31 January 2019

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

Welcome to the 2019 school year! It was wonderful to see the bright and happy faces of the children returning for another year of learning!

I would like to welcome our new families as well as new teachers to the school. This year we welcome Ms Maw and Ms D’Silva to Year 1, Mrs McNeil to Prep and Mrs Weekes to Year 2. I am sure you will make all of our new families and teachers feel welcome.

The staff and I had a fantastic four days of learning on the Pupil Free Days last week. We focused on two main areas of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning - Inquiry and Writing. The staff are excited for the year ahead and were keen to put some of our new practices into place!

Over the next three weeks, Year 1 to Year 6 parents will be invited to attend a Parent Information Session with your child’s class teacher. I encourage you to attend these sessions as you will learn more about the class teacher and how the teacher intends for their classroom to function this year.

The school holds Whole School Assemblies at 2.15pm, each fortnight, in odd weeks (1,3,5,7,9). Each Whole School Assembly has a specific focus. We try and make the assemblies positive, fun and interesting for the students so they look forward to coming along. The first Whole School Assembly will be held on Thursday 14 February and will focus on the Self Manager Learning Asset. Mrs Martin always has great ideas for the assemblies and I am sure you would enjoy learning more about the Self Manager Learning Asset. We also present awards at Whole School Assemblies. The Random Acts of Kindness (aligned to the Peace Code) and Curiouser and Curiouser (aligned to being an Inquirer) Awards are presented to one child from each year level who has displayed the attributes associated with the award. We would love to see parents at our Whole School Assemblies so please consider coming along if you can.

Finally, don’t forget to follow the rules in the Drop and Go Zones each morning and afternoon. We do our best to manage the zones at peak times however do rely on parents to follow the rules and work with us to make sure peak times are safe for children. The zones on either side of the school are 2 minute zones. You must remain in your vehicle and try and be patient as cars gradually move through the zone. The 2 minutes applies once you are in the actual pick up zone i.e. the first three cars in the line. Once your 2 minutes in the pickup zone has passed, we do require you to move on so we can keep traffic flowing. We are sorry for this inconvenience however our main objective is to keep the children safe and part of that is ensuring fair and equitable timeframes for pick up. A teacher is on duty at the gate until 3.10pm so you could leave your pick up run a bit later to avoid the peak traffic at the bell time.

I hope you have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Welcome everyone to another school year. There are many excited young faces in the playground and classrooms eager for all the new experiences they are engaging in. Some children’s energy is waning come afternoon, so early nights and good nutrition is required, especially at this time of the year.

Our new Prep students have met their buddies and the buddies have been an invaluable help in orientating our new students to where everything is and feeling safe and confident in this new environment. Thank you and well done buddies.

Parents and care givers are all invited to join us for Junior Assemblies which will be held every second Tuesday afternoon from 2.15 in the hall. These assemblies will be for all Prep to Year 2 classes. Year 2 students have the opportunity to develop their skills of public speaking by taking turns in leading these assemblies and classes also take part presenting items for us all. We also like to recognise Birthdays and present awards to students from across all classes.

Below is the calendar for term 1 assemblies.

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

SMS Messaging Service – Absences

Our school uses an SMS messaging service to communicate to parents when children are not in attendance at school and no explanation has been provided by parents. We do use this service for important SMS messages as well, from time to time. It is an excellent way to get a message to the whole school or year levels etc quickly.

Process to follow:

• If your child is absent on any particular day, please call the absences line (3716 2760) early (night before or prior to 8am if possible)
• Absences line will be monitored up until 9.00am
• If you know in advance that your child will be away please let the office know (3716 2777) so we can “Explain the future absence”. Out of courtesy also let the class teacher.
• Teachers will mark rolls by 9.00am
• Late students after 8.45am parents to escort student to the office for a late slip
• After 9.00am we will send out the messages to parents who have a child absent (Unexplained)

Message will be from Graceville State School, “(Student’s Name) is absent from school today. Please contact the school on 3716 2777 or email sms@gracevilss@eq.edu.au"

Obviously there are sometimes technical issues which affect this process.

