15 July 2022

Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

Welcome to Term 3!

It was wonderful to have the whole student body together on Tuesday morning to participate in our NAIDOC assembly. I would like to thank Ms Byrne and the student leaders for helping us to better understand the theme of Get Up! Stand up! Show Up!

The term starts with a bang with the Trivia Night on Saturday! The Trivia night is a great event which raises much needed funds to support the school. We are very grateful to the organisers who have done an amazing job at preparing a fun night out.

This Friday is a Gold Coin Free Dress Day. All funds raised go towards preparations for the Spring Fair. We encourage you to allow your child to wear free dress on Friday and bring along a gold coin. The Spring Fair is on Saturday 27 August and we hope you can come along!

We wish our Athletes the best of luck at the District Athletics Carnival next Monday and Tuesday. We know they will try their hardest and make us proud!

The 2023 Prep Information Night is being held on Wednesday 20 July from 7pm. If you have a Prep child enrolling in 2023, we would love you to join us on the night.

As you know COVID is still in our community. We require parents and carers to make us aware if a child has tested positive for COVID. The school will send home letters to make class parents/carers aware if a child has tested positive from the class. A child who is a close contact can attend school but must show a negative test result the first known day they are a close contact and then the 2nd, 4th and 6th days afterwards. If we all work together we can mitigate the risk of the virus spreading at school.

Finally, we have some great facilities news to share. This financial year our school has been allocated funding to:

• refurbish the inside of G block (current Year 1 classrooms) and tidy up the outside learning areas closest to Acacia Avenue.
• ensure inclusion and dignity for students and adults with physical disabilities in particular with the building of a specialised toilet facility.

This is on top of three jobs that were approved just prior to the school holidays:

• A new fence around the pool to align to updated WPHS.
• Upgrades to the covers on walk ways to make them weather proof.
• The tennis court upgrade which is a three way project between DoE, Tennis Australia and our P&C.

We will continue to advocate for facilities upgrades in the coming years.

Looking forward to a great term,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Preparing for Prep 2023

Our Prep Information evening for 2023 will be on Wednesday July 20 at 7pm in our school hall. Everyone is welcome to attend whether in catchment or on our waiting list.

Our Prep waiting list for out of catchment has opened. The waiting list must be completed in person, no forms can be sent out or received by email.

Please visit the following links which details our school enrolment management plan and also provides a link to the catchment area for Graceville State School:

In catchment families may now obtain enrolment forms from the office and commence this process. Remember that when returning these forms that 2 sets of ‘proof of residency’ documents will be required as well.

Prep interviews will then follow for the rest of term 3. Bookings will be online via a link to be given out through the Information session. These meetings will be face to face at school for 30 minutes, please bring your child to this meeting. Completed enrolment forms and Prep Profile will be required at the interview.

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 using our online booking system also which will be live from July 20.

Session 1: Tuesday Oct 18 OR Thursday Oct 20, 9 – 10:00am Focus on Fine Motor Skills
Session 2: Tuesday Nov 1, 9 – 10:00 Speech and Language Development
Session 3: Monday Nov 14 OR Wednesday Nov 16, 9 – 10:00am Focus on Reading

Prep Orientation meetings: Thursday November 24

Meet the class session: Thursday December 1, 9 – 10am

P-2 Assemblies this term

We will be recommencing our fortnightly assemblies in the hall this term. Parents of students who are doing a class item and parents of year 2 presenters are invited to attend these assemblies.

Term 3 Calendar for P-2 Assemblies

SunSafety

Even though cooler days are upon us it is still important for us to be sun safe. Please remember to send your child to school with sunscreen applied. All classes will also provide an opportunity through each school day to reapply sunscreen.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

We have a busy term coming up with a number of performances scheduled.

I am very pleased to confirm that on 4 and 5 August all of the students in our instrumental program will be attending a 2 day workshop culminating with a concert. This is our annual instrumental workshop which provides students with an opportunity to work in small groups as well as rehearse with their ensemble. Further information will be sent home about this next week via your child's instrumental teacher. The workshop will take place in the normal school times on those days.

As a number of our Senior Choir students were absent from our rehearsal this week and due to that and the time between our last rehearsals (including some students being at the Cairns tour during the last week of the term), we have postponed our song for NAIDOC week. We may be able to perform it at a Senior Assembly next week which will be confirmed after the rehearsal next week.

The Junior Choir will be singing at a Junior Assembly in week 6. Parents will be invited to attend this event. We have a large group of keen singers in the Junior Choir who are looking forward to sharing their songs with everyone!

