29 August 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

Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

What a great weekend at the Fete! I thoroughly enjoyed the Fete again this year. It was nice to see so many children and families from the community in and around the school. I was lucky enough to win a prize at the cent auction and enjoyed bidding on items at the Auction. I loved the student and family stalls at the Quad market too and my office is now filled with new bits and pieces from the stalls! My favourite part of the Fete is always the fireworks, not just because of the amazing show but especially because of the sense of community I feel as we all sit together and ooh and ahh in sync as we watch the show. Thank you to everyone who volunteered or helped out in anyway to make the Fete a success!

Next Thursday and Friday, Kath Murdoch our Inquiry learning mentor, will be back in the school working with our teachers and students. We enjoy every opportunity we get to learn with and from Kath. As part of the visit, I will hopefully be finalising the plans for the next phase of our school review as Kath is one of our reviewers. Prior to the holidays I will be making parents aware of how they can take part in the community consultation part of the school review. The consultation itself is likely to take part in our review week, 21 – 25 October.

As you may be aware we now have an Instagram page. You can find us at graceville_state_school. It is important to note photos will only be posted with permission of the parents. Unless we have permission from the parent to post a photo showing a face, we will only post photos which cannot identify any specific children. We appreciate the many and varied opinions about the use of social media and will follow the DoE policy documents for guidance in their use.

Class placement forms went home last week. We would greatly appreciate all families returning the forms which will give us an indication of enrolment numbers for 2020 and any important information you would like us to consider as part of the class placement process.

Don’t forget the Disco is coming soon! Save the date for Wednesday 11 September. The P-2 Disco will run from 5-6pm and the 3-6 Disco from 6.30-7.45pm. Children can be dropped off at the Disco however parents must be on time to pick up children at the end of the disco. Our teachers volunteer their time, they do not get paid extra to attend outside school events and so we appreciate your support in ensuring children are dropped off and picked up on time.

Finally, I hope our dads have a great Father’s Day this Sunday!

I hope you have a great week,
Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Outbound Study Tour

We are on countdown, 13 more sleeps until we take off for Taiwan! As a group we are meeting regularly and honing our performance skills in preparation for our Study Tour to Wenhau.

Prep 2020

If you are a current school family or have an in catchment enrolment for prep next year please come into the office to collect enrolment forms and arrange for a meeting asap. This will enable us to get a good idea of numbers for classes and assist in our planning.

Date Claimers:

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

Prep uniform selling morning: Thursday November 28, 8:15 – 12:00 and Wednesday January 22nd 2020 3-6pm

Below is the calendar for Junior Assemblies in Term 3. Everyone welcome, we are on from 2.15pm on these Tuesdays in the hall.

Nationwide Reading Hour:

On Thursday September 19, all Australians are encouraged to pick up a book and read for one hour, on their own or with the children in their life.

The Morrison Government is providing $50,000 to support the 2019 Australian Reading Hour and help increase awareness of talented Australian authors and illustrators. "Australian Reading Hour is a great initiative which highlights the value of reading for both adults and children," Minister Fletcher said. "Literacy is one of the most important foundations and reading has tremendous benefits for children, such as building knowledge and improving concentration and memory. Reading has also been shown to reduce stress by 68% in adults, more than listening to music or going for a walk, and is an enjoyable pastime that promotes creativity."

For more information visit the Australian Reading Hour website:

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

University of New South Wales ICAS assessments for Maths and Science

Students whose parents have entered them in the Maths and Science assessments last term will be involved – next Thursday 5th September (Science) & Tuesday 17th September (Maths).

Students will need to bring their own headphones with them. These assessments will be in the library. Schedule as follows:

7.30am – Year 5
8.45 – 1st Yr 2 group + Year 6
11.30 – 2nd Yr 2 group + Year 4
1.1.5 – Year 3

Years 2 & 3 will be using ipads and Years 4-6 will be using laptops in the computer lab.

Life Education – this term

This term all classes will participate in Life Education sessions. These sessions are different for each year level and they cover certain aspects of the Australian Curriculum, specifically in Health. The Life Education Van will arrive later in the term and classes will be scheduled to attend lessons during the last couple of weeks of this term (6/9/19-20/9/19).

Swimming in Term 4

The Prep, Year 1 & 2 students will be doing intensive swimming lessons in Term 4 (Weeks 2-8). There will be permission forms and invoices sent home in the next week or 2. Students will swim from Week 2 for 8 weeks. The cost will be $72 for the term. Peter Geraghty has leased the pool for lessons during school and after school private sessions. Peter and his team of coaches provide intensive sessions with students, in small groups, with experienced and qualified coaches. This swimming program is part of our curriculum and all students are expected to participate in all lessons.

