12 August 2016

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates to Remember

SCHOOL STARTS AT 8:50 AM AND CONCLUDES AT 2:50PM

Principal’s Report

Late Arrivals

Any student arriving late must be accompanied by a parent to the office window and get a late slip prior to going to class please.

Our school data around late arrivals is really worrying for me and our Teaching staff here at Edens Landing. Late arrivals disrupt teaching programs in classrooms for every child, stop the teacher from teaching and potentially set your own child up for some level of discomfort in learning as well whilst they try to understand what is happening in the room.

Naturally, our teachers revisit with the child the concept or concepts they have missed however the daily routine for your child and potentially the entire class is negatively impacted by this. My Teaching team and I want better for all children but we need your help as a community to facilitate the correct morning arrival time to school.

At this stage we process anywhere from 30-50 late slips each morning for children who are not here and up to the classroom by the school start time of 8:50 am. Please, please, please assist us here by making sure child/ children are at school on time!

Our children are of compulsory school age and must be in attendance at school according to the Education General Provisions Act. (EGPA) Penalties may apply where these obligations are not met by parents. The school is serious about assisting and helping families where possible to achieve the very best for their child however in cases of ongoing absenteeism we will be enacting the guidelines set down by Education Queensland.

SCHOOL STARTS AT 8:50 AM AND CONCLUDES AT 2:50PM

Kindai Elementary School Study Tour

It was a real pleasure to have the school participates in hosting our Japanese school students. A massive amount of work goes into hosting on so many levels. A huge vote of thanks and appreciation to Kristen Sanderson for co-ordinating the program and ensuring that it ran smoothly across the entire period of the stay. Kristen had a team of people behind her as well at school that assisted in many ways with many tasks and I’d like to acknowledge their work as well. It was great to see the links being made between the work done in class with student facilitated by Jayne Kure our Japanese teacher, and the Japanese students during their visit here. A wonderful practical way to enact the language skills and share culture with one another.

Thank you also to my Executive Leadership Team who shared the load across our many commitments in many places during that week and made sure that one or more of us were at important events where possible.

School Alert!

We had an incident recently where another child was bumped by a car. This incident occurred in the top public carpark and could have been simply avoided again by using the pedestrian management pathways in place for safe crossing in those areas. Quite simply the children concerned crossed through the car park and did not use the paths provided in that area. Children will be children and by nature are very unpredictable! That’s why we have decreased speed limits in school zones and rules governing traffic management.

I would ask that you model the correct use of pathways for children and that you support our staff in correcting the behaviours when required. Please reinforce with your children where they need to go to be safe when moving in these high traffic areas.

Our Police and council have been wonderful in supporting us to make drivers aware of the traffic management requirements around our school. Please make sure that in areas such as the stop, drop and go zone you are adhering to the signage. That is you must not leave your vehicle, you must not remain in that zone for extended periods of time as dictated by the signage.

NAPLAN Results

NAPLAN results were released recently and our individual student reports will be sent home to you soon. I would like to remind you that learning is a personal journey and that this is one point of reference for your child’s journey. Make of it what you will but I would encourage you to be positive with your child around these results – for some students the fact they sat the test and managed the environment in a great achievement, for others you will see the expected level of performance with their peer groups across the nation and for some you will see outstanding performance. Whatever the case a love for learning is the key so encourage that in our children, they need it, they need us and of course they need you!

We will be working on a number of initiatives across the school to encourage that love of learning back into our school culture and to encourage children to be absolutely proud of where they are on the learning journey and where they sit regarding their personal learning achievements.

I am happy to report that in terms of school based targets for 2016 NAPLAN testing, and comparatively where possible, to the 2015 results we achieved the following with our children:

TARGETS:

Year 5, Year 5, Year 3
Reading Target 2016: 95%, 95% , (above NMS)
Result 2015: 89.8%, 91.1%
Result 2016: 91.9%, 91.3%
Upper Two Bands Target 2016: 40%, 40%
Result 2016: 37%, 26%

This is based on provisional data and may be subject to slight change however the data shows some promising trends around improvement which for the most part were reflected across the NAPLAN domains. When we set 40% of students in upper two bands (U2B) for year 3 and 5, we knew that was a pretty cheeky target based on previous performance statistics however the results and movement from 2015 to 2016 has been significant. Whilst the yr5 results are a little weaker than I’d like to see in this area, the overall results for the testing period were a positive marker for the school.

