10 May 2023

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Yours in education,

Leanne Odorico
Principal

Student of the Week

TERM 2 WEEK 2

TERM 2 WEEK 3

Date Claimers

Due Dates for Payments

Class Parade Presentation

Thanks to 3A and 3B, Miss Hayden and Mrs Kemp for a very informative and entertaining Parade Presentation on how they “Bump Up” or “Improve” their persuasive writing that they have been learning about in class. The students spoke very confidently in front of an appreciative audience.

Thanks to all of our Year 2 Classes who presented some entertaining poems that they had learnt as part of their poetry unit this term. Thank you, students and teachers, for an entertaining and confident presentation.

Cronulla Sharks NRL Visit

Our Years 4, 5 and 6 students were visited by Cronulla Sharks NRL players Toby, Kade and Jada this afternoon. There were some great insights they shared with our students. Thanks to Cronulla Sharks for sharing some great messages with our students.

2024 Prep Enrolments

We are now taking names of Prep students for 2024. Children who were born between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019 are eligible to commence Prep in 2024. Parents are invited to contact the school office (Ph: 3481 4333) if they are intending to enrol their child at Kurwongbah for Prep in 2024. Enrolment forms can then be completed and student interview times booked. Please contact the school for further information.

Remaining Parade Presentations 2023

Whole school parades are held each Friday morning from 8.55am in our school hall. Parents are most welcome to attend. During the year each class or year level will present a presentation on parade. Below is the 2023 parade presentation schedule:

Absences

State schools are required to notify parents on the same day any student is absent from school without explanation. Rolls are marked at 8:50am and 2:10pm each day. An SMS message will be sent to any parent of a student with an unexplained absence by 11am. Students who are not in their class at 8:50am will be marked absent and MUST collect a late slip from the office. Parents collecting their children early must sign them from the office before collecting from the classroom.

Absence Notification Process

Please remember to contact the school early in the morning if your child is going to be away or late for school so your child’s absence can be recorded correctly. The preferred method of reporting an absence is via the SMS number 0429 919 560. Otherwise, you can contact the school absence line on 3481 4366 or the main school admin line on 3481 4333.

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

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. If parents are registered through QParents they are able to update details through this app.

KindyLinQ

Kurwongbah State School is excited to offer the KindyLinQ program. Families with children from birth to age three will be welcome to register for KindyLinQ. The play-based nature of KindyLinQ, which is delivered by a teacher, is perfect for young children. It enables them to explore, create, socialise and participate in different experiences with the support of their parent/caregiver. KindyLinQ can also support families to get to know the local services in their area and connect to a Kindy program when the time is right. For more information, please refer to the below flyer.

Business Manager News

Grounds & Facilities – Works Around the School

Several projects are in the planning stage – our Project Manager will be in next week to create a scope of works!

Fencing is a major consideration for the school. Kurwongbah is one of the few schools in this area to not benefit from the new State wide security fencing. The fencing not only reduces vandalism by a reported +90% but ensures the safety of our students during the school day. A security fence would keep out littlest students in and safe from our increasingly busy roads and stop unknown persons entering the school grounds during the day (and night). We are working with our Regional Infrastructure Advisor to have Kurwongbah prioritised for this important safety measure.

Parent/Carer Survey

On Monday 17th April we sent all families a survey to help us better serve you and your children in the years ahead. Thank you to the 98 parent/carers who took the time to respond. We will take this important data to our School Council and P&C to help us formulate our resourcing, finance and family support plans for 2024 and beyond.

Once we have had a thorough look at the responses and discussed at the School Council and P&C meetings, I will share the results here for you.

Finance – Excursions and Camps

Year 5 Camp – We can accept payments to sit as credit on your account at any time for any amount. If you are unsure how to manage this, please contact Lucy or myself via the office.

Swimming – Our Learn to Swim program takes place in Term 3 however as another costly item at about $100 per student we are happy to take prepayments now!

As a courtesy to help you stay up to date with your accounts, we will email family statements once per month on the 15th and will send home a printed version at the end of every term.

If you are experiencing financial hardship, I strongly encourage you to reach out to your classroom teacher or myself early. Kurwongbah is a caring and generous community and we have confidential financial support options available to help you but can only offer this before excursion cut off dates.

QParent – Register Now

Now is the time to set up your QParent app & profile/s. If you are already using the app at another school/s you can add your Kurwongbah SS student and start accessing information, reporting absences etc now!

The exciting news for our community is that soon the QParent app will manage our excursion permissions electronically! No more lost notes, no more missing out because a permission note went missing AND you can pay at the same time! This is a fantastic opportunity for us to communicate and connect and ensure all students have equal opportunity to attend all school events.

You can learn more at the link below:

Please feel free to contact me at BSM@kurwongbahss.eq.edu.au should you require further information regarding any of the items above.

Karen Grant-Freeman
Business Manager

Eco-Marines News

Last week the EcoMarines assisted Mrs Owen teaching the Year 2 students about recycling processes at Kurwongbah State School. The Year 2 students really enjoyed their lesson and had a lot of questions for the EcoMarines to answer. This week, Year 2 students will trial using the yellow multi-sort bin in their lunch eating area. This will provide students with the opportunity to recycle juice, water and milk containers, further reducing the amount of waste Kurwongbah sends to landfill.

