28 July 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome Back

It’s great to see the smiling faces of our children and community as you return to school for term 3. I’m once again so very happy to be leading you through this term as we make some small changes in a number of areas across the school to leverage the very very best results for our children and indeed for our community.

I’m delighted to have this opportunity and really enjoy the chance to interact with parents as they come into our school at various times. This term I will offer some informal opportunities where I engage parents to talk about the direction of the school and also allow some time for questions and feedback. I had a great opportunity last term to hear from parents about the school and what’s important to you for our children and our community. I enjoyed that and so would like to make that regular possibility for us on our school calendar. I’m thinking we have a panel to discuss key education initiatives within our school and answer parent questions as they arise. I will get back to you with some dates and times for later this term.

Attendance

Late arrivals are a significant issue for our school and cause a massive disruption to the commencement of learning in our classrooms. Some staff report having only half classes by as late as 9:10 am. (20 minutes after the start of the school day) This is unsatisfactory/ unacceptable and new processes around late arrivals will be in place as of week 3 this term. (Commencing Monday 25th July)

These processes are designed to alleviate late arrivals and enhance the opportunity of staff to engage all children in the core business of learning without disruption. The attendance of students of compulsory school age is a requirement of the Education Act and penalties can apply for non-compliance with these requirements.

I want the very best for families, students and teachers and I want an outstanding school with outstanding opportunities for our children to learn and achieve their very best. I won’t accept anything less on behalf of your children because I’d want that opportunity for my own children.

I desperately need parent assistance and support in making sure your child is here on time every day so as not to disrupt the teaching and learning opportunities that occur in our morning sessions. This is a critical time to settle children and sets the tone for the entire day – we need you and your child here at school on time please!

Next week you will receive a "special bulletin” communication home regarding our expectations on attendance and our insistence on PUNCTUAL arrival in the morning.

It is safe to say up front that we will require parents of children arriving late to school to attend the office to sign their child in and provide a valid reason for the late arrival.

We can’t achieve world class outcomes for our children unless they are here and we have processes in place as a community that demonstrate the importance of education to our children – the ability of our teachers to be able to commence uninterrupted instruction immediately after marking the roll at 8:50 am is critical!

Exit Point Onto Castile Crescent

We have been working collaboratively with Logan City Council through our Division 6 representative, Councillor Stacey McIntosh. Stacey has been a wonderful support in discussing and assisting to manage our concerns around road safety and school exit points.

I am happy to report that LCC has been able to secure funding to assist with some new traffic and pedestrian management options on this side of the school. I am also currently working with our Department on a scope of works that will cover the following works:

1. A covered walkway from B block (Year 1/2 building) through to the new exit point (unlikely to be funded in full, however we will be proposing a staged approach to this as a final result in the future – this may take several years)
2. Provision of a pathway from the end of the new Multi Purpose Hall to the current walkway on that side of the hall.
3. Provision of a waiting area and seating on the boundary fence to allow for wet weather protection and a holding area for students until they observe the vehicle picking them up arriving at the "stop drop and go” zone.

In preparation for these new arrangements the following will occur in conjunction with the school, council and police.

1. A driver education and information program
2. An enforcement of the rules associated with "stop drop and go” in both zones (the new one and also the existing zone)
3. A student road education and safety program including a road safety awareness week competition hosted by our local police and supported by our school
4. An enforcement of signed parking regulations and also of line marked parking requirements including – yellow lined areas and set down zones

In preparation for these initiatives to enhance safety for our children and community I would ask that you take the time to familiarise yourself with the requirements of the local traffic management as they relate to stop, drop and go zones (set down areas) and observe the yellow lined areas as places where parking IS NOT permitted on the road or roadside. We want this to be positive for all in our community and the end point is that as a community we need to take the safety of our children as a very serious matter. I look forward to working with you on this matter and making sure we get the very best result for drop off and pick up times.

Nationally Collection of Data on School Students with Disability

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.

In 2013, 10% of Queensland state schools participated in the first year of implementation. In 2014, two thirds of Queensland schools will participate and all schools will be collect data from 2015. Our school will be involved in the nationally consistent collection of data from this year.

Please be reassured that the Department will not provide on 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 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 me know.

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

Alternatively, if you have any queries about the collection or use of this data I encourage you to contact Karen Collishaw, Head of Special Education Services, directly.

Andrew Cummings
Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

ENROL NOW: PREP 2017

Please note that Prep is the first formal year of schooling and for 2017 is compulsory. We are now calling for all families who have a child ready to start Prep in 2017 to begin enrolment procedures. Children born 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 will start prep next year. They must be 5 years old by 30 June 2017.

