25 November 2022

Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

Two weeks to go!

As you can imagine it is very busy here at the school as we finalise 2022 and start planning for 2023.

This week Mrs Gray, one of our Year 2 teachers headed off on Maternity Leave. We sent her off with our best wishes and look forward to catching up with her early next year to meet her new bub! This week is also Ms Fichera’s last week as she is heading off on a long overseas adventure. We know she will have a great time exploring the world!

Over the next few weeks there are many activities in the school:

• RI Christmas Concert Wednesday 30
• P&C meeting Wednesday night 30th, 7.30pm
• Prep children for 2023 meet their class Thursday 1st
• Swimming Carnival Year 4-6 Friday 2nd
• Report Cards home Tuesday 6th
• Class letter home Tuesday 6th
• Children meet their new teachers Wednesday 7th from 1.50pm
• Year 6 Graduation Night Wednesday 7th
• Year 6 Water Park celebration day Thursday 8th
• Last day of school Term Friday 9th

I would like to congratulate the School Captains, Student Learning Ambassadors and Cultural Ambassadors for 2023. We will hold an official badge ceremony in week 1 of 2023.

Congratulations to:

School Captains

• Griff D
• Taiga M
• Sophia B
• Annabelle M

Student Learning Ambassador Leaders

• Tanisha G
• Johanna W
• Grace S
• Yenuli S
• Rithvika P

Cultural Ambassador

• Lucas H
• Cherishma V

We will be announcing the Sport House Captains, Music Captains, Year level Leaders and Class reps next Wednesday at our final Whole School Assembly for the year.

You will have received a message from the school about a change to the Portfolios that we usually send home. The school is required to archive Portfolios that include a student’s Assessment pieces and Marking Guides. For this reason, we will invite any interested parents to come in and look through their child’s Portfolio which includes Assessment pieces and Marking Guides in week 10 and then we will archive them as per the Department’s Guidelines. All class-based student work will go home as usual. Please keep an eye out for an email from your child’s class teacher with the date and time you can come in and look at the Portfolio.

Please remember to send a water bottle and hat to school each day. The weather is warming up and keeping cool and hydrated is important in the hot weather.

Don’t forget the final P&C meeting for the year is being held next Wednesday night at 7.30pm.

Have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Preparing for Prep 2023

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

Term 4 Calendar for P-2 Assemblies

We commence our P-2 assemblies at 2:15, parents are welcome to attend.

Deputy Principal

Lisa McKeaten

School Policy around devices

Just a reminder that all devices ie. phones and smart watches (that can’t be put on school mode) need to be handed into the office at the beginning the day. Students can then collect them at 2.50.

With an increasing number of students with smart watches, it has become more of an issue, especially when students can make calls, take videos and photos and receive messages. Please check that your child’s smart watch is appropriately set for school or they may be better to leave it at home. It should only be able to tell the time with the control settings in place.

Naplan 2023

Just a reminder for Year 3 & 5 Parents for 2023 that Naplan testing is earlier next year. All classes will participate in Naplan testing during Term 1 (15-27 March). During early Term 1 students will also participate in practice tests which will “test” our devices and network connections. No data is collected with the practice tests. Please try to avoid absences/appointments/holidays during these times.

Personal details updates

Now is the time to make sure you have let the office know about any changes in your personal details eg. Email addresses, phone numbers, address etc. with reporting happening in Week 10 it is important that all emails addresses are up to date. This also includes any updates about medical conditions or medications.

RI Christmas Concert next week

The last day for Religious Instruction classes is this week. Next Wednesday in the hall we will have our end of year Christmas concert 9.00-9.30. The students who attend RI classes will be attending this concert. The students who don’t attend RI will be supervised by teachers in classrooms.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

All of our IM lessons and rehearsals will finish at the end of this week. Thank you to our instrumental students and families for their commitment to the program throughout this year and our teachers, Mr Kukulies and Mr Chin!

2023 IM Recruitment

The instrumental music teachers will be sending out first round offers for the IM program before the end of this year, to parents/carers of students who submitted an expression of interest last term.

