24 June 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Yours in education,

Leanne Odorico
Principal

Student of the Week

Top Kurwongbah Kids

Congratulations to the following students who have recently received Top Kurwongbah Kids Awards by showing our School Values:

TERM 2 WEEK 8

Top Kurwongbah Kid – Term 2 Week 8

TERM 2 WEEK 9

Top Kurwongbah Kid – Term 2 Week 9

Outstanding Students for Term 2

Each term, teachers nominate an Outstanding Student from their class. The nominee is a student who independently models our school values reflecting pride in themselves, pride in our school and displays care and concern for those around them.

All recipients received their award last week. There will be a special morning tea for all nominees on Friday 26th June.

We would like to acknowledge all our nominated Outstanding Students for Term 2:

Date Claimers

Due Dates for Payments

Payments

Payments are now being accepted for all excursions and music. We are not permitted to proceed with excursions at the moment. Parents will be advised as soon as excursions can proceed again in schools.

Kurwongbah State School Is Cashless

The safety, wellbeing and hygiene of students, parents and staff is a top priority at Kurwongbah State School. Kurwongbah School is now cashless.

This measure will minimise the risk of contamination by transmission when paying with cash.

There are various ways to pay for excursions / activities for your child.

Acceptable methods of payment include:

• BPOINT (preferred method)
• QParents
• EFTPOS

Please contact the School Office if you require any assistance with payments.

Absences

Absence notification process

The preferred method for reporting absences is via our SMS service on 0429 919 560. Your other means of letting us know is via our absence line (3481 4366), by QParents or by the main phone line. Please be sure you indicate the following when reporting the absence:

• Name of child (especially if there is more than one child in your family)
• Absence reason – Please indicate if your child is sick or at an appointment etc. Indicating that your child is not coming to school, does not give a true reason for the absence
• Late Arrival – If your child will be late due to an appointment, please indicate an approximate time of arrival
• Dates of absences, if longer than 1 day

When using our absence line (3481 4366), please speak very clearly. It is a requirement of the Department of Education for all absences to be explained.

Collecting Students for Appointments

Please be aware these are the lunch break times for your children:

• 1st Break: 10.50am – 11.30am
• 2nd Break: 1.30pm - 2.10pm

If you need to collect your child for an appointment, please inform either the office or your teacher as to your approximate arrival time and if necessary we will attempt to have your children waiting for you at the office. We do not have a system where we can contact children or teachers during break times.

Contact Details

It is important that the school have the correct contact details. If you have changed your mobile phone number, address or email address, could you please complete the attached form and forward to the office. Please be also aware if you have a change in emergency contacts.

Lost Property

Please ensure you name your child’s belongings. We are receiving lots of un-named jumpers and hats at Lost Property and we are unable to return them to their owner. Don’t forget to also rename belongings if you have bought it second-hand.

The Lost Property box is located outside the Admin block. We also keep other pieces of lost property in the office eg glasses, jewellery.

2021 Prep Enrolment

We are now taking names of Prep students for 2021. Children who were born between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016 are eligible to commence prep in 2021. Parents are invited to contact the school office (ph: 3481 4333) if they are intending to enrol their child at Kurwongbah for Prep in 2021. Interviews will be conducted early in Term 3. Please contact the school for further information.

P&C Committee 2020

Last Wednesday evening the remaining of our P&C executive positions were filled for 2020. Thank you to these wonderful parents that commit significant time, energy and talent to supporting school improvement and fostering community partnerships within and across our school and local community. We are so lucky to have them on board in 2020.

eSmart Grant for Cybersafety Program Grant

Please be advised we were one of 55 schools state wide successful in an eSmart grant application. Our grant value is $12,000 assisting us to implement a range of cybersafety programs. This is an exciting opportunity for our students and families building a cybersmart and cybersafety school community into the future.

First Aid News

If your child is unwell, it is essential you keep them at home. In accordance with Queensland Health Directions, parents or carers of any child showing signs of illness will be asked to collect them immediately from the school.

First Aid Room
firstaid@kurwongbahss.eq.edu.au

Music News

Charges for Singing Groups and Instrumental Music Students in 2020

Invoices were sent home at the end of term 1 for music charges. These charges were amended and had the uniform hire removed for 2020. Due to the current guidelines around banning mass and non-essential gatherings, students would only have limited opportunities to wear the Performance Uniform so we decided not to distribute them this year and waive the uniform fee for 2020. If circumstances change we will advise parents in the future. Payment can be made by cheque (payable to Kurwongbah State School), cash, EFTPOS ($10.00 and over) or by BPOINT (preferred) using the invoice that was email to you.

Instrumental Music

All lessons and rehearsals will recommence in week 1 of term 3. Below is a summary of all rehearsals.

Junior and Senior Singers

There have been no changes to the rules and restrictions around rehearsals so term 3 will start with the same staggered rehearsals times we currently have.

Below is a summary or all the music rehearsals.

STEM & Enrichment Education News

Kurwongbah’s Makerspace Lunchtime Timetable – Term 2

Coding using Scratch

Year 3 students have been enjoying learning about ‘Scratch,’ a block based coding program in their class sessions for Digital Technology. Many students have come to the Makerspace in the Library for extra sessions during their lunch breaks and enjoyed sharing their programs and learning from their peers. Come and join in the fun at the Makerspace and test your skills!

