2 May 2019

Domain and email change

Please be aware that due to the upcoming domain name change our school website address is now available at the link below

This domain name will also affect email addresses so please ensure that the following email addresses are updated in your contact lists:

principal@gracevilless.eq.edu.au
admin@gracevilless.eq.edu.au
newsletter@gracevilless.eq.edu.au
pandc@gracevilless.eq.edu.au
bsm@gracevilless.eq.edu.au

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

I hope you had a great weekend!

Don’t forget Monday is a public holiday. Children do not come to school on Monday.

We welcome Ms Hass back from her exciting Italian adventure on Monday. I would like to thank Ms Byrne who has been Acting Deputy Principal in Maree’s absence. Meanwhile, I will be flying out to Vancouver to attend the Networks of Inquiry and Innovation Symposium. I will be attending as both a participant and a speaker. Our work on inquiry has caught the attention of the University of British Columbia who has two internationally recognised experts in the field of leading, teaching and learning through inquiry. Our work is still in its infancy; however, we are progressing very well and overseas colleagues are keen to hear our story so far. Mrs McKeaten will be the Acting Principal in my absence and Mrs Cousins will help out by taking on the role Acting Deputy Principal. We have a number of teachers wishing to learn the role of Deputy Principal and so we are trying to share the experiences around.

Thankyou to the parents who read the newsletter last week and provided lovely feedback on the student voice used to help persuade our community to help at the Fete. The children were so excited to see their ideas used as part of the newsletter. I was also very grateful to the parents who either contacted the Fete committee or myself to show their support for working at the Fete. We still need volunteers, though we are closer now to having a successful fete due to the increase in volunteers.

I would like to thank Mr Daunt, the teachers and the many parents who chipped in to help at the Athletics Carnival on Monday. The children love attending UQ to use the athletics field and equipment.

The P&C meeting is next Wednesday 8th May. The meeting will be held in the Waratah room from 7.30pm. If you are interested in seeing the plans for our Wonder Garden (planned to be constructed in the June/July holidays), we have a 3D movie to show and we would love your feedback and support for more funding to consider widening the scope of work to include the front entrance of the school (Acacia Avenue). It will look amazing!

I hope you have a great week,
Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Acting Deputy Principal

Kerrie Byrne

It has been wonderful to be able to visit classrooms this week. I have noticed that children are settled and focussed on learning. It was great to see how many students were awarded their Bronze certificates this week for receiving twenty Gotchas. Students are demonstrating their ability to be safe, respectful and responsible.

Star Wars

This Friday students (and teachers) will be able to dress up in Star Wars themed costume. May the Fourth falls on a Saturday this year and so students are encouraged to dress up and actively travel to school on Friday 3rd May. Before school, students are welcome meet in the quadrangle for a photo. I will be wearing my Star Wars costume too and I look forward to seeing all of the students there.

Under 8s Day is fast approaching on 24th May. It is a time to celebrate early childhood education. Teachers are busily preparing some exciting activities for the students. More information will be provided by classroom teachers and in upcoming newsletters.

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.

Junior Assemblies

Below is the calendar for term 2 assemblies.

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

NAPLAN testing (Years 3 & 5) 14, 15 & 16 May 2019

On Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 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 assessed include reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. These tests are completed here at school and are considered just another aspect of assessing 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. If you have a child in Years 3 or 5, please ensure that they are in attendance during NAPLAN week in May. Please avoid booking holidays or appointments during those days. If appointments need to be made, try to plan them for afternoons. All testing will be completed by 12.45pm. 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.

Trivia Night

Please find attached the booking form for this year’s Trivia night, it promises to be a great night filled with music and fun. Please note that this year we are asking for a team song to accompany your table theme so please take the time to think of a great song.

If you cannot fill a table, some tables may need to be merged to accommodate numbers. Team captains will be contacted if this needs to occur.

We are asking for forms to be returned by Monday 20th May but we only have a maximum of 25 tables so get in early. Please return the forms via email to nicolaplayle@gmail.com or pop them into the office at school.

