunny days are the norm. I trust we are all back into school mode after the holiday break. Term 3 is an extremely full term as the Fete draws ever closer. So many busy hands, working hard to ensure another awesome Fete day, reveals the strength of our school community.

This year’s Chaplaincy Lapathon has proved to be very successful and final figures will be announced shortly. Again, the incredible support from the school community makes a powerful statement. Later this term applications for the next four years of Federal Government funding will take place, so watch this space for more information on that process.

Next week, our district representatives will compete in the Athletics meet at The University of Queensland, This year we are in a new sporting district so things may look a little different. One constant will remain and that is the strong level of competition our students will face. I wish all our students the best of luck for this competition.

In week four, I will be off campus for the annual SU QLD Chaplaincy Conference. This conference is a four day conference filled with training and professional development opportunities. There is also plenty of opportunity to network with other chaplains from across the state and the ACT.

A very exciting event in this term is the Year 4 camp. This two day camp will be an introduction to school camping and promises to be a brilliant experience for all involved. Parents can expect many camp tales upon the students’ return Friday afternoon.

Have a wonderful week!
John Erichsen
(Chappy)

Contact Club

CONTACT CLUB

The Contact Club meets THIS week, Wednesday 1st of August in the Library. Please come along after drop-off or reading groups, there are plenty of books to cover!

No experience needed, just a willingness to help and a bit of your time to cover for as long as you are able between 8.30am - 11.30am. Tea and coffee supplied and great chat too!

See you there or email contactclub.gss@gmail.com for more information.

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Size 10 trackpants are out of stock. The supplier won't have more in until the end of August.

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

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster for week ending 3rd of August 2018

Thank you to all our volunteers! It’s a big term this term with the Fete fast approaching so we really value your continued support. We are already experiencing a shortage of volunteers on some days.

We desperately need a volunteer for Tuesday 31/7. If you can help, please email us at tuckshop.gss@gmail.com or drop in to see us in the Tuckshop. We cannot get the lunches out to the students without your help.

Change to Sushi/RPR ordering

For this term, Sushi and Rice Paper Rolls will be available on Wednesdays only. Please remember to order by noon on the Monday beforehand so you don’t miss out.

Fete Ordering

Use School24 for your Fete purchases of ride bands, children’s artworks, and the new cashless GSS Fete Cash Cards. See the Fete newsletters for further information or visit the links below:

Any enquiries please email gracevillefete@gmail.com

School Banking Update

Graceville SS’s banking day is MONDAY and deposits can be made from 8:20 to 8:40 at the hall kitchen and then via the grey classroom pouches.

School banking kicked off for Term 3 on Monday 16 July. Term 3 rewards items are a Mighty Handball and Heat Reactor Pencils and rewards can be pre-ordered at 9 tokens. Please remember to write your name and class on the rewards redemption flyer as recently we have received some blank ones and have been unable to order the rewards.

School banking is desperate for new volunteers, and as it stands there will be no school banking in weeks 6, 9 and 10 (20 August, 10 and 17 September) as there are no volunteers to help. If you have a spare hour after drop off on Mondays please drop by and give us a hand.

Entries close at the end of this term for the Major Prize (a Trip for 4 to Hawaii, USA). You need to make 15 deposits before the end of Term 3 to be in the draw. Terms and conditions can be found on the Commbank website

If your child is not already involved, and you would like your child to participate in the school banking program it is now easier than ever. All that is required is a Youthsaver account with the Commonwealth Bank. Accounts can now be opened either online or at a branch. Once you have an account, the yellow Dollarmite wallet will be posted to you or you can visit us at the hall kitchen to pick one up before school Monday mornings.

Happy Saving!

School Plus

The first day back of Term 3 has been filled with many Holiday Stories! On Monday morning, before class the children shared what their favourite Vacation Care activity was. The most common answer seemed to be Skyzone! Then throughout the week the children voted on the various fun activities that they had experienced. They enjoyed the many different versions of Musical Statues so much during Vacation Care, that it was the winning vote for two afternoons! Tug-of-War was also popular and voted for two days in a row!

Making Snow Flakes was a spontaneous craft activity that was run one morning and was thoroughly enjoyed as well as craft activities and painting, where the children created some beautiful art pieces. The children have been loving having the ability to programme the different areas and activities each day. They have also been coming up with some fantastic future menu options for afternoon tea.

A sneak peak of next week’s program includes our sensory Cloud Dough activity that was brought back by popular demand! We look forward to seeing what the children vote for and program next week.