Absences line

Just a reminder that we have an absences line for your convenience if your child is away from school due to illness or any other reason. (3716 2760). Please ensure that if your child is sick or absent for any other reason you must inform the school and/or class teacher as soon as possible. If absences are not explained by parents then it will appear on your child’s report card as “Unexplained”.

If your family are planning an extended period away from school (more than 2 weeks) you must complete an application for “Exemption from schooling” which entitles you to return to school after the absent period. This application must be approved by the Principal.

Swimming

Swimming for Years 3/4BH & Yrs 4--6 will commence next week.

Years 1-3 will be taught swimming with Peter Geraghty and his coaches in an intensive program from Week 3-10 (8 weeks). Invoices and permission forms will be sent home this week. Please return the permission form prior to your child’s swimming day, to the class teacher. All invoices need to be paid by next Thursday 7th February. Please ensure that you have paid by the end of next week.

Urgent Medical information – Needs to be updated!

If your child has a Medical condition you, which requires an Action Plan ie. Anaphylaxis, Allergy or Asthma, you are required to update annually this with your child’s doctor. Any students who have Anaphylaxis or another /Allergic condition must have their details reviewed annually. Epipens must be up-to-date and cannot be administered if out of date.

If your child has any newly diagnosed medical condition please see the Admin staff in the office to update your child’s details. Please discuss any medical conditions with your child’s teacher as well so that they are well informed.

Money Matters

Anne Nixon

Student Resource Schemes (SRS) for 2019 are:

• Prep Requirements ($70)
• Reading Eggs for Prep ($25)
• 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 2, 3 and 4) ($6)
• Year 4/5 maths levy ($17.50)
• ESmart Digital Licence Yr 5 ($10)

This week, if you have students in grades 1 to 6, you will have received either one or multi maths resource forms. It would be greatly appreciated if these forms are returned to the office by Friday 8th February 2019. This will enable all parents to be invoiced by Friday 15th February 2019.

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.

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 2018 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

Welcome to a new year! We hope you all had a lovely holiday. This year Ms Julie West will be working at our school on Mondays and Tuesdays as a classroom music teacher and Senior Choir Conductor and my days will be Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and I will conduct the Junior Choir. Rehearsal details are included below for your information and a note will be sent home by week 2 for students interested in joining the choirs.

All of our instrumental teachers who worked with our students in 2018 will continue to work at our school this year, but there may be a change of teacher for some of our woodwind/brass students, as Mr Grodecki and Mr Kukulies both teach brass and woodwind. Timetables will be sent out or given to students as soon as IM teachers are able to organise them, hopefully by the end of week 1 and some students/parents have already received them. There has been a change to Mr Kukulies' timetable and he will be at our school on Tuesdays this year, so Junior Band rehearsals will be held on Tuesday mornings at 7:30am and they will start during term 2 (date TBA). Please note the days/times and starting dates of instrumental rehearsals below. All students in the IM program are expected to attend their ensemble rehearsals regularly as a member of the instrumental program and the email contacts of conductors are written below. Please contact your child's conductor if they are unable to attend a rehearsal or are experiencing any difficulties with their instrument/practice, as support at an early stage can often make a significant difference.

Instrumental music lessons will begin in week 2 with Mr Grodecki, Mrs Prout and Mr Stiller (with Senior rehearsals beginning the following week). Mr Kukulies' will begin lessons with students in week 3 as many of these students will require loan instruments which he will sort out during week 2.

We wish all of our students a great first week back to school and classroom music lessons and preparing for instrumental music lessons to start in week 2 or 3.

2019 Rehearsals Venue - Music Room

Music teacher contact details...

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

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

The library is once again off to a busy start - classes and borrowing began this week and the library staff would like to welcome everyone to visit the library.

We are also encouraging students to come in and borrow as often as they wish. Before school, during lunch breaks and after school.

Remember, children are required to have a waterproof, sealable library bag to borrow.

The library is open every morning from 8.15, at first break from 11.00 (for Year 1 & 2), second break from 12.55 (for Years 3 to 6) and until 3.15pm after school. Parents are always welcome to visit the library with their children at any time.

15, 057…that is the number of reasons to love our library! That is the number of regular print books on our shelves, and that does not even include big books, audio books, class readers, teacher resources or DVDs! However, a library’s value exists in more than just the books it loans out.

A library is a place to learn, to study, to hone your computer skills, to meet with other people or a place to just read and relax. It offers security and peace and quiet (most of the time!). All the services and resources through the library are free, which makes our library an invaluable resource to the school community.

Library Lovers' Month is an opportunity to celebrate libraries of all types. Most importantly though, this is a time to recognize the value of school libraries and remind everyone how much the children love our library and how important it is to their learning.

All month students will have many opportunities to share their love of our library.

REQUEST FOR VOLUNTEERS

Due to our ever-growing collection and circulation, the success of our library depends upon volunteers - the library staff would appreciate any extra help.

If you are interested in volunteering some of your time, the CONTACT CLUB may be for you. They meet in the library on the first Wednesday of the month between 8.45 am until 12 noon, and they welcome any new members who wish to help out. Morning tea is provided, as is any guidance or lessons on how to professionally cover library books/class readers, etc. If you are interested in coming along or helping out in the library, please come in and see us, or feel free to email the Contact Club Co-ordinator with your name and phone number.

Teacher-Librarian: Mrs Melanie Hutchinson
Library Aide: Ms Christine Barker

Guidance Officer

Kim Godson

Dear Families,

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself! My name is Kim Godson and I am a Developmental Guidance Officer at Graceville State School. I am at school Monday – Wednesday each week. I joined Graceville in Semester 2 last year as a beginning Guidance Officer. During my time, settling in it became apparent how close-knit and welcoming the Graceville community is, and I feel very lucky to be part of it!

As Guidance Officer, my primary responsibility is to promote the academic, career, and social/emotional development of all students. I look forward to offering support to the students, staff, families, and community of Graceville this year. I will be meeting with students individually and in small groups, meeting with parents, collaborating with teachers and staff, and consulting with community organizations to benefit and meet the needs of all Graceville students.

You may have noticed above that I put in bold and underlined the word, “all” students. There may be a perception that a guidance officer may only work with a select few students in a 1:1 counseling capacity, but that is not the case! Guidance Officers support the needs of all students in a school through many various ways, including those listed above. I am here to advocate for all students. If you ever have any questions or concerns, or just want to touch base and say hello, feel free to contact me through the office (3716 2777) or email me (kgods5@eq.edu.au) at any time.

I am so excited to work with your children and get to know you throughout the school year!

All the best,

Kim Godson
Guidance Officer

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

Chappy’s Chat

Welcome to 2019! It is an extremely exciting time of the year, filled with new experiences. New classrooms, new classmates, a new teacher and for some a new school. For our Prep families, it is a whole new world. With all these new and different surroundings comes incredible potential and opportunities to learn and grow. I trust the start of the year transition is a smooth one for you and your family. To the new families of Graceville State School, it is wonderful to have you join us and I trust you will build strong friendships as part of the school community. I look forward to getting to know you better as you journey through the primary school years.

Already, I have heard of some amazing holiday experiences and am sure that the break has been action packed for many. With children back at school, despite the school morning routines, I hope mums and care-givers can find a few minutes for themselves. Coffee with friends, a movie of your own choosing or just reading a good book with less interruption can be fitting rewards after all the holiday demands.

I hope your first week of school is exciting, positive and rewarding. So many smiling faces reveal many are glad to be back, with anticipation of what is to come. Embrace this energetic time of year and let it set you and your family up for a very successful 2019.

