1 September 2022

Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

The Spring Fair was a great success! The weather was beautiful which enhanced the day.

I would like to thank the Spring Fair committee for organising this wonderful event. As you know, a lot of time and hard work goes on behind the scenes to make an event like this a success. The committee and class reps were working tirelessly for months in advance. I would also like to thank all of the families and community members who volunteered their time at a stall or to help set up or pack up. Many hands make light work and so we are grateful for the volunteering spirit of our community.

Our bands, ensembles and choirs performed brilliantly at the Spring Fair and enjoyed playing/singing for an audience. It was very nice of our Instrumental and music teachers to give up their weekend to give our musicians the opportunity to perform. You may also have seen many of our staff at the Spring Fair, either helping at a stall or supporting the school by attending and buying up big at the cake and lolly stalls in particular!

As you may have heard, our school has been announced as a finalist in the QLD Showcase Awards for Excellence this year. We will have a Channel 10 film crew here on Wednesday 7 September filming in locations around the school. If you see the film crew, they are here for a good reason! Unfortunately, not all staff or children could participate in the filming however we have organised for our Student leaders and a class to take part. All those who were invited to participate, had to complete consent for filming and the use of images in the media.

There are only two weeks to go now until the end of the term. A few key dates are below:

• Friday 2 September is a Pupil Free Day.
• Monday 5 September Senior Leader Application forms due by 3.30pm at the latest.
• Monday 5 September last date for Class Placement considerations for 2023 to be returned.
• Wednesday 7 September Channel 10 Showcase filming 9-10.30am.
• Wednesday 7 September Whole School Assembly with a Spell-a-thon prize focus from 2.10pm.
• Wednesday 14 September Readers Cup for Year 5 and 6 students.
• Thursday 15 September Oxley Road Student leader’s day (for 2023 student leaders) at Corinda High School.
• Thursday 15 September Prep to 3 Sports Day.
• Friday 16 September Book Week Dress up day! Come dressed as your favourite story book character.

Finally, we need all in catchment Prep enrolments in as soon as possible.

I hope you have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Prep enrolments for 2023

In catchment families please obtain enrolment forms from the office and commence this process now. Remember that when returning these forms that 2 sets of ‘proof of residency’ documents will be required as well if you aren’t already a school family. Prep interviews will finish at the end of this term as we start to plan for our Get Set for Prep sessions starting in term 4.

Cybersafety Presentation for GSS Parents will be held on Wednesday October 5, at 6pm!

Please RSVP your attendance at:

We do need at least 25 parents to attend for this session to go ahead so it is important to RSVP if you intend to come along.

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.

On Wednesday August 17 our year 5 and 6 students had cyber-safety presentations at school.

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

Preparing for Prep 2023

Prep interviews are just about completed now. Please contact the office if you haven’t had your initial meeting yet.

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 October 4.

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

Remaining Term 3 Calendar for P-2 Assemblies

Library News

Melanie Hutchinson

GRACEVILLE STATE SCHOOL READERS’ CUP COMPETITION 2022

As part of our Book Week celebrations in the last week of Term 3 our Year 5 & 6 students will be participating in the annual GSS READERS CUP. Teams will compete against each other in the competition on WEDNESDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER in the HALL.

The Readers’ Cup is a competition that promotes the reading of books and rewards students who do well at reading. It challenges students to read widely, work collaboratively in a team and continue to love reading.

Teams have been reading and studying the SEVEN selected stories (Novels: Specky Magee – Felice Arena; Just a Dog – Michael Gerard Bauer; Danny the Champion of the World – Roald Dahl; Short stories: Little Squirt – Paul Jennings; Interpreting Mrs Blatchford - Tim Harris; Bad Holiday – Andy Griffiths; Picture Book: Our Granny – Margaret Wild). Points are scored on the day by answering rounds of questions on each story as well as answering rounds of general knowledge questions on books and reading.

Families are asked to encourage their children to read and study ALL the required stories and actively support their team!

BOOK WEEK CELEBRATION DRESS UP DAY

MARK YOUR CALENDAR - OUR BOOK WEEK DRESS UP DAY IS COMING!!