We hope everyone has an enjoyable last few weeks of the term and a safe and relaxing Christmas holiday!

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

Chappy Chat

John Erichsen

The end of Term 4 is filled with highlight moments on our school calendar. Last week’s Music Concert evening was an amazing success, showcasing the student’s skill and progress with their musical journey. From the beginning of the year, all our performers have developed their skills and to hear them perform so beautifully was truly inspiring. A huge thank you to all our music teachers for sharing their passion with our eager students, and also to the parents who journey alongside their budding musicians, overseeing practice and helping with encouragement.

Prep Orientation days are exciting for both parents and children as they experience a little of the Graceville State School community and culture. Important questions are answered and some reassurance meets the natural uncertainty and nerves, over what the start of 2023 might bring.

Our year 6 students are busily adding graduation practices to their schedule, as they prepare for one of the biggest nights of their school lives. It is very exciting to be back in the school hall for this year’s Graduation evening.

Last week saw the Spellathon class prize pool parties commence, with the winning classes enjoying some water time on a warm Friday. This Friday will see the remaining classes enjoy their chance to make a splash. I am sure, if I had associated spelling with the chance for a swim on a hot day, I would have been even more enthusiastic about my spelling words

We commemorated Remembrance Day on Friday the 11th, with a special assembly. The ceremony including video footage of the late Queen Elizabeth, as part of the Women’s Alliance of the British Armed Forces. This added an especially special touch to the ceremony. Our students were so respectful and attentive during the assembly. All school families should be very proud.

The term will continue to race on by with more big moments coming up, including house captain speeches and voting and swimming carnivals. Take a deep breath and enjoy the ride!

Have an amazing week!

John Erichsen
(Chappy)

Uniform Shop

Michelle Fanning

Hi all

Welcome to week 8!

Just 2 short weeks until our school year is over!!

PLAN AHEAD FOR 2023

Families are already ordering online and making appointments for fittings for 2023. If you can, please buy as early as possible. Just one less thing to worry about when the silly season well and truly arrives.

APPOINTMENTS

Please be aware that this is the busiest time of the year for the uniform shop so appointments are absolutely necessary. I have 10 min appointments for current families/students or 20 min appointments for new families/students needing to try on uniforms etc. Appointments days are Tuesdays and Thursdays. These can be made by scrolling down to the ‘link for appointment’ section.

STOCK LEVELS

I'm thrilled to report that we are fully stocked in all sizes for gold polos, shorts and skorts, our key uniform items.

RETURNS/REFUNDS

Please be advised that refunds will only be given if you have your receipt which will be sent to you via email or text message. Items should be in perfect condition so should not have been worn or washed and any original tags should still be attached. You have 60 days for returns and refunds.

CASHLESS STORE

We are now a cashless store so will only be accepting payment by Eftpos card or credit card when purchasing at the store.

DRESSES

Please note we have very limited stock in our dresses. We now only have small quantities of sizes 8, 12, 14 and 16 left in stock. These will not be re stocked.

2nd HAND STOCK

Why not look at our 2nd hand rack. 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.

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

LINK FOR BOOKING APPOINTMENTS

For any reason you cannot make your appointment time, please cancel online asap so others don’t miss out.

LOCATION

When visiting the store 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.

If you are a new family to the school please let me know so we can arrange a pick up time from the uniform shop. The school office prefer not to hold items there for pick up if at all possible.

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. Please do not leave donations at the uniform shop when it is closed. Thank you for your generosity and understanding.

Email address for school uniform store is:

uniformshop@gracevillepandc.org.au

Thanks everyone!

Michelle

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop News 2022

NEXT WEEK IS OUR LAST WEEK OF TUCKSHOP….

Please be aware that Tuckshop will be closed for the last week of school (week 10).

The last day of Tuckshop for 2022 will be FRIDAY 2nd DECEMBER and all orders must be placed by MIDDAY THURSDAY 1st DECEMBER.

