31 March 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Yours in education,

Leanne Odorico
Principal

Parade Presentation

On the 19th March, the Percussion group had their first performance of the year at parade. Let’s hope this is a taste of things to come. Well done students and Mr Hamlin.

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 1 WEEK 8

Top Kurwongbah Kid – Term 1 Week 8

TERM 1 WEEK 9

Top Kurwongbah Kid – Term 1 Week 9

Outstanding Students for Term 1

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 recently received their award at parade. There will be a special morning tea for all nominees early Term 2 (date to be confirmed).

We would like to acknowledge all nominated Outstanding Students for Term 1:

Term 1 2021 Outstanding Students

Date Claimers

Due Dates for Payments

2022 Prep Enrolments

We are now taking names of Prep students for 2022. Children who were born between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017 are eligible to commence prep in 2022. Parents are invited to contact the school office (ph: 3481 4333) if they are intending to enrol their child at Kurwongbah for Prep in 2022. Enrolment forms will be sent out in Term 2 and interviews conducted early in Term 3. Please contact the school for further information.

Kurwongbah Dojo Celebrations

Congratulations to the many students who achieved 200 or more Dojo points – we are very proud of your behaviour choices.

Dojo celebrations will be postponed until early Term 2.

Prep Vision Screening

The Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program is coming to Kurwongbah State School. They are a Queensland Government service that offers Free Vision Screening to all children enrolled in Prep in Queensland.

If your child is in Prep and you would like their vision screened, you will need to fill in a consent form for your child. Please click on the link below to access the Online Consent Form and Parent Information Letter. Parental consent must be provided on line before the end of Term 1.

School Anzac Day Service

A special school ANZAC Day Ceremony will be held on the first Thursday of Term 2, Thursday 22nd April.

It is important that our children know of the sacrifices made by previous generations of Australians to ensure that we have the freedom that we enjoy today and that we keep the ANZAC Spirit alive.

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests were first implemented in May 2008 when national tests were held in literacy and numeracy for all students in Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. These tests replaced the previous State and Territory-based assessments and have the support of all Education Ministers. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has been appointed to manage the tests for 2019.

Purpose of the tests

The NAPLAN tests are designed to assess the skills of Australian students in literacy and numeracy. The specific purposes are:

• to collect data from the population of Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students for reporting to parents/carers and schools for systematic reporting
• to accommodate the assessment of students against national minimum standards.

What is tested?

The following areas of literacy are assessed:

• Language conventions - spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Writing - knowledge and control of written language
• Reading - comprehension.

As in other years, students in Years 3 & 5 will be required to respond to a stimulus in the NAPLAN Writing test.

In numeracy, the content areas assessed are:

• Number
• Measurement, chance and data
• Space
• Algebra, function and pattern

Results from the tests will provide important information about children's progress in literacy and numeracy. Following the tests, schools and students will receive a statement of performance in relation to the national minimum standards.

Preparation for the tests

Last Thursday the year 3 and 5 students did an online practice test in readiness for the actual NAPLAN tests in May. Please note that Year 3 students will still use pencil and paper for the writing task.

Student Code of Conduct

Temporary removal of student property

The removal of any property in a student’s possession may be necessary to promote the caring, safe and supportive learning environment of the school, to maintain and foster mutual respect between all state school staff and students. The Temporary removal of student property by school staff procedure outlines the processes, conditions and responsibilities for state school principals and school staff when temporarily removing student property.

In determining what constitutes a reasonable time to retain student property, the principal or state school staff will consider:

• the condition, nature or value of the property
• the circumstances in which the property was removed
• the safety of the student from whom the property was removed, other students or staff members
• good management, administration and control of the school.

Please refer to the Kurwongbah School Student Code of Conduct for further information relating to this matter.

Collecting Student During Breaks

If you are planning to collect your child during break times, please ensure you advise the office on the morning of the intended early pickup so that we can organise to have your child at the office ready for you. It is often not possible to contact teachers to find children during these break times.

Parent Teacher Interviews Term 2

Find attached link to make online bookings for Parent Teacher Interviews at the beginning of Term 2. If you encounter problems making a booking please contact your child's teacher or administration staff.

Prep parent teacher interviews were conducted at the end of Term 1.

School Watch

We are asking our community to report any suspicious activity in our school grounds during the holidays to the School Watch Team on ph: 13 17 88. We take pride in our school facilities and trust you will work with us to prevent any damage occurring during the vacation period. We need to reduce vandalism, theft and arson in Queensland schools.

