18 March 2016

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates to Remember

Principal’s Report

Happy Holidays!

I would like to wish everyone a very safe, happy holiday and I hope that you have some quality time to relax and invest in your family! School commences back on Monday the 11th of April.

Wow what a term!

It seems like no time since we began the term - what a fast paced whirlwind it has been! We have seen so many wonderful things this term. I have enjoyed the privilege of being part of the leadership badge presentations and engaging with our new leaders. I'm sure they will do us proud!

I have had a great time working with the staff here at Edens Landing as we make some changes to what we do in our daily routines and further focus on achieving positive outcomes for all our children.

Preparation Bell

We have commenced a preparation bell in the morning 5 minutes before the start of school. The bell is to assist with getting children to class on time and is designed as a warning to children to make their way to class and get prepared for learning to commence at 8:50am. During this time students should get their books ready and go to the toilet and have a drink so they can be uninterrupted with their learning up to the first break.

Priority School Review

We have had the review team in our school and the exit results have been shared with the Leadership team and the staff at a staff briefing. The actual report and recommendations will arrive I would expect just in time for the communicant of the new term. We will however commence working on the suggested big ticket items immediately.

The work we need to do builds on the already strong platform we have for learning at ELSS. I see most of our future success coming from empowering our staff to do their job by supporting innovation and celebrating excellence across the school. When we grow teachers, we grow student outcomes - the research is clear!

I look forward to sharing more information around the review results with you next term.

Year 6 Camp

I had the pleasure of seeing our children all very excited this week as they left for camp. I'm sure I spied some parents that were equally excited too! The children have since returned and it looked like they had a truly wonderful time.

The teachers reported excellent behaviour which was great reflection on the group overall and makes me very proud of them. I'm happy to see such excellence for Edens Landing children in their capacity representing the school.

Staffing Arrangements for 2016 Term 2

I am commencing long service leave for the last week of this term. I have had a long term commitment to my family to go on a cruise together and of course I have to honour this! It will be hard work but I guess I can take the inconvenience of cruising on a beautiful boat through the exciting islands......

In my absence Mrs Cheryl Gibson will be Acting Principal and she will be backfilled during this time by another person who we are yet to recruit. On the other side of the holidays Mrs Stoyko has Long Service Leave and the one person will fill that role as well as the one for the 4 days prior to the holiday period. I suspect we will need to put another notification out next week advising of these arrangements.

At this stage I can't confirm the arrangements for next term for the role of Principal at Edens Landing; however I expect we will see some result around this in the near future. In any case I have enjoyed my time here and and I can say with hand on the heart that we have a fantastic staff here at this school. Committed and focused on children as we work really hard to get better outcomes for all children in our school.

We have focused this term on the management of behaviour and also continued our work in reading instruction in classrooms. Most recently teachers have explored with me a framework to focus teaching on the links between the data collected on reading habits, the subsequent student’s needs and individual lessons and programs in classrooms. The next step of this work is to resource the work that teachers are doing in this area with what they require to make sure we get progress from every student. We have plenty to do together as a community as we engage with these agenda's across the year. They are exciting and they are also hard work! It's a new era of delivering quality outcomes for our children and making sure I give teachers what they need to be their very best and subsequently that we make the right decisions around education programs and resourcing to provide focused support for tangible outcomes.

I have been truly impressed by our staff and very proud to have led them on the beginning phase of this journey. In moving forward we will continue to "empower" our teachers to do their core business in a way that allows them to solve the blockers they encounter with us as a leadership team. Our leadership team includes the Principal, Deputy Principal's, Head of Curriculum, Head of Special Education Services and our Master Teacher.

I'll be talking more in the next newsletter on our roles and how we support student learning.

It has been a pleasure to be working with your children this term.I thank you for your willingness to engage with us on a continual basis.

Regards

Andrew Cummings
Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

HOME READING PROGRAM

One of the most important routines you can foster as parents is daily reading through the home reading program. While this is crucial for the Year 1 to 4 classes, it applies to all children and will hopefully become a natural part of their daily routine. Given the many distractions children face, this habit usually won’t come naturally and will need to have your support. It is vital that this support is positive and establishes a shared reading time as an enjoyable experience.

