11 November 2021

From the Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

The Spring Fair was a great day out and the feedback so far has been excellent. I would like to thank and congratulate the organising committee for persisting with the Spring Fair and making it a wonderful community event. Thankyou to all of the parents, family members, teachers and students who volunteered their time in the lead up to, on the day or at the clean-up. It was so nice to be able to come together and have some fun!

At school on Thursday we acknowledged Remembrance Day. It is important that we never forget the events of the past and continue to honour those who have served to protect us as well as those who continue to do so.

The next two weeks will see teachers and students’ complete assessments which will help to finalise achievement levels for Report Cards. We understand this is a busy time for both teachers and appreciate your patience and understanding as their availability if limited outside school hours.

In the next few weeks we will be starting the class placement process for 2022. If your circumstances have changed and your child is no longer going to attend Graceville in 2022, can you please let us know ASAP. Our school has been staffed on the responses from the form’s families filled in at the end of Term 3. We need accurate and up to date information to ensure we enter 2022 with number of teachers appropriate for our predicted enrolment. If we do not have this information we may under or over staff the school leading to a change in classes after the 8th day of school. Please do not rely on your child to tell the class teacher, ring or email the office as soon as you are aware if your child/ren will not be returning in 2022.

I hope you have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Remembrance Day

We will be commemorating this day with a full school assembly on Thursday. A smaller event than usual due to COVID restrictions in place. Thank you to 5/6EH who have been selling Remembrance day poppies and badges at our gates to aid Returned Services League.

Cybersafety Presentations for students in years 5 and 6 and for parents

Please see information below and ensure that you RSVP for the parent session at the link below as we require at least 15 parents to run this session.

The Department of Education's Cybersafety and Reputation Management team (CRM) advises, investigates and supports schools to manage online behaviours and digital reputation issues. Within this scope, the team draws on their diverse experience, including police investigation, policy, social media marketing, and recruitment, to deliver up-to-date informative sessions about positive social media use.

The CRM team will be visiting Graceville State School on Tuesday 23 November. They will be conducting sessions with students in Year 5 & 6, and are also offering a parent and caregiver information session at 5pm. The parent session is an overview of cybersafety, trending platforms, online dos and don’ts, and useful settings to be aware of. This session goes for about 60 minutes, and will allow parents to ask questions throughout.

Please RSVP your attendance here.

You can read more about the department’s cybersafety program and resources on their Facebook page:

Sun Safety Policy for Graceville State School

It is mandated that all state schools will have a sun safety policy in place for the start of the 2022 school year. Year-round sun protection is important for all children and young people in Queensland as research demonstrates that high ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure in childhood and adolescence significantly increases the risk of developing skin cancer.

We are offering the opportunity for parents of GSS to be involved in the formulation of the policy and hear about the elements. We will be holding a meeting on Monday November 15 just after drop off at 8:45am in the Waratah room for any interested parents.

2022 Prep Information

It was great to see our 2022 preps and parents for our Get Set for Prep sessions!

This year we will be emailing out information to all families about class placement and prep orientation coming up, please watch out for this important email in the next couple of weeks.

Prep Orientation meetings: Thursday November 25

8:30 – 9:30 or 9:45 – 10:45, your email will let you know what time to come.

Meet the class session: Thursday December 2: 9 – 10am

Junior Assemblies in term 4 are at 2pm

Please see the schedule for assemblies for this term below. Parents and care givers of those hosting or performing a class item are invited to join us for Junior Assemblies in the hall. Due to continuing COVID restrictions, please ensure you are wearing a mask. These assemblies will be for all Prep to Year 2 classes. We also like to recognise birthdays and present awards to students from across all classes.

Below is the calendar for term 4 for assemblies:

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

Year 6 Graduation

The Year 6 Graduation event on 7th December will be at Riverside church Seventeen Mile Rocks Road.

Booklists for 2022

I am waiting to get the final booklists back from Campions. That should happen very soon. Once this is ready we will send out the information to parents to order online. Parents who have applied for the Enhancement Program for their child, for either a current Year 2 or 4, will need to hold off ordering until the classes are released to parents in the last week of school. There will be separate booklist for the 3 /4 & 5/6 classes. The online ordering system will be open for the week after school finishes in December.