Term 2

Chappy News

Happy Week 10 Kurwongbah families!

It is wonderful to be heading into a two week break after the full start to the year that we have had. I am looking forward to spending Easter with my family and having some down time in the first week, before getting very active in the second week at the Moreton Bay Sports Camp – a day camp for students in Years 4-6 held at Bounty Boulevard State School. I have been co-directing SU Qld Sports camps since 2016 and they are chock full of great fun, lots of activity and high energy. If you would like more info, head to the link below and check out the details. It would be great to have as many Kurwongbah kids along as possible!

I have added some other holiday ideas for you to have a look at. There is plenty going on (provided COVID stays away!) and not everything has a cost to it!

I trust that you will all have a happy and safe Easter and that your holiday break (even if it is only from doing the kids lunches for two weeks!) is a relaxing one for you all. Enjoy indulging in those Easter treats and make sure you take some time out for YOU!

Happy Easter,

Chappy Carly 😊

School Holiday Activities

• White Ridge Farm – Elimbah
  Open Wednesday – Sunday
  www.whiteridgefarm.com.au
  Cost Involved
• The Mill Petrie – Waterpark and Playground
  Adjacent to the University of the Sunshine Coast (Moreton Campus)
  Free
• Bradbury Park – 91 Kitchener Road Kedron
  Magic Forest, Looped Scooter Track, Playground
  Free
• Hercules Street Park – Hamilton
  Mega Slides, Climbing Apparatuses, Ball Play Area
  Free (why not visit Eat Street Markets afterwards?)
• Bracken Ridge BMX Track – Corner of Telegraph and Lemke Roads, Bracken Ridge
  Skate Plaza and Aquatic Centre on site also
  Cost involved for Aquatic Centre
• Sea Monsters Prehistoric Ocean Predators
  Queensland Museum
  Low Cost
• The Motorcyle: Design, Art, Desire
  QAGOMA
  Entry cost
• Shadow Makers – Redcliffe Museum
  Shadow Puppets, Light Boxes, Show
  Free
• Now Is The Time – Art
  Pine Rivers Heritage Museum
  Free
• PJ Masks Stop the Marine Mayhem
  SEALIFE Mooloolaba
  Cost involved
• Bluewater Festival – Good Friday ONLY
  Shorncliffe Pier
  Cost involved for purchases
• Kids Collective – Roma Street Parklands
  Circus Fun, Nature Play, Mini Worm Farm for example
  Various activities FREE must book

STEM & Enrichment Education News

Kurwongbah’s Makerspace

Seeking Sponsorship for Kurwongbah State School Teams to attend the RoboRave Australia 2021 Competition!

Students in Year 4-6 have the opportunity to partake in the upcoming trials to attend the RoboRave Australia 2021 Tournament at the University of the Sunshine Coast at Sippy Downs on Sunday 30th May 2021. Teams will compete in two categories of Elementary (Aged 8 -10yrs) and Middle School (Aged 11-13yrs) in the SumoBot Lego Challenge in teams of 2-4. It is an exciting opportunity for Kurwongbah to compete in as this will be the first-time teams have competed in this event. Students will undertake a preliminary round robin at school and then the top teams will be selected to compete at USC. Registrations open on April 15th and teams will be decided by the first week of Term 2. Kurwongbah is seeking any sponsorship from the Community to help the students purchase team shirts for RoboRave, assist in registration fees and purchase Lego robotic components. Please contact the Kurwongbah school office or Rebecca Rowley (Ph 34814333 or rrowl3@eq.edu.au) if you can assist.

Create a Makerspace in the home - Holiday Fun!

Makerspaces inspire creativity, problem solving, collaboration and critical thinking. Creating a simple version of a Makerspace at home is easy with some basic items you might already have.

Here are just some ideas to start the process – provide building sets like Lego, Duplo or K’Nex, play dough, boxes, cartons, paper towel rolls and any other craft items, a variety of paper types, fabrics, threads and ribbons, timber dowels, straws, alfoil, felt pens, tape, scissors and crayons. Add in technology like a tablet or iPad, robotics or a Makey, Makey and students can make their own movies, commercials or gadgets.

For more ideas and information see –

• http://makerspacesaustralia.weebly.com/what-is-a-makerspace.html
• https://www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/families/advice/set-up-a-makerspace

Scratch and Scratch Jnr

Enhance your child’s computational thinking and creativity using the program Scratch. Scratch is an online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games and animations. Scratch uses code blocks and children learn to think creatively, reason systematically and practice the four parts to computational thinking. (Decomposition, pattern matching, abstraction and algorithms)

The ScratchJr app is for children, aged 5-7 and students can program their own interactive stories and games on a tablet. They learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively on the computer enhancing their computational thinking and developing digital technology skills. For more information see the links below.