COME IN AND COMPLETE AN INTENTION TO ENROL FORM. This will give us idea of numbers, ready for staffing and school plans. Bring in your child’s birth certificate and 2 types of proof of residency i.e., current utility bill & Lease agreement/rates notice for living in the school catchment and drivers license. We can-not complete enrolments without proof of age. Please note it takes approximately 6 weeks to obtain a birth certificate.

In addition, an enrolment-orientation session will take place on THURSDAY 25TH AUGUST 2017. Parents and prep students are invited to attend one of two sessions: either 9.00 – 10.35am or 5.30 – 7.00pm. At this time parents will be provided with a tour of the school and a folder which contains extensive information in readiness for 2017. ENROL NOW! CHECK WITH YOUR FRIENDS, make sure they are all on-board too.

Junior Athletics: THURSDAY 11th AUGUST

Keep this day free so you can join us for the Prep – Yr 2 Junior Sports day until 1pm. This is a fun and action packed day where students in the morning session rotate through various activity stations such as high jump, long jump, soccer dribble, tug-a-war, hockey dribble etc. In the middle session students compete in running races. Our focus for the day is on participation by all. We look forward to seeing you then. Students are permitted to wear a plain coloured t-shirt to represent their house colour. School shorts are required. Students are NOT permitted to finish school early on this day. It is expected that they remain at school until 2.50pm.

Supporting Literacy Development

Our school constantly reviews school processes and programs to provide the best learning opportunity and development in literacy for our students. One of the programs we have implemented is Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and this is being implemented as part of the school reading program in years two, three and four.

Reading involves the Big Six: Oral language; Phonological knowledge; Phonics; Vocabulary; Comprehension; Fluency.

Developing literacy skills is a vital part of a child’s overall development. Before children learn to read and write, they need to develop the foundations for literacy – the ability to speak, listen, understand, watch and draw. Families have a vital role to play in helping children develop reading skills and a positive attitude to reading.

PLAYGROUP

Our school based playgroup runs on Tuesday mornings from 9.00 – 11.00am in the school’s multipurpose hall. We welcome new members and invite you to join as this provides a wonderful opportunity for you to meet other parents and develop new friendships for you and your little one. We are very fortunate to have a trained early childhood teacher, as a parent member, planning and leading various exciting activities.

In addition, you get to know a little bit about our school and community. Although some mornings are a bit cold, it really is worth the effort, as your child has the opportunity to engage with different toys and experiences. The more the merrier! Please spread the word and encourage everyone to come.

Regards
Karen Stoyko
Deputy Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, my name is Ms Claire Milton and I am delighted to be the Deputy Principal at Edens Landing State School for the first four weeks of this term while Mrs Gibson is enjoying an extended holiday. I would also like to welcome all of the new families who have joined us this term.

Attendance

Every day students learn at school, even though sometimes when you ask your child to tell you what they learnt today they say “nothing”. Being at school every day matters. At Edens Landing we pride ourselves on providing students with a variety of learning opportunities throughout the day. We understand that there are times when students are sick and need to stay at home, however, taking a day off ‘here and there’ does affect learning. It affects the flow of lessons and sometimes children can become stressed if they have missed a day of school, the first part of a lesson and are unsure what to do. If your child is sick for an extended period of time and is not able to attend school please contact your child’s classroom teacher to see if there’s any work that can be completed at home.

It is equally important that children arrive at school on time. The start of each day is when teachers discuss the daily timetable and also prepare students for the day.

Just a bit late doesn’t seem much…….however

Attendance matters - attend today, achieve tomorrow.

Have a wonderful fortnight.
Claire Milton

Edens Landing S.S Musical Performance

18th & 19th August playing at Windaroo Valley State High School.

Physical Education

Representative News

Last week, Hope attended the State Titles for golf in Yeppoon. In very challenging and wet conditions, Hope played well. Play was even reduced by one day due to these conditions.

Playing of a handicap of 38, she shot scores of 118, 123 for 18 holes and 53 for 9 holes. Hope’s score of 53 is a new personal best and was one of the best scores for this round. Her gross scores placed her in the top 10 for Queensland. All scores from the South Coast team were then added up (4 boys and 2 girls) and the South Coast Team was successful in winning the State Title. Congratulations Hope on your achievements. Our school is very proud!

District Athletics

Next week, 37 students will represent our school at the Beenleigh Zone Athletic Trials at Windaroo State School. We wish all athletes competing the best of luck.

Junior Sports Day

This day will be held on Thursday 11th August. This day involves students from Prep-2 participating in a range of tabloid activities and running races. Family and friends are encouraged to come along and support their child/ren. Students are encouraged to wear appropriate footwear, house colours, sunscreen, a hat and bring plenty of water. A note with further information will be sent home shortly.