On Thursday the EcoMarines will visit Tangalooma Island Resort. The aim of the day is to educate students about the environment and train students so they feel capable of fulfilling their role as an EcoMarine Ambassador. Students will attend workshops, presentations and be involved in team building activities. They will also enjoy feeding wild dolphins!

Kurwongbah Kids Playgroup

Inclusion News

We all want great things for our children. We want them to be happy and successful, in the way that fulfills them. Success will look very different for all of our children, as it is about harnessing their interests, creativity and abilities to see them empowered in employment. In the same way as success looks different for each individual, their pathway through education looks different as well. They will have gifts and challenges across years and subject areas.

In saying this though, we have one curriculum, the Australian Curriculum, and we assess children’s position in the curriculum and we report against this twice a year in a report card. This point in time snapshot doesn’t acknowledge the distance travelled and the struggle along the way, that is 100% part of learning. It also often does not see the achievement attained if it is below the current level of curriculum.

I say all of this, because I strongly believe that a report card is a document for parents. They are not written to or for the children. And I know that kids want to see their report cards and there will be many great things in the report card, acknowledging growth and effort, but when the focus for the child in on the grade, it can be a disheartening experience.

In our classrooms we have individual learning goals. Our students work to attain these with differentiated levels of support. They show work samples, discuss their learning and get feedback in relation to their learning goals. I feel like this is the ‘reporting’ that our students need to focus on. Here is my goal, what am I really wanting to achieve as my next step. Then I work hard and get support, and then when I achieve my goal, gee, that’s a great feeling. It is that that motivates me to set my next goal, and then I get more independent at setting my goals, and more independent and working towards them and my personal celebrations at attaining them. As adults we work towards what we want. I want to eat healthier – a set a goal to eat healthy, and then, at the end of the week, when I achieve is, possible not as my smartest choice, I reward myself with takeaway, but it does motivate me to go again next week. I also seek support, and entrust a personal training who checks in, helps me plan meals and …… maybe tells me when I haven’t worked so hard to attain my goal.

What I ask in relation to celebrating learning with our children, is to ask what they are working hard on? What is tough? What is their learning goal? How are they working hard? How are they going with it? And when they say they cracked the code, jump into the celebration of real reward for effort with them!

Cameron Brown
Head of Special Education Services

Guidance Officer (GO) Greetings

Greetings Kurwongbah families!

This week I’d like to share some information from ‘Be You’ about self-regulation. Helping children and young people manage their emotions is important for fostering positive mental health and wellbeing.

Self-regulation in Childhood

Self-regulation is learning about your own feelings and emotions, understanding how and why they happen, recognising them (and those of others), and developing effective ways of managing them.

When children and young people learn to self-manage their emotions, they feel more confident, capable and in control. They have stronger relationships, are more able to pay attention, learn new things and can cope better with the normal stresses and disappointments of daily life.

In their early years, children are just beginning to learn about emotions and feelings, and how to manage them. From time to time, most young children display behaviours such as aggression, emotional outbursts and inattention. Gradually, children learn what situations are likely to upset them and how they can handle emotions better when these situations arise. This learning continues into adolescence.

How Can You Help?

Talk About Emotions

• Acknowledge and respond to emotional communication.
• Role-model how you manage your own feelings.
• Talk about strategies to manage strong or uncomfortable emotions.

Explicitly Teach Skills

• Talk about ways of managing upsetting situations.
• Help your child to develop strategies to use when they’re feeling out of control.
• Help your child express their emotions in productive ways (for example, by drawing or acting out their feelings).
• Practise mindful breathing with older children and young people.
• Explore the immediate and long-term consequences of actions.
• Promote empathy by talking about emotions and understanding how people will have different reactions to events depending on their circumstances.
• Teach problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• For more information, please see the attached document.

Olivia Devereux
Guidance Officer

STEM & Enrichment Education News

Makerspace Lunchtime Timetable

Techgirls Competition

The 2023 Techgirls competiton is underway and the Year 6 teams are reseaching and brainstorming ideas for an App that meets a community need. Students will be assigned a mentor to help with their business plan. These mentors engage with the two teams in a virtual meeting room using, ‘Blackboard,’ every fortnight to help the students produce a high-quality plan and a working app prototype as part of their entry for the competition.

Bush Poetry Competition – Brisbane EKKA

This year the Brisbane EKKA is again running the Bush Poetry Competition for Primary students to recite their favourite poem that showcases the Australian way of life in the Bush. Poets can choose to recite anything from established bush ballads or write and perform their own poem. Entries close 17th July 2023 via the link. See the website below for more information about competition rules and regulations for entry.

RoboRave Australia Robotics Competition 15th -16th July 2023

The Robotics RoboRave Australia Competition will be held on Saturday 15th to Sunday 16th July 2023 at the Sunshine Coast University. Students, please see Mrs Rowley in the library if you are interested in competing in a team/event this year. A letter has been given to students who have expressed interest and this form will need to be returned as soon as possible to formulate teams and register for the event. Sumo challenges will be held on the Sunday with all other events held on Saturday. Below is a general program for the Sunday events and for more information please see the website link. Registration for teams will need to finalised next week.

Makerspace – STEM Creations

Students have been busy creating in the Makerspace this week and experimenting with static electricity. These students created a dancing paper snake! Come and join the fun in the makerspace!

Resource Centre News

Book Fair

Our Book Fair is back! It opens for sales on Monday 22nd May, at the library and closes when the last customer leaves on Wednesday afternoon 24th May. The fair will open at 8.00am to 8.50am each morning and re-open at 2.45pm each afternoon to approximately 4.30pm. Students will have the opportunity to visit the fair during lunchtimes to make a wish list and purchases.

Please support our Book Fair, to help support the purchase of new books and learning resources. If you can spare some time, we are looking for volunteers!

Methods of Payment:

• Cash
• EFTPOS
• Online payment. Use the online payment method as shown below. This can act like a voucher. Your child can then select books to the amount shown on the payment record. I will need to collect their record, so send it with your child. See the example below. I now have $20 to spend at the fair, when it arrives.

Online Payment Instructions:

• Click on the online payment portal (as per Wish List)

• Enter State and School
• Enter credit card details and amount
• Receipt number on Wish List or print receipt
• Bring Wish List back to the school with the record of payment and receipt number to collect books

You can view the Wish List on the link provided (wish list will also be sent home). To make payments for the wish list please use the online payment method, or send cash.

Please refer to the below attachment which provides details of some of the books available to buy at Book Fair with a summary of each book.

National Simultaneous Storytime

On Wednesday 24th May, Kurwongbah State School take part in this great annual event that showcases Australia’s love of books. The reading will take place in the school hall at 11.00am (First Break). This year’s book is about a resilient sloth called The Speedy Sloth.

Premier’s Reading Challenge – 8th May to 25th August

We have entered Kurwongbah State School in the Premier’s Readers Challenge so it’s time to start reading or a purpose, it’s time to participate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. The challenge is for Prep – Year 4 to read 20 book and Years 5 and 6 to read 15.

Here is a link to the online version of the Reader Record Form , a copy is also attached below. Please note that this year requires parents/caregivers to sign a consent form. Please read this carefully and make a decision as to whether you just put your child’s first name on the participation certificate. If you have any questions, please contact me on the school’s phone number 3481 4333 or email me on kturn121@eq.edu.au .

This is a great term to celebrate our love of reading. Please support our Book Fair and other events and enjoy a book or two!

Many thanks and Happy Reading,
Your friendly Library Crew

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 at the link below or 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

P&C News

Become a P&C Member

Our P&C association is a friendly group and the meetings are a good way of finding out what is happening at our school. Each year members work together to grow community spirit and work towards the benefit of all children at the school. Members may choose to volunteer in the classroom, library, tuckshop, uniform shop, at sporting events and organised activities/working bees.

Drop your membership form into the school office, or email it to: secretary@ksspca.qld.edu.au

Our P&C meeting will be held tonight at 6.30pm in the Staffroom.

Fundraising News

School Disco

Wow, what an amazing disco last week! Thank you to the P&C, staff and parent helpers who generously gave their time so our students could have a great night of dancing and fun.

Mother’s Day Craft Stall

Thank you to Liz, the craft group and volunteers for another successful Mother’s Day Craft Stall, your support is greatly appreciated.

Tuckshop News

Our meal deals this term are:

• Dustin’s Hotdog Meal $7.20
  Hot Dog, Pikletes and Drink
• Sianna’s Sizzle Meal $7.90
  Hotdog, Honey Soy Chips and Drink
• Chappy’s Party Pack $8.50
  Meat Pie, Chocolate Mousse and Drink
• Yahirah’s Magnificent Mac and Cheese Meal $8.30
  Mac and Cheese, Moosie and Drink
• Hayden’s Nugget Meal $9.70
  6 Nuggets, Honey Soy Chips and Drink
• Indi’s Winter Pack $7.50
  Pasta Bolognese, Garlic Break and Drink
• Rogue’s Pizza Hut Meal $7.50
  Cheese Pizza, Garlic Bread 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.

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

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.

Winter Stock

With winter on the way, we have got winter uniforms of jumpers/jackets, vests, long sleeve polo shirts and track pants ready for sale.

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.

Second-hand Uniforms

If you have uniforms that you no longer require, please bring them into the Uniform Shop. We urgently need all sizes.

You can either sell them through the shop or donate them. If you can’t get into the Uniform Shop to drop off your second-hand uniforms you can leave them at the Office with Uniform Shop written on the bag.

Ordering Through Uniform Shop

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 link below:

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.

Michelle Psaltis
Uniform Shop Convenor
3481 4323
uniformshop@ksspca.qld.edu.au

Containers for Change

Community Notices

Dakabin State High School Open Day – 20th May 2023

Bray Park State High School Open Day – 3rd May 2023

Kids Exploring Photography

National Road Safety Week 14th – 21st May

Chess Mates

Lotus Fire Martial Arts