Payment via Direct Deposit is preferred if possible.

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)

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. We will be starting to send Term 2 accounts next week.

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

Thank you to music students who have been consistently prepared for their lessons and rehearsals. Please ensure your child/ren are aware of their lesson time. If you do not have an updated timetable please contact your child's instrumental teacher and request one. It is also important for students to arrive on time for their lessons and rehearsals. We greatly appreciate the assistance of parents and families with this.

Due to the public holiday on Monday, the Senior Choir will be rehearsing on Tuesday at first break in the music room, next week.

The Beginner Strings have been invited to attend a workshop at Sherwood State School on Tuesday 18 June. This will be for beginner string students only. Further information will be provided soon but we will be requesting parents to drop their children at Sherwood State School for the workshop and collect them at the end of the day. The workshop will include a concert (at Sherwood State School) at approximately 2pm which parents and members of the community are welcome to attend.

The Senior Choir will be attending the Sing Together Day at St Peters on Tuesday 18 June and evening concert. A letter will be provided to students closer to this event, but please note the date as it also includes an evening concert at St Peters (on Tuesday 18 June). We need all Senior Choir students to attend to make the most of this exciting performance opportunity so we ask families to ensure students are able to attend. The Senior Choir will also be performing at the Junior Assembly on Tuesday 11 June prior to their St Peters performance. If any students would like to join one of our choirs, please check the link below for further information.

The Junior Choir will be performing at the special NAIDOC assembly on Thursday 20 June. Details of the assembly starting time will be provided once it has been finalised.

Please contact your child's instrumental or choral conductor if they are not able to attend a rehearsal (email contacts are listed below) or if they are experiencing any issues with their lessons.

Next week the percussion lessons and Senior Band will resume lessons/rehearsals as usual. Thank you for your understanding with the change last week.

2019 Rehearsals Venue - Music Room

Monday 7:45am - 8:30am Senior Choir (beginning in week 3 on 11 February) (year 4,5 and 6 students) Ms West
Tuesday 7:30 - 8:30am - Junior Band (starting in term 2 on 21 May) Mr Kukulies
Wednesday 7:45am - 8:30am - Junior Choir (beginning in week 3 on 13 February) (year 2 and 3 students) Mrs Lindh
Wednesday 10:45am - 11:25am - Beginner/Junior Strings (starting in term 2 with junior string students only on 1 May, with beginner strings joining them later in the term) Mrs Prout
Wednesday 2:50pm - 4:00pm - Senior Band (beginning in week 3 on 13 February) Mr Stiller
Thursday 7:45am - 8:30am Senior Strings (beginning in week 3 on 14 February)

Music teacher contact details...

Alex Grodecki - agrod3@eq.edu.au (at Graceville Thursdays)
Ruth Prout - rprou5@eq.edu.au (at Graceville Wednesdays and Thursdays)
James Kukulies - jkuku2@eq.edu.au (at Graceville Tuesdays)
Steve Stiller - sstil2@eq.edu.au (at Graceville Wednesdays)
Julie West - jwest269@eq.edu.au (at Graceville Monday/Tuesday) Naomi Lindh - nclos1@eq.edu.au (at Graceville Wednesday/Thursday/Friday)

Important dates to note...

11 June - Senior Choir singing on Junior Assembly
18 June - Senior Choir attending St Peters Sing Together Day and evening concert
18 June - Beginner Strings Workshop (beginner students only - all day at Sherwood SS with a concert at approximately 2pm)
24 August - Fete performances - Junior Band, Senior Band, Junior Choir and Senior Choir
28/29 August - Instrumental Music Workshop - concert 29 August at 2pm involving all IM students
13 November - Annual Music Concert 6pm - all choral and instrumental music students will be performing at his concert
27 November - Grandparents' Concert - students in the Junior Choir, Senior Choir and Senior Strings will perform at this concert for their grandparents'/special guests Thank you for supporting our music program.