It is exciting to have lots of musical events and performances happening this term. I know our teachers and students are excited about them too. Please ensure that your child attends rehearsals/lessons regularly and contact your child's teacher if they are unable to attend due to illness or another commitment. We appreciate your assistance with ensuring this consistency as we work towards performances this term.

In week 3 of this term a small number of our students are attending Westcent camps as well as students from other schools. During this week there will be no IM lessons as our teachers are attending this camp.

Thank you for supporting your child's involvement in the music program!

The music rehearsal schedule for 2022

Monday 7:45am – Senior Band (in the school hall)
Tuesday 7:45am - Senior Choir (interested students in years 4 - 6 - in the music room)
Wednesday 7:45am - Junior Strings (in the school hall)
Thursday 7:45am – Senior Strings (in the school hall)
Friday 7:45am - Junior Choir (interested students in years 2 - 3 - in the music room)
Friday 7:45am – Junior Band

Music Teacher Contact Details

Alex Chin - Instrumental Music Teacher - Strings - Email: achin4@eq.edu.au
James Kukulies - Instrumental Music Teacher - Band - Email: jkuku2@eq.edu.au
Naomi Lindh - Classroom Music Teacher/Choir Conductor - Email: nclos1@eq.edu.au

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

LIBRARY BOOK COVERING VOLUNTEERS

A great big THANK YOU goes out to those volunteers who supported our Book Covering Blitz for the library. We now have a heap of brand new class readers and library books to add to the collection. The children are so excited! Teachers are also appreciative of the new resources that they can now access and use in their classrooms.

Due to our ever-growing collection and circulation, the success of our library does depend upon volunteers - the library staff appreciate any extra help. There are always books to cover so if you are interested in volunteering some of your time please come in and see us. Books can be taken home to cover at your own pace.

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE 2022

Hopefully everyone is enjoying reading their favourite books for this year’s Premier’s Reading Challenge! So far more than 800 schools and individual readers have registered for the challenge and are busy trying to read their 15 (for Years 5 & 6) or 20 books (for Prep to Year 2). The Premier’s Reading Challenge concludes Friday 26 August 2022, so there is still plenty of time to read and record your books.

Reading record sheets are still available for collection at the library. More information can be found at this web address:

Uniform Shop

Michelle Fanning

Hi all!

Welcome to week 1 Term 3. Here we go for another term! Fingers crossed you managed to squeeze in a little time for some r & r over the school holidays.

PRICE INCREASES

Due to price rises in fabric our supplier has increased the cost of our Polar Fleece jackets and Sports/Track jacket. Sadly we cannot absorb this cost so both jackets are now selling for $38 each.

HAIR ACCESSORIES

The wait is over and our range of ever popular hair accessories are back! Yes that includes our best selling headbands too!

LONG SLEEVE GOLD POLOS

Last summer we introduced the long sleeve Gold polo to our range as a sun safe option. Now that winter is here these shirts are also perfect for the cooler months and layering under our winter jackets on those extra chilly days. We are well stocked and the size ranges from 4 to 16.

2nd HAND WINTER STOCK

Why not look at our 2nd hand rack that is overflowing with Polar fleeces, Rugby shirts, Track pants and Leisure pants. Items start at just $5 and are always marked at 50% off or less! Pop by the store on a Tuesday or Thursday morning for a look or send me an email with what you’re after so I can help.

DONATIONS

Could donations please be given during opening hours only or handed in at the office if absolutely necessary. Please DO NOT leave bags outside the uniform shop. Thank you.

DRESSES

Please note that due to fabric issues we now have limited stock in our dresses. We now only have small quantities of sizes 1, 6, 8 and 12 left in stock.

I will not be ordering more so if you know you would like a dress, please don’t delay.

OPENING DAYS AND TIMES

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 passed on to their teacher.

PLEASE NOTE – When buying online via your pc or laptop, please add your child’s FULL NAME and CLASS in the notes section. If ordering via your mobile device, please add your child’s details beside yours. 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:

uniformshop@gracevillepandc.org.au

Thanks everyone!

Michelle

Tuckshop News

Welcome back everyone! So lovely to see so many smiling faces back at school and visiting us at Tuckshop.

Term 3 is a busy term so please if you can spare any time at all to help us out, we would greatly appreciate it. Remember even if you can’t commit to a full shift then just drop in before and/or after reading groups to help out. You would be surprised just how much 10 minutes of your time can help us with the morning.

