6 June 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 Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

The Trivia Night was a great fundraising success with the P&C raising over $10,000! It was a big night with over 30 teams who all got into the spirit by dressing up and decorating their tables. I would like to thank the P&C, organising committee and all volunteers who helped on the night or as part of the clean up the next day.

Our students and teachers are deep in final assessment and report card writing mode. Due to the huge additional outside hours’ workload for teachers at this time, I appreciate your understanding if teachers take a bit longer than usual to respond to you or are less available outside normal school hours. All Report Cards are due to school Administration for proofreading by Monday 17 June and so teachers will be back to their usual availability from that week. Report Cards will be emailed home on Wednesday 26 June.

As stated in last week’s newsletter this year our school will be taking part in a Quadrennial Review. As we are in a review year again, we will be seeking your feedback in a range of ways throughout the rest of the year. The first phase of our 2019 review will be to celebrate our success from the past four years. In order for us to do this, we will be seeking feedback from students, families and staff. By now, you should have received an electronic and hard copy invitation to provide feedback, which will help us to celebrate our success from 2016 to 2019. We hope you will be able to take the time to reflect on our progress in laying the foundations for inquiry learning and trying to nurture the learning assets and dispositions for lifelong learning. Please return you feedback to the school in the next couple of weeks.

The annual Lap-a-thon will be held on June 19. The event will be held on the school oval with each year level assigned 20 minutes to complete as many 220m laps as possible. Children may walk, run or jog the course to complete their laps. Children are encouraged to seek sponsors for each lap completed. The money will be used to support the Chaplaincy program at Graceville. All children are welcome and encouraged to take part in the Lap-a-thon regardless of the families’ choice to support the fundraising aspect of the Lap-a-thon. The Chaplaincy committee will be sending out more specific information and sponsorship forms very soon.

I would like to thank the thirty children who expressed an interest to be part of an exciting opportunity to inquire into the importance and significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and Peoples and their long and standing connection to country and place. We are also grateful for the help of Yuggera Elder Gaja Kerry Charlton and members of the community, who are willing to work with us on this inquiry. Our inquiry will officially start next week!

Don’t forget school photos are next Thursday. Children need to wear the yellow and blue school uniform on photo day. Please do not wear house shirts to school that day.

Finally, the next P&C meeting will be held Wednesday June 12 at 7.30pm.

Have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Use of communication devices at school

As technology gets smarter and smarter, we need to put checks and measures in place to ensure the safety of all users and students at our school. It is our school’s policy that all devices including ‘Smart’ watches that can make/receive a call, send/receive a text and take a photo be handed into the office on arrival at school and collected in the afternoon before a student leaves. This is to ensure that no student has a photo taken of them or their voice recorded without permission and teacher’s knowledge on a private device. If this is done during class time it could also interfere with the learning of others. Thank you for ensuring that your child is aware of this policy and doesn’t bring a device to school or hand it in at the office in the morning on arrival.

Inbound Study Tour 2019

Thank you to the families who have come forward to offer a homestay place for a visiting student on our inbound Tour this year. We had a meeting last week to look at what is required, if you are interested and able to host a student and haven’t let me know yet, there is still time. Please email me at mhass10@eq.edu.au if you have any questions too. The visiting group from Taiwan will be at our school from July 26 through to August 10. If you have a family profile please send them into school or require a blue card application sent away, please complete as soon as possible.

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 Claimers:

Prep 2020 Information evening will be held in our school hall on Wednesday July 24 at 7pm. All welcome to attend to hear more about our school, programs in Prep and the enrolment process in preparation for next year.

Get Set for Prep session 1: Tuesday October 22, 9 – 10:30am. Focus on Fine Motor Skills

Get Set for Prep session 2: TBA, Introduction to Speech and Language Development by School Speech Language Pathologist, 9 - 10:30am

Get Set for Prep session 3: Monday November 11, 9 - 10:30am, Focus on Reading

Prep Orientation meetings: Thursday November 28

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

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

School Photos – Thursday 13th June

School Photos are coming up next week. The day will start with sibling photos in the hall. At this stage they will start at 7.30am. This may need to be earlier depending on the number of photos ordered. A message will be sent out next Wednesday if there are any changes to the starting time. The online ordering of sibling photos will close at midnight on Tuesday 11th June.

Parents are asked to line up at the hall with their GSS students for photos. They can only take photos of current GSS students in the sibling photos. Parents are solely responsible for supervision of their children at all times prior to 8.40am. The photos will be completed by 8.45 or earlier, so there is not disruption to the school day.

For the class photos, we will start with the Year 6 cohort at 8.45am. Please ensure that your Yr 6 child is here well before 8.45 and goes straight to the hall. There will be two group photo set-ups on the day. They will also be doing the individual photos straight after the class photo.

For the students & classes to look their best we ask that you send your child in their school uniform – only the yellow school shirt. The uniform dress is also appropriate. Pants need to be one of the blue uniform options. For jewellery, there should only be watches, sleepers or studs worn at any time at school. Hair accessories should only be yellow or blue. Jumpers will be taken off prior to all photos.

I have attached the schedule in case your child is not well on the day and you wish to bring them in to get their photo taken.

Business Manager

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. Please note that there are a few Term 3 excursions that need to be paid before the end of Term 2.

We will be sending statements home next week. If you have a credit on your account and would like to apply it to any outstanding invoices please contact the office. We cannot automatically apply any credits to invoices without parent authorisation.

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:

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

Please note the planned performance dates listed below. We appreciate your assistance ensuring your child to arrive on time for rehearsals and lessons and with the appropriate equipment. Although we have heaters in the music room, with the high ceiling it takes time for the room to warm up so I would suggest that students coming to morning rehearsals wear a jumper.

The Beginner Strings are looking forward to attending a workshop at Sherwood State School on Tuesday 18 June. This will be for beginner string students only - these are students who started learning a string instrument at our school this year. We are 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 2pm which parents and members of the community are welcome to attend. Thank you to the students who have returned their permission slips. Please find a link to the note and ensure it is signed and returned ASAP.

The Senior Choir will be attending the Sing Together Day at St Peters on Tuesday 18 June and an evening concert. There is a link below to the letter. 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 that is currently scheduled for 6:30pm. We need all Senior Choir students to attend to make the most of this exciting performance opportunity and to represent our school, so we ask families to ensure students will be at the evening concert. The Senior Choir will also be performing at the Junior Assembly on Tuesday 11 June prior to their St Peters performance. Thank you to the students who have returned their permission slips. Please find a link to the note and ensure it is signed and returned ASAP.

The Junior Choir will be singing at our special NAIDOC assembly on Thursday 20 June. Please note that this assembly begins at 9:00am.

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 - 9am
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

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

State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP) experience by Chloe R

I participated in the SHEP program from 31 May - 2 June after completing a successful audition. Students from 127 schools in South East Queensland were involved in this program. There was one conductor, Robyn Rosewarne, and we preformed four pieces at the final concert - Diamond Jubilee by Jeremy Doss, Danza del Fuego by Robert W Smith (a Spanish song), Jungle dance by Brian Balmage and To Realms of Endless Days by Johnnie Vinson. We rehearsed together and had to start by sight-reading really challenging pieces. The conductor gave us ten different pieces to sight-read and play but chose to do only the four best pieces at the concert. It was a wonderful experience and I had the opportunity to hear instruments I do not often hear, including the French horn and the bassoon. I met many new people in higher grades than I am. It was super fun because all the pieces were different to those I usually play and it was a new experience. It was tiring because we had to do hours and hours of playing music but it was all worth it at the end. I hope next year more people come to represent Graceville SS in SHEP because it was such a great experience for me.

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE 2019

Literacy is at the heart of a student’s ability to learn and succeed – at school and for life. An enjoyment of books not only encourages an active imagination but also allows the reader to learn about their world and develop literacy skills.

The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) aims to improve children's literacy, cultivate a passion for literature and encourage children to read widely for pleasure and learning.

That is why every student is encouraged to participate in this year’s 2019 Premier’s Reading Challenge. The Challenge is open to students in Prep to Year 6 and is running from 13 May until Friday 23 August 2019.

The Premier is challenging every child from Prep to Year 2 to read or experience 20 books, Years 3 and 4 to read 20 books and Years 5 and 6 to read 15 books.

Student Reading Record Sheets are being handed out during library time to all students. Children who take up the challenge and read the required number of books will receive a signed participation certificate from the Premier herself. Schools with 100 per cent participation will be in the running for numerous lucky draw prizes.

Please ensure your child keeps a record of every book they read or experience. Books may selected from the school library, the local library, home or reading resources at school.

I hope many students will join in on this wonderful journey of reading and learning!

Melanie Hutchinson
Premier’s Reading Challenge Coordinator
Teacher Librarian

Contact Club

The last Contact Club for the term will be on Wednesday 19th June, so please pop it in your diaries!

The library has heaps of classroom books that have recently arrived to be covered, so we are hoping for as many volunteers as possible, so that the children can start using these in class.

We’d love to see you after school drop off or reading groups, even if you only have a spare half hour, it’d be greatly appreciated!

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster for week ending 14th of June 2019

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS!

Flu season, as you know, is already here and it is taking its toll on our volunteers. Extra backup at this time of year would be most welcome and absolutely necessary if we are to continue to get lunches out on time. Would you like to help in Tuckshop and become one of the fabulous volunteers at GSS? Please contact us by email to tuckshop.gss@gmail.com and we will find you the perfect spot on our roster.

We have 2 new items on our menu:

• Whole Mandarins, and
• Blueberry Muffins.

The Orange and Poppyseed muffin wasn’t as popular as the Apple and Cinnamon so we’ll try something new. Still made by Carolin at mbC, one of our school mums. She makes the Bretzels and the Fruit Buns. See if you can tempt your kids to try them.

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

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.

Stock Update

We will be getting new girls long pants in royal blue at the beginning of June.

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

Size 4 and 8 track pants are out of stock, more coming next week.

We have size 2 house shirts in stock.

School colour hair accessories are available; 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

P&C Update

Trivia – thank you!

A big thank you to Nicola, Jocasta and the Trivia team for a fabulous night on Saturday! Trivia Night 2019 was a great success with a record number of people attending.

Thank you also to Lisa and Bernie McKeaten for the trivia questions which took us back to the ‘90s for a night, and to Zoe, Maree and all of the staff for taking your Saturday night to help make it a great night. We’re also grateful you take us seriously again when turn up at school the following week.

We’re really very lucky to be part of a community that can come together for a fun night like this and it’s important to remember, especially at the event, that it is our neighbours and our children’s teachers and their classmate’s parents who have organized it and made it happen amidst their own family, work and community commitments. We can all appreciate the enormous effort it takes.

The night was in great spirit, but we must also be mindful of our behavior - behavior under the influence and behaviour in a public place. Part of this great community is the level of maturity and respect we show each other. This is important to remember at future events.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the P&C is on Wednesday 13 June at 7:30pm in the Oxley Room.

Some items to be discussed at the next meeting will include updates on:

• Voluntary Contributions
• The Wonder Garden and school entrance project
• The tennis court and pool tender process

The Principal also provides a report at each meeting which is a valuable source of information about what is happening at school.

All parents are welcome and can join the P&C. Membership forms will be available at the meeting.

Voluntary Contribution

Voluntary contributions keep rolling in! Thank you to the families who have made a contribution in the previous week.

Payments have now been received for about 30% of students at Graceville State School.

This is a great achievement in only a couple of weeks.

If you haven’t already, please consider making a Voluntary Contribution of $100 per student (or your preferred amount). Seventy-five percent of this money contributes to purchasing technology resources for our children to use at school.

More information about the Voluntary Contribution Scheme is available in the letter attached.

School Plus

Week 6 at School Plus was filled with many exciting games and activities. The children loved helping with making Milo Balls for afternoon tea. They are an easy to make, bite size snack that are thoroughly enjoyed by the children. This week’s highlights included Recycled Creations, Sensory Slime in the Quad, Clay Creations and Gym Mats. With the School Term already half way through and coming close to an end, there has been much discussion about Vacation Care. Keep an eye out for our program that will be out very shortly and don’t forget to book nice and early for the early bird special! Homework Club also starts on Monday in week 7 at ASC and will occur weekly from then on, each Monday, be sure to sign your children up!

Community Notices

Early bird registration is now OPEN for our 4th annual CTK FUN RUN/WALK!!

This is a family fun event taking place at Simpsons Playground, Graceville on 28 July.

To date our events have been SELL OUTS so don't miss this opportunity to book your tickets.

PLUS when registering during the early bird period one lucky participant is guaranteed to win a free month membership Goodlife Health Clubs Graceville including access to a personal trainer!!

You have until Midnight June 30 to secure your Early Bird entry which includes:

• Free entry into Goodlife membership draw
• Free prizes for all entrants
• Race Bib with Timing Chip
• Water stations on course
• Recover station post race
• Access to professional photos
• All at 2018 prices (family entry increases to $45 upon closure of early bird registration)

There are three different races to enter -:

• The Athlete's Foot Indooroopilly Junior Dash
• Fitter Futures 2km
• Place Graceville 5km

No matter if this is your first ever fun run, or you're running the 5km, the CTK FUN RUN is an event for all ages and fitness levels.

Visit -:

To book now!!