Students in Years 3-6 will have swimming lessons with Mr Daunt during the week.

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.

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.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

What a week it has been! The music department and students have been busy sharing their music at the fete and rehearsing for the workshop concert this week.

Our students performed with fabulous musicality, energy and confidence on Saturday! We greatly appreciate the support families have given them leading up to the performance, with rehearsals as well as their attendance on Saturday!

Thank you to Mr Stiller and our Senior Band for their performance showcasing so many skills and such varied pieces. It is always such a joy to hear and see how far these students have come in less than 2 or 3 years of music lessons. Our Junior Choir performed for the third time this term, eagerly sharing 2 songs with the lovely accompaniment of Jackie Marshall. They sang with a beautiful tone and in 3 parts for one of our songs. Thank you to Jackie Marshall for her accompaniment and our year 6 leaders, Ditte H (Choir Captain), Grace C and Georgia R for their assistance preparing for this performance! The Senior Choir performed their version of 'Matilda' directed and conducted by Ms Julie West. What a performance! Many of our Senior Choir students also had solo singing and/or speaking parts and demonstrated such confidence and musicality. Congratulations to Ms West and the Senior Choir for their fabulous performance of 'Matilda'.

Students currently in year 2 and 3 are eligible to apply for a position in the instrumental program for 2020 (when they are in year 3 or 4). This note will be given to students and there is also a copy in the link below. It includes an expression of interest which needs to be returned for your child to be considered for a place in the program. It is important to note that students are not allowed to 'swap' instruments at a later stage if they accept an offer, so please be mindful of this especially if your child is in year 2 and applying for a place in the string program (as they are not able to swap to a band instrument if they accept an offer). Offers will be sent out during term 4 once instrumental teachers have met with all interested students.

The instrumental music workshop will be held at school on 28/29 August. During these two days all of our students who learn an instrument at school will alternate between full ensemble rehearsals and working in small groups with a tutor. This is a fabulous way for them to build and develop their music skills. It culminates with a concert in the hall at 2pm on Thursday 29 August. Please note that instrumental music students are able to wear free dress to the 2 workshop days. They will need to bring their instrument, music folder, music stand if they have one, lunch and snack for second break, water bottle and a pencil. No permission slip is required as it is an incursion and part of the school music program.

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...

28/29 August - Instrumental Music Workshop - all instrumental students (BYO lunch, instrument and music, free dress)
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
Music Teacher and IM Coordinator (Wednesday - Friday)

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

READERS CUP STATE FINALS 2019

Next week on Thursday 5th September, the 2019 State Finals of the Queensland Readers’ Cup organised by the Children’s Book Council of Australia will be held at St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane.

The following students represented our school at the Regional Readers Cup Competition, and after WINNING this competition, they will be the team to represent Graceville State School in the State finals:

These students were required to read FIVE different books (Everything I’ve never said by Samantha Wheeler, Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead, Ting Ting the Ghosthunter by Gabrielle Wang, Firewatcher, Brimstone by Kelly Gardiner and Quark’s Academy by Catherine Pelosiin) in preparation for this HUGE competition and on the day will have to answer questions about each book. This year there will be four rounds of questions and each round will consist of ten questions, two from each book, a total of 40 questions.

Schools from all over Queensland will be competing and no doubt there will be some challenging questions, but our team of five amazing students are prepared and very excited to participate. They have all studied very hard and we wish them all the best! Good Luck!

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE 2019

The Premier’s Reading Challenge has officially ended! Thank you to all those students who participated – Well done!

If you have an outstanding Reading Record Sheet to be returned to the library, please do so before the end of the week. Certificates of completion will be handed out in the near future.

CONTACT CLUB

The last Contact Club for the term will be next week on Wednesday 4th September. The library has heaps of classroom readers and library books that have recently arrived to be covered, so we’re hoping for as many volunteers as possible. We’d love to see you after school drop or reading groups, even if you only have a spare half hour, it would be greatly appreciated.

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster for week ending 30th of August 2019

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers.

Our sushi and rice paper roll supplier, Cilantro Fresh, is still closed to have their kitchen remodelled.

There will be no sushi and rice paper rolls orders taken for another week.