We are always CRAZY the last week of term so please pop in, sign up and give us hand if you’re around – we would love to see you.

We really appreciate every minute you can spare, particularly at the end of year when we are all so exhausted and busy!

While there will be no Tuckshop the last week of term - CLASS ICEBLOCKS ARE STILL AVAILABLE MONDAY/ TUESDAY/ WEDNESDAY OF THE LAST WEEEK…just order them through QKR like usual.

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

School Plus

OSHC News: School Newsletter

Christmas Closure Period

OSHC will be closed from the 24th of December to the 08th of January. The last day of Vacation Care will be the 23rd of December. The holiday program has been released, book in early for excursions as these can quickly book out due to limited places. We’ll have a range of fun activities, themed days, incursions and excursions focusing on many different themes so there’s something for everyone!

What Have We Been Doing at OSHC?

The past couple of weeks have been a busy time here at OSHC. We celebrated Kindness Week and National Recycling Week, finished our Solar System project, cooled down with water pipes and slimy sludge! We’ve been cooking up a storm in the kitchen and getting creative with craft.

National Recycling Week

Events such as National Recycling Week are so important as they allow us to celebrate and learn about recycling. The children love themed days and weeks and love to get involved. This week we celebrated all things recycling with classics like box creations and recycling craft projects, but also some new fun ideas that were very popular. I think the Recycling Race may have been the biggest hit of the whole week! The children had to collect up ‘rubbish’(which the educators had laid out, to be sure it was safe and clean to touch) and then, against another team, sort it into the different recycling categories. It was great to hear the conversations happening among the children as they explained and justified their choice of category. It was also wonderful to see just how much the children knew about recycling different materials, checking for information on the packaging and using the recycling symbols to make their choices. This was such a fun way to get kids excited about taking care of the planet.

We also learnt all about composting and how worms help our planet. We’ve had worms here at OSHC for many years so it was great so shine a spotlight on them for the amazing creatures they are! The children learnt about how the worms can take old food scraps that include the parts we humans can’t or won’t eat and turn them into an amazing compost. It’s a great way to stop food scraps going to waste and very interesting too. The children love watching the worms!

Magical Mermaids

We had been donated a large container of pegs by a parent, and the children were quick to come up with many ideas to use them. There were so many fantastic and imaginative ideas so I’m sure we won’t run out of uses for all the pegs any time soon! But for this session the most popular idea was easily mermaids. The children were so excited to create their beautiful mermaids and we soon found a range of bits and pieces in our sustainability craft area to make thee mermaids magical. We found some sparkly foam we had once used for a Christmas craft last year, some off-cuts of yarn we used for lovely wigs for the mermaids and some sparkles and sequins. The children were so proud of the result, rushing off to create so many stories with friends using their mermaids.

Sensory Play

When it comes to sensory play, our children always say the messier, the better! That was certainly the case with this slimy, goopy GelliBaff! The children loved playing with this green goo all afternoon. It was a nice calm activity for a sunny, hot week and we put it in the quad area so the children could stay out of the heat.

Tennis

CHRISTMAS SCHOOL HOLIDAY TENNIS COACHING CLINICS

MONDAY 12TH, TUESDAY 13TH, WEDNESDAY 14TH DECEMBER 2022
WEDNESDAY 16TH, THURSDAY 17TH, FRIDAY 18th JANUARY 2023

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) & Sherwood State School (464 Oxley Road, Sherwood)

CLINIC 2 – ORANGE BALL STUDENTS (RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN 7-10 YEARS OF AGE)

• 8.00am - 11.00am at Graceville State School (Oxley Road, Graceville) & Sherwood State School (464 Oxley Road, Sherwood)

CLINIC 3 – GREEN BALL STUDENTS (RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN 10-12 YEARS OF AGE)

• 8.00am - 11.00am at Graceville State School (Oxley Road, Graceville) & Sherwood State School (464 Oxley Road, Sherwood)

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 the link below- or contact Tennis For Kids at info@tennisforkids.com.au or on 0408 187 741