27 August 2020

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

Three weeks to go! The term is flying!

Don’t forget Friday 4 September is a Pupil Free Day. No children come to school that day.

This Friday is a Free Dress Day! If coming in free dress, children need to bring in a block of chocolate (or two!) for the lob-o-choc game that is part of the Rainbow Ninja Challenge on Thursday 17 September. You will receive more information about the Rainbow Ninja Challenge and a sponsorship form by the end of this week.

We are very grateful to our staff, students and families who are showing great strength and resilience in these unusual times. We appreciate the support of families who are only entering the school grounds for specific purposes and keeping children home who are displaying symptoms of being unwell. It is important to remember that symptoms of any illness need to have passed before a child can return to school.

I would like to remind everyone students need to wear the school uniform each day. A jumper is part of the school uniform. We have noticed many children wearing jumpers that are not part of the school uniform. The uniform shop has plenty of stock available if you need to purchase an item of the uniform. We also have a number of students starting to come to school with brightly coloured hair. If there is a significant reason why your child needs to have brightly coloured hair, please contact the school to discuss the reason and timeframe for the colour to be in the child’s hair.

The process for 2021 Student Leadership began this week. Our Year 5 students have been offered the opportunity to apply for leadership positions by completing an application. This year we are offering students the chance to complete their application on paper or with a short video clip. We encourage all children with leadership aspirations to take part in the process.

Our Arts Event is shaping up very well so far. With some creative thinking, we found a way to make the event happen in Term 4. The Arts Illuminated: Our 2020 Creative Journey, will be the theme and we will use the whole school as our space for the event. Spreading out our curated spaces and creating a one-way flow through the school, means we can manage the event in a COVID safe way. We will use a booking system to manage the number of people in the school at any one time and ensure timed entries and exits for all those attending. The creative and enthusiastic planning team are working on our first official communication. Although it would be nice for this event to raise funds for the school, our main aim this year, it to ‘illuminate’ the benefits the arts bring into our lives. If you or your children have a creative flair and design or make your own arts or crafts, we would like you to consider being a stallholder at our ‘closed’ designer market. The event is in early Term 4, so you have plenty of time to start creating items to sell. We are also keen to hear from you if you have any connections to artisans or businesses who might be able to sponsor a curated space and/or donate a prize for a raffle or auction.

We hope you have a great week,
Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

In-catchment enrolments – ENROL NOW!

If you are a school family or new family within our catchment area and you have a preppie for 2021, please enrol now. This will enable us to start planning for our prep classes for next year.

Prep Information for 2021

If you are interested in viewing information about prep please use this link and password to view a video about the prep program and steps to enrol and prepare for prep entry for next year (this is instead of our annual prep information evening):

Password is GSSPrepInfo

Preparing for Prep 2021

Some key dates have changed this year due to COVID-19.

Prep interviews

Interviews for in-catchment families are now open for booking and interviews will start from Monday July 27, these will be done in person at school.

You will be able to use a home computer, a tablet or mobile phone to access the parent booking system. Depending on your configuration you will be required to enter an email or uniquely identifying value.

Please use the following URL to make a booking:

Prior to your interview you will need to complete the 2 school enrolment forms and also bring the completed prep profile to the interview with your child.

Term 4

Get Set for Prep proposed sessions

At this stage we will plan to proceed with face to face sessions although we will have to wait and see health and safety directives to come. Families must RSVP for these sessions either by email to Prepyear@gracevilless.eq.edu.au or phone the office as we will have a limited number of spaces for each session.