Have an awesome week!

John Erichsen
(Chappy)

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

Happy New Year and welcome back to a new school year!!

I want to give a big shout out to all the volunteers who helped with the prep selling day last week and for back to school this week, it has been extremely busy in the store so their help is much appreciated and needed!!

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

Year 6 Commemorative Shirts

All year 6 students are being given the opportunity to have a commemorative shirt. Gold polo shirts are screen printed with class lists on the back and house shirts can be printed for the house captains. You can purchase new gold shirts for $30 and house shirts for $35 from the uniform store or you can use your existing shirts but they have to be in good condition, no holes or pulls.

Printing costs are: $10 per gold polo and $15 per house captain shirt.

Special order forms and information sheets were sent home this week, if you haven't received one the order form and information sheet are attached below. The shirts will be ready by the end of March and will be handed out in the classroom, I will confirm the exact date later.

We have school colour hair accessories in store now.

As of 1st July 2018, 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, 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 teacher pigeon hole in the main office.

Email address for school uniform store is:

uniformstore@gracevilss.eq.edu.au

New volunteers would be greatly appreciated, it only requires you to be there from 8.15-9.00am on Mondays, Tuesdays or Fridays, if you think you could help out please send an email to the above address or just come to the store and have a chat.

Tuckshop News

Welcome Back.

Volunteers for week commencing Monday, 4/2

See you at the Tuckshop.

Anne and Emma
Email: tuckshop.gss@gmail.com

School Plus

Term 1 Swimming Program

Swim lessons will start at Graceville State School first week of Term 1 from Friday February 1st. Group lessons will begin the 2nd week of term from Monday February 4th. All students who have participated in the swim program will begin the term in the SAME ABILITY LEVEL as term 4 unless told otherwise when re-joining the program this term. During the course of the term, the coach may move students to different levels where appropriate.

To join the entry group class of, “Beginner Stroke Development" (BSD), children must be in Year 1 or older and be able to swim 25m freestyle non-stop. Any children not of this age or ability may enrol in private lessons on offer Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. To help me make this schedule I need an hour time frame to work with. This program is from 3 pm until 5:20 pm on Fridays and the Saturday program is from 8 am until midday. So if you want a Friday time slot you would say for example between 3 pm and 4 pm. It is impossible for me to give everyone a lesson straight after school so if you live nearby, maybe it is best to go home after school and return for the 4 pm until 5:20 pm timeframe. The best response I can receive is that you are available ANYTIME.

Spaces are limited, so to avoid disappointment, respond to this message asap with your preferred days and available times. I am unable to respond to email queries over the next week but am able to answer any question by phone (ph: 0432407442). Talk to me... Do not text. Call me to discuss all.

An attachment with the first draft of the schedule has been included in this message (you may need to scroll to the bottom). Information regarding the 3 levels of group/squad classes is contained in the attachment.

The scheduled program may change due to over demand or lack of demand for any particular class.

A terms and conditions agreement will be given to all the new students at their first lesson. This needs to be signed and returned no later than the 2nd lesson. Those who have enrolled previously do not need to complete a new agreement as the terms and conditions are unchanged and it is an ongoing agreement whilst participating in my Graceville swim school. Please advise if you would like another copy of the T's and C'c. Parents will be invoiced for the term once the program is settled.

Please send me ALL YOUR AVAILABLE DAYS and times and also days and times you are DEFINITELY NOT AVAILABLE. You will receive an email regarding your booking which will need to be confirmed by you before you join the program. Please forward this email to any friends or family who would be interested in joining the program. Everyone is welcome.

See you at the pool.

Pete Geraghty
0432407442

Graceville State School Tennis Coaching – Term 1

Before School, Lunch Time and After School Coaching will commence from Monday 4th February 2019.

Enrolments close by 9.00am on Friday 1st February 2019. 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 Monday 4th February 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

Community Notices