Hats

Our school is very conscious of the need and importance of sun safety and has established a clear expectation that all students wear a school hat as part of the school uniform requirements. This is especially important during Physical Education (PE) lessons as students are participating in activities that require them to be outside and in the sun. In saying this, there are a number of students who are failing to bring a hat to lessons. Please ensure your child has a hat to participate in lessons.

Yours in Sport
Ken O’Donnell
Physical Education Teacher

What’s On at Edens Landing State School

Head of Curriculum’s Message

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back to Term 3.

Once again we have a very busy term ahead with lots of exciting events happening within the curriculum across all year levels.

Please make sure that you read your child’s class newsletter to know what is happening for each year level throughout the term.

PREMIERS READING CHALLENGE

It has been great to see so many students actively participating in the Premiers reading challenge this year. All students have been participating in the challenge within their class programs. It is our goal this year for ALL students at Edens Landing to achieve a certificate from the Premier for completing the challenge.

This year the challenge finishes on the 26th of August and all forms must be completed and handed in by this date.

PROBLEM SOLVING IN YEAR 1

I have been very fortunate over the past two weeks to spend some time in our Year one classes teaching the students about how we solve a problem at Edens Landing State School.

The students were introduced to the language of: SEE, PLAN, DO and CHECK and taught how we can use this process to solve a problem. They will be continuing to work on problem solving throughout the term.

This language can also be used at home when we come across a problem:

SEE: What is the problem? What can we SEE? What questions do we have?

PLAN: What can we do to solve the problem? What strategy could we use? What is our plan?

DO: Let’s try and solve the problem. Carry out the plan.

CHECK: How can we check to see if the problem is solved? Can we check it another way? Did the plan work?

YEAR LEVEL NEWS!

YEAR 3

Year 3 classes have started the Term learning the skills of PowerPoint and exploring a range of eBooks so we can create our very own eBooks. Having written the first draft of our narratives and edited these last term, we are now going through the 'publishing' stage. It's a long process, but our goal is to have our books published and ready for sharing early next term. How exciting!

YEAR 4

All Year 4 students are settling well into their new class groups and are continuing with their learning. A special thank you to all parents and students for making this transition as smooth as possible.

A letter will be sent home in the near future asking for any donations for our recycled garments that we will be making this semester, please help in any way you can.

At the end of last term ‘Bush Buddies’ came to visit the year 4 students to inform them all about Australian animals. The students were able to experience many different animals up close.

Below is a reflection written by Isabelle from 4MP.

3 - 2 – 2 Reflection of Bush Buddies

Facts

1. The squirrel glider has a web of skin between its front and back legs that help it to jump from tree to tree.
2. Shingle-back lizards are found in the Southern half of Australia.
3. Each year Shingle-Back lizards are found in the Southern half of Australia

Opinions

1. Turtles are the loveliest animals in the world.
2. Australian Bush Buddies are the best animal keepers.

Question

1. Why is the male Eclectus Parrot different to a female Eclectus Parrot?

YEAR 5

Term 3 is shaping up to be a busy one for us. As well as regular cooking and gardening lessons, we have the Start Smart program, up-skilling us on financial strategies, Science day, the Art Show, Public Speaking and Kokoda training.

In addition, there is our main focus on the curriculum.

This term we are studying informative texts, scientific reports in particular. We will use this knowledge to help communicate our findings in our science investigations at the end of term. Discussions about solids, liquids and gases and other scientific terms such as viscosity and fluidity would assist your child this term.

In geography we are studying the impact of humans and natural disasters on the planet. We have had some discussions about bushfires and floods, and are looking forward to a member of the SES visiting the school to discuss how to stay safe during a natural event.

YEAR 6

Graduation News

With the year passing by so quickly planning for Graduation has begun. If your child has not brought in a baby picture for scanning please do so ASAP. Pictures can also be scanned at home and then emailed to Mrs Cureton on: kcure1@eq.edu.au.

Have a wonderful week,
Rachel Pope

Chappy News

As a Chaplain I do a lot of reading, I recently came across this story that I’d like to share with you over the next few weeks. The story is illustrated by Alex Noriega. This story is titled “Stuff No One Told Me About”. Please feel encouraged as you read this story with me over the coming weeks.

‘You can’t get rid of your fears… But you can learn to live with them’.

We often let our worries and concerns control our life and these then dictate how we choose to live. Being afraid or worried is not a bad thing, but choosing to let it limit our abilities and our opportunities to live life to its’ full is a fear in itself.

‘Good imagination is a sign of great intelligence.’

Children often have the greatest potential for creativity – they haven’t yet heard the words you can’t do that, or that’s impossible. Set the foundation for our future leaders, encourage the dreams, chase them down; soon enough those dreams will no longer be dreams, they will be our reality.

The role of a state school chaplain is to provide social, emotional and spiritual support to students, parents and staff. The role of the chaplain will reflect the specific needs of the school.

