29 October 2015

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

This Friday is World Teachers Day and Day for Daniel!

On Friday our teachers will celebrate with a breakfast before school. Teachers at Graceville are very dedicated to their students and are always looking for ways to improve. We are very lucky to have teachers who are passionate about their profession. I am sure you join me in wishing our wonderful teachers a happy day!

Friday is also Day for Daniel. Students can show their support by wearing a red t-shirt and bringing a gold coin donation. The student council have organised to paint a large D and M on the oval for children to lay their gold coin donation around. We hope to fill the D and M with coins which will be donated to the Morcombe Foundation.

This week many members of our staff have been involved in professional development on the Curiosity and Powerful learning project. Our school review, using the Curiosity and Powerful learning tools, will take place in the week of 9-13 November. As indicated in last week’s newsletter, we will be holding a small group forum to consult parents on aspects of Curiosity and Powerful learning. The P&C will help us to select the parents to take part in the forum.

Ms Hass, Mrs Martin and I will be travelling to Melbourne on Thursday/Friday to visit a school which is part of the Curiosity and Powerful Learning project. There are 70 schools in Melbourne involved in the project and we are interested to both work and learn with them. Mrs McKeaten will be in charge of the school in my absence.

Families who nominated for a place in the Enhancement Class for 2016 will receive a letter via registered mail by Friday of this week. We had a large number of nominations, for a small number of positions this year. The decision of the selection panel is final and we hope families are able to respect the decision of the panel.

Finally, the shortlisted school captain nominees will be announced on Thursday afternoon. We had a large pool of students apply for the positions. School Captain Speeches will be held from 1.50 on Thursday 5 November. You are welcome to come along.

Have a great week,
Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

From the Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Prep Profiles and interviews

I have met with nearly all families who have a preppie beginning in 2016. There are a few outstanding Profiles which do assist in the placement process and gaining a more in depth understanding of your child so I do encourage anyone who hasn’t dropped this at the office or don’t have a profile document to please come in as soon as you can.

Date Claimer: 2016 Prep Orientation visits

Tuesday, November 24 will be Prep Orientation meetings for 2016 students and parents. Information regarding classes and when and where to come will be mailed home to families before this occasion.

Reminder about special prep uniform selling dates that are coming up:

Tuesday November 3rd from 3 – 6pm
Wednesday November 11th from 3 – 6pm

As these afternoons are very busy, it would be great if current school families who are around mornings at drop off could choose a regular time to come and purchase their uniforms for 2016 preppies. The regular times are Mon, Tues and Fri mornings 8.15 – 9.00.

Thanks to Sue-Ellen and her band of volunteers who ‘man’ the shop during these times. You do a great job in preparing our students to become part of the Graceville community by wearing our uniform with pride.

Waiting List for Prep for 2016

Our waiting list for families who reside outside of our geographical catchment area but are interested in a place at our school, has opened now. Please let any interested people know that forms and information can be gained from our school office.

Graceville State School recognises the provision of access to an appropriate educational service for students residing within this community as defined by its local catchment area as its prime obligation.

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.

Term 4 Junior Assembly Calendar

Below is the calendar for the remainder of term 4 assemblies. All parents are welcome to attend. These assemblies begin at 2.15pm

Week	Date	Class Item
5	November 3	No assembly
6	November 10	Prep K
7	November 17	Prep R
8	November 24
9	December 1	Prep S
10	December 8	Prep T

Parking /2 minute zones

Please be conscious of the parking regulations, especially the 2 minute zones on both sides of our school. These zones only allow you to ‘sit’ in the queue for a maximum of 2 minutes. You are not permitted to get out of your car or leave your car. If you need to get out of your car please find a suitable parking spot away from the 2 minute zones. If you are a Prep parent then you are required to go to the classroom to pick up your child so you should not be using the 2 minute zones.

If your child/ren is not there ready you are obliged to leave, do the block & re-join the queue. You must be conscious of not queuing and blocking off traffic. On Acacia Avenue it is illegal to queue in the right hand lane & block the road for other motorists. I realise this only allows for a small number of cars, but it is a road rule for the safety of all motorists.

The signs at the Park Road entrance, back gate, clearly state that this area is a “loading zone” between the hours of 2pm – 6pm, therefore we remind any parents who might be parking for longer lengths of time e.g. swimming lessons, that you find appropriate parking for your length of stay. This “loading zone” is required for after-school pick-ups until 6pm. We thank you for your attention to this matter.

From the Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

The QUT Health Clinics are conducting FREE back to school health checks for children on 12, 13 and 14 January 2016.

The clinic will be providing:

• foot checks (podiatry)
• vision screenings (optometry)
• nutrition assessments and dietary advice (nutrition and dietetics)
• educational and developmental assessments (psychology).

