14 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,

It is amazing to think there are only two weeks to go until the Winter holiday break!

As part of Phase 1 of our school review, we are hoping parents can provide appreciative 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. A hard and electronic invitation asking parents to provide feedback were sent home early last week. Only a small number of people have responded so far and we would love a wider response. We hope you can help us!

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.

Next Friday will be my last day of work this term. I will be heading off to spend time with my husband’s family in Denmark, my sister and her family in England and as a special treat, attend the Formula One British Grandprix. I will return in week 2 of Term 3. Ms Hass will be the Acting Principal in my absence and Ms Cousins, the Acting Deputy Principal.

Finally, all families are welcome to join us at our NAIDOC day assembly next Thursday at 9am.

I hope you have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Technology Update

This week we have ordered 24 new iPads with covers and charging stations from voluntary contributions. This is great, more contributions that come in will be spent on purchasing new laptops for students to use in classrooms.

Inbound Study Tour 2019

We have now been informed that 12 students and 2 staff members will be visiting us from Wenhua Elementary School in July. This is a reduced number to past tours and we have more than enough Graceville families who have volunteered to host a girl, however we now require more families who might be able to host a boy please. EQI’s rule is that a boy needs to be hosted by a family who has other boys present in the home. If you have any questions or might be able to help us please let me know as soon as possible please. 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: Monday October 28, 9 – 10:30am. Introduction to Speech and Language Development by School Speech Language Pathologist

Get Set for Prep session 3: Tuesday November 12, 9 - 10:30am, Focus on Reading

Prep Orientation meetings: Thursday November 28

Below is the calendar for remainder of 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: Dariush S, Tom A, Annabelle M, Charlotte B, Bess G
Year 1: Tara K, Elsa P, Jiya B, Dylan M, Harrison W, Andrew D
Year 2: Dylan K, George W, Nicholas B, Evalyn M, Eleanor M, Eleanor N, Lachlan F, Lacey M

Extra special congratulations to Silver Certificate recipients:

Dante G, Hugo G, Sophie D

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

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

2020 Anzac Prize: entries now open

The 2020 Premier’s Anzac Prize is an exciting opportunity for students in Years 8–11 to travel overseas and learn about Anzac history. Destinations include London, Belgium and France, and most travel costs are funded.

This program is proudly delivered by the Department of Education in partnership with RSL Queensland.

Applications are open to all students, not just those studying history subjects.

How school communities can be friendlier (and much more)

Read how one Queensland mum and soon-to-be teacher stumbled on a great way to break down barriers in school communities. The latest Tippaper, Triple P’s free newspaper for parents, also includes quirky family festivals, details on free positive parenting support, and lots more. Read more at the Triple P website.

My Amazing Body

Ever wanted to know why hitting your funny bone isn’t so funny? Or how much can a newborn baby really see, and what’s the best way to take care of your gut bacteria? A new Queensland Health podcast explores interesting, unknown and misunderstood parts of the human body. My Amazing Body features interviews with medical experts and stories from real Queenslanders and all the content is family friendly.

Grants available to address cyberbullying

As parents, carers and teachers know, bullying of any kind can have a terrible effect on our students, and cyberbullying is especially damaging.

We are committed to preventing and responding to online bullying, but we can’t do it alone.

We’d like you, in our amazing school community, to talk to your young people. Ask if they’d like to be part of educating people, raising awareness and keeping others safe online.

Grants of $500 to $1500 are available for young people to put their great idea into action for address cyberbullying in their community.

Get creative. The idea can be anything you believe will address cyberbullying such as designing a game or animation, making a short video, or recording a song — either on your own, or with a group of friends.

Applications close at midnight Sunday 23 June.

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:

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.

Notice of Quote for Swimming Pool

Notice is hereby given that Graceville State School is seeking offers for the non-exclusive use of its swimming pool facilities for conducting both school and private lessons/coaching services.

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

The pack will be available from Monday 17th June 2019. A site visit is scheduled for Thursday 27th June 2019 at 10.00am at Graceville State School, 23 Acacia Avenue, Graceville. Please register your attendance by 2.00pm on Thursday 20th June 2019 by emailing Lee Mackenzie (Administration Officer) lmack77@eq.edu.au

Offers for this quote are to be received at Graceville State School Administration Office by 3.00pm on Tuesday 16th July 2019.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

Thank you to our students and families who are continuing to ensure they attend rehearsals and lessons throughout the winter months. It is important that students attend lessons and rehearsals regularly, unless they are unwell. Please let your child's conductor know if your child is sick and unable to attend a rehearsal (email contacts are below).

The Beginner Strings workshop is being held 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 students are 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 need to be at Graceville SS bus shelter, near the music room, by 8:20am sharp. They will then return to school by bus in the afternoon, arriving between 2:50-3:00pm. They will be asked to come to St Peters for the concert which 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. 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 and will go for approximately 45 minutes.

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 - 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)

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

LIBRARY NEWS - REGIONAL READERS CUP COMPETITIONS

This week two teams of Year Five and Six students will represent Graceville State School in two different Readers Cup Competitions.

On Tuesday 11th June, Tom, Indigo, Maria, Jasper and Tara will compete in the Regional Readers’ Cup organised by the Children’s Book Council of Australia held at St Augustine’s College, Augustine Heights.

Thursday 13th June will see the annual Readers Cup Competition organised by the Corinda Teacher Librarian Network take place at Brookfield State School. Sandy, Hugh, Zoe, Jude and Sarah have formed a team to compete.