End of Year Excursion Year 6

In order to celebrate the graduation of the class of 2021, the students will be going to Whitewater World on Thursday 9th December. Attached is the note and permission letter that went home and is due Friday 22nd November.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

On Saturday the Senior Band, Junior Band and Senior Choir performed at the Spring Fair in the quadrangle. We were fortunate to have lovely weather and many families and members of the school community attend the performances to listen to and support our young musicians. Our students greatly appreciated the opportunity to share their music at this special event. Thank you to all of our students and Mr Kukulies for your efforts on Saturday!

This term we are having all of our instrumental students perform at assemblies in lieu of concerts, due to COVID restrictions. This week all of our band students were scheduled to perform but this was cancelled due to illness. Mr Kukulies will advise parents of the date it will be rescheduled to ASAP.

Conductors will also be sending out recordings so students have an opportunity to share their music with their families by the end of this term. Choir students should receive the recordings by the end of this week and IM students will receive theirs later this term. If you have not received a link to your child's choral recording via email by the end of this week, please contact Mrs Lindh. Next week will be our final rehearsal for Junior Choir students (Monday 15 November) and the last Senior Choir rehearsal for this year will be on Tuesday 23 November as this week’s rehearsal was cancelled due to another school commitment.

Our IM teachers are currently conducting the recruitment process for the instrumental program and offers for a place in the program for 2022 will be sent out by the end of this term.

Thank you to all of our music students for their performances this week and our families for supporting their involvement in our music program!

Music teacher contact details

Alex Chin - String teacher and conductor (Wednesdays and Thursdays)
email: axchi4@eq.edu.au
James Kukulies - Band teacher and conductor (Thursdays and Fridays)
email: jkuku2@eq.edu.au
Naomi Lindh - Classroom music teacher and choral conductor (Monday - Friday)
email: nclos1@eq.edu.au

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

What a wonderful celebration! It was fantastic to see our school come to life on Saturday as we reunited as a school community for the Spring Fair. So many happy people and smiling faces enjoying what makes Graceville State School so amazing. I would like to extend a massive thank you to the parents who contributed so much in preparation, planning and production of what was an amazing event. As always, it was great to reconnect with former school families who continue to return to help us relish the festivities. I hope you had a brilliant time on Saturday and made the most of the opportunities to connect and party.

Over the weekend our girls touch footballers participated in a weekend carnival and performed exceptionally well. Coached by Mr Daunt, our girls, against some quality opposition, won 3 of their 4 games on Saturday and proceeded to the 2nd day of the carnival. On Sunday, our girls lost a very close match, in a drop off where both sides lose a player if scores are tied at the end of the game. We were eventually beaten when the drop off had 3 players per side. the team we lost to made it all the way to the Grand Final later in the day. Well done girls! We are so proud of you. Thank you Mr Daunt for all your efforts in coaching and supporting our students.

Have an incredible week!

John Erichsen
(Chappy)

Uniform Shop

Michelle Fanning

Hi all!

Welcome to week 6!

It’s been a busy few weeks with new families buying uniforms for next year and current families buying from our online store.

LOW STOCK

Stock in our gold polo's is low as well as smaller sizes in skorts and shorts, but of course I have ordered more. I'm hoping stock will arrive before then of the term. Sadly, Covid is still a cause for delay with a few of our suppliers, but I have been assured they are doing their best to help as much as they can during this peak selling/buying period.

You are welcome to pre order any items that are currently out of stock, please email or drop into the store to let us know how we can help.

BACKPACKS

Backpacks are on their way and should be back in store early next week. All those who have pre ordered will receive a call to organise pick-up asap.

DRESSES

Please note that due to fabric issues we now have limited stock in our dresses. We have now sold out of size 2’s and 4’s.

I will not be ordering any more in the near future so if you know you would like a dress for next year, please don’t delay!

PLAN AHEAD WITH AN APPOINTMENT

Term 4 is extremely busy with many new Prep parents and new families needing attention. Stock flies out the door in record time so to avoid missing out and waiting periods, you can easily book an appointment ahead of time via the link below.

OPENING DAYS AND TIMES FOR

TERM 4

We will remain appointment only as well as having the online store for easy ordering. The appointment days are Tuesday and Thursday of each week from 8:15am – 10:15am

For any reason you cannot make your appointment time, please cancel online asap so others don’t miss out. When visiting the store, it’s important to enter and exit the school grounds via the Oxley Road gate near the tennis courts. The uniform store is located just to the left of the courts.

ONLINE STORE

The uniform shop has an online store, so if you already know what your child needs you can order and pay online and it will be sent to your child’s classroom.

PLEASE NOTE – When buying online please add your child’s FULL NAME and CLASS on the FIRST page. Thank you.

The online store and appointment bookings can be made via the following link -

DONATIONS

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

PAYMENT

We encourage you to use Eftpos or credit cards when purchasing.

REFUNDS

Please be advised that refunds will only be given if you have the original receipt and items should not have been washed, worn and any tags should still be attached.

Email address for school uniform store is: www.uniformshop@gracevillepandc.org

Thanks everyone
Michelle

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop News 2021 – week 5/6

Jump on to Sign Up and pop your name down where you can use the link below

THIS WEEKS NEWS

Its getting to that crazy time of year where time seems to fly by quicker…and its no different at tuckshop! Our orders are through the roof and we couldn’t be happier that everyone loves our food! If you have a spare ½ hour or hour to pop in and give us a hand we’d love to see you.

Our busiest days are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Friday so pop in, say hello and we would be very grateful for the help.

PESTO PASTA

Our new Pesto Pasta is made to order every Tuesday has proved to be a successful new Addition to the menu. Nut free and comes with the option to add chicken and/or cheese, its delicious and at $4.50 its worth a try.

Also, with this hotter weather now surrounding us don’t forget we have all our Frozen treats on offer. From Water Iceblocks, Jelly Joys, Frozen Yogurts and Slushies we have something for everyone. Please remember to order any iceblocks through the Qkr! menu as we are still not taking cash over the counter.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns and you’d like to speak with us please email tuckshop@gracevillepandc.org.au or pop in for a quick chat we’d love to hear from you.

See you at Tuckshop!

Alex and Emma
Tuckshop Convenors 2021

School Plus

Newsletter Week 6

Time has truly been flying by and we are already over the halfway mark of Term 4. We all just had a fantastic time at this year’s Spring Fair, but that’s not the only fun we’ve been having. We have been super busy making sure to have buckets of fun throughout the last term of 2021. Look at what we’ve been up to and what we have planned!

We recently celebrated the important cultural day of Diwali. We had a great time learning all about this fascinating culture and day. We also made some beautiful rangoli designs.

It is also National Recycling Week this week and we have been learning all about different ways we can recycle at our OSHC! From making musical instruments to doing science experiments, we’ve found many different creative ways we can recycle and help protect our local environment.

As the Christmas holidays draw close, we begin to think of families in need who may not have the resources to provide for their children during the holiday season. This year particularly has been extremely difficult for some families during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

School Plus Graceville Outside School Hours Care is collecting food and toy donations from next week onwards to donate to the Salvation Army during Vacation Care on Tuesday 14th December.

We will be sending out more information soon about what you can donate and other important details. We greatly appreciate the support of our community throughout our important projects at School Plus Graceville!

Keep your eyes peeled for our December & January Vacation Program to be released in the coming weeks! We are super excited and can’t wait to have another fun filled vacation care!

Tennis

CHRISTMAS SCHOOL HOLIDAY TENNIS COACHING CLINICS

MONDAY 13th, TUESDAY 14th & WEDNESDAY 15th DECEMBER 2021

School Holiday Tennis Clinics are now open for enrolments. Positions are available for all school students aged between 4-12 years.

CLINIC 1 – RED BALL STUDENTS (RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN 4-7 YEARS OF AGE)

• 8.00am - 10.30am at Graceville State School (Oxley Road, Graceville)

CLINIC 2 – ORANGE BALL STUDENTS (RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN 7-9 YEARS OF AGE)

• 8.00am - 11.00am at Graceville State School (Oxley Road, Graceville)

CLINIC 3 – GREEN BALL STUDENTS (RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN 9-12 YEARS OF AGE)

• 8.00am - 11.00am at Graceville State School (Oxley Road, Graceville)

Coaching clinics are suitable for everyone as children are divided into groups according to both age and ability. Each session includes plenty of coaching and games, with coaches ensuring regular breaks and snack time, especially for the littlies!

Holiday Clinic positions are limited - so please enrol early to avoid disappointment!!

For further details or to enrol, please click this link below - or contact Tennis For Kids at info@tennisforkids.com.au or on 0408 187 741

Community Notices