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator (Wednesday - Friday)
Graceville State School

Tuckshop News

Can you help? We need some extra volunteers for this term.

Our current empty spots are:

Tuesday, 14/5/19
Friday, 31/5/19
Thursday, 6/6/19
Tuesday, 11/6/19

Active School Travel

Welcome back! We hope that you all enjoyed the holidays. Please take note of your speed when travelling around the school and especially on Oxley Road. Remember 40 KM PH during 7-9am and 2-4pm on School days!

2 Minute Drop Off/Pick Up Zones

(Acacia Avenue – near front gate & Park Road – near back gate)
How they work?

The sign says 2 mins.

If you are one of the 3 cars at the start of the line you need to move on and go around the block if your child isn’t at the car after being in this position for 2 minutes. Please be mindful of others in this line and move on as fast as possible.

Only the first three cars are to have children exit or enter the car. The rest must wait until these cars have moved on, then move up to the front of the zone and stop. Then your children should enter your car.

The driver is not to leave the car at any time while in this line. Helping get bags out of the boot is OK – but having a conversation with other drivers, walking parents or going into the office is not acceptable and disrupts the flow of traffic.

It is not acceptable to move up on the right hand side past waiting cars to park up ahead of waiting cars. Be patient and wait your turn.

Wait for the car in front to move forward first, or leave the line.

Do not park over the safe crossing area or driveways at any time.

Please don’t encourage your children to disregard the instructions of staff on duty. e.g. calling them to enter your car when you are not one of the first 3!

We need you!!!!!

We are very lucky to have the year 5 students involved in Active Travel this year and Mrs Hornstra, Mr Guthrie and Mr Osbourne do an amazing job each week with organising the students to ensure that passports are stamped and the AST messages are delivered on assembly (and many other tasks too numerous to list). Without their support this program would not be the success that it is.

The Active School Travel committee is very “Active’ in our community. We have great support from Councillor Nicole Johnston and Michelene Doray, who is the Project Manager for AST in the BCC. Mrs Hornstra and Mrs McKeaten from the school and Paul Ruberry as well as myself. We would like to adopt the P&C model of having someone “Learning the role” from me this year. This person would attend our once or twice a term meetings and do the newsletter article each week as well as attend any school events, if possible. You would be very well supported in the committee if you were interested. We are always after fresh ideas. If you are interested in talking to me about this, please email Jo at sajrichards@iinet.net.au or come along to our next meeting at 3pm on Thursday 9th May in the Waratah Room.

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Uniform Store Roster

Year 6 Commemorative Shirts

The shirts came back from the printers and were delivered to the classrooms Friday last week.

Cross Country

If you hired a singlet from the uniform store, please don't forget to return it to receive the $5 deposit back.

Size 12 Flinders shirts are out of stock.

We now have size 2 house shirts in stock. By the end of this term everyone should know which house they are in.

We have a new delivery of hair accessories. There are headbands, hair ties, bows and clips all in the school colours.

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 in but can you please make sure that all items are washed and in a good 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 address below. 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

School Plus

Welcome back to Term 2 to our wonderful families and friends. We hope you all had a fantastic break and Easter! With the Easter Monday and Anzac Day Holiday, it was quite a short week; however, the children were still eager for Term 2 and excited to catch up with friends and share holiday stories. On the first day back at School Plus, there was still much talk about Holidays, particularly Vacation Care adventures! With the two week break the children were well rested and very energetic.

This term, each year level continues to program their own activities during afternoon tea discussions for BSC and ASC and chose a number of different activities including, ANZAC Day pictures and Crazy Face Masks for craft, Tug of War and Lego, just to name a few. School Plus have many exciting things planned for Term 2 including, a visit from Bunnings Warehouse staff to build our Worm Farm and a Senior Club for our 4-6 age group that entails many senior privileges along with some responsibilities as our leaders. Our garden that was created by the children in Term 1 has also been flourishing and is looking fantastic. We are looking forward to another term and to watch and support the children continuing to grow and excel as unique individuals.

Community Notices