Session 1: Tuesday Oct 20 OR Friday Oct 23, 9 – 10:30am Focus on Fine Motor Skills
Session 2: Thursday Oct 29, 9 – 10:30 Introduction to Speech and Language Development with our School Speech Language Pathologist
Session 3: Tuesday Nov 10 OR Friday Nov 13, 9 – 10:30am Focus on Reading
Prep Orientation meetings: Thursday November 26
Meet the class session: Thursday December 3, 9 – 10am

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

Just some information about upcoming events:

• School photos will be held in Week 1 of Term 4 – Thursday 8 October. This year there will not be any siblings photos.
• Year 5 camp will go ahead in Week 2 of Term 4, 14-16 October at Noosa North Shore

UNSW assessments schedule: (all in the library)

Maths:

Years 2 & 3 will use ipads & years 4-6 will use desktops in the computer lab. Year 4-6 students will need their school log in & password.

Please ensure that students arrive a couple of minutes prior to their allocated time.

If any students are absent on the day they will need to come to see the office staff to see if a make-up can be arranged in their own time. Class time won’t be used for any assessments. The testing ‘window’ is only for that week of the two tests eg. Science is only open next week, Maths is in that week 31/8-3/9.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

We have had a few cold morning rehearsals recently. Thank you to our committed students and families for continuing to attend rehearsals on these chilly mornings! At this stage we are planning to record some of our music to share with the school community next term. We will let you know the dates ahead of time so students are aware.

If you have any questions for teachers/conductors, please note their email details below. If your child is sick and unable to attend a rehearsal, please send an email to their conductor.

Music Teacher Contact Details...

Mrs Ruth Prout - string teacher and conductor - Wednesdays and Thursdays - rprou5@eq.edu.au
Mr James Kukulies - band teacher and conductor - Thursdays and Fridays - jkuku2@eq.edu.au
Mrs Naomi Lindh - classroom music teacher and choir conductor - Mon - Fri - nclos1@eq.edu.au

Rehearsal days (rehearsals are all currently held in the school hall)

Tuesday 7:45am - Senior Choir (Year 4 - 6 students)
Wednesday 7:45am - Junior Choir (Year 2 - 3 students)
Wednesday first break - Junior/Beg Strings
Thursday 7:45am - Senior Strings
Thursday 2:50 - 4pm - Senior Band
Friday 7:45am - Junior Band

Thank you for supporting our music program!

Naomi Lindh
Music Teacher and Choral Conductor

HPE

Wayne Daunt

INTERSCHOOL SPORT UPDATE

The West Taylor Bridge Schools Sporting Association has seen most of the affiliate schools withdraw from this semester’s interschool sport fixtures. Graceville State School has made the difficult decision to be one of the schools to withdraw from the fixtures. However as a school we will still be offering the children in Years 5 & 6 the opportunity to participate in an intra-school program that will see the children compete in their houses and earn points each week to determine a winning house at the conclusion of our program. This program will commence in Term 4.

The students through their nominated sports captains will have the opportunity to decide on which sports we will play and how the point scoring system will be determined. However, we will be restricted by both facilities and equipment that we can use. Because of the Return to Sport Covid restrictions imposed by the Qld Government we are attempting to play all activities within the school grounds. To go outside of the school venue places much more detailed restrictions on our activities.

Planning for the term 4 program will commence in the coming days with the input of the Sports Captains and feedback from the participating students.

P&C News

Lob-o-choc free dress day

Please remember that the lob-o-choc free dress day is happening this Friday 28 August. Kids come in free dress and bring a family block (or two) of chocolate to participate.

Remember to collect 50c pieces for your children to ‘lob’. Each 50c they have they can use for a turn and if it lands on a block of chocolate, they get to keep the chocolate. No coins will be exchanged so be sure to bring 50c pieces only for as many turns as you like.

Attention all Graceville State School Ninja Warriors

SAVE THE DATE of Thursday 17 September for the inaugural Graceville State School RAINBOW NINJA CHALLENGE.

In the absence of the fete this year, the Rainbow Ninja Challenge will be a fun day for our children, as well as an important fundraising event of the year for the P&C. This event will involve lots of colour and some fun obstacles, designed to put smiles on the faces of our children in what has been a very unusual and challenging year.