In prep classes, our home reading program is based on developing a love of books, where we ask an adult to share a story book. Every week students borrow from the resource centre and choose their own book. Please share this book with them. When you have finished why don’t you both come to the library and choose another book. Our focus in semester one of prep is to have an adult read many different types of books to the child. Later in the year, our prep students may be issued with a home reader.

In years one, two and three, due to the way children select or are given school home readers, they will not always be at your child’s exact reading level. (Students are issued with books from within a range of levels.) In this instance if a book is too difficult, take the initiative and use that book as one to read to your child. Involve them by discussing the illustrations first, asking them to predict what the book is about, what will happen next and discuss the characters. Alternatively if your child brings home an easily read text, allow them to ‘celebrate’ their skills and read it fully to you. In the early years, encourage your child to read all the environmental print you can see. Extend this to reading recipes, magazines, shopping lists, junk mail etc.

Middle and Upper school children show more reliance upon books borrowed from the library. The same principles still apply whether reading for pleasure or research. Spend the time reading with your child; 10 to 15 minutes reading daily at home is our expectation. For students in the middle years, reading can take many forms and does not have to be a story book. Many non-fiction texts, even the tv guide provide opportunities to comprehend in different ways.

Reading is at the heart of learning – it’s too important a task to be neglected. The greatest difference you can make in your child’s education is to spend a little time every day reading to and reading with your child, no matter what age.

Parent helpers are a highly valued resource in assisting with distribution of appropriate materials for our home reading program. Parent helpers also are welcomed to assist with reading groups. If you have some spare time and would like to help in this way, please drop me an email or pop into the office. We welcome grandparents and other family members…. PLEASE HELP OUT…. LOTS OF CLASSES ARE LOOKING FOR HELPERS with reading. Children love the opportunity to read to another significant adult.

JUNIOR ASSEMBLY

Our assemblies are an opportunity to recognise student achievement and parents are welcome. A combined Junior Assembly will be held on the last Friday of every month depending upon holidays at 2.20pm. A sector/ year level assembly will be held every Friday. The prep individual assembly will be held from 1.40 – 2.00pm, while Yr 1 & 2 will be held at 2.30pm.

The following are the dates for the combined assembly.

Regards
Karen Stoyko
Deputy Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

YEAR 6 2016

Students have returned from Camp having had an amazing experience, building memories which will last a lifetime. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Year 6 teachers and the other staff members who volunteered their time to make this camp a great success.

Senior shirts have been ordered, with the manufacturer still hoping to deliver the shirts next week. We will distribute the shirts as soon as they arrive.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Our explicit teaching of behaviour expectations will continue throughout the year, focusing on the Rule of the Week – each week teachers explicitly teach lessons which focus on a selected aspect of school expectations.

The rules for weeks 9 and 1 Term 2 are outlined below. Teachers will be discussing these with their students over the next two weeks, and it would be wonderful if parents spoke with their children about the importance of each rule.

Week 9 - Active listening

Teachers explicitly teach students what it means to be an active listener. We talk about whole Body Listening as a way to describe what active listening is.

1. You listen with your shoulders and feet by turning towards the person who is talking
2. You listen with your chest by keeping it up and pointed toward the person who is talking
3. You listen with your hands by not distracting other people or yourself – keeps hands still
4. You listen with your ears by hearing what other people are saying
5. You listen with your brain by thinking about want other people are saying
6. You listen with your eyes by looking at people’s faces and eyes when they are talking to you
7. You listen with your mouth by only making comments or asking questions about what the person is talking about- don’t interrupt.

Week 1 Term 2 - Following directions

“Following Instructions” is one of the most important basic skill students need in the classroom. If students cannot follow a teacher’s instructions to do even a simple task, not much is going to get done. The goal of the lessons during this week is to teach students the proper way to follow instructions and to explain the importance of being able to use this skill correctly.

