23 June 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Yours in education,

Leanne Odorico
Principal

Parade Presentation

Thank you to Mr Denning and the Senior Band for an entertaining parade presentation on Friday 11 June. It was wonderful to have our band back on parade for the first time in over 18 months due to previous Covid 19 restrictions.

Congratulations to the students of Middle C and Dr Law for an informative parade performance last Friday on the “State of Matter”. The students were able to explain in vivid detail the transformation of matter to solids, liquids and gases.

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 recently received their award at parade. There will be a special morning tea for all nominees on Thursday 24th June 2021.

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

Term 2 2021 Outstanding Students

Date Claimers

Due Dates for Payments

Semester 2 Staff Changes

Mrs Marika Lankheet (Year 2 Teacher Aide) will be on leave in Semester 2. We wish her every success and happiness in her new adventure.

Mrs Renee Hodgson (Middle E2 Class teacher) commences maternity leave at the end of this term for the remainder of the year. We hope you enjoy this special time with your family. A replacement teacher for Mrs Hodgson will be finalised later this week.

Mrs Harris (Senior C1) is currently on leave. We wish her a speedy recovery. This week Mrs Sharon Brown (Monday-Wednesday) and Mrs Jamie Nielson (Thursday-Friday) will replace Mrs Harris.

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 (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 in Term 3. Please contact the school for further information.

Free Dress Day

Thank you to all the students and staff that supported the Crazy Sock and Free Dress Day last Friday. The day raised $837.20 with all money collected going to supporting Chaplaincy Projects in our school.

School Holidays

The school holidays commence this Friday 25th June. We wish all our families an enjoyable holiday break and look forward to seeing you all back at school on Monday 12th July.

Airconditioning Update

School Air-conditioning installations have commenced this week and will continue during the June July School Holidays. We look forward to having all classrooms airconditioned in readiness for the warmer weather later in the year.

Term 3 School Opinion Survey

The annual suite of School Opinion Surveys will be conducted in Term 3 and will close on 30 July 2021. All families, school staff and students in target year levels (5 and 6) will be invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what our school does well, and how we can improve.

An invitation to complete the Parent/Caregiver Survey will be emailed to one parent/caregiver per family in the week beginning 5 July. The invitation will be sent from the Department of Education, not the school, and it will have the subject line School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2021. Check your junk email folders if you can’t find it. The survey can be completed as soon as the invitation is received and will take approximately 5 minutes using a computer, tablet or smart phone.

Semester 1 Student Academic Reports

Semester One student reports are being finalised at present emailed to parents and available on QParents from Wednesday 14th July.

Academic Awards Criteria 2021 – Semester 1

The aim of these awards is to acknowledge excellence in academic results in students from Years 3-6,

• All awards are based on Semester One achievement results.
• Awards are calculated on the following points – A = 5, B = 4, C = 3, D = 2 and E = 1.
• Key Learning Areas are: English, Maths, Science, HASS (History and Social Sciences), Technologies, HPE, The Arts, and LOTE (Year 5/6)
• The criteria is as follows:-

Academic Awards will be presented at parade in week 2 on Friday 23rd July.

Term 3

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.

Kurwongbah Kids Playgroup

We welcome parents and their young children to our Kurwongbah Kids Playgroup, held every Friday in the Sports Hall.

Lost Property

The Office has quite a selection of glasses and watches. Please enquire at the Office is you have misplaced yours.

Voluntary Contribution

Voluntary Contribution is a vital part of the Kurwongbah P&C’s commitment and helps to fund reading books, maths & science consumables, art consumables, digital resources, sporting equipment and positive behaviour learning program resources.

You can make a financial contribution to the school by completing the attached form and forwarding with payment to the school office. The contribution equates to $1 per week for the 40 weeks of the school year.

Safety Tips Online

The 5 R’s:

Realise – people you chat with may not be who they say they are.
Refuse – requests for personal information.
Review – make sure you know all your contacts.
Respond – close the program quickly if you do not feel comfortable.
Report – to a trusted adult any on-line contacts you feel uncomfortable about.

It is important for parents and carers to remind children regularly about these tips for on-line safety.

National Consistent Collection of Data

Collecting data on school students with disability helps teachers, Principals and education authorities support the participation of students with disability in schooling on the same basis as students without disability.

All Australian Governments have agreed to work together on the annual collection of data on school students with disability.

Please be reassured that the Department will not provide to another organisation any data that can identify an individual student. The only data being collected at the school level to be reported nationally is the:

• number of students in the school who are provided with an adjustment to address a disability;
• level of adjustments we provide for those students; and
• broad category of disability.

Consultation with parents is important not only for the data collection but also to ensure you are aware of the adjustments being provided to support your child. We will therefore continue to consult with you.

While only data that cannot identify your child will be submitted outside of the Department, if you do not wish for your child’s details to be included, please let your child’s teacher know.

Information and fact sheets are available to help you make a decision from the:

• Department’s website: https://education.qld.gov.au/about-us/reporting-data-research/data/disability-data-collection
• Australian Government Department of Education website: http://education.gov.au/nationally-consistent-collection-data-school-students-disability

Alternatively, if you have any queries about the collection or use of this data I encourage you to contact the Head of Inclusive Practice, Cameron Brown, directly.

Chappy News

Hi All,

Happy last week of term! What a big term it has been for the school with a load of different things happening across the last ten weeks. I am sure that the students and staff are looking forward to a well-deserved break, especially as the weather has been so chilly and it has been a challenge to get out of bed in the morning! I am looking forward to having a week of down time with my lads, before I head off to the annual SU Chaplaincy Conference in the second week of holidays.

The SU Chaplaincy Conference is a jam-packed four days of professional development and key-note sessions for around 800 Chaplains, field staff, and the SU head office team. It is a great time of gathering together and seeing what is happening in other schools across the state, as well as a time of team-building and collegial engagement within our respective regions. I am looking forward to building into my practice with the professional development sessions I will attend and hope to bring back some great ideas to implement for the last half of the year.

As a Chaplain here at Kurwongbah, my highest priority is to create a culture of empowerment so that every individual has the opportunity to thrive in all areas of their lives. This priority influences every aspect of the work I do in the school and lays the foundation to how I support students, staff, and parents both formally and informally.

One of the key aspects of my role is supporting our school community through pastoral care conversations. Pastoral care, in its simplest form, is the act of providing social, emotional, and/or spiritual support through conversation and engagement. It is explicitly not counselling, rather an approach that seeks to support the individual’s wellbeing in a way that empowers them to move forward positively, with encouragement and care. A priority to me is ensuring that every student I engage with feels nurtured, heard, and understood and that they can rely on me to provide them with the emotional support they may need throughout their learning journey.

Each week I average approximately 8-10 formal student appointments, with each appointment taking between 25-35 minutes of engaged contact with administration and follow up taking around 15 minutes. A formal appointment is where a student has been referred to me by parents/caregivers or school administration, with parent permission required for ongoing contact. Additionally, I have a number of informal conversations with staff and students each week along. Informal conversations occur when a student or staff member asks to have a conversation that does not require specific action, ongoing support, or additional follow-up.

As a proactive approach to supporting student wellbeing, we have begun implementing group programs focusing on areas including friendship and peer relationships, as well resilience and emotional strength and growth. These programs are run during class/break time with parent permission and aim to assist students with their social-emotional development in a supported environment. Assemblies also provide an opportunity to encourage positive attitudes and choices, through the weekly Chappy Challenge. The key focus for this term has been on spreading kindness and I have very much enjoyed hearing of the different way’s students have been showing kindness to their friends and family.

I truly value and appreciate the opportunity I have to be the Chaplain here at Kurwongbah. I may only be here two days a week, but they are genuinely the happiest and most fulfilling days, each one different, no two days ever look the same. Thank you for your support and encouragement of the service and I look forward to a fantastic Term 3 as we move into the last half of the year.

Chappy Carly

Inclusive Practices

People communicate in many different ways, some people use their voice, others use a device or a computer that speaks for them, and some people use sign language to communicate. In our Kurwongbah school community, we have students who use a variety of methods to communicate and it is important that we celebrate this diversity and actively work to engage and learn more about different methods of communication.

Recently some of our Prep students have begun to learn sign language with our visiting school Speech Language Pathologist Kathryn McGrath. We will share these signs and symbols through our newsletter so that our wider community can learn the signs at home too.

Kathryn McGrath
Speech Language Pathologist

STEM & Enrichment Education News

Makerspace Lunchtime Timetable

RoboBay Moreton Bay Robotics Competition

Best Wishes to the 16 students from Year 4-6 who will be attending the upcoming RoboBay Moreton Robotics Competition on Wednesday 23rd June. They will be competing in the Sumo and A-Maze-ing events with local schools attending in the Moreton area. Thank you also to the parents providing transport on the day!

Premier’s 2021 Coding Challenge

The 2021 Premier’s Coding Challenge is on again! This challenge offers great prizes of coding and robotics kits and an excellent opportunity for students to create some interactive and innovative coding to raise awareness of digital wellbeing.

This can include themes such as:

• work and study life balance
• postural considerations of using technology
• personal security and safety online
• adhering to social media ethics and protocols.

Entrants from Year 3 -6 can develop an app, game, animation or website, and they must submit a short video showcase with their entry.

For more information see the teachers in the library or visit the link below.

Entries close on the 17th September 2021.

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 4-6. Students are to write their own story with the title being – ‘I should have waited.’

Entries are due on 23rd August and there are great cash prizes to be won. Please see the Library for an entry form or visit the below website.

Inclusion News

As we move to the technology age, there are amazing things readily available to support the learning of our students. And it is not the expensive, expansive range of apps and devices that are needed. Adjustments for students with additional needs are also great for all students.

Writing is one of the most taxing processes on working memory for a child learning English. We have so much going on. We have to think about letters, and how to form them. We have to think of spelling and what sounds each letter makes. We have to think of the sentence and how words fit together. We have to remember the sentence, then we have to remember the story and we have to hold all of that information until we have finished.

This is a great reason for when we are doing a piece of writing. We go through a process of drafting our ‘story’. When we do this, we shouldn’t worry about spelling or punctuation. We should just get our ideas down, then go through a process of editing and improving, spelling, punctuation, grammar, sense of story, etc, etc, etc.

There can be barriers to this and technology can help. The use of voice to text, or text to voice are huge bonuses, available for free through Microsoft Online, and Apple products with their dictation function. In the on-line version of word, there is an option called ‘Immersive Reader’, and this can read a text types, aloud. The benefit of this for children, is that they can here their work, word for word and listen for any grammatical errors. When we read our own work back, we have a tendency to read what we want to be on the page, not necessarily what is actually on the page. This can be done through an iPad or tablet, with the online version, providing your connected to wifi or a network.

The other great things accessed through laptops and tablets is the dictation/voice to text options, either through the keyboard, or through the accessibility options of Microsoft products. When you are doing homework, and your child needs to compose a sentence, they can use your phone or tablet and dictate to the phone the sentence they want to remember. It will convert it to text and then the student can copy it done. The downside is that it does spelling, so let’s not do this if it is spelling homework!

There are great tools, for free, or all!

Cameron Brown
Head of Inclusion

Music News

Choral Fanfare Regional Finals

Well done to our Middle Singers and Performance Group on their amazing performances at the Choral Fanfare Regional Final last Wednesday. They performed to such a high standard and made Kurwongbah very proud. Thank you to all the parents and carers who made the trip to Caloundra to cheer us on. Congratulations to Bounty Boulevard State School who were announced as the Regional winner in Choral Fanfare.

Choral Fanfare 2021

Senior And Junior Concert Band

There will be NO Senior Concert Band rehearsal on Tuesday 13 July (week 1, term 3). Lessons are also cancelled for Brass and Woodwind students on Tuesday 13 July and Wednesday 14 July (week 1). Mr Denning and Ms Porter are on tour with another school. Please make alternative before school arrangements if your child is involved.

School Banking News

School Banking to end Tomorrow (Thursday 24 June)

Tomorrow, Thursday 24 June, will be the final day for the Commbank School Banking program and the last opportunity for children to redeem any points they may have. Any reward redemptions made tomorrow will be delivered to your child in Term 3 and redemptions can be written on a piece of paper and put in their bank book if they don’t have a redemption slip.

If you are unsure of how many reward points your child has, please email kssbanking@gmail.com.

School banking rewards for 2021

The following rewards are currently available for redemption to eligible children:

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

Finally, a big thank you to all the volunteers who have helped out with the banking program over the years, your assistance has not gone unnoticed.

YMCA OSHC

Hello families!

We are nearing the end of term 2, and what a busy fun filled term it was. As most parents are aware the service will be closed during the 2 week school holidays and vacation care will be available to these families at other centres such as Dakabin or Bray Park.

If the above options do not suit you please visit our website below for individual service contact details. You will have to transfer your enrolment to the service you choose. Please don’t leave this until the last minute as these services are filling up fast. If you require help with your temporary enrolment transfer please feel free to contact us.

We understand that children attending a new service can be daunting and we'd like to ensure that children are supported during this process. Our educators will be appointed to the main services that our children will be attending, to support the continuity of care and wellbeing.

Please remember to pack your child a hat and a water bottle every day, even if it is a non-school hat for OSHC.

We’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions, so feel free to email us or drop by the YMCA office for a chat.

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

Tuckshop News

Term 2 is almost over, the last day for tuckshop orders is today (Wednesday 23 June). We are open for over the counter sales only on Thursday and Friday.

Term 3 Meal Deals

Congratulations to Miller, Zoey and Annabelle for 10 fantastic weeks of meal deals. Next term we introduce some next meal deals,

• Evie’s Swimming Meal $7.50
  Half Chicken Tender Wrap, Chocolate Mousse and Drink
• Shakiya’s Rugby Meal $7.50
  Ham and Cheese Pizza Slice, Watermelon Cup and Drink
• Sierran’s Build A Burger Box $6.00
  Beef Burger (add toppings for extra $), Chocolate Mousse and Drink
• Tilly’s Taco Meal $6.50
  Beef Taco, Brownie and Drink
• Mr Waldron’s Deal TBA
  Watch this space!
• Chappy’s Deal TBA
  Watch this space!

The following meal deals will continue until Week 5,

• Jaspaa’s Eat Me Box $6.50
  Beef pie, Brownie and Drink
• Lucas’s Energy Meal $6.50
  Sausage Roll, Brownie and Drink
• Makayla’s Softball Meal $6.50
  Cheese Pizza, Brownie and Drink

Daily Specials

Pizza Wednesday

• Margarita pizza $5.00
• Ham and Pineapple $5.00
• Mega Meat $5.50

Thursday Special (To Return in Term 3)

• Roast Chicken Special
  Roast Chicken, Baked potato, Vegies, Gravy and Garlic Bread $5.50

Ordering

The preferred method of ordering is online via the QKR app, 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 the online QKR app. 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.

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.

Tuckshop Hours

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

Uniform Shop

Second-hand Uniforms    

Don’t forget that you can sell your second-hand uniforms through the Uniform Shop with 50% from the sale going to the P&C, which is spent providing better facilities for your children.  We have parents waiting for second-hand uniforms.

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.
2. Phone Orders
   You can phone the Uniform Shop during open hours and pay by Credit Card.
3. Qkr! Online Orders
   Download the Qkr! App, or use the web-based version of Qkr at https://qkr-store.qkrschool.com/store

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

Uniform Shop Hours

Delivery days are Monday and Thursday.

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

Containers for Change

Community Notices

NAB AFL Auskick

AFL AusKick program will be running at Kurwongbah SS on a Wednesday afternoon in Term 3, starting 28th July.

Richards Football Academy

Richards Football Academy program will be running at Kurwongbah SS on a Tuesday afternoon in Term 3, starting 27th July.

Holidays at Moreton Bay Region Libraries

Kids can enjoy the hilarious antics of the Larrikin Puppets, be amazed by how fun science is with the Street Science Show, design a prehistoric zoo with our online 5-day course that they can do at home, and discover the magic of special effects make-up, creating some seriously gory fake injuries! Plus, we’re celebrating NAIDOC Week with friendship bracelet activity packs in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags for more at-home fun. All events are free. Bookings are now open. For more info, go to the link below.

Chess Mates

Chess Mates is coming to Kurwongbah SS, commencing Thursday 15th July, 3:15-4pm.