Throughout this year, our school and community have faced many challenges with COVID-19, but our resilience, strength, ability to adapt and positive community spirit has been admirable.

The Rainbow Ninja Challenge will be a day to celebrate our school and community, and for our children to run, laugh, play and enjoy! On the day, there will be food stalls, Lob-O-Choc, prizes for children who have raised funds or obtained sponsorship, and lots more.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 restrictions which came into force in Queensland on Saturday 22 August, we will not be able to have any spectators at the event.

Look out for information coming home with your children and FOLLOW Graceville State School on Facebook for regular updates -

Arts Event

A group of keen and talented parents have volunteered to help plan the inaugural Arts Events to take place on Thursday 29 October. It promises to be a fantastic evening of art, music, drama and creativity with our children as the stars of the show. More details will be released in coming weeks.

Trivia Night – date claimer

We are hoping the parent’s trivia night can still go ahead and Saturday 7 November has been set as the date we are aiming for. Mark it on your calendars and keep an eye out for further details on Facebook and Instagram in future newsletters.

Tuckshop credit with School24

The P&C have decided to move to a new online ordering system starting from term 4 in 2020. The new system will be much easier to use and we will provide more details later in the term. In the meantime, any families that have an existing credit with School24 should try and use this up this term to minimise disruption during the changeover.

Voluntary Contribution

Thank you to those families who have made a Voluntary Contribution this year. A further $800 has recently been received and this money will be put to good use to purchase literacy resources and new devices to replace the ageing fleet of desktops, iPads and laptops.

While 2020 has been a difficult year, our children’s needs for learning resources at school continue to grow. We are asking all families who can make a Voluntary Contribution to do so again this year.

The Voluntary Contribution scheme is again $100 per student. While this is much less than the cost of a laptop or iPad, we understand this amount is still not affordable for all families, particularly at this time, so we also encourage families to make whatever contribution they are comfortable with.

Payments can be made by electronic transfer to the P&C (see below for details) or via the Online Uniform Shop at the link below:

Account name: Graceville State School P&C Association
BSB: 064-111
Account number: 00900130
Ref: VC “Child’s name”

Containers for change

Did you know that the Graceville State School P&C is registered with Containers for Change? You can drop off your bottles at any Containers for Change depot and quote our ID, and your funds will automatically be credited to the P&C. The closest Containers for Change depot is located at 78 Andrew Street, Rocklea and our ID is C10055214.

Uniform Shop

Michelle Fanning

Hi all! Welcome to week 7.

Just 3 more weeks and we'll all be on a much deserved break!

OPENING DAYS AND TIMES FOR TERM 3

Until we hear of further restrictions being lifted, we will remain appointment only for the remainder of Term 3 as well as having the online store for easy ordering. The appointment days this term are Tuesday and Thursday each week from 8:45am – 9:45am.

For any reason you cannot make your appointment, please let us know as soon as possible via the uniform store email.

When visiting the store it is important to enter and exit the school grounds through the Oxley Road gate near the tennis courts. The uniform store is located just to the left of the courts.

To book an appointment click on the following link below -

ONLINE STORE

The uniform shop has an online store, so if you already know the sizes you're after you can order and pay online with ease. The order will be delivered to your child’s classroom via their teacher.

The online store can be found on the link below –

OUT OF STOCK

Sadly we are very low, or out of stock on a few items including -

• Kennedy House Shirt – size 8 and 10
• Flinders House Shirt – size 8
• Skorts – size 6
• Dress – size 8
• Bootleg Leggings – size 10

If you’re thinking of grabbing extra uniforms or replenishing after growth spurts, DON’T DELAY! Stock will not be back in store until approximately December or January 2021.

DONATIONS

We are always grateful for donations of 2nd hand uniforms that are in clean, saleable condition. We also ask that any donations are SCHOOL BRANDED ITEMS ONLY, so no items from any outside stores. Thank you for your generosity and understanding.