Just follow the steps below to sign up in QKR! Or pop in and we can put your name down for you.

Thank you to all those volunteers that pop in regularly to see if we need help and a big shout out to the volunteers that pop in EVERY week to give us hand – we couldn’t do it without you!

Menu News

We have been having a little supply issue over the last few weeks with a few menu items. At this stage we have been able to substitute but please be patient if you see something disappear it won’t be gone for long we hope!

Reminders

Please be mindful that

• Cutoff time for ordering is 8am every morning
• Sushi orders must be in by 12pm Tuesday for Wednesday delivery (remember to order through the Sushi menu)
• If your child is sick please cancel the order before 8am on your app, if it is after that time please call us and we can help

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 2022

Chappy’s Chat

John Erichsen

Welcome back to Graceville State School!

I trust the two weeks were a good break from making school lunches and playing school taxi. I am sure many took advantage of the break and stayed warm on some of the chillier mornings. In Kingaroy on Saturday morning, it was -2 degrees and I was wondering why no other crazy person was standing on the first tee with me. Fresh mornings are turning into lovely days at present, so we can enjoy that, providing we survive the cold. Ahh, winters in Brisbane.

Term 3 starts with honouring and celebrating the culture of our first nations people, recognising their insight and understanding of this land. We are fortunate to have strong connections to indigenous elders in our community. Our students value the wonderful interaction they have with these elders and the knowledge they share.

Next Monday and Tuesday our athletes will attend the District Carnival and compete to make it into the District team. There will be some strong competition and all athletes should be very proud of making this meet. We wish our students all the best for these two days of competition.

Later this term the Graceville State School’s Spring Fair will take place. This will be an awesome day of fun and celebration. Plans are well underway, so keep your eyes peeled for more information regarding this exciting event.

Speaking of exciting events, this Saturday night will see the Graceville school community battling their brains out at the annual P&C Trivia Night. Always fierce competition, extravagant costumes and incredible table settings, this promises to be a fantastic night of fun. I look forward to seeing you there.

Part of the funding for school chaplaincy comes from the Federal Government’s National School Chaplaincy Funding which contributes $20280 per year to a community supported school chaplaincy service. A condition of this funding is mandatory training for chaplains in the area of bullying, and in particular, cyber bullying. Research shows this is one of the greatest concerns facing young people today. The digital world is an amazing place but it does come with some dangers.

I would encourage all parents to take a good look through the eSafety Commission website. It has many helpful resources for children and parents to assist them journey through life in this digital age. The link is below:

P&C News

Spring Fair

Trivia Night Update

Welcome back to term 3! This year is flying by, and we are all set for another busy and exciting term.

First up on the calendar this Saturday (16th July) is the annual Trivia Night! Raffle tickets for this year’s Trivia Night are now available for presale!!! MANY great prizes are on offer this year - but you gotta be in it to win it! Even better you do not need to be in attendance to have a chance at winning!

To see a list of all the fab prizes and pre-purchase your tickets now, head over to the website from the link below.

Any questions about the night itself, please email the Trivia team trivia@gracevillepandc.org.au.

The Spring Fair committee is in full flight as we prepare for our 2022 event on 27th August. If you haven’t read the first Spring Fair Newsletter click here. Two more dedicated newsletters will be issued prior to event day including a full event programme. We have also created a printable ‘Countdown Calendar’ to stick on your fridge and a Spring Fair ride information flyer with instructions about pre-purchasing ride bands. Both flyers will also be emailed out very soon. 

In the meantime, here are some useful dates:

• Ride Bands are now available for sale via the Qkr! App until Wednesday 17th August
• Bring in large moccona-style glass jars for sweets stall - Friday 12th August
• Free Dress Day - Friday 12th August (donate a family block of chocolate for lob-a-choc)

Calling all volunteers! There are many ways you can support the Fair, so please speak to your class reps who are coordinating our parent volunteer crew (thank you class reps!). We are still specifically looking for an MC, raffle convenors, a volunteer auctioneer and performers. Also, if you are part of a business/service and willing to donate sponsorship, time, services and/or goods we would love to hear from you!

Feel free to get in touch with any questions or feedback, by email at fete.convenor@gracevillepandc.org.au or fair.co-convenor@gracevillepandc.or.au. Please also follow our Facebook page for up-to-date information:

Thanks and kind regards,

Faith Studd (Fair Convenor) and Deepa Dasari (Fair Co-Convenor)
Graceville State School Spring Fair 2022