10 February 2023

Principal

Zoe Smith

Hello,

I would like to thank all parents/carers who use Acacia Avenue at peak times of day for driving slowly and mindfully. As you know a small group of school staff are voluntarily manning the crossing while a new Crossing Supervisor is sourced and trained. We are not trained in supervising the crossing so are doing our best to ensure safe travel across the road for families. We appreciate your understanding and continued support as we manage the crossing.

All of our school leaders for 2023 have now been officially presented with their badges and have started fulfilling their roles. This week all Year Level and Class Representatives visited the classrooms to seek ideas and feedback on how the students would like to see the school improved. All of the ideas will be collated and presented to both the Student Council and P&C. We hope to use this student voice to improve the school in ways that reflects the wants and needs of the children.

Don’t forget next week Mrs Martin, our Head of Department for Curriculum, will be running a Parent Information Session on how we enact the curriculum at Graceville State School. We hope you can make it from 5.45 to 6.45 next Wednesday 15th February. This session will help parents to understand the why of how we implement curriculum, how it is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and how we promote lifelong learning through engagement with the Learning Assets and Dispositions. We will be setting up our Human Library very soon so please keep your eye out for this!

Next Friday the 17th February we have a guest speaker coming to talk to students. The Department of Education have approved Channel 10 to film parts of the presentation. We understand the footage is for a news segment. A small number of our school leaders will also have the opportunity to be interviewed about the messages from the presentation.

It has been great to get swimming lessons started again this year. We must thank our PE teacher Mr Daunt for agreeing to teach swimming in his lessons. This has meant the school has to use staff and parent volunteers to be spotters or be in the pool with the younger students. The school has tried to find swimming instructors for both lower primary and outside of school lessons with no success. This seems to be a common problem in schools with pools at the moment. With Mr Daunt’s agreement, we can at least run swimming in our usual PE lessons this year. Swimming lessons for Prep children will be in Term 4.

I hope you have a great week,

Zoe Smith

Newsletter Articles

Deputy Principal

Maree Hass

Prep Vision Screening by Registered Nurse - March 20 – 22

A Registered Nurse will be visiting the school on Monday 20th through to Wednesday 22nd March 2023 to conduct vision screening for children in their prep year.

If you wish to have your prep child participate in this FREE vision screening program, please complete an online consent form. Online by 17 February 2023 (a very simple process).

Should you choose to complete a paper form; please see the school office for a Hardcopy.

Participation in this free vision screening program is not compulsory. If you do not wish for your child to participate in screening, please complete the consent form and indicate that you wish to decline screening.

Parents do not need to be present for screening, however if you would like to be, please contact the school to arrange this.

For further information, please scan the below QR code to visit the Program website or contact the Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program on 1800 687 372.

School Sun Safety Policy

Last year was the first year of implementation of our Sun Safety Policy. Year-round sun protection is important for all 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.

Our school aims to educate our students about being sun safe in order to develop important, life-long, healthy habits, and acknowledges the important role adults play during and outside school hours to reinforce sun safety with children.

In implementing this policy, our school and community recognise that:

• the policy applies to all school and school-related activities and events;
• the strategies are to be implemented during the whole school day and year-round; and
• a combination of sun safe strategies is more effective than a single approach.

Parents are asked to apply sunscreen before school and all teachers will provide an opportunity for students to reapply sunscreen while at school using school provided sunscreen which is Ultra Protect Vitamin E 50+ brand.

If you do not wish for your child to use the school provided sunscreen please complete the ‘Non-consent’ form which is Appendix A of the attached policy.

Please take the time to read this policy and ask any questions at all about its contents.

P-2 Assemblies this term

All parents are welcome to attend these assemblies starting at 2:15 each fortnight.

Music News

Naomi Lindh

This week our Senior Band, Senior Strings and Senior Choir have started rehearsals. We appreciate support from families ensuring students attend their rehearsals consistently and with their appropriate equipment for IM students. In week 5, the Junior Choir rehearsals will start for students in years 2-3 who are interested in joining. If any year 2 students are participating in STEM workshops on Thursday mornings this term, they are welcome to join the Junior Choir at the beginning of next term. Please see the choir note (link below) for further information about the choirs.

Due to some family commitments and long service leave days I am taking this term, please note that there will be no Senior Choir rehearsal on Tuesday 7 March (week 7) as I will be on long service leave. (I will be back at school on Thursday 9 March for the Junior Choir rehearsal.) Thank you for your understanding with this.

If your child is experiencing any difficulties with starting their instrumental lessons or engaging in their lessons/practice, please contact their IM teacher so they can work through this with you and your child to support their involvement in the IM program.

Thank you for supporting your child's involvement in our music program! We hope all of our IM students are enjoying their lessons!

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

Tuckshop

Tuckshop News 2023

Can you believe we are already heading into weeks 4 and 5? Hopefully everyone has found their feet and are happily settled into the new year and new routines.

We are always in need of help at Tuckshop so please next time you jump on to order then pop your name in the Volunteer Roster as well. Can’t do that? Then just pop in and lend a hand for whatever time you can spare. A knock on the door is always welcome, we would love to see you!

Sign up to volunteer through the Qkr! app using the volunteer menu.

But if volunteering isn’t possible for you then we are always looking for donations of items to Tuckshop such as rice, popcorn, tinned tomatoes etc. Drop us a line or pop in and we can discuss this further.

A REMINDER FOR ALL FAMILIES AT SCHOOL – YOU NEED TO DOWNLOAD QKR! FROM THE APP STORE TO ORDER.

Please see the link below to see how to download and order.