Our ongoing curriculum work with staff will support the trajectory for improvement across the school. This work is carefully combined with a body of work around us looking at the learning systems and supports we have in place to facilitate that “happy learner” I was discussing above. In a recent formal review 3 month "check in" the Internal Reviewer (From The School Improvement Unit) and the Assistant Regional Director commended the Leadership Team and the school staff on the work we have done in setting systems and processes up for the focused improvement of all students across the school. The comments went on further to say that the body of work we have achieved in 3 months is unlike anything they (the reviewer) have seen in any school.

This is a great message for our Edens Landing Family and a clear indication of the focus we have on making sure our children get that world class education I have discussed in previous newsletters. We have plenty to do however we have made a great start on that and our NAPLAN results are also a positive feather in the cap to the long term work around making great better, better our best and working to make the best absolutely outstanding!

2017 Staffing

I will be attending a HR conference in the near future to look at 2017 teacher staffing for the school. Traditionally our school struggles to get staff, I’m not sure why? But the key in managing this is nothing rocket science however is something that’s traditionally made hard by structures and accountabilities. The good news is by term 4 I hope to pretty well know what staff and what structure of staff we will have in place for 2017. This means we can set classes earlier in the final part of the year and look to do some new transition in this area. Transition from year to year is a process that needs special consideration because whatever we can do to make this easier for children needs to be explored. So the best outcome I’m looking for is we kick off on day 1 2017 with our children in rooms, knowing expectations, knowing the learning goals and intent and actually engaging immediately with the curriculum demands of their learning journey.

In 2017 I’ll try and hedge some of the issue we have getting quality staff for teacher leave (sick, long service, unexpected etc) by having an additional member of staff employed to do that work. This is important in our school where I believe our children feel some certainty in seeing a face they know and furthermore our children knowing that expectations of that person are exactly what we normally expect on any day in our school.

Exploring Better Behaviour

I met this week with interested staff (the turnout was a credit to our teachers and support staff!) to discuss how we can better manage some of the more serious behaviour in our school. We have come a long way in this area however the need for alternative ways of doing business here is highlighted in our data. We needs ways of working that support the better outcomes for our children who are challenged by the environment that school presents for so many reasons. The key is what do we program here to make that difference? I’m not sure I know but I’m certainly invested in making some gains in this area. A number of additional supports are in place including specific plans, alternate plans at school and even alternative specialised services delivered off site.

I’m looking to enhance that suite of services with a very different program supported by and within our community and tapping into other services that can help us leverage a better result for all children. If you have any ideas here I’d love to hear them.

I just want to revisit however the expectations that we set are still in place and we will not move from those as the learning environment is ultimately the main decider in what is achieved at any school. We have an obligation to invest in all children and that is what I propose to do in looking at what other options and programs we can deliver.

Andrew Cummings
Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

ENROL NOW: PREP 2017 - PREP IS A COMPULSORY YEAR OF SCHOOLING

We are now calling for all families who have a child ready to start Prep in 2017 to complete enrolment procedures with all the required documents. Children born 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 will start prep next year. They must be turning 5 years old by 30 June 2017.

Bring in your child’s birth certificate and two current items as proof of residency. We can-not complete enrolments without proof of age and children can-not start school without a birth certificate being presented to the office. 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. Parents and prep students are invited to attend one of two sessions: either 9.00 – 10.40am 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.

Junior Athletics: THURSDAY 11 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.

Students are permitted to wear a plain coloured t-shirt to represent their house colour. Wearing of joggers / sports shoes and school shorts are required. Adding to the atmosphere of the day, students are permitted to wear coloured zinc, ribbons, hairspray and items that support their house colours. Be mindful though that any items worn or brought to school should not impinge upon student involvement nor cause distress if they are lost or broken throughout the day.

NO EARLY DEPARTURES will be permitted, as this is a school day and learning will continue through the afternoon session. See the letter attached in the PE teacher’s message.

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 especially cater for youngsters in the 2 – 4 year old bracket in readiness for school.

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. Help out, get involved! We look forward to seeing you there.

Regards
Karen Stoyko
Deputy Principal

Edens Landing Adopt A Cop News

Attention Parents/Carers,

As you would be aware parking in and around Edens Landing State School is and can be limited. There are large volumes of traffic attempting to access school pick up and drop off location. It has been brought to my attention that the current Stop, Drop & Go Zone is not being used correctly. Subsequently this has a flow on effect which is now affecting the flow of traffic on Castile Crescent.

Vehicles are parking through the roundabout which is causing further congestion onto Castile Crescent. I would like to draw your attention to the following which best describes how we can use the Stop, Drop & Go to its full potential:

1. REMIND YOUR CHILDREN WHERE YOU ARE PICKING THEM UP FROM. Especially the young ones, they usually need a reminder each time and to get to the pick-up area right after school. Please also remind your children that they are to remain at the Stop Drop & Go Zone and wait for you. They are not to drop their bag and then go off into the playground.
2. DON’T ENTER THE STOP DROP & GO ZONE UNTIL THE BELL HAS RUNG. This allows your child/children time to get to the zone for collection. This means entering the car park at 3pm. Usually some congestion from Prep pick up has cleared by this time and we are not clogging the car park, waiting for children who are not there yet! Cars arriving early will be asked to leave the zone after two minutes, if their child is not there.
3. PARENTS/CARERS ARE REQUESTED TO STAY IN THEIR CARS. The Stop Drop & Go zone is simply that, you are not required to get out of your vehicle. By doing this you will impact other users of the zone and cause significant delays to others.
4. NO PARKING IN THE STOP DROP & GO ZONE. Cars will be asked to move on after 2 minutes if their child is not ready to be picked up. This is a legislated requirement as per loading sign and penalties in the form of an infringement notice can apply.
5. THE SAME RULES APPLY FOR MORNING DROP OFF. Parents/carers are to remain in their car while children get out of the car. If you need to assist/walk your child to class, please park your car in the car park. Please do not use the Stop Drop & Go Zone if you need to park and assist/walk your child to class in the mornings!

Research I have conducted indicates to me that parents volunteering their time in assisting with the smooth operation of the Stop, Drop & Go Zones can help reduce traffic congestion and ensures the safety of children utilising these zones. Further to this positively influence the correct and accurate procedures for these zones to allow for a seamless drop off and collection of children. Or alternatively teachers who are rostered duty in the morning and afternoon ensuring the safety of children in and around these zones. Police will be initially assisting with the implementation of these zones and the education of drivers along with local council. After an education phase this can then turn to enforcement by means of infringement by Police or Council. Penalty that may be issued by Queensland Police Service at this time is: Other vehicle stop in loading zone for more than 2 minutes (drop off or pick up passengers) $48

Edens Landing Police, Logan City Council and Edens Landing State School have been working very closely for some time developing additional drop off and collection points. In the interim it is requested that you as parents/carers attending the school assist us during this time by adhering to the road rules and utilising the tips outlined above to assist with this process.

If you have any questions about this matter please do not hesitate in contacting me directly on 3884 2050 or EdensLanding.Beat@police.qld.gov.au

Luke TURNER
Senior Constable
Officer in Charge
Edens Landing Police Beat

Edens Landing SS Musical Performance

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

Order your tickets NOW

Physical Education

District Athletics

Last Tuesday, our school athletics team competed at the Beenleigh District Divisional Athletic Trials at Windaroo State School. There were some outstanding individual performances and the team must be commended on their behavior and sportsmanship on the day. Congratulations to following students

Jonty -1st 800m and high jump
Taylor- 2nd long jump and 800m
Sabian- 3rd 800m
Kiara- 3rd 800m
Alex- 2nd high jump
Jordan- 2nd high jump
Francis- 2nd shot put
Oscar- 1st shot put
Tyler- 2nd high jump

The students above then competed at the District Championship. The following students have been selected in Beenleigh Zone Athletics Team who will compete at the Pacific Rim Trials later this term.

Jonty- 2nd 800m and high jump
Kiara- 3rd 800m

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.

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.

Sport Shirts

School sport shirts have arrived and can be purchased from the uniform shop. This shirt can be worn any day of the week except for school photo days and excursions. The cost of the shirt is $33. A limited supply has been ordered

Yours in Sport
Ken O’Donnell
Physical Education Teacher

What’s On at Edens Landing State School

Head of Curriculum’s Message

LIBRARY BORROWING

Our core agenda here at Edens Landing is the teaching of Reading. It is vital that we are exposing our students to a wide variety of texts and reading experiences and that the students are experiencing an ENJOYMENT of reading. One of the ways that we promote this is through our Library borrowing program.

We are extremely fortunate that our Library is stocked with a wonderful array of books for students to enjoy.