Ipswich Poetry Competition

The Ipswich Poetry Feast is an exciting initiative of Ipswich City Council. The Poetry Feast has flourished since it was introduced in 2002 with the aim of establishing a respected and prestigious national poetry competition to encourage young and aspiring poets and raise community awareness of the creativity and skills in poetry writing. If you would like to enter, you can go online to the link below or pick up an entry form from the Library. This competition is open to all primary students free of charge with a total prize pool of over $6500. Entries must be submitted by Friday 31st July 2020.

Premier’s 2020 Coding Challenge

The 2020 Premier’s Coding Challenge is on again! This challenge offers great prizes and an excellent opportunity for students to create some interactive and innovative coding to raise awareness of cyber safety and help Queenslanders by providing tips to improve their cybersecurity. Entrants from Year 3- 6 can develop an app, game or animation, and they must submit a short video showcase with their entry. For more information visit the website below:

Telling Stories Writing Competition

The ‘Telling Stories’ Writing Competition is organised by Mooloolaba Rotary in partnership with the Creative Writing Program from the University of the Sunshine Coast and Voices on the Coast. This competition is on again and open for students from Year 3-6. Students are to write their own story with the title being – ‘I should have been more careful.’

Entries are due on 24th August and there are great cash prizes to be won. Please see the Library for an entry form.

YMCA OSHC News

Dear Parents and Caregivers of Kurwongbah State School,

Not long to go now until YMCA OSHC comes to Kurwongbah State School…we encourage you to enrol in the next two weeks to give us time to accept and process your bookings.

Should you have any questions or require some face to face help our staff will be on site on Wednesday 1st of June from 6:30am – 6.00pm to assist you.

The Y is very excited to be selected as the OSHC provider for Kurwongbah State School. We look forward to getting to work and meeting you all.

Your new YMCA OSHC service will open on the first day of term 3 – 13th July 2020.

YMCA Outside School Hours Care is a place where children are valued. There are always interesting and exciting things to do. You’ll discover a range of age appropriate activities that encourage children to interact with friends, learn life skills, problem solve and be challenged by new experiences in an environment that is safe, fun and supportive.

Team members escort preps to and from their classroom. Nutritious breakfasts and afternoon teas are served daily to enhance the wellbeing of our children. With our embedded inclusive practices we offer great opportunities for all to learn and grow through activities such as sports, music and drama. We offer the Kurwongbah community Before and After School Care as well as our Holiday Club Program and Pupil Free Days.

Please see below IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON HOW TO ENROL in the service:

Due to the free childcare scheme currently on offer, and how our business has needed to adapt, a permanent booking must be registered through QikKids before an enrolment form can be completed.

Please visit the below website and ‘click’ on the ‘my family lounge’ icon.

Select the “Request Booking” section on your My Family Lounge dashboard and request your booking pattern. We will then be notified of your booking and we will be able to offer you your place. Once the booking process is complete, you will be able to submit your enrolment form to YMCA Kurwongbah OSHC.

If you are seeking an enrolment in our service as a casual booking, or a “just in case” enrolment, please complete a permanent booking pattern for just one day a week, and make a note in the Note section that you do wish it to be casual. Once the booking process is completed to allow you to submit your form, it will be amended in our system to a casual booking.

Once we are able to accept casual bookings and enrolments again, you will not be required to do this process.

If you require any clarification, or help with enrolments/bookings, please do not hesitate to contact us at akb@ymcabrisbane.org or phone our Head Office on 07 3354 0444.

We thank you for inviting us into your community and cannot wait to meet you and your children.

YMCA OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop will be open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a limited menu for the final week of Term 2. Only online orders or phone orders will be accepted. There will be no breakfast or over the counter orders offered at this time as we are unable to process cash. Updates for Term 3 will be advertised via the Kurwongbah P&C Facebook page.

Ordering

Tuckshop is currently only accepting Eftpos and Credit Card payments. There will be no over the counter ordering, unless purchases are made prior online.

Phone Orders

Parents can place a phone order, by phoning the tuckshop directly on 3481 4337 and paying by credit card.

Online Ordering

Parents can order via our online ordering system. Cut off for online ordering is 7:30am.

Tuckshop Hours

Sandra and Carol
Tuckshop Convenors
tuckshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au

Uniform Shop

Uniform Shop will be closed on Thursday 25th June for stocktake. Final orders this term will be completed on Wednesday.

The Uniform shop accepts phone orders, as well as email orders. Please advise if you are unsure of the sizing and we can have your child visit the uniform shop to be sized. Payment to be made by credit card. We are not currently accepting cash.

Ordering Through Uniform Shop

The following options are available:

1. Email your order through to uniformshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au. This will be processed next time the Uniform Shop is open.
2. You can phone the Uniform Shop during open hours and pay by Credit Card.

Uniform Shop Hours

Thank you
Kay Mitchell & Carol Woodhouse
uniformshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au

Containers for Change

Community Notices

Girls Cricket Is Back

With restrictions easing, we are excited to be getting some girls cricket up and running again! We will be having winter competitions for girls of all ages starting in July.

Strathpine Community Kindergarten

Strathpine Community Kindergarten has vacancies in both their kindergarten and Young Kindy groups. Contact us to find out more information about our 3 day groups including our very popular Bush Kindy group. Also offering a 2 day Young Kindy (3 year old) group.
Email admin@strathpinekindy.com Facebook: Strathpine Community Kindergarten