Following Instructions:

1. Look at the staff member giving the instruction.
2. Acknowledge you have been given an instruction by saying “Yes” or nodding if more appropriate.
3. Do what you’ve been asked right away, regardless of which staff member it is.
4. Check back if you are not sure about any part of the instruction you were given.

These simple skills will help students get the most out of every day at school.

Regards
Cheryl Gibson
cgibs2@eq.edu.au

Head of Curriculum’s Message

Kindai Elementary School Visit to Edens Landing

On Monday March 21, we welcome Kindai Elementary School from Nara in Japan for their 6th visit to our school. We are delighted to have them come to spend the last 4 days of Term 1 with us and to share their culture. Mr Nakagawa, the Principal will be accompanying the group this year, on his first trip to Australia.

During this time, the students and teachers from Japan will participate in a variety of activities including Bush Dancing, making ANZAC biscuits, learning about Aboriginal art and a visit to Dreamworld to see our Australian native animals, while they practice their English.

We will also be talking about our plans for a group of Year 5 and 6 students to visit their school in Japan in 2017, after our very successful trip last year.

We are sending a very big “Thank You” to the wonderful Edens Landing families and staff who are inviting these students into their homes as Home Stay families and the students who are going to support them as Buddies next week. Make sure you say “hello” when you see them and their teachers in our school next week.

Curriculum Round Up

Year 1

English

Students in Year One have been working on writing simple poems using rhyme, repetition and alliteration. We have also been looking at ways to make the presentation of a poem more interesting for an audience. Parents and Carers are invited to come along and see what we have been doing on Thursday 24th March. Invitations have been written and sent home. If you have not received your invitation yet, please come and see us.

Mathematics

We have continued our exploration of teen numbers, including sequencing, representing and partitioning (tens and ones), simple addition and subtraction using the count on, count back strategy and learning our facts to ten. Our focus on data included asking a suitable question for gathering data, gathering, recording and representing data on a graph. In Chance, we described the outcomes of familiar events using the language of “will happen, won’t happen and might happen.”

Science

Our studies about animals, healthy and unhealthy habitats, needs of living things and ways to protect habitats are coming to a conclusion with revision of concepts, currently underway.

Technology

Students have thoroughly enjoyed designing, making and reflecting on their models of caterpillars and are very excited about showing you their creations during our open afternoon next Thursday.

Year 2

In Year 2, students have been presenting poems in speaking presentations. We have had some fantastic presentations from students who used props and actions to enhance their performances.

In Technology, students have become masters of recycling, bringing to school a range of empty packaging so they can begin constructing lunchboxes of their own design.

Year 3

In Year 3, students have been very busy developing their powers of persuasion. Through the reading and writing of persuasive texts, students have been learning about the language choices that authors make to convince an audience of their point of view. Students have been applying these skills themselves and writing to persuade others to their way of thinking on a range of ‘big issues’, such as homework, playground equipment, physical activity for children, holiday destinations and what animal really does make the best pet.

Year 4

Year 4 students are all working very hard to complete their Twits chapter and there are some interesting tricks being played out in their writing at present.

Our students are also currently working on their science and health assessments, as well as their art assessment, which will be the illustration to accompany the Twits' chapter.

The Year 4 teachers would like to wish everyone a safe holiday and we will see you all next term.

Year 5

Notes went home last week about our excursion to the Bahrs Scrub Eureka Gold rush day on May 4. If you have not seen the note yet, you may need to check your child’s bag or enquire at the office for another one.

$30 is required to be paid by Monday April 26. Students will also need an extra 20c on the day for their miner’s license. They may dress in costume, e.g. miner, baker, trooper, storekeeper, etc., but no bushrangers or weapons are allowed. They must also wear comfortable closed-in shoes and wide-brimmed hat.

In History, we are focusing specifically on Peter Lalor and his role in the Eureka Stockade. Talking about what happened at the Eureka Stockade, or looking it up at home, would help your child when we start writing narratives set in the time of the gold rush period.

In Maths, we are currently revising measuring length. Discussing millimeters, centimeters, meters and kilometers, with your child, would help them with this. Discuss how many kilometers it is to the shop from your house, or let them help you measure the height of the new curtains or the length of the garden bed.

Year 6

Some very excited Year 6 students set off on Monday morning for 3 fun filled days at Emu Gully Adventure Camp. We wish our 2016 seniors all the best as they conquer fears achieve personal goals and learn more about the true meaning of the ANZAC Spirit.

Year 6 students excited, packed and ready to go to camp.

What’s On at Edens Landing State School

Student Absence Phone Number: 3826 0360

Please call this number to report your child’s absence; calls can be made to this number any time of the day, the office will amend your child’s attendance.

Phone 3826 0360

Messages to Students

Parent/Guardians are requested to phone the school with a message for a student in an EMERGENCY situation only. This will ensure the efficient running of our school of more than 770 students. Day to day matters of where to collect students need to be discussed prior to students arriving at the school in the morning. Parents who bring items which have been left at home to school for students such as lunches, hats, forms or sport items, MUST be a rare occurrence. Messages for students may only be passed on from parents or guardians.

Changes to Student Payment Window

The office will be changing the current opening days for student payments from Term 2.

Office payment window will ONLY be open Mondays from 8.15am- 10.15am commencing Monday 11th April.

Students will bring home the excursion permission letter with an invoice attached with payment options.

Payment Options

BPOINT- (preferred method of payment)
Online Credit Card Payment
http://www.bpoint.com.au/payments/dete
You will need the Invoice details to complete Bpoint online.

Cash or Eftpos Mondays 8.15am-10.15am Office Payment Window
Credit card payments- form available on school website or phone the school office 8am-4pm

Internet Payment Details

School Bank A/c Name: Edens Landing State School
BSB Number: 064-401
Account Number: 10158334
Child’s Reference Code: Child’s last name & initial
Activity Reference Code: i.e Y6 camp

Important points to consider when paying via internet bank transfer.

• Payments received into the school account after the closing date will not be accepted and a Request for Refund form will be provided.
• It is important to use your child’s last name AND activity code as the reference when making your payment.
• If we can identify the student but not the activity, payment will be applied against the oldest debt.
• If we cannot identify the student, payment will be paid into a holding account.

PE News

Representative News

Congratulations to Francis who was selected in the Pacific Rim Netball Team. She will now compete at the regional trials later next term.

Running Club

Running club will continue next term. This will be held every Wednesday and Thursday morning from 8-8:30am. Please see Mr O’Donnell for a permission form if you would like to join or continue.

Interschool Sport

Unfortunately the first round was cancelled due to rain. Hopefully this week will see better weather and the commencement of the competition. Good luck to all year six students who are involved.

General

Over the course of the year, lessons will be held on the oval. It is essential that your child/ren has a suitable school hat for all lessons.

Yours in Sport
Ken O’Donnell
Physical Education Teacher

Chappy News

Chappy’s Pancake Brekkie

Thursday 24th March 7.30am- 8.30am

Parents, students and staff are all welcome to come up to the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen and get some pancakes - no cost involved.

Chappy Esther

P&C News

The following people have been nominated at the AGM to hold Executive titles with the 2016 Edens Landing State School P&C Association:

President: Kirstin Hansen
Vice President: Rachel Maddalena
Secretary: Tammy Ah You
Treasurer: Vanessa Potter

The next P&C General Meeting will be held in the Staffroom, at 7pm, 21st March, 2016. If you have anything you would like placed on the agenda, please email: exec@elsspc.org.au

New members are always welcome, please come along and learn more about what is happening in your child’s school, and how you can help to make a positive difference. The aim of the P&C is to promote the interests of the school by bringing parents, citizens, students and staff into close co-operation and to assist in providing facilities and equipment for the school such as the Uniform Shop and Tuckshop. Coming to P&C meetings is a great way to find out more about the school and the activities of the P&C. You will meet the Principal, teachers and other parents and hear about a wide range of topics including how all the sub-committees operate.