Every class has an allocated Library Borrowing time where students can browse the shelves and choose a book that interests them. It is vital that all students are returning their books each week and re-borrowing.

The borrowing days for every class are listed below so that you are aware of when your child can borrow. Please remind your child/ren the night before to pack their library book.

Another way that we can foster a love of reading is by reading with our children. Don’t forget to ask your child about the book that they have borrowed and spend 10 minutes each night reading to them or with them.

NO LIBRARY BAG? MATERIALS NEEDED.

In the past we have noticed that many of our Prep-Year 2 students are not borrowing because they do not have a library bag.

A library bag can be in the form of a strong plastic bag or Eco bag. It does not have to be a specific type or something that needs to be purchased.

We would like to begin creating a supply of spare library bags that students can use, so if you have any strong shopping bags, cloth bags, material or pillow cases at home that are not being used and could be turned into a library bag please drop them into the resource centre.

Our goal is to have every child borrowing on a weekly basis.

MAGAZINES

Another way that we would like to encourage our children to read is by sourcing a supply of good quality and child appropriate magazines that will be available for the students to read during their break times and library time.

We are looking for any donations of magazines, suitable for primary school aged children. We are especially looking for magazines that will interest our boys – topics such as sports, fishing, cars etc.

If you are able to donate magazines please drop them off at the Resource centre.

YEAR LEVEL NEWS!

YEAR 2

In English this term, students are enjoying constructing persuasive letters on a wide variety of topics and you might find them testing out their persuasive skills on you at home. Learning about Fractions saw a lot of fun in the classroom as students divided shapes and collections into a range of different fractions. Our students have also been busy becoming ‘Water Warriors’ as we look at conserving Earths resources, particularly water, in Science during the first part of this term.

YEAR 6

Our seniors have been reading and writing various explanation texts. Our English unit is closely linked to our Science and Geography unit, where students are required to write an explanatory text on a natural disaster that occurs within a country in Asia.

Our Year 6 students have also been busy getting their acting shoes on! We have some aspiring artists in our cohort who have certainly got a flare for the performing arts. We look forward to seeing ‘our stars’ shine in the coming weeks.

GRADUATION REMINDER!

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.

YEAR 3

Year Three have begun attending cooking and gardening classes for the Semester and are enjoying them thoroughly. So far, they have cooked scones and eggs in a tomato vegetable sauce. Knife skills are the focus and students are learning to use the 'Bear Claw" so they can keep their fingertips safe at all times. In the Stephanie Alexander Garden there have been bug hunts, mulching, soil turning, planting and identifying plants and insects. The students are very excited about the new worm farm and are busily collecting worms to add to it.

Have a wonderful week,
Rachel Pope

P&C News

Next P&C Meeting 15th August

SCHOOL BANKING EVERY WEDNESDAY!!!!

New school banking rewards available now!!!!

Term 3 rewards with the Outback savers theme available while stocks last!!!

• Skipping Rope
• Back track eraser pen

For every deposit made at the school the child receives a silver Dollarmites token.

Once students have individually collected 10 tokens, they can redeem them for exclusive banking rewards in recognition of their regular savings habit.

There are two new items released each term, so be sure to keep an eye out for them.

Also remember the two competitions that are running this term:

Wildlife Adventure competition which has been running all year. You need to have banked 15 times this year to have entry into this competition. The winner gets a trip to Australia Zoo to meet Bindi Irwin.

Thank you for supporting our school banking program!!

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

Outback Bankers

Book Club

Issue 6 will be arriving soon in August and will be distributed to classes when it arrives.

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.

Tuckshop News

Tuckshop Roster

Junior Sports Day Information

The P&C are running a sausage sizzle on Thursday 11 August for Junior Sports Day (all money and orders should already be handed in) Tuckshop will still operate as per normal that day for all other students not partaking in the sausage sizzle. Just a reminder that ALL orders on Junior Sports Day must be handed into the tuckshop before 9am. Parents who wish to order also must have their orders into tuckshop by 9am. The tuckshop this day is traditionally a very busy day and parents who order should be reminded that the children are our first priority when handing out lunches. Also, all the people helping in tuckshop are all volunteers so please be patient when speaking and dealing with them.

If parents wish to order online for Junior Sports Day you can, just yourself to your child’s registration and put yourself down as staff, no waiting or lining up and you can be assured that your order is completed and in before 9am. Please remember that online ordering has a cut off time of 8am.

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 www.flexischools.com.au 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

5th August 2016

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