16 May 2019

Domain and email change

Please be aware that due to the upcoming domain name change our school website address is now:

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
• prepyear@gracevilless.eq.edu.au

From the Acting Principal

Lisa McKeaten

Week 4 nearly done - another big week for our school! Naplan is nearly finished. I am very proud of our students and staff this week. It has been great to see effective self-managers who demonstrate a high level of resilience and perseverance. I am confident that our students have done their best. Everyone seemed very calm, focussed and appeared to put in their best efforts. This is very pleasing to see. Thanks to all our staff (teachers, teacher aides and other support staff) who helped with the classes during Naplan this week.

Last week we had our huge Spell-a-thon assembly. Thank you to our P&C for organising and running the Spell-a-thon. Special thanks to Leanne Gordon for all your efforts (for the last time). All funds raised (approximately $14 000) will go towards resources for our school improvement agenda of ‘writing’.

Last week, at our P&C meeting, Belinda Martin presented the plan for the Wonder Garden which has been approved to go ahead in the next couple of months. ‘Everscapes’ have designed this fantastic garden. This garden design was inspired by last year’s Year 1 students as part of their inquiry unit. This garden will make a huge difference to our school environment and provide alternative learning spaces for classes to use. We are looking forward to seeing this project completed in the near future. I have attached the design for your information.

Thank you to Mrs Elliott and our Student Council members who organised the flowers for Mother’s Day last Friday. I saw many Mums with a flower on Friday morning. I am sure that it was appreciated by our Mothers. Don’t worry Dads – your turn will come around in September for Father’s Day. The Student Council usually give away chocolates to our Dads.

Now that the weather is getting a bit cooler, we are starting to see more jumpers being worn. Students should be wearing the school uniform (polar fleece jumper or Rugby shirt) in the school colours. Students also need to be encouraged to take their jumpers and other belongings home. We have an increasing amount of lost property in the hall!

Zoe will be back next week from her Canadian adventure. I am sure that she will have some good stories and experiences to share with us.

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Under 8s Fun Day

Our annual activity morning will be on Friday May 24. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun with our Prep, year 1 and 2 students. Let’s hope it is a sunny day! The theme for this year is ‘Celebrating diversity of languages within the home, culture and community’.

Our lower school students will then be having a performance in the hall on that day called “I am Me, You are You.” This live performance is aimed at helping build students’ personal and social capabilities:

• Recognise and regulate their emotions
• Develop resilience, persistence, confidence
• Embrace others’ differences and acceptance
• Develop their sense of self-worth, self-awareness and personal identity

We look forward to a great day!

Inbound Study Tour 2019

We will be hosting a Study Tour from Taiwan, from Minzu and Wenhau Elementary schools this year. The dates will be July 26 until August 10 for two weeks. Please as a family start to think about if you are able to offer a place to host one of these students. It is a rewarding opportunity. We are expecting a group of approximately 20 students with 2 tour escorts. If you are interested and able to host a student please return the expression of interest or email me a response at mhass10@eq.edu.au I will be holding an information session after school at 3pm in the Waratah room on Wednesday May 29. We need to shortly commence ‘blue card’ applications if parents don’t have one to be a host family. This is free and sent off at school. Please email me any questions that you may have about the study tour and hosting.

Waiting List for Prep 2020 – opened at the beginning of this term.

The waiting list for 2020 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.

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.

Date Claimer: Prep 2020 Information evening will be held in our school hall on Wednesday July 24 at 7pm.

Below is the calendar for term 2 Junior assemblies. Everyone welcome, we are on from 2.15pm on these Tuesdays in the hall.

Bronze Certificates have been handed out and students congratulated at Junior Assembly this week:

Prep: Henry C, Indigo W, Tilly N,

Year 1: Charlie M, Lachlan G, Oskar N, Levi H, Isabella B, Samantha W, Addison F, Amelia H, Mitchell H, Olivia C, Manya M, Frederick N, Elka B, Bridgette A, Isabelle B

Year 2: Archie G, Chloe W, Freya S, Kushi S, Maegan S, Isla M, Isabella S, Paige F, Ben T, Charlotte N

Well done to these students for being consistently safe, respectful and responsible!