You do not need to RSVP – just arrive a few minutes before things start and introduce yourself to the Secretary who will then welcome you to the meeting and introduce you to everyone else. After the meeting there is usually time to chat to others.

Your child/ren should have come home with sponsorship forms for the annual cross country fitness day. Important due dates are listed on the form, along with safety tips for money collection. All monies need to be placed in the P&C box, which is a locked black box, hanging on the wall near the back entrance to the office (near the glass windows).

Fundraising

Thank you to all of the lovely helpers we had on Thursday 17th March 2016. That helped with handing out Ice Blocks at the Cross-Country & Fitness Day. Please don’t forget to bring in you money and sponsorship forms, they are all due back by the 15th April 2016. Please place them in the P&C black box in the office.

Thank you to those who helped with the Election Day BBQ we held on Saturday the 19th of March. A Special thank you to those that helped sort everything behind the scene before the day, as well as a lot goes into these events and it was greatly appreciated.

Finally a big thank you to KENNARDS HIRE BEENLEIGH who kindly donated the BBQ for our event, they did it out of the kindness of their hearts. Thank you also to Annette and Shane Honnery for all your assistance with getting supplies etc. for the event.

Thank you from Jo, Peita-Marie & Tia
Fundraising Ladies 2016

Book Club

Thank you to everyone for ordering all the orders will be distributed before the end of term. There will more issues all though out the year so keep a look out for them.

Thank you from Jo & Peita-Marie

Book Club Ladies 2016

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop will be open from 8.30am – 9.30am on Friday mornings.

Student Banking News

Lucky Banker Awards:

9/3/2016: Noah Prep P, Bastian 5CE
16/3/2016: Ava 1GB, Harry 5B

New School Banking Rewards available now!!!

Term 2 rewards with the Outback Savers theme now available, while stocks last!!

Flying Snake Tail
Wildlife Writer Set

For every deposit made at the school, no matter how big or small, students receive a silver Dollarmites token.

Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for exclusive School Banking rewards in recognition of their regular savings habits.

There are 2 new items released every term so be sure to keep an eye out for them!

Thank you for supporting the school banking program.

School banking day is Wednesday!!

Tuckshop News

End of term is upon us and this means that I will be running stock down on many items and there may be some stock not available the last week of school. All orders will be filled but if something ordered is not available I will contact the children and offer them something that is.

PLEASE NOTE…TUCKSHOP WILL BE CLOSED LAST DAY OF TERM (THURSDAY 24 MARCH) FOR CLEANING,
NO TUCKSHOP AT ALL THIS DAY

I have had a few more volunteers come and help out this term and it has been great to see, but it is always nice to have more people so the current volunteers don’t have to come each week, I would ideally like to have a roster where everyone came once a fortnight. So come and see me in next term if you would like to help out.

Any time you can come is greatly appreciated; the busiest time is from 8.30am till around 9.30am while processing the orders sometimes that is all the time needed, the faster the bags are processed the more time we have to prepare the lunches. Another busy time is from around 10.50am to about 11.20am, this is the time we pack the lunches, maybe just pop in to help pack and hand out the lunches sometimes that is all the help needed. Second break is also just from 12.55pm to 1.30pm; all that is involved is serving the children.

The children adore having their parents in the tuckshop and you are always assured a laugh.

MENU CHANGES

We are no longer stocking the Classic Juice 350ml bottle. There are also grapes available before school for either lunch or grab some for brain food, also sultanas are available for brain food.

Next term we will be starting fruit salad cups with seasonal fruit.

A change to the way food is offered will be changing at the beginning of term 3, food will only be offered and available on certain days e.g. Monday might be pie/sausage roll day, Tuesday might be Hot Dog day, with the exception for sandwiches/salads, they will be available every day. Full details of the changes and information will be passed on in due time.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or come up for a chat. Please have a lovely break and we will see you all in term 2.

Annette Honnery
Tuckshop Convenor
3805 7999
tuckshop@elsspc.org.au

Any queries please come and see me and have a chat.

Annette Honnery
Tuckshop Convenor
Ph: 3508 7999
tuckshop@elsspc.org.au