Cilantro Fresh are hopeful that they will be ready to take our orders again on Monday, 26 August for lunch on Wednesday, 28 August. However, as we all know, renovations seldom go to plan. We will keep you posted.

Should you have any questions pertaining to anything Tuckshop related, please don’t hesitate to contact us at tuckshop.gss@gmail.com

Thanks.

P&C Update

Congratulations and an enormous thank you to the Fete Committee for a fabulous fete in 2019!

The fete involves months of preparation and Committee members take on a significant workload and responsibility for bringing everything together on the day. Our school community, and our local community, benefit tremendously from this effort and we are grateful.

Our children create many happy memories with friends and family, and we all strengthen our own connections and realise the potential of our community when it comes together. The fete is also the major fundraiser for the school. These funds contribute to the exceptional facilities, resources and opportunities our children enjoy at Graceville State School and help us to continue to improve our school.

We’ll leave it to the Fete Committee for a more detailed report over the coming weeks.

If you contributed to the fete as a class rep or through donations, working on a stall or cleaning up - thank you for helping to make the 2019 fete a success.

Uniform Shop

Fiona Fryer

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

Uniform Roster

Prep Selling Days

Thursday November 28th 2019 8.15-11.30am
Wednesday January 22nd 2020 3-6pm

Stock Update

We have new girls long pants in royal blue in stock for $30 and a new lightweight microfibre jacket in royal blue and gold for $33. Size 6 microfibre jackets are now out of stock.

Size 8 Flinders shirts are out of stock until the beginning of term 4.
Size 8 dresses are out of stock until the end of the year.
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

September Holiday Swim Clinics

A great way to get your children ready for the 4th term swim program is to join the holiday swim clinics being held at the school pool. All ability levels are catered for with learn to swim, stroke correction and squad classes on offer. The first clinic will be held from Monday 23rd of September to Friday 27th and the second clinic from Monday 30th of September to Friday 4th of October. You do not need to attend everyday of the clinic as long as you mention your availability when enrolling. If you are joining for the first time please call Pete to discuss your child's ability and needs. Children in holiday school care may also join the program as staff are able to bring students to the pool and pick them up after their lesson. If you have inquired about the clinics already and have not received a confirmation email from Pete Geraghty please send another email to make sure you are included in the schedule. My swim school is always looking for good teachers so if you know anyone interested in working at Graceville pool who is qualified or interested in becoming a certified swim teacher please put them in touch with me. Please direct all inquiries to Pete Geraghty via email [petegeraghty@hotmail.com] or phone 0432407442.

Term 4 Swim Program

Bookings are now being taken for the 4th term swim program. This will begin the first week after the holidays from Friday October 11th. All students will begin the term in the SAME ABILITY LEVEL as term 1 as a starting point. 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.

Spaces are limited, so to avoid disappointment, respond to this email asap with your preferred days and available times. Feel free to contact me via return email or phone if you have any questions (ph: 0432407442).

Beginner Stroke development will run Mon to Thurs from 3 pm until 3:30 pm. Advanced stroke development will run from 3:30 pm until 4 pm on the same days and this will be followed by Junior squad and squad from 4 pm. If you are new to my swim school YOU WILL NEED to call me directly to discuss your child's ability and needs.

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 the commencement of the program.

See you at the pool.
Pete Geraghty

School Plus

Week 6 at School Plus was a busy week with the Lids4Kids fundraiser we are running, the School Fete and talk of our White Balloon Fundraiser Breakfast! We are currently also collecting 1.25L bottles with the lids for one of our Vacation Care Days where we will have a Build Your Own Rocket Incursion.

We are collecting Plastic Lids for the Lids4Kids Charity. 500 lids create one prosthetic arm for a child. We have a container set up in our OSHC Room and would love lid donations from our community for a great cause. The children have already done a fantastic job bringing in the bottles and lids and remembering all the great things we have currently going on.

On Friday September 6th at BSC from 7am to 8am we are holding a White Balloon Day Breakfast Fundraiser with a gold coin donation that will be in our OSHC Room.

Aside from all the business the children also enjoyed a number of activities including Straw Paintings, Boules and lots of outdoor activities. Our September Holiday Program is also out now, so get in quick to secure the early bird special. Enquire within for an enrolment!!

Community Notices

Speak Up Studio Holiday Workshops

Speak Up Studio Holiday Workshops run over two weeks in the September holidays in Red Hill. Please see timetable below.

Term 4 classes will start up again in the second week of the school term. If you'd like to know more about Speech and Drama classes at this school please go to this website: