26 October 2022

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Yours in education,
Leanne Odorico
Principal

New Students

A special welcome is extended to Chase (3E) who joined the Kurwongbah School community recently. We hope you enjoy your time at Kurwongbah and we look forward to parent support with P&C and class activities.

Student of the Week

TERM 4 WEEK 2

TERM 4 WEEK 3

Top Kurwongbah Staff

Top Kurwongbah Kids

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

TERM 4 WEEK 2

Top Kurwongbah Kid – Term 4 Week 2

TERM 4 WEEK 3

Top Kurwongbah Kid – Term 4 Week 3

Outstanding Students for Term 3

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.

We would like to acknowledge our remaining nominated Outstanding Students for Term 3:

Date Claimers

Due Dates for Payments

Staff Update

Ms Brennan (1C) is on leave this week replaced by Mrs Parsonage and Mrs Bell.

Relief Cleaners Required

Casual cleaners required for various cleaning shifts at Kurwongbah State School. Shift hours are 5.00am to 8.15am and 2.30pm to 6.00pm. No guarantee of regular work.

Must be able to obtain a Paid Blue Card and undertake a Criminal History Check prior to commencing any relief work. A full induction process will be undertaken with any interested applicants.

Please submit a brief resume to info@kurwongbahss.eq.edu.au or contact Karen Grant-Freeman on 3481 4333 if interested.

Great Achievement

Congratulations to Mia. She recently received the 'Grey Wolf Award' which is the highest award possible within Cub Scouts.

To receive the award, she led a unit of Cubs across a number of outdoor activities and bush camps. She has completed over 100km in bush walks and more than 21 nights away camping in various bush locations and Scout dens across the region. She has also attained all levels of first aid, survival skills and life skill badges.

This is an incredible achievement. Well done Mia. We are very proud of you

Parade Presentation

Congratulations to 1C and 1D for an inciteful and entertaining Parade Presentation on “How to be a Good Friend”. Thank you, students, Mrs Torrisi, Mrs Parsonage and Ms Brennan.

Last Friday 5A and 5B produced an epic Parade Presentation. Students sang, danced and spoke confidently retelling the story of “Life on the Goldfields in the 1850’s”. Well done students, Miss Bleney and Mrs Gillespie.

Day for Daniel – Friday 28th October

Friday 28th of October is Day for Daniel, where schools, all around Australia work to build awareness for young people about how to stay safe in physical and online environments and to support young victims of crime. For us at Kurwongbah State School, we invite students and staff to wear an item of red in their clothing, and bring a gold coin donation on Friday, which will be donated to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation in support of their initiatives. Classes will also access some of the resources, discuss short online clips and complete activities to prompt discussion.

If you, as a family, get a chance to discuss, spend some time and/or look at the resources, it is a really valuable conversation. Prompts and information can be accessed through the Daniel Morcombe Foundation website accessed through the link below.

Positive Behaviour Reward Changes

As of Term 4, Kurwongbah State School will no longer be using Dojo Points as a reward for a Dojo Celebration or the Top Kurwongbah Kid certificates and raffles on Fridays. Instead, our school will be trialling a new system, using Charlie TKKs. Students will be able to earn these Charlie TKKs from every Teacher and Teacher Aide throughout the school. This reward system will continue to be based on Kurwongbah’s school values of respect, responsibility, honesty, caring and excellence. Attached is a letter providing further details of the changes to our school wide reward system for positive behaviour.

Children Leaving Kurwongbah

We are in the process of forming classes for 2023. Parents whose child or children (other than Year 6 students) will be leaving Kurwongbah at the end of the year are asked to inform the school office.

2023 Prep Enrolments

We are continuing to take Prep enrolments for 2023. Children who are born between 1st July 2017 and 30th June 2018 are eligible to commence Prep in 2023.

We also have enrolment opportunities available for new students in Year 1 – 6 for 2023. Parents are invited to contact the school office on 3481 4333 if they are intending to enrol their child at Kurwongbah in 2023.

Pre-Prep Program 2022 for 2023

We will be holding our Pre-Prep Program on the dates listed below. Please contact the office either by phoning 3481 4333 (Admin) or emailing lthom273@eq.edu.au to book you preferred program dates.

Parents/Carers are required to remain with their child for the time they are on school grounds. During these times you will have access to key personnel within the school to assist you in your child’s transition to Kurwongbah State School.

Please ensure your child has a small bag with the following items:

• Some fruit and something small for lunch – please note some children attending may have food allergies and we ask you to consider this when selecting food to bring
• Hat
• Water Bottle

The uniform shop will be open between 10.30am and 1.00pm on these dates. Please note that an appointment is necessary with our uniform shop convenor Kay Mitchell. We look forward to meeting you on our Pre-Prep says and welcoming your family to our school community in 2023.

Please let us know if you will not be attending so we can allocate this time other student.

School Parade Presentations – Term 4

School parades are held in our school hall from 8.55am each Friday except for Weeks 9 and 10 when Parade will be on Thursday. Parents are welcome to attend. A list of parade presentations for Term 4 is below.

World Teacher’s and Support Staff Day

On Friday 28th October our school will be celebrating World Teacher’s and Staff Support Day. This day is a great opportunity for students and parents to show their appreciation for all the hard work our teachers and support staff does with their students. Kurwongbah staffs are extremely dedicated and have a strong commitment to their role as educators. I encourage students and parents to make this day special for their child’s teacher. We will be acknowledging the wonderful work our staff do at Parade on Friday 28th October.

2023 Student Leadership

The process for the selection of our 2023 Student Leadership team has commenced. Students currently in Year 5 2022 are able to nominate for the positions of Student Leaders Council, House Captain and Music Captain. Nomination forms are due back to the office by Wednesday 19th October. Following this, students will be shortlisted with speeches and elections occurring over a number of weeks this term. We encourage our Year 5 students to nominate for a leadership position and wish them all the very best in this process. Nomination forms are available from the office.

NAPLAN 2023

In March 2022, Education Ministers announced that NAPLAN testing would move to Term 1 from 2023. The 2023 NAPLAN testing dates are Wednesday 15 March 2023 to Monday 27 March 2023.

NAPLAN is used by Governments, Education Authorities and Schools to determine whether young Australians are meeting important goals in literacy and numeracy.

Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to sit the NAPLAN tests, which are held in Term 1 each year.

NAPLAN gives a snapshot of how children are performing in reading, writing, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and numeracy. It complements other effective classroom assessment and reporting practices.

Parking

When parking in the Frenchs Road carpark (carpark next to the Sports Hall), please be mindful that the marked area at the top of the carpark is a turnaround zone as well as an area which allows extra room for families that utilise the disabled carparks. This marked area is not to be used as a park or drop off/pick up area and must be kept clear at all times.

Contact Details

It is important that the school have the correct contact details. This is especially important in emergency situations or if your child presents as unwell during the school day. If you have changed your mobile phone number, address or email address, complete the attached form and forward to the office. Please be also aware if you have a change in emergency contacts.

Lost Property

We have a large of jumper and jackets in the lost property box that we would like to see reunited with their owners. If you are missing a jumper or jacket, please come and have a look in the Lost Property box located outside the First Aid room. Any unclaimed items remaining in our Lost Property box by Friday 4th November will be donated to either the Uniform Shop or a local charity.

Eco-Marines News

Over the past two weeks the Eco-Marines have been promoting ‘Waste Free Wednesday’ and last Wednesday at first break went in search across all year levels to present tickets to students who made an effort to go waste free with their lunches.

All the tickets went into a draw to see who would be acknowledged as the first ‘Waste Free Wednesday Warrior’. Congratulations goes to Thea in Year 3 who had her name drawn. She received a certificate and is responsible for looking after the trophy tree this week. Thank you and well-done Thea. The Eco-Marines will be out and about again this Wednesday hoping to find even more students who have made an effort to limit their waste.

This week the school has also purchased more yellow 10-cent recyclable container bins. It is hoped next year junior classes will join the seniors in recycling more containers for change, further reducing waste we send to landfill.

Kurwongbah Kids Playgroup

Kurwongbah Playgroup is starting to grow in numbers as our new 2023 Prep students prepare for "big" school. We may need to implement our booking system each week to ensure your little person is not missing out on their Friday fun. There are a few ways you can indicate your attendance:

• Let the Playgroup Staff know each Friday for the following week
• Make a booking through the Kurwongbah School Office (07) 3481 4333
• Email Mrs Cross directly at mcros119@eq.edu.au

Inclusion News

My previous school was one of the first schools in Queensland, it started as ‘The National School’, but in its life, its name at one point changed to ‘The Leichardt Normal School’ which was neighboured down the road by Brisbane’s ‘Subnormal School. Yep, that’s right, those who didn’t belong in the ‘Normal School’, which was only attended by boys initially, were able to attend the Subnormal school, which really was an institution and not focused on education. The Subnormal School through its life became the Spastic Association, then the Cerebral Palsy League and nowadays functions as CPL, with a few acronyms associated in the last few years.

How far our education system has come, and how far our society has come, from slavery, segregation, institutionalisation to equality and now equity.

For words that seem so similar, equality and equity are operationally poles apart. Equality means that everyone gets the same, regardless of difference. In a pure model of equality, we would go to a restaurant and everyone would get provided the same meal. Equity evolves round people getting what they need. In the restaurant analogy, people would go to the restaurant and allergies, medical needs, intolerances and preferences would be taken into consideration, and add in a little self-agency, then we would be able to order what we wanted for ourselves in there as well.

In the picture, the far left represents equality, the middle represents equity, and the far right represents inclusion, where the person is not seen as the having deficits, rather the system needs to change to remove the barriers.

It is fantastic that our society has progressed and I love that our schools are reflective of society. Those who have chatted to me on this topic, know that I believe no school, including us, have got it right, but we are well on the road and the system is on the road as well. I feel like we are working between the middles of the picture and the right of the picture to create opportunities for success for our children.

Our funding system is changing. We are moving from the Verification and Education Adjustment Program, the Reasonable Adjustments Resourcing model. This takes on a wider definition of disability. The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for Students with Disability use the National Definition of Disability that looks at four areas of disability, looking at Cognitive, Social/Emotional, Sensory and Physical, as well as looking at four levels of adjustment to support the student, being Differentiation, Supplementary, Substantial and Extensive.

The Reasonable Adjustment Resourcing model creates a school-based resource based on the upper three tiers of support that is presented to a school as a whole resource, not allocated to individual students. These teaching and teacher aide hours are designed to support year levels, teachers and cohorts of students to access the Australian Curriculum, in an inclusive and classroom connected manner. The model continues to grow the inclusive practice, where the support resource is designed to support classroom teachers as case managers of all children on their roll, to access and achieve best outcomes in the Australian Curriculum.

Research would show that Co-teaching and Universal Design for Learning, where we plan together, for our cohort of children, create/provide resources and teaching structures to support multiple ways to access curriculum and instruction, using the resources we have, is the best way to improve outcomes for ALL children in our school. Just in the same manner, where society is open to the diversity of the population, rather than segregation, isolation, institutionalisation and freedom for the most dominant. We have the ability and capability to grow and be successful here. Having support teachers work with the majority, to enable class teachers to work with targeted groups, empowering students to evaluate their efforts, know their next steps and become increasingly independent in their achievements, decreasing reliance on supports and building strength, confidence and esteem, expanding their potential.

As mentioned previously, we don’t have it perfect, but we are on the road, we have the mindset, we are learning and open to feedback.

Cameron Brown
Head of Special Education Services

Guidance Officer (GO) Greetings

Greetings Kurwongbah families!

The following information is from the Australian Government’s eSafety Commissioner website from the link below. This is a useful resource to help you and your child navigate any online issues.

Cyberbullying is when someone uses the internet to be mean to a child or young person so they feel bad or upset. It can happen on a social media site, game, app, or any other online or electronic service or platform. It can include posts, comments, texts, messages, chats, livestreams, memes, images, videos and emails.

These are some examples of ways the internet can be used to make someone feel bad or upset:

• Sending hurtful messages about them.
• Sharing embarrassing photos or videos of them.
• Spreading nasty online gossip about them.
• Leaving them out online.
• Creating fake accounts in their name.
• Tricking them into believing you are someone else.

Sadly, cyberbullying happens a lot in Australia and around the world. eSafety helps prevent and deal with cyberbullying and its impacts by providing information and resources, and by investigating and helping to fix the most serious cases of cyberbullying.

eSafety’s advice to children experiencing cyberbullying is:

1. Get help from a trusted adult — or call Kids Helpline.
2. Get help from the police if you are in immediate serious danger.
3. Try not to say anything back — it could make things worse.
4. Keep evidence — an adult can help take screenshots or keep a journal in case you need evidence to report it.
5. Block or report them — most games and apps have a way to block or report someone. See The eSafety Guide for links.
6. Report to eSafety — you can report cyberbullying and get help to remove bullying content and support.

Olivia Devereux
Guidance Officer

STEM & Enrichment Education News

Makerspace Lunchtime Timetable

Robotics Sumo Wrestling Competition

Students in Year 6 are preparing their robots for assessment in digital technology for a Sumo Robotics Wrestling tournament. They have designed a program using EV3 classroom block coding and created a robot to battle in a ring with sensors and motors.

Buy $mart Competition

Year 5 students, Emerson, Indi, Stella and Summer, will attend the Buy Smart awards at Parliament House in Brisbane on Thursday. The Honourable Shannon Fentiman MP Attorney-General and Minister for Justice will be announcing the winners where the students and their schools will share in more than $15,000 in cash prizes. All the best students!

Music News

Save the Dates for Term 4

Performance Uniform Check

All students (except beginner strings) are required to wear the Performance Uniform at the End of Year Night of Music. Please ensure your child’s uniform still fits. If your child has outgrown the uniform, please ask him/her to bring it to Mrs C so she can change it for another size. This needs to be done before Friday, 4 November. There will be no time for this the week of the concert.

End of Year Night of Music and Awards – Tuesday 8th November

The students from our choral ensembles and instrumental ensembles will put on a great evening of entertainment on Tuesday, 8 November. The following groups will be performing:

• Junior Singers, Middle Singers, Senior Singers, Performance Group, Kurwongbah Blokes
• Senior Percussion Ensemble (Junior Percussion students will perform with Junior Concert Band)
• Beginner Strings, Junior String Ensemble and Senior String Orchestra
• Junior Concert Band and Senior Concert Band

The Music Support Group (MSG) will be having a sausage sizzle before the concert. There will be no interval however the canteen will remain open until 7.00pm. Volunteers are most welcome to help. Please email fundraising@ksspca.qld.edu.au if you can help out.

Details of the evening are as follows:

• Performances commencing at 6.00pm
• Doors open at 5.30pm
• Gold coin donation for entry
• Music Support Group will be serving food from 4.45pm. There will be no interval during the concert however the canteen will stay open until 7.00pm
• Cash sales only – there are NO Eftpos facilities available
• Full Performance uniform (including black school shoes)
• Awards will be presented after each ensemble perform

We are also after some lucky door and raffle prizes to be donated for this night. Over the past few years we have had wonderful families donate chocolates, lollies, wine, gift cards/vouchers from various places, iTunes cards, toys and much more. It doesn’t have to be a huge prize – all donations big and small will be accepted with gratitude. All prizes need to be delivered to the office or music room by Monday 7th November so they can be wrapped.

Final Rehearsals

As 2022 draws to an end so do our rehearsals. Please check below for the final lesson and rehearsal for the different music groups. If you need to arrange before school care please do so.

Instrumental Music Recruitment for 2023

Last week, the Instrumental Teachers began the process of recruiting student for the 2023 program with an “Information Concert”. Interested students were given a note to take home with details of the program. If your child missed the concert and is interested in learning an instrument in 2023, please ask him/her to see Mrs C and collect a note. The String program is for students entering Year 3 while the Brass, Woodwind and Percussion program is for students entering Year 4 in 2023. Students will be notified once the entire process is finalised. Please ensure notes are returned by the due date on the letter to avoid your child missing out.

This is a lengthy process which will take a few weeks. We thank you for your patience in this process.

Fundraising News

The Kurwongbah State School Fete Committee are proud to announce our total profit for the 2022 school fete of $60312.81. Thank you to all our sponsors, fete committee, fete volunteers and community for an outstanding effort and making 2022 a successful fete.

First Aid News

Return of Borrowed Clothing

Any items of clothing which have been borrowed from the First Aid room are to be washed and returned prior to the end of the year.

Book Club News

How Book Club Helps Your Child’s School

Every time you place a Scholastic order, your School is being rewarded! For example, for every Book Club order you place, Scholastic receives 20% of your total order spend to your school as Scholastic Rewards. This allows the school to purchase books and resources for your child’s classroom and the library, helping students reach their highest potential.

How To Order

The Book Club LOOP platform for parents allows you to pay by credit card. Your child’s order is submitted directly to school and the books will be delivered to your child’s class. You can place your child’s order from the link below or by using the LOOP app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

Cash orders can be handed into the library. Simply fill out the order form on the back of the catalogue, place the form and the exact cash amount into an envelope or clip seal bag and drop off to the LIBRARY ONLY!

Julie Collins
Book Club Coordinator

YMCA OSHC News

Hello Kurwongbah community, my name is Kara Ratford and I am the new coordinator at YMCA Kurwongbah OSHC. I am a mother of 3-year-old twins who has been working for YMCA for over a year and I am very excited to be here and to join your community.

We have started Term 4 with a bang, following on from our amazing vacation care where we had some fabulous incursions including mini Olympics and a super fun colour run. We have been busy the last 2 weeks making the fabulous decorations for the Spring Disco.

Friendly reminder for our families, if your child is going to be absent from OSHC can you please let us know by either email on akb@ymcabrisbane.org or text on 0448 244 060.

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

Tuckshop News

Our meal deals this term are:

• Isaac’s Tender Wrap Meal $8.00
  ½ Chicken Tender Wrap (with lettuce and mayo), Juice Cup and Drink
• Hailey’s Hammy Meal $6.00
  Ham and Cheese Toasted Sandwich, Anzac Slice and Drink
• Mason’s Hotdog Meal $7.70
  Hotdog, Honey Soy Chips and Drink
• Rylan’s Mighty Pie Drive
  Beef Meat Pie, Juice Cup and Drink
• Addilyn’s Chicken Burger Meal $8.00
  Chicken Burger (lettuce and mayo), Fruit Cup and Drink
• Best Friend Meal $9.00
  6 Dino Nuggets, Garlic Bread and Drink
• Master Chef Special $7.50
  Ham and Pineapple Pizza, Chocolate Mousse and Drink

All meals come with a popper however this can be upgraded to a flavoured milk for an additional $0.55. Sauce can also be added for an additional $0.40.

Don’t forget the Tuckshop is now selling Slushy’s for $2.50 over the counter only at break time. Out Slushy’s are gluten free and made with 99% fruit juice syrup with no artificial colours or flavours.

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

Parents are welcome to the Uniform Shop during opening hours with no appointment necessary. If you have an hour to spare and would like to volunteer in the Uniform Shop please email or call me, volunteers are urgently needed.

Prep Appointments

Prep appointments can now be made for the October 2022 Pre-Prep Program by calling on Tuesday or Thursday mornings after 9.00am on 3481 4323 or by emailing uniformshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au.

The uniform shop will be open between 10.30am and 1.00pm on the days of the Pre-Prep Program. Please note that an appointment is necessary with our Uniform Shop Convenor.

We look forward to meeting you on our Pre-Prep days and working with you in 2023.

Back to School Appointments

We are now taking back to school appointments in November and January. Please refer to the below attachment for times available.

Second-hand Uniforms

We have a very good range of second-hand uniforms, all in excellent condition currently available in the Uniform Shop. If 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 always have parents waiting for second-hand uniforms.

School Backpacks

School backpacks are available for $50. These backpacks are chiropractic approved and have a guarantee for the full time your child is at school.

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

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
3481 4323
uniformshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au

Containers for Change

Community Notices

Chess Mates Program

Brothers North Netball

Lemonade Kids – Friendship Workshop