6 September 2018

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

Only two weeks to go! The term has flown by!

I am taking Long Service Leave for the last two weeks of this term and the first few days of Term 4. Later next week, I am heading off to Japan. I am really looking forward to it and we have an eclectic mix of activities lined up from Mario Carting the streets of Tokyo, attending a Sumo Tournament, to attending a cooking class in the home of a local from Kyoto. We will do all the obvious activities and sites as well and end up at the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix. I can’t wait!

Ms Hass will be the Acting Principal in my absence and Mrs Martin will be an Acting Deputy Principal.

Next Tuesday our school is hosting an Inquiry Open Half Day for schools in the South East. We have 60 educators attending, all interested to see how we are moving forward with our Inquiry learning journey as a school. I am so proud of our teachers who have offered to open their classrooms for our guests to watch them teach as well as sharing their own and students learning journeys so far. We really do have some amazing teachers who are open to learning and sharing their learning with others. Just remember that parking may be trickier than usual that morning as our guests will be arriving from around 8am. The afternoon should be fine as our guests will depart by 1pm.

Don’t forget the Book Week Free Dress day is Wednesday 19 September! It is fun to come in costume. Even our teachers are planning what costumes they might wear!

If you have children in Prep to Year 3, you are welcome to come along to the Infant Sports Carnival on Thursday 20 September. The carnival is always a great day which the children love!

Finally a reminder for our Year 5 students. The closing date for School Leadership forms for 2019 is Monday. Please make sure your application is at the office by 3.30pm. No late applications will be accepted.

As I won’t see you again until next term, I hope you have a wonderful and safe Spring break!

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Prep – year 3 Sports Day – Thursday September 20, please see Wayne’s news for details of times and events. All welcome to attend!

Prep Enrolments for 2019

I am currently meeting with new preppies and parents. If you do not have a time yet please contact the office to make a time to meet together to discuss your child commencing prep in 2019.

Date Claimers for 2019 prep families:

Get Set for Prep session 1 – Tuesday October 16, 9 – 10.30am
Get Set for Prep session 2 – Monday November 5, 9 – 10.30am
Prep Orientation meetings – Thursday November 29

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

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

Does your child require medication during school hours?

If your child requires medication while at school, please ensure you complete and sign an Administration of medication record sheet available from the school’s office.

You will also need to provide the school with the prescription-labelled medication in the original packaging with clear directions for its use. The school may request an accompanying doctor’s letter for certain medications.

For more information visit the Department of Education website.

Every second counts around water

Be a super hero and help prevent children from drowning with some tips from Olympic swimmer Mitch Larkin in the latest Queensland Family and Child Commission water safety campaign.

Sadly, tragedy can strike in just a few seconds, so make sure you provide active supervision when your children are near water. Children should be in the direct line of sight of an appropriate adult at all times.

Children under five are most at risk and make up 82 percent of child drownings.

There are a number of steps you can take to keep children safe around water.

For more information visit the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

Matsuri Brisbane – Japanese Festival 2018

Brisbane Japanese community group, Seinendan Inc. is proud to bring the Japanese matsuri festival to Brisbane. Showcasing Japanese food and drink, cultural activities, performances and more! Save the date in your calendar to experience Japan at the Mount Gravatt Showground this September!

Join the Dots’ to keep children safe online

Bravehearts, in partnership with the Queensland Family and Child Commission, has launched a new online tool for children and young people to help police catch online predators.

Through the tool, children and young people can report suspected online grooming and help police ‘join the dots’ to identify and stop predatory behaviour.

We encourage you to have open conversations with your children about online safety and inform them of the tool to help keep all children and young people safe online.

Review of Naplan for students at home

The Queensland Government is undertaking a review of NAPLAN in the Queensland context, to better understand the impacts NAPLAN is having on learning and teaching within the state.

The first stage of the Review, conducted in June 2018, focused on consultation with parents.

The second stage is now underway, with consultation extending to students, teachers, principals and other key education stakeholders across Queensland.

Queensland students in years 3 to 10 are invited to provide feedback on their experiences with NAPLAN, via an online survey. Students wishing to participate will require the consent of a parent or carer, who can assist with completing the survey at home.

The survey link is available below.

This project has received ethical clearance from both the Australian Catholic University and the Department of Education. Further information on the student survey and the Review are provided within the survey link.

Hatchery Crusaders assemble!

Queensland Museum and World Science Festival Brisbane are calling for Queensland students to help raise awareness of the impact of pollution on marine ecosystems.

Under the guidance of Queensland Museum’s turtle expert, Patrick Couper, join the crusade and learn more about loggerhead turtles and the impact of ocean pollution.

Students can get involved by contacting 07 3716 2777 to register their interest and produce a piece of artwork reflecting their learnings about the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems. Finalist artworks will be showcased during the World Science Festival Brisbane in March 2019.

R U OK? — a simple question that could change a life

R U OK? Day on 13 September reminds us how to use four simple steps to make a difference to someone in need.