Once again this year we will be celebrating Book Week with a whole school DRESS UP DAY!

On FRIDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER (last day of term) students are invited to come to school dressed as their FAVOURITE (or any) BOOK CHARACTER or in this year’s Dreaming with Eyes Open… theme for our Book Week parade.

This will be a fantastic way to celebrate books and reading, and a great way to encourage reading for enjoyment, particularly during the upcoming September holidays - not to mention an entertaining and enjoyable way to end the school term!

Please take the opportunity to talk to your children about their love of books, story book characters they like, and reading for pleasure. Start planning or suggesting what characters or individuals they could possibly come dressed as. Persuade them to come up with something creative and imaginative! There is no need to hire or buy a costume – perhaps you could even borrow one.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

Thank you to our Junior Choir and Senior Choir students who have performed at assemblies in preparation for the Spring Fair! It is lovely to have opportunities to perform again and I know the students have really enjoyed sharing their songs with the school community!

Upcoming Performances

We are very excited to have all of our instrumental and choral students performing at the Spring Fair.

Next week there will be no Senior Choir rehearsal on Tuesday morning due to the recent performances and as some students have additional commitments this week and next week with the ICAS maths and science competitions. Rehearsals will resume in week 9 and continue in week 10.

Please ensure that your child attends rehearsals/lessons regularly and contact your child's conductor 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.

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

Uniform Shop

Michelle Fanning

Hi all

Welcome to week 7. Just a few short weeks away from the end of another term!

CASHLESS STORE

Starting next month we will only be accepting payment by Eftpos card or credit card when purchasing at the store.

OUT OF STOCK

We are currently out of size 8 Gold Polo shirts. They have been ordered and should be back in store in a couple of weeks.

DRESSES

Please note we have very limited stock in our dresses. We now only have small quantities of sizes 1, 8, 12, 14 and 16 left in stock. I also currently have 2nd hand dresses in size 2, 4 and 6.

I will not be ordering more so if you’re a new family and you would like a dress for Prep 2023 please don’t delay.

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.

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.

REFUNDS

Please be advised that refunds will only be given if you have your receipt originally sent to you via text message or email. Items should not have been washed, worn and any tags should still be attached. PLEASE NOTE any items should be returned/exchanged within 2 months.

Email address for school uniform store is:

uniformshop@gracevillepandc.org.au

Thanks everyone!

Michelle

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop News 2022

Welcome to this week’s newsletter – we really are getting close to the end of term! We are busy, busy, busy in the tuckshop so pop in and give us hand if you have 10 mins- 3 hours! We would love to see you.

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, we couldn’t do it without you!

Menu News

Over the last few weeks, we have been keeping everyone informed about supply issues and the runoff affect it has had with some of our menu items. Up until now we have absorbed a lot of the price rises and it has not affected any items.

Unfortunately, this week we have had to increase the price on a few of our items due to product shortages and subsequent further price rises only by $0.50c.

If you would like a list of the items, please feel free to pop in and have a chat but with the minimal number of items affected we are confident it shouldn’t be an issue.

Lastly, the excitement is building here at school, and we can feel it in the air that Spring Fair is almost here…. have a great day everyone!

Reminders

Please be mindful that

• Cutoff time for ordering is 8am every morning
• 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

Swim Club

The Graceville Lightning Swim Club is back!

Come and join us for a fun season of Friday night swimming! Swim club starts back on 7th October, 5.45pm and runs every Friday night through Term 4 2022 and Term 1, 2023.

Who can join?

Anyone over the age of 5 can join and swim. Gain experience racing in the pool against your friends in a fun and supportive environment. Assisted swims are provided for the younger swimmers until they feel confident on their own.

2022/23 membership prices start at only $55 for our younger swimmers for the entire season!

Friday night dinner is sorted with hot food from the BBQ. Soft drinks and other goodies also available from the canteen.

All are welcome to come along to check out the action. We look forward to welcoming our members and new faces back to the pool!

Visit the website below or email secretary@gracevillelightning.org.au for more information.

Community Notices