• https://scratch.mit.edu/
• https://www.scratchjr.org/

In the Makerspace this Term!

Junior students had a fantastic time creating with Code and Go Robot Mouse, We-Do Lego robots, Ozobots, Tubes and Wheels, STEM construction kits and Lego construction sets. Senior students created robots for the Sumo Robot challenge and used the holographic Merge Cube to investigate the Solar System using virtual reality.

Music News

Charges for Singing Groups and Instrumental Music Students in 2021

Students involved in the 2021 Music Program (choir, band, strings, percussion) will have recently received an invoice for the 2021 music charges. At this stage, the uniform hire has been removed for 2021. 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 2021. If circumstances change, we will advise parents in the future. Payment can be made by cheque (payable to Kurwongbah State School), cash, EFTPOS or by BPOINT (preferred) using the invoice that was emailed to you.

Physical Education & Sports News

Queensland Sport Championships

Congratulations to Aaliyah Bourke on a really successful week. She competed in the Queensland Little Athletics Championships last weekend.

4th in Long Jump
6th in 200m sprint
2nd in High Jump
4th in 70m sprint

She recorded a personal best performance in the majority of these events.

Aaliyah also competed as a Met North team member for the Queensland Schools Swimming Championships held 22-23 March.

6th for Relay
4th in heat and 14th overall for 50m Fly
Personal best time for 50m Back

Congratulations Aaliyah on some fantastic performances. Very well done.

Representative Sport Term 1

Term 1 is always a very busy term for representative sport. We have had representatives for swimming, rugby league, football, hockey, netball and basketball trials already. We normally acknowledge these students at the end of each term but as there is no Parade this week we will do this early Term 2.

PE Staff Term 2

We welcome back Mr. David Fowler to his regular PE teaching role for Term 2. He will work in a part time capacity for the remainder of the year alongside Mrs. Clare Marks. We would like to thank Mrs. Caitlin Murphy for teaching 2 days/ week during Mr. Fowler’s long service leave.

Cross Country and Athletics

Term 2 is a busy term for school/ interschool sport. The first event will be the Cross Country team selection race. This is our selection process for our school team to participate in the Pine Rivers Cross Country Trials to be held Friday 30th March. This involves students aged 10-12 only. We had scheduled the Cross Country Team selection race before school 1st April but this will be rescheduled to week 1, term 2 to allow additional training time.

Our main sport focus for Term 2 is athletics. Our Year 3-6 carnivals will be held at the end of the term. We will schedule lunch time and after school training sessions for students from Week 2-8. More details will come at the beginning of next term. Our Junior athletics carnivals will take place at the beginning of Term 3.

Gala Day

Thanks to the many teachers who have made themselves available to conduct additional training sessions for teams over the last few weeks. The rescheduled date is Friday Week 1, Term 2 (23rd April). Some final training sessions will take place during the last week of this term.

School Banking News

School Banking deposits are processed every Thursday morning from the office. Students can drop their books into the tub inside the door OR give them to their teachers to put in the class banking bag. Please ensure you have your current class written on the front of your bank book.

There will be no school banking this Thursday, due to COVID restrictions.

School Banking Rewards For 2021

Redemption slips are not yet available however you can order by writing your child’s preferred reward on a piece of paper until the slips arrive.

The following rewards are now available for children to choose from once they have reached 10 deposits:

• Scented Stackable Highlighters
• Icicle Slapband Ruler
• Snowy Origami Set
• Scratch Art Cards
• Water Skimming Bounce Ball
• Polar Penciles & Pencil Toppers
• Terry Denton’s Activity Book
• Treetop Stationery Kit
• Tomato Seed Kit
• Emoji Wallet
• Mini Soccer Ball
• Treetop Handball
• Snakes & Ladders Game

YMCA OSHC

Welcome to the YMCA news!

With the warm weather returning, we wanted to remind our families that all children are required to wear a sun safe hat when playing outdoors. In some cases, teachers require students to keep their school hats in their classroom desk, so we ask that a spare hat be brought to OSHC for your child to use for outdoor play. This doesn’t have to be a school hat, as long as it is sun safe.

The April school holiday program is out and jam packed with fun things to do here at YMCA these holidays. A copy is available on Storypark for current families and copies are at the OSHC classroom. Book in via the app and contact us with any questions!