If you have a nagging feeling that someone you know or care about isn’t behaving as they normally would, trust your instinct and act on it. All you need is to follow four simple steps:

1. Ask
2. Listen
3. Encourage action
4. Check in

For more information, visit R U OK? Website.

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.

Lower School Sports Day

Wayne Daunt

The Prep – Year 3 school sports day will be held on Thursday September 20 on the school oval. All parents and family members are invited to attend and support their children on this day. A timetable for the day is listed below.

Please note that the prep and year 1 session is based on fun and participation with the children rotating around 10 different activities.

PROGRAM:

(Approximate times only)

9 – 10.30am

Rotational Activities for Prep and Year 1 Students

10.45am

LUNCH (Prep and year 1 won’t return after lunch)

11.30-1.10pm

YEAR 2 AND 3 EVENTS

Sprint races and relays
Yr. 2 Girls 60m sprint
Yr. 2 Boys 60m sprint
Yr. 3 Girls 60m sprint
Yr. 3 Boys 60m sprint

RELAYS

Year 2 Girls relay
Year 2 Boys relay
Year 3 Girls relay
Year 3 Boys relay

FINISH 1.15PM.

CLOTHING FOR SPORTS DAY

It is recommended that children wear their school uniform. All children must wear appropriate footwear. Sandals and thongs would not be suitable. Inappropriate footwear may prevent your child from competing.

Please ensure that your child/children have a hat and sunscreen.

Children also need to bring a water bottle, which is clearly marked with their name and class.

As the seating is limited parents are advised to bring a chair, but please avoid sitting on the finish line as the safety of our students may be jeopardised.

Finally we would like all children to remain seated with their class, and not to be returning back and forth across the track to parents.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

The music department has had an incredibly busy term! Last week we held the 2 day IM workshop which all of our instrumental students participated in. We had 10 tutors who worked with small groups of students to assist them with their parts and skills and students alternated between these tutorials and full ensemble rehearsals with their conductor. The concert culminated with a performance on Thursday afternoon for the school and members of the school community were invited to attend. I would like to thank all of our students for the huge effort they put in over the duration of the workshop and the tireless efforts of our teachers and conductors, Mrs Ruth Prout, Mr James Kukulies, Mr Steve Stiller and Mr Alex Grodecki. The performances at the concert showed the extent of skills and musicianship which students had further developed during the workshop, with fabulous performances from the all of our string and band students.

We cannot have an event like this run as successfully as it did without many people helping! I would like to thank our staff who assisted with the organisation, Mrs McKeaten, Mrs Nixon, Mrs Hynes, Mrs Mackie and Mr Dowling. I'd also like to acknowledge all of our staff who were very understanding of the incursion and music being played by some of our tutorial groups around the school. We are limited with our additional spaces so some of these were in outdoor areas. Amanda and Anne assisted us with ordering food via the tuckshop and helping to ensure we had all we needed for the workshop lunches which we were very appreciative of. There were also a number of parents who assisted us with serving our participating students the BBQ lunch and of course Chappy who cooked up a storm on the BBQ for the large group of students we had at the workshop. Thank you to the school community of staff, parents and students for your support to make this a successful event!

This Friday our year 6 Senior Choir students will be singing at the Uniting Church Arts Fest. Members of the school community are invited to attend. The performance will need permission slips returned so please either download these or ask your child to come to the music room for a note and slip. Due to time constraints we have been requested to have the year 6s sing only 2 songs, with the 4 students involved in the Yuggera Djarra-na song singing it as a special request and all of the attending students will sing one song together.

Thank you to the Junior Choir students I have been working with throughout this term. We have had 3 performances, including Milpera SHS, the fete and the Junior Assembly last week so it has been a busy time with many performance opportunities. Rehearsals will continue next week until the end of the term and resume again at the beginning of next term. We will also be working on some new songs for the upcoming performances and may choose a song from earlier this year which they have particularly enjoyed to sing at our end of year concert as well as new songs.

There are additional performances for the Junior and Senior Choir next term as well as the instrumental students. Please ensure these events are in your diaries as students thoroughly enjoy sharing the music they have been learning and songs they have been singing with their families!

Upcoming dates for music events:

• 7 September - Year 6 Senior Choir students to perform at the Graceville Uniting Church "Our World Art Fest" (please note only year 6 choir students are attending this due to the limited performance area) - permission slip required- members of the school community are invited to attend this event which starts at 10am
• 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
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

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

MARK YOUR CALENDAR - OUR BOOK WEEK DRESS UP DAY IS COMING!!

This year we will be celebrating Book Week with a whole school DRESS UP DAY!

On WEDNESDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER (last week of this term) students are invited to come to school dressed as their FAVOURITE (or any) STORY BOOK CHARACTER.

This will be a fantastic way to celebrate books and storytelling, and a great way to encourage reading for enjoyment, particularly for the upcoming September holiday break!