Extra special congratulations to Silver Certificate recipients:

Ruby G, Charlie P, Brian T, Felix H, Benjamin D

Acting Deputy Principal

Tina Cousins

This week I have been visiting lots of classrooms and especially checking in with our NAPLAN year students. I noticed students being resilient and persevering through some challenging questions. I have also learnt more about Earth science from the year 4’s who have been able to explain concepts to me in real life context.

Writing

3BH has shown us an amazing example of purposeful writing. The class was keen to have an “Author’s Chair” in their classroom, to share and celebrate writing. They decided that they would like a nice comfortable chair, so they wrote to local companies using their persuasive writing techniques they have been learning. One local company read all their letters and were persuaded to donate a big comfortable chair for their classroom. It is so exciting for the students to see that writing is purposeful and how they can use their words and voice to persuade others.

School Photos – Thursday 13th June 2019

School Photo Day is on Thursday 13th June. Envelopes have been sent home with online ordering information. Envelopes should be returned to class teachers by 13th June. Please remember that Year 6 will have a whole year level photo at 8:45am. Students are asked to please wear their yellow school shirt and blue shorts/skorts or school dresses. House shirts should not be worn on photo day. Hair accessories and socks should be in school colours.

Human Relationships Education - Parent Information Night Years 4-6
Tuesday 25th June 2019

Notes will be sent home with students this week. Please fill out the bottom of the note and return to the class teacher or the office by Tuesday 25th June.

Notice of Tender for Tennis Courts

Notice is hereby given that Graceville State School is seeking expressions of interest for the non-exclusive use of its tennis court facilities for conducting tennis lessons/coaching services.

Interested parties are to contact the school office for information packs. Ph: 3716 2777.

The pack will be available from Monday 13th May 2019. The closing date for all quotes to be received at the office is Friday 24th May at 3pm.

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.

P&C Update

The P&C plays an important role raising funds from the school and broader community to invest in the learning resources and school environment our children enjoy. This all helps contribute to making Graceville the great school it is.

So far this year, the P&C has:

• contributed $18,000 for new laptops and iPads for classrooms
• committed $24,000 to help fund the exciting new Wonder Garden
• provided up to $15,000 to support chaplaincy at Graceville
• purchased a replacement air conditioner and the required safety cage for the school
• agreed to cover the costs of initial affiliation with Tennis Queensland’s Book-a-Court system and providing power to the tennis court gate
• committed to purchasing an additional powered speaker for use at school functions in the hall.

This contribution is only possible because of the generosity of the many parents and community members who each give a little, or a lot, of their time and financial support to the P&C.

If you would like to join the P&C and contribute to fundraising or stay up to date with what is happening around the school, complete the membership form attached and bring it with you to our next meeting. You can also put the form in the P&C mailbox in the office or email to: pandc@gracevilless.eq.edu.au.

The next P&C meeting is scheduled for 12 June at 7:30pm.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

Our music students are currently rehearsing for a number of upcoming performances. Please note the dates of these are listed below. Thank you for assisting your child/ren to arrive on time for rehearsals/lessons and with the appropriate equipment.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a choir rehearsal organised by the Benarrawa Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Solidarity group. This rehearsal (as advertised in last week’s Newsletter) was to learn two songs for the Sorry Day Ceremony on Sunday 26 May at 7am at the Sherwood Arboretum. There will be another rehearsal on Wednesday 22 May from 6 - 7pm at the Sherwood Uniting Church (corner of Sherwood Rd and Thallon St) which adults and children of all stages and abilities are welcome to join and to attend the Sorry Day Ceremony. One of the songs is a lullaby which has been written for this event by one of our local Elders, Gaja Kerry, in Yuggera language. We have been granted permission to share this song with you at our special NAIDOC assembly on Thursday 20 June. The Junior Choir will be performing it and Gaja Kerry will be present for this. As it is the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, we are very privileged to be able to share this song with you, which has been written by a local Elder, in Yuggera language and sung on Yuggera country.

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 once we receive it from the organisers 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 an 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. Students will come to the Sing Together Day, then return by bus in the afternoon. They will be asked to come to St Peters for the concert which is currently scheduled for 6:30pm. The Senior Choir will also be performing at the Junior Assembly on Tuesday 11 June prior to their St Peters performance.

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.

2019 Rehearsals Venue - Music Room

• Monday 7:45am - 8:30am Senior Choir (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 (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, then beginner strings will join these rehearsals later in the term) - Mrs Prout
• Wednesday 2:50pm - 4:00pm - Senior Band - Mr Stiller
• Thursday 7:45am - 8:30am Senior Strings - Mrs Prout

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 (bus leaves at 8:30am sharp)
• 18 June - Senior Choir evening concert at St Peters - 6:30pm (All Senior Choir students)
• 18 June - Beginner Strings Workshop (beginner students only - all day at Sherwood SS with a concert at approximately 2pm)
• 20 June - Junior Choir singing at the NAIDOC Assembly
• 24 August - Fete performances - Junior Band, Senior Band, Junior Choir and Senior Choir
• 28/29 August - Instrumental Music Workshop
• 29 August - Instrumental music concert at 2pm involving all IM students (no choir performances at this concert but all students who learn an instrument at school will perform at this concert with their ensemble)
• 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

Active School Travel

Walk Safely To School Day – Friday 17th May

Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD) is an annual, national event when all primary school children are encouraged to walk and commute safely to school. It is a community event seeking to promote road safety, health, public transport and the environment.

WSTSD promotes the important message that active kids are healthy kids. The event encourages parents, carers and their children to build regular walking to and from school into their daily routine. Children need a minimum of 60 minutes exercise per day. Encouraging less driving and more walking aims to decrease dangerous vehicle congestion around schools and reduce carbon emissions from idling cars.

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 Osborn 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 Rueberry 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

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster for week ending 24th of May 2019

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS!.

Like to help in Tuckshop? Please contact us by email to tuckshop.gss@gmail.com

Please note, the following is a drill, but would this situation cause your family concern?

TUCKSHOP WILL BE CLOSED TODAY DUE TO ILL HEALTH
PLEASE MAKE OTHER ARRANGEMENTS FOR YOUR STUDENT’S LUNCH.

We don’t want it to happen either but without a backup Tuckshop Convenor, it is a situation that could arise. We urgently need to recruit a backup Convenor so that this doesn’t happen. All our previous backup Convenors have left the school or no longer available.

This is a paid position, employed by the GSS P&C and would also include working as the backup Uniform Shop Convenor.

All training will be provided and as backup Convenor you would only be needed in an emergency.

If you would like to know more about this position or would like to submit an Expression of Interest in it, please email the GSS P&C at: pandcgraceville@gmail.com

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Uniform Store Roster

Cross Country Singlets

If you hired a singlet from the uniform store please could you return it, you will also receive your $5 deposit back.

Size 8 dresses are out of stock until the end of the year.

Size 12 Flinders shirts are now back in stock.

Size 8 gold polos are now back in stock.

We now have size 2 house shirts in stock.

We have school colour hair accessories, there are headbands, hair ties, bows and clips.

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 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

School Plus

We hope our wonderful families enjoyed the long weekend, with the Labour Day Public Holiday on Monday. Since our visit from Bunnings Warehouse last week, the children have been doing a fantastic job with their mini worm farms at home and have loved helping out with our large worm farm that we have onsite. There were a number of other activities the children thoroughly enjoyed this week including our weekly sensory activity which was Blue Noodles, lots of sporting activities including Soccer, Tug of War and Cricket and of course craft. Dance ribbons and Yoga mats were also a hit out on the oval! A sneak peak of next week’s program includes Kinetic Sand and lots of outdoor fun!