Parents are able to register their children for all four screenings in the one visit. Please find further information attached.

Chess Program for 2016

On Friday 13th November, we will be conducting a Chess workshop to all classes across Prep to year 6 in the school hall. We will be establishing a Chess program at Graceville State School in 2016 and will be sending home expression of interest notes later in the term after the workshop for student who would like to take part.

Sun Safety & Staying Well Hydrated

Just a reminder about sun safety & keeping well hydrated. Please ensure that your children have sunscreen on before they leave home in the morning and are wearing their hats if they are in the sun coming to school eg. walking. Try to encourage your children to take a water bottle with them and have it at school. We are expecting a hot summer and these good habits are important for long term wellbeing.

Positive Parenting Program

Parents and carers of children up to 16 years old can now access the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program for free! Learn new skills and build the confidence you need to raise happy, healthy children and teenagers. Find out more and register for free at www.qld.gov.au/triplep

Money Matters

Roberta Haryicki

Thank you for the payments to date. Finalising all family accounts by 13 November would be much appreciated by our hard working office staff.

Please note, payments and permissions must be returned to the class teacher by given timelines to ensure your child’s attendance and participation in planned excursions.

Credit in Account: These will 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 ticketing excursions are non-refundable.

Payment of account days:

8am-3.15pm - 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.

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

Our annual library BOOK FAIR started this week and we are off to a great start!

We have created an enjoyable opportunity for your whole family to get excited about books and reading. Everyone will find wonderful books and other exciting products to purchase at the Fair.

There are also competitions students can enter to win book vouchers to spend at the book fair.

We hope you will attend.

Wednesday 28 October - Wednesday 4 November

Time:

Begins Wednesday afternoon 28th October at 3 – 4 pm, then each day from 8 – 9 am, until Wednesday morning 4th November

Everyone is welcome! And remember all purchases benefit our school.

Active School Travel

TACO TUESDAY!
(Travel Actively Coming-to-school On)

How parents can get involved in Active School Travel

Parents and caregivers play a critical role in influencing the development of a child's positive road behaviour.

Lessons learned at an early age and reinforced throughout a child's schooling will have a major effect on their attitudes and behaviours for the rest of their lives. Families are encouraged to participate in Active School Travel events and initiatives and promote active and safe road behaviour.

Ideas for active travel include:

• parking a distance away from the school and walking the rest of the way (e.g. 500m/10 minute walk)
• going for a ride with your children to develop their confidence and exposure to traffic situations, as well as explaining traffic signs and signals
• travelling on public transport with your children to demonstrate correct behaviours
• nominating a day to walk, ride or scooter to school
• as a family, plan your journey to school, challenging yourself to travel a different way each time
• carpooling with another family and sharing trips.
• Parents and caregivers are also encouraged to join their school's Active School Travel Committee (ASTC). The ASTC is established to help lead and promote the program within the school.

Melbourne Cup Day – Decorate your school hats.

Our next event will be to decorate your school hats on (T.A.C.O.) Tuesday 3rd November, which just happens to be Melbourne Cup Day. There will be prizes for the best hat on parade and Cr Johnston will be providing a delicious breakfast for the school. So get creative and make your hat stand out from the crowd! Judging will be at the quadrangle at 8:25 am, so come along and join in the hat parade.

Keep reading the newsletters for more information on the program and for special stamping days. We are always looking for volunteers who can help organise events and competitions, market active travel at Graceville State School, lead walking groups to schools and enter data to record the AST stats. If you can spare a few hours a month and would like to get involved and be part of a fantastic program please contact Jo Richards at sajrichards@iinet.net.au . Our next meeting will be Thurs 4th Feb 2016.

Music Notes

Naomi LINDH

Thank you to the students and families who returned the slip regarding the instrumental music program for 2016. If you would still like to be considered for a place in the program, please complete the form (or email nclos1@eq.edu.au for a form) and your child may be able to be considered for a place. Instrumental teachers will soon be meeting with students in years 2 and 3 who are interested in learning an instrument next year to determine suitability to the instruments available. There are a number of factors which will be considered by music staff before offers are made to students. Please note that students are not able to swap instruments once they have accepted a place in the program. Current students will remain in the instrumental program until the end of primary school.

Students in the choral program and Senior Strings have been given two notes regarding the Grandparents' Concert at their rehearsals this week. One includes information for families and the other note is an invitation which students can give to their guests. Please send me an email if you have not received these letters ( nclos1@eq.edu.au ), or ask your child to come to the music room and we can provide them with one.

The Senior Choir and selected Senior Strings will be attending the Oxley Senior Citizens' Concert on 17 November. Students should make sure they have given the permission slip to their conductor or handed it in to the music room as soon as possible. Permission slips must be received for students to be able to attend. Thank you for assisting your child with this process and supporting the concert and excursion. Please note: there has been a slight change to the departure time of the bus and students will now leave the school at 10:00am.