Students in both teams have read (and re-read!) the allocated books in preparation for the competition and will be required to answer a number of challenging questions about each book.

They have all studied very hard and put in so much extra time and effort. We wish them all the best! Good luck to each and every one of these students.

Watch this space for the competition results next week.

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

Thankfully, the icy winds of last week have eased and the temperatures this week is far more pleasant. There is still a chill in the morning air before the day warms up. This does lead to lots of jumpers being removed during the day. Most are collected but some do slip through the net, winding up in lost property. Having jumpers and other items named greatly aids in them finding their way home.

Next Thursday we celebrate NAIDOC Day which will be an exciting opportunity for all to learn about and experience some aspects of the amazing culture of our first Australians. I am sure those who immerse themselves in the activities will be far richer for having done so.

Our Senior Choir students are also getting excited about their “Sing Together” workshop and performance next Tuesday. This day of intensive training is a wonderful opportunity and the students gain so much from participating in this event. A huge thanks goes out to our music teachers for their efforts with our budding singing stars.

Have an awesome week!

John Erichsen
(Chappy)

Lap-a-thon

LAP-A-THON 2019 Wednesday June 19th n

6 more sleeps to go!!

It’s LAP-A-THON time on Wednesday 19th June! Lap-a-thon is the main fundraising event for Chaplaincy and designed to be a fun activity for our children. Last week the LAP-A-THON 2019 sponsorship forms and information note were sent home. If your family has not received these yet, please see attached or ask at the office for spares. Students are encouraged to embrace this fun activity. Parents are welcome to come along on the day and watch the students run, jog, skip and walk their way around the course. Music will be playing to create a fun atmosphere with the focus being on students enjoying participating in the activity with their class. Popcorn will be sold for $2 on the oval at first break. A coffee van will be on site for the morning. Don’t forget to send in your child’s form on Wednesday 19th June so that your child’s class teacher can write down the number of laps your child has run.

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Lap-a-thon class schedule for Wednesday June 19th

Morning Session
9:00-Year 1; 9:30-Year 6; 10:15-Prep;

Middle Session
11:30-Year 5; 12:00-Year 4; 12:30-Year 2;

Last session
1:50-Year 3

Thank you for your support of Chaplaincy.

Evonne Beruldsen on behalf of the Chaplaincy
Committee

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster for week ending 14th of June 2019

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS!.

Would you like to help in Tuckshop? Please contact us by email to tuckshop.gss@gmail.com and we will find you the perfect spot on our roster.

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Uniform Store Roster

Stock Update

We have new girl’s long pants in royal blue in stock for $30, perfect for winter.

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

We have all sizes of 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

Trivia Night

Trivia Night 2019

Wow - what a night. We definitely partied like it’s 1999…

Dancing on the tables seemed to be a theme this year, we had Pamela slow running in a red swimsuit and Anthony Kiedis gave a ‘red hot’ show. Mrs Doubtfire rocked her broom, Spice Girls reunited and Britney was back to her best on stage. We had more grunge bands throwing furniture and awards than Garth could shake his drumsticks at…and it’s probably best not to mention what the Pulp Fiction crowd were up to ;-) The Berlin Wall fell, Buzz Lightyear flew, Bunnings had their red hammers out and The Kerrigans got lost on the way to Bonnie Doon. A few dead celebs were reincarnated in spectacular fashion. Even the Wiggles, a table of Nuns and a secret agent or two couldn’t keep these bad boys and girls in check… Oh and let’s not forget our winners. They may not have won their FREEDOM but Braveheart definitely stole the night with one table winning the trivia and the other ‘Free Willy’ winning best dressed table and certainly made an entrance with a live piper! For a selection of team photos check out this week’s newsletter.

A big thank you must go out to our ‘Official’ guests – Mark Bailey and Nicole Johnston – we look forward to seeing you again next year. A great many local businesses also donated some great prizes for the night and thanks goes out to them as well. Please see attached list of sponsors.

A huge thank you must also go out to the team – Lisa & Bernie McKeaton (our trivia guru), Zoe Smith and all of the staff who helped on the bar, Chris Hansen for making sure we definitely weren’t going to run out of alcohol this year, Chappy for again helping set up the AV, and David Whitefield and Scott Ramsay for their help in setting up the bar. The stars of the night were Helen Beauchamp and Denise Clague who gave us a show stopping musical trivia round, let’s hope they’ll come back again next year. Thanks must also go out to our wonderful MC on the night - Dave Curnow, who not only entertained with his fabulous commentary but also managed to control a very raucous crowd! We salute you all.

Oh and ‘Show me the Money’ I hear you cry. We raised well over $11,000 for the school.

As for 2020… can we get any bigger or better…we’re certainly going to try!

Kindest regards

Nicola and Jocasta
Trivia Crew

School Plus

There has been so much exciting news to share about Week 7 at School Plus! Firstly, our ASC Homework Club commenced on Monday! The children enjoyed having a quiet space, with a longer amount of time to do some of their homework. There is still time for our families to sign up!

This week the children mainly played touch rugby out on the oval in preparation for the Origin. Thursday was all happy smiles and cheers with our Maroons coming out with the win! Go Queensland!

We also celebrated World Environmental Day with a number of fun activities including our Sensory Spaghetti Worms. The children worked on our Worm Farm and Garden and were excited to see their hard work paying off as they picked beautiful tomatoes that had grown!

That’s a wrap, with another exciting week ahead! Our July Vacation Care Holiday Program is now out so, be quick to book as spaces will fill quickly! Feel free to pop in to our office to enquire about enrolling at School Plus!

Community Notices