Unfortunately, a few of our suppliers have had to increase prices on some of our stocked items so please be aware that you may see some price increases in some products over the next month or so. We are constantly looking for ways to keep prices as minimal as possible and do not raise prices without looking for other ways/ products to keep prices reasonable but sometimes it is unavoidable.

Keep an eye out for new menu items this term as we get back into the swing of it!

If you have any menu questions or concerns or would like any information on how the Tuckshop runs, please pop in and have a chat with us – we’d love to see you. We look forward to catching up with familiar faces this term and making new friends!

Emma and Alex
Tuckshop Conveners 2023

Uniform Shop

Hi all!

Welcome to week 3

SENIORS SHIRTS

In the next week or two notes will be sent home with the Year 6 children about ordering their seniors shirt to celebrate their last year of primary school. Gold polo shirts will be printed with the all of the Year 6 classes/students names on the back. Please keep an eye out for further details about prices and time frames for ordering.

WINTER STOCK

Considering the hot days we've been having I know it sounds crazy to talk about winter, but I will be doing my top up on winter gear this week. I currently have a decent size range of most of the winter range in store so if you’re super organised you're welcome to make an appointment and try on our long sleeve gold polos, fleece jackets, sports jackets, rugby jumpers, track pants and leisure pants.

HAIR ACCESSORIES

Our ever popular hair accessories are all back in stock with a couple of new additions to the range. All items are hand made in Brisbane and start at just $3.

OUT OF STOCK

We are currently out of stock of the following -

Gold Polo size 8
Cook House Shirt size 8
Flinders House Shirt size 6
Kennedy House Shirt size 6
Long Sleeve Gold Polo size 8
Library Bags

Gold polos and library bags have been re ordered and will be back in store in the next few weeks. House shirts will be back next term.

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.

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

P&C News

P&C Roles for 2023

The P&C Association of each school is made up of representatives from the school administration, members of the school community (parents and carers) and other interested community members (often the local Councillor or Members of Parliament) and all members must nominate to join the P&C every year by completing a very simple form. The 2023 AGM will be on Weds 29 March 2023.

Every P&C association must have a President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary who are called the Executive Committee. All executive roles are re-elected each year, and we have a couple of people who will not be re-nominating for 2023, so we will need people to come in and take over these positions.

Further information on P&C processes, policies and roles can be found at:

Role of the P&C President, Treasurer, Secretary (pandcsqld.com.au)

We have some very exciting projects underway for 2023 and beyond so we are looking for new and enthusiastic volunteers to join the committee in a range of roles to help us progress these and other exciting P&C initiatives.

In 2023, we are looking to fill the following roles:

• President (Executive)
• Vice President (Executive)
• Assistant Treasurer (Events Treasurer)
• Grants Officer
• IT Support officer
• Social Media and Marketing support officer
• Spring Fair Convenor/ Co-Convenor

If you are interested in becoming involved in the P&C or would like to help out with any of our 2023 events, grant applications or are interested in a role, then please come along to our next meeting on 22 Feb 2023 or get in contact with us ( exec@gracevillepandc.org.au )

There are also plenty of other opportunities for you to get involved in the school including:

• Class Reps – Each class is asked to nominate one or two reps to coordinate and share info with families, organise social events and coordinate the class allocated Spring Fair stall/ activity.
• Tuckshop – We ask all families to volunteer at least one shift, once a month from 8.30-11.30am. It’s a LOT OF FUN and the kids LOVE coming to see you during break time.
• Spring Fair Committee - The annual Spring Fair is our biggest event of the year and cannot happen without a whole army of wonderful volunteers. Formal roles include Fair Convenor/ Co-Convenor, Stalls Coordinator, Food Coordinator, Treasurer, Sponsorship Coordinator and Graphic Designer.
• Uniform Shop – Similar to tuckshop, requires volunteers in the mornings especially at the beginning and end of the year.
• Contact Club – supports the library with covering of books a few times a year.
• Classroom volunteering - Parents provide valuable support to teachers assisting in classroom activities such as Reading Groups, with special activities and on excursions, sports days and attending swimming lessons.

We can’t wait to see you at our next meeting or for more information or to answer any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at exec@gracevillepandc.org.au.

Next P&C meeting date

Please be advised that the next P&C meeting has been scheduled for 22nd February 2022 at 7:30pm in the Waratah Room. You can also attend virtually via Zoom – details will be sent out closer to the time. Everyone is welcome.

School Plus News

The return of the school term had bought with it some incredibly hot days here in Graceville, but with the shade of the quad, the aircon inside and the sandpit we’ve been finding lots of ways to still have fun.

The sandpit has been very popular the past couple weeks with the children building castles, digging for treasure, and constructing roads. The children even set up ‘factories’ where everybody was organised to do certain roles, such as digger, boss, duster, and a researcher who had a book on crystals. Their job was to identify all the stones being found. It was great to see the children of all ages joining this ‘factory’ game, they took turns at the different roles. The children reminded each other than just because you’re the boss, doesn’t mean that you get to boss others around. There was so much collaboration, and the children really demonstrated their skills in working together, sharing ideas and showing kindness. The older children were also very patient as the Preps joined in, trying to learn the new roles, and helping them.

Craft is always a favourite with the children, especially the younger ones and we’ve been busy creating so many fun things. The children all worked together on one very long paper chain, we made our own puzzles and piñatas!

We have also been experimenting with STEAM combining art with elements of Science and Technology. We coloured in our sharks, then used an iPad and QR code to bring our sharks into the OSHC room (using augmented reality). The children had so much fun taking photos with the AR sharks and practising their drama skills and they gasped, shrieked, and swam around in the photos. Check out our neon sharks that floated around and swam around the children in the photos.

Community Notices