All choral and instrumental students will perform at the Annual Music Concert on 11 November at 6pm, in full school uniform. This concert will conclude by 7:30pm (or earlier) and we request that all students in the choirs and instrumental music program attend. Families and members of the school community are invited to attend the concert.

Thank you for supporting the music program. We look forward to our upcoming concerts and sharing our music with you!

Term 4 Performances

11 November - Annual Music Concert - 6pm in the hall - all choral and instrumental students - full school uniform

17 November - Oxley Senior Citizens Concert - Senior Choir and selected Senior Strings (during school day)

25 November - 10am - Grandparents' Concert - all choral students and Senior Strings

December - choral students are usually invited to perform in the Community Carols evening

P & C NEWS

Upcoming Events

Final meeting for 2015 - Wednesday 2nd of December 7.30pm
If you’re able to attend can you please register your interest by emailing the P&C email pandc@gracevilss.eq.edu.au
As with previous years light snacks and refreshments will be served at the end of the meeting for those able to attend.

Booklists 2016

The 2016 Graceville State School Booklist will soon be published. This booklist contains a list of required texts and workbooks and the necessary stationery needed for each individual year level.

Each year level has different requirements so to try and reduce some of the running around during school holidays, the P&C has once again worked closely with our recommended supplier, Brodies, to source the relevant items for Graceville State School students.

Whilst you aren’t required to purchase your books from Brodies, the P&C receives a donation from Brodies for Graceville families who order their goods through their store and references Graceville State School.

If your child has progressed through the years at Graceville and has accumulated a number of pencils, erasers, glue sticks or crayons etc., you can reuse these for next year if they are of a usable quality. It is up to you to decide which items you need to purchase or replace. Each year level has different text book and exercise book requirements, so these will usually need to be purchased. If you are unsure, please consult your teacher to discuss requirements.

Grants Working Group

The P & C is looking for a small group of school supporters to monitor and manage Grants for which the school may be eligible. As I'm sure you're aware money to provide improvements to and maintenance of facilities, is always in short supply. Every time we miss the opportunity to apply for a Grant it is a big loss to the school and the kids, in fact this occurred at the last P&C meeting and this is the reason for this call-out.

Grants generally come from specific sources - it just needs dedicated people to monitor these with the Facilities Improvements Plan in mind and then help with the submission/s. It will not be an onerous task particularly if there is more than one person - in fact it could be quite social) If you'd like to help please email pandc@gracevilss.eq.edu.au

For further information regarding the P&C or its activities, please contact the P&C at email:

pandc@gracevilss.eq.edu.au or visit the school website at

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Volunteers for week commencing Monday, 2 November 2015

Monday 2/11 Juanita Holland
Tuesday 3/11 Trish Hinds and Hayley Smith
Wednesday 4/11. Elise Allison and Shirley Liu
Thursday 5/11. Leanne Gordon and Karin Verae
Friday, 6/11. Gehann Malochino and Terriann MacDonnell and Andi Wensley and Donna Jones

Please note that the Tuckshop will not be open in the last week of school. The last day we are open for 2015 is Friday the 4th of December.

Just a couple of notes:

• Fridays’ are very busy so please let your children know that if they order jelly, chocolate mousse, chicken noodles, or fruit cups, they will need to collect them from the Tuckshop where we have a table set up outside our window/serving area for these items. Putting these items in the class buckets can get very messy by the time it makes it back to class, so it is better for the students to collect them. They will need to show their brown order bags so we can ensure they receive what they ordered and we can tick off that the item has been collected.
• Chicken Noodles should always be collected from the Tuckshop once the class buckets have been collected. This is so they don’t end up all through the class buckets by the time they make it back to class! Please bring the brown order bag so we can tick it off and make sure we have the right noodles for you.
• Ice-creams are only available on Friday at the great price of $1.00.
• The P&C is looking at going totally online with ordering for 2016. Do you prefer online ordering or what could we do to get you ordering online if you are not already doing so? Let us know your opinions by emailing the P&C at pandc@gracevilss.eq.edu.au

As always, if you need any help or have any queries, please come and see us, or email at the address below. If you should need to ring the Tuckshop, please ring via the school phone number 3716 2777 and they will put you through. See you in the Tuckshop,

Amanda and Anne
tuckshop.gss@gmail.com

To start using School24 to order your children's tuckshop go to https://www.school24.com.au/ps_parent.asp to create an account.

Graceville's school ID is 25314963. Then follow the instructions. If you have any problems, please check out the school website for more information or email us at the tuckshop on the above email address.