• For the remainder of Term 3 we will be cash free and accept cards only when purchasing.
• Please be advised that refunds will only be given if you have the original receipt. Items should not have been washed, worn and any tags must still be attached.

The email address for school uniform store is:

gracevillessuniform@gmail.com

Thank you all for your ongoing support and understanding during this time.

Michelle

Tuckshop News

Hi Everyone

Well we are over halfway through term and tuckshop is full steam ahead and getting busier every week!

Thank you to our growing cohort of volunteers that turn up week in week out to give Emma and I a hand. We really can’t do it without you, and we are very appreciative of your time and commitment.

Remember – you can volunteer once a week, once a month, once a term or even pop in on our busiest days and just help out for an hour after drop off! We do have some gaps over the next couple of weeks so if you can spare the time log into School24 and add your name on the roster or email us at tuckshop.gss@gmail.com with your availability.

We know we sound like a broken record, but every little bit helps in being able to provide the service 5 days a week. So, THANK YOU!!!

Birthday Iceblocks are a huge success! So easy to celebrate a birthday at school now – simply login into your School24 account and order your Jelly Joys, Quelch Iceblocks or Ice Monys and we do the rest! Ranging in price from $10-$30 the choice is yours.

Also, we will have a few price rises occurring on a select number of menu items over the coming weeks. The P&C and Tuckshop have worked hard to apply a minimum price increase of between 10-30 cents on these items to ensure we keep covering our costs.

As always though if you have questions or concerns please email us and we will get back to you asap.

Have a great week everyone – see you at Tuckshop!

Alex and Emma
Tuckshop Convenors 2020
E: tuckshop.gss@gmail.com

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

As Term 3 hastens towards its conclusion, there are plenty of highlight moments taking place, both in school grounds and off site. Interesting science experiments, Kokoda excursion, UNSW tests, Free dress day and for some students, High School interviews are just a few of the calendar fillers. The next 3 weeks will continue to provide wonderful learning opportunities with some extra fun and adventure thrown in.

Our year six students’ learning involves some truly amazing transformations. In recent weeks in their classrooms, I have witnessed classes filled with researching scientists, aspiring authors and even fast–fingered Formulae One racing drivers. These learning environments have created some very confident and curious learners who in a few short months will embrace the commencement of their High School journey. While this transition will have its ‘moments’, parents and care-givers can be comforted in knowing our students have been well prepared and are well set up for success in their future years.

2020 has been a year unlike any other, requiring flexibility, resilience and a high level of “making the most of what we have.” With so many limits and restrictions in place, how we do “life” is markedly different to Pre-Covid and will remain so for some time. These changes naturally impact all of us and some will find it more challenging to manage that change. I hope one of the positive things to come from these unprecedented days is our awareness of how those around us are traveling. Keep in touch safely and let those important to you know how much you care.

Have an amazing week!
John Erichsen
(Chappy)

School Plus

It has been an exciting and busy fortnight at School Plus with many memories made and many celebrations! Squirtle the Turtle turned 5 years old and the children loved making him cards and getting him out for a play on the oval! The fortnight’s highlights were HAMA Beads, Indoor Boules and celebrating “Keep Australia Beautiful Week”. The children played their part in cleaning the school by picking up rubbish and making two big posters to raise awareness for the week! An extension of learning from our gardening was Grassy Heads on the Oval which the children made (with help from educators). The Grassy Heads will stay in our OSHC Room for the children to watch grow! We also dug up our garden to plant delicious herbs that we will use in our menus! Over the coming weeks we have many exciting activities and events including Senior Club in the Hall, which is an exclusive club for grade 4-6 children to choose what they like to do and chill with friends! It’s not too late to make a booking and join the club! We are also in the process of implementing a 6-week Cooking Incursion to start in Term 4, if you are interested pop us an email for more info! Last but not least, our September Vacation Care program is out! With many excursions and incursions, the children will love and activities to keep busy with over the holidays!

Community Notices