Please take the opportunity to talk to your children about their love of books, storybook characters they like, and reading for pleasure. Start planning and/or suggesting what characters they could possibly come dressed as. Persuade them to come up with something creative and imaginative! There is no need to hire or buy a costume.

BOOK WEEK DRAWING COMPETITION

Students are invited to enter the GSS BOOK WEEK DRAWING COMPETITION. Choose your favourite book character and get sketching!

GUIDELINES:

• Draw any book character : person, animal or thing
• Maximum Size is one standard A4 sheet of paper or cardboard
• Criteria for judging - Creativity and Effort; Prizes for the winners
• Entries must be handed in to the Library by FRIDAY 14 SEPTEMBER (end of Week 9)

Please put your full name, class and the character details on the back of your artwork/submission.

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

We have had such an exciting few weeks in this very busy Term 3. A wonderful fete, including some wonderful year level, orchestra and choir performances, successfully dodged the rain and last week’s Instrumental Workshop was another fantastic experience for our music students. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching our students grasp these opportunities to showcase their plentiful talent in all things musical. A huge thank you goes to all the teachers involved in preparing our students for their successes on stage.

Last Friday Interschool Sport commenced for year five and six students, so parents can expect some recounts of exciting finishes, impressive performances and good sportsmanship over the next 10 weeks. The opportunity for greater understanding of the game, refined skills and improved teamwork make Interschool Sport a very positive aspect of the school calendar.

Disco night last night, was a mash up of vibrant colours, popular tunes and some funky dance moves. It is a fun night and the money raised by the student council is well used to enhance the school experience. It is also an interesting learning experience for those senior students as they are involved in helping to organise, prepare and facilitate the event, under the helpful guidance of year six teachers of course. It is also a chance for parents to catch up and chat outside while their little darlings bust a few moves on the dance floor.

So, while music is on my mind, I thought it might be good to share this-

Have an awesome week!

John Erichsen
(Chappy)

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Interschool sports start this week, we have the Representative shirts in stock.

As of 1st July stores stopped providing free single use bags therefore the uniform store will no longer provide plastic bags so please make sure you bring your own if required.

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 beginning of this term 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 14th of September 2018

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS!

QUESADILLAS

Do you know what a Quesadilla is? Roughly translated it is a tortilla filled with cheese and any ingredients you can think of, folded and toasted or grilled.

We make a tasty vegetarian quesadilla special on a Wednesday. We fill a tortilla with kidney beans, corn, tomatoes and cheese, toast it and cut into triangles, served all for $5! It’s really tasty!! Try it next Wednesday.

Like to help in Tuckshop? Please email your availability to tuckshop.gss@gmail.com We would love to see you, and you will love seeing the smiling faces of all the kids! Come on in for just three hours a shift once a month or once a term. It’s so easy!

Graceville State School Tennis Coaching – Term 4

Before School, Lunch Time and After School Coaching will commence from Monday 8th October 2018.

Enrolments close by Monday 17th September 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 lunch time (1st Break) on Thursday 20th September 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

School Plus

Term 3 has been flying by, with only a couple more weeks until we enter our Vacation Care program. We have a lot of exciting days and activities planned, that we know the children will love! This week at School Plus one of the highlights and most popular activities was Jenga! We have had a couple of busy mornings where the children played Jenga all the way up until it was time for class. Red Slime at the end of the week was another popular activity, voted for previously by multiple children. Although its messy, the children absolutely love it! The children have also been enjoying the different craft activities each week. A sneak peek into next week’s program includes the Rainbow Noodles Sensory activity and Chalk Paintings.

Community Notices

Graceville Lightning Swim Club

It’s that time of year again where Graceville Lightning Swim Club is about to commence. Swim club runs each Friday night from the 1st week of Term 4 2018 through to the end of Term 1 2019 (except for school holidays). We would love to encourage new members to join. The fun kicks off at 6.00pmeach Friday with a free swim in the pool for the children followed by racing. Our club also runs a canteen and BBQ if you feel like a night off from cooking!

Our swim club is all about participation. It doesn’t matter if your child is not the best or fastest swimmer, it’s all about improving their own results. Children choose which strokes they compete in and the length of their race is determined by how fast they swim the previous weeks. If your child is new to Graceville Lightning and unsure about swimming they are able to each week, your child will swim against swimmers of similar ability to try to improve their personal bests. Children will also have the chance to compete to win Age championship or Club Championship.

We always welcome new members! If you are interested in joining Graceville Lightning, then please check out our website or contact one of our committee members:

• Carleen Clowes ( jnr_dolphin@gracevillelightning.org.au ) for new members under 8 or
• Heidi Marshall ( president@gracevillelightning.org.au )
• Annie Chand ( secretary@gracevillelightnng.org.au ) for more information.

Existing members will receive an email inviting them to renew their membership by Friday 6th of September. If you don’t receive this email, then please contact either Annie Chand or Heidi Marshall

For fun filled Friday evenings of swimming, join us at Graceville Lightning Swim Club on Friday nights starting 12th of October.