CONTACT CLUB

The next Contact Club is due to meet next Wednesday the 4th of November, straight after school drop-off in the library. Feel free to come along and help cover and preserve our many great books and resources. We usually stay for a few hours of covering and great chat. Tea and coffee are provided and bring along a nut-free snack to share if you like! Come along Wednesday or email Amanda on thecarps.home@gmail.com

SCHOOL BANKING

Sam Kennedy

Reminder

1. If you are requesting a reward, a Gold Coin must be provided OR you are about to receive a Gold Coin.
2. You have to fill in the deposit slip. If you don't fill in the deposit slip we can't process your deposit.
3. You can come to the Canteen between 8-9am on Wednesday to look at the rewards and chose one.

This Terms Rewards

Volunteers are:

Monika Kim
Linda Vigara
Sonia Reis
Rachel Rillie

8am onwards in the Hall Canteen.

Sam Kennedy
Graceville School Banking Co-ordinator
Parent/Volunteer
gracevillessbanking@gmail.com
0431 447 372

UNIFORM AND STATIONERY STORE

Sue-Ellen Lockwood

Prep selling:

Tuesday 3/11/15 3pm to 6pm
Wednesday 11/11/15 3pm to 6pm

**2ND HAND SALE**

We have good 2nd hand jumpers, shirts (sports and gold), dresses and culottes in stock. 2nd hand items are always being received. 2nd hand stock sale - culottes, jumpers and long pants $8 each; gold shirts $5.

All sizes of house shirts and Friday sports shirts are in stock.

Swimming caps, towels, bags and goggles in stock all year round.

PRICE INCREASE 1ST NOVEMBER 2015

Gold shirts increasing to $30 each from 1 November 2015.

Order forms are available on the School website. If you email the order, the items will be sent to the classroom.

Email address for school uniform store is: uniformstore@gracevilss.eq.edu.au .

School Plus

During vacation care our children planted some tomato seedlings, they are growing very well! We have taken a keen interest in gardening and the environment, next week we are planting some new items that help stop pesky mosquitos from hanging around. We will be planting Geranium and Marigolds, they have bright flowers on them and will get lots of sunlight from the front of our room in the morning. We are also creating Dinosaur Island in our new table tray! Using natural materials and items we find outside to create a dinosaur habitat inside.

On Wednesday 28th we had the RSPCA visit us for an Educational Session on looking after our pet turtle Squirtle and other marine life. Our wonderful seniors have had the experience to hold and pat Squirtle recently, Dom was the first senior to pat Squirtle and he was very excited.

Last week we had the experience of learning to communicate using Auslan and individual signs/cues to talk with 2 friends at our service. We spent the morning learning the signs for thank you, food/hungry, turtle, yes and no. Our friends were very excited to see everyone communicating with them, we will be taking some photos of the signs to share on the wall in our room.

This term so far we have had Bricks 4 Kids Lego (Forces of Nature Theme) and Chess Mates, where we can learn how to play chess and construct things with Lego. Chess has proven to be very popular, our seniors and juniors are gearing up for a tournament during the school holidays.

Community Notices

Student Clarinet for sale: $180.

'Jupiter' brand. Clarinet in excellent condition, case marked, but structurally sound.

Music books included: Standard of Excellence, Tradition of Excellence, Essential Elements (all clarinet 1), and GSS music folder.

M: 0422 550 489

Saxophone for Sale

Yamaha Alto Saxophone. Good condition. Hard case. $900 ono. Contact Luci Ridgway 0403 866 614 or nlridgway@bigpond.com

Queensland Academies - Visual Art Exhibition

Queensland Academies currently have a Visual Art Exhibition in our Gallery 61 (Queensland Academies Creative Industries Campus, 51 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove - http://www.qaci.eq.edu.au ) displaying the culmination of 3 years of International Baccalaureate Study by our 2015 Visual Art Graduating Cohort. The exhibit is open to the general public until Monday 9 November between 10.00am and 2pm Weekdays.

Our Visual Art teachers Genevieve Staines, Karen Stevens and Craig O'Shanesy are happy to organise student hosts for any interested parties who would like to bring students / families through. Please email: invitations@qaci.eq.edu.au if you would like to obtain further information.

It is an exhibition of Year 12 Visual Art works.

Sherwood Girl Guides Celebrate 90 years!

What: A weekend of events and activities celebrating Sherwood Girl Guides 90th anniversary.
Where: Sherwood Guide Hut, 44 Thallon St, Sherwood
When:

7 & 8 November 2015.
Afternoon Tea Reunion, 3pm, Saturday 7 Nov
Campfire 5.30pm -8.30pm, Saturday 7 Nov
Community Day 10.00am-3.00pm, Sunday 8 Nov

Contact: RSVP or further details sherwoodgirlguides@gmail.com

For further information please contact Kylie Fry 0402 064779