Chaplains provide support in many different activities and areas in a school. Chappy Tash can be found hanging from monkey bars, reading in class, talking with teachers and bringing friends back together – but these are only the things we see, there is so much more to our Chappy Tash.

Chaplains do not like bullying or less than positive attitudes, Chaplains take on the role of working with students to help increase productivity in class, healthy relationships outside the classroom, and a healthy mindset everywhere a student goes.

The chaplains are available to students, parents and staff via phone, email or in person.

Tash Zibell
Chaplain

P&C News

Next P&C Meeting 15th August

Fundraising

Unfortunately we still have Chocolate Money that hasn’t been returned. If you have outstanding money please return ASAP and put in a clearly marked envelope into the P&C Box in the office.

We will be sending via mail letters to these people again to helpfully get the remaining money returned.

This term is the Junior Sports Day on the 11th of August 2016. We will be having a Sausage sizzle on the day it will work like the seniors did and be a pre-order system. Notes have been sent home this week about it and will need them back in by 9am on the 29th July 2016 so we can order in what is required.

This term we have a Homestyle Pie Drive going on everyone should have a form and an information letter with it. If you don’t please ask your child’s teacher or we do have some spare that can be picked up from the office.

Payment methods accepted are cash and cheque (made payable to Edens Landing State School P&C Association).

Pie orders with full payment are due by 9:00am Thursday the 11th of August 2016.

PIES MUST BE COLLECTED FROM THE OLD HALL (NEAR TUCKSHOP)

Between 2.30PM – 3.30PM WEDNESDAY 24TH AUGUST 2016.

Please keep an eye on our P&C Facebook page for any updates. If they are available to be picked up earlier it will be posted on there.

* Please use Australian currency, there have been an increasing amount of foreign currency coming through with the money returned for our fundraising and the bank does not accept them.

If you need to contact us please do so via email: fundraising@elsspc.org.au

Thank you,
Peita-Marie Winsor, Jo Fitch & Tia Townshend
Fundraising Co-Coordinators

Book Club

Our next book club will be Issue 6 it comes out in August so keep your eyes open for that one.

If you need to contact us please do so via email: bookclub@elsspc.org.au

Thank you from the Book Club Ladies,
Peita-Marie Winsor & Jo Fitch.

Outback Bankers

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster

Online Ordering is here!

Our school has now introduced a great new online ordering system for the Tuckshop called FlexiSchools. This system allows parents and staff to place orders from home, work or school at any time. The payment is also done online, so less paper bags, cash and envelopes are sent via your student to school. As well as being convenient for parents, the online orders are much faster and easier for the tuckshop to process - so it makes everyone’s life a little easier. FlexiSchools is well established and tested, operating in hundreds of schools across Australia.

Getting online is easy and only takes a few minutes to register. Simply go to the link below and click “Register Now”. You will be sent an email with further instructions on how to complete the registration. Once registered, you can start placing orders immediately. If you have any questions, FlexiSchools provide a great help desk on 1300 361 769, or you can contact them via their website.

There are a variety of payment options supported, including Visa, Mastercard (credit and debit) and Bank Transfer. The system operates via a pre-paid account.

The system is now available, so we look forward to seeing your next order online!

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

Student of the week

15th July

22nd July

Smart Tennis Academy

Smart Tennis Academy will be on Term 3

Date: Wed 20 July - 14 Sept 2016
Time: Yrs. 4-6, 7:10 am - 7:50 am
Yrs 1-3, 7:50 am - 8:30 am
Location: Multi Purpose Hall
Equipment: All equipment is provided e.g rackets,balls etc.
Cost: $130 - 9 weeks of Tennis includes Free ANZ Hotshots Shirt
Please pay by Direct Deposit to Smart Tennis Academy
Commonwealth Bank BSB: 064-194 ACC: 10535166

Program is provided by qualified Tennis Australia Coaches

CALL Serdar on 0449 200 635 or email on smarttennisacademy@hotmail.com for more details

Community News

Edens Landing State School NAB AFL Auskick Centre

Sign on & 1st Session: - Wednesday 3rd August
Time: 3:10pm – 4:10pm
Venue: Eden’s Landing SS oval
Address: Jamie Nicolson Avenue, Edens Landing
Cost: $25
For more information contact: Shaun on 5594 5722

Participants receive benefits which include: hat, football, lunch bag and much more!!

CHARITY FUNDRAISER

Ta Koo Ta Poh School Fundraiser
Saturday July 30th at 2pm
Edens Landing State School Multi Purpose Hall
$25 pp Tables of 8-10
Live Music, Raffles, Games & Yummy Food
Prizes for Best Dressed and Best Decorated Table
BYO Table Decorations. Tea Cup. Saucer, Plate
& Tea Pot if you have one.