The end of term is upon us and we have had such a great start to the year! We have welcomed many new children and families and we are enjoying building relationships with everyone. We have also had some amazing support from families with regards to our programs, donations of resources and positive feedback. We look forward to seeing everyone return in Term Two after a relaxing break. Stay safe and see you soon!

If you have any questions, concerns or feedback please phone or email us.

The YMCA Kurwongbah Team
Phone: 0448 244 060
Email: akb@ymcabrisbane.org

P&C News

Next P&C Meeting

Our next P&C Meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday 21st April at 6:30pm in the Staffroom.

Fundraising News

Kurwongbah Craft Group

The Kurwongbah Craft Group is an active, social group that work together to create items for our stalls at the school. We are looking for people to come along and help. The focus at the moment is Mother’s Day! No need for previous experience and morning tea is provided!

Members meet on a Tuesday morning after school drop off in the Supper room of the main hall.

Easter Raffle

Thank you to all the families that supported our Easter raffle through donations for the hampers, as well as purchasing tickets. Your support is greatly appreciated. Congratulations to all winners!

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Closure

The tuckshop will be closed for the remaining of the Term.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Cruize Hodgins, Keira Walters and Niamh Kearney for an amazing job creating your Term One meal deals together you have sold 300 orders.

We are looking forward to five new meal deals starting Term 2.

Thank You Volunteers

We would love to thank Bruce Spencer, Lizz Greer, Amy Walters, Wendy Moss, Debbie Greenall and Tabitha for all your amazing volunteering help and time. If you wish to help out in the tuckshop in Term 2, please feel free to contact us.

We hope you all have a safe Easter break and look forward to seeing you all again in Term 2.

Ordering

The preferred method of ordering is online at QuickCliq.com.au, as all details of in stock items are available. We also accept over the phone orders and cash orders over the counter.

Cash

Tuckshop is once again accepting cash sales via the bag system and for over the counter items in break times.

Phone Orders

Parents can place a phone order, by phoning the tuckshop directly on 3481 4337 and paying by credit card. Cut off for phone orders is 9:00am.

Online Ordering

Parents can order via our online ordering system (www.quickcliq.com.au). Cut off for online ordering is 8:00am. Please ensure you have your child’s correct class, so your child’s meal is prepared and ready in the correct collection place. Please use the instruction box to pass on any information regarding your child’s order.

Allergies

We currently cater for many students with allergies. If you have any concerns, please feel free to contact our team and we will be able to give you up to date information regarding our products.

Sandra and Carol
Tuckshop Convenors
3481 4337
tuckshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop is currently accepting phone orders Monday and Thursday 8.30am – 10.00am or email orders. Please ensure you include your phone number in any left messages. Uniforms will be packed and delivered Mondays and Thursdays.

Parents are welcome to the uniform shop however appointments are preferred. Social distancing must be maintained, with only one family at a time in the shop.

Payment methods accepted Eftpos, credit card, direct deposit and cash.

Winter Orders

Please place your winter orders now to avoid disappointment. You can put in your order and pay when it is ready.

Orders

All skorts on order have now been delivered and Jade Polo shirts will be delivered on Monday.

Ordering Through Uniform Shop

The following options are available:

1. Email Orders

Email your order through to uniformshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au. This will be processed next time the Uniform Shop is open.

1. Phone Orders

You can phone the Uniform Shop during open hours and pay by Credit Card.

The preferred payment options are by Eftpos either by email order or over the phone by credit card or direct deposit.

Uniform Shop Hours

Thank you
Kay Mitchell & Kristi Milligan
3481 4323
unifomshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au

Containers for Change

Community Notices

Redcliffe Hockey Club

Moreton Bay School Holidays - Activities for your students

Bookings for Moreton Bay Regional Council’s popular school holiday program open.

Visit Moreton Bay School Holidays to view the diverse range of free and low cost activities and events across Council Libraries, Galleries & Museums, Environmental Centres and the Active Holidays program. This timetable is your one-stop shop for all of Council’s school holiday activities in the Moreton Bay Region from 5-18 April.

Plan an adventure for your school aged children or family members today!

Moreton Bay Region Libraries' April School Holiday Program

Kids can enjoy the hilarious antics of the Larrikin Puppets, get up close and personal with wildlife, design a theme park with our online 7-day course that they can do at home, and discover their inner superhero! We’re celebrating Youth Week with a range of inspiring workshops for teens including study skills for high school, building a resilience mindset, self defence and digital art. For more info, go to the link below.