14 October 2016

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates to Remember

Principal’s Report

Welcome Back to Term 4

Welcome back to term 4 2016! I’m so very happy to be your Principal leading up to the very exciting summer vacation break. A warm welcome to our new families and staff who have come to spend time with our Edens Landing Family!

Term 4 is always a very, very busy time of year. In schools we are preparing in most cases for the following year and getting ready to set up classes and facilities as we need them to be to start 2017 hitting the ground running. Whilst doing this our teachers are also assessing children and making some final decisions around their educational programs and taking the time to consolidate the learning programs and experiences of the children. I’m looking forward to seeing you all as we go through the term.

Getting Set for Success in 2017

We have been looking at estimations for our 2017 enrolments to ascertain what we will do in terms of class set up and also in the hiring of staff in preparation for 2017. I would appreciate it if you could indicate by email to the main office if you will not be returning to Edens Landing State School in 2017. (with the exception of current year 6 students) The office email is: office@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au. If you could detail the names of your children and your expected destination school that would be most helpful for us in assisting to predict the resources and income into the school for the 2017 budget and human resources grants.

We will also commence making some moves over the next 6 weeks of classes to new spaces ready for 2017. We expect that this will entail approximately 5 classes moving over the next 6 weeks or so. The benefit for children and teachers is that we will be well and truly ready for our new year of schooling and it will also facilitate the 2017 class experience days later this term when we have devised the classes for 2017 with teachers. This process will not be finalised until the last week of this school year. It is my policy that parents are unable to choose their teacher as I have found this to be a very unproductive practice. I do however ask parents to communicate to us around better placements with relation to peer groups and any difficult relationships that may exist within students groupings. This process will be released later this term so that we may consider the placements however in general we will not be moving students from the provisional class placements until the finalisation of the day 8 enrolment process (if at all) in 2017.

Stop, Drop & Go

Our new stop, drop and go zone has been installed making a huge area for us to allow children to be dropped off safely on Castile Crescent. The new pathway leading up to the side of the school from the resource centre is the way that we travel along this area to our destination.

In the short time this area has been open, unfortunately I have seen parents crossing the road both morning and afternoon with children. I would ask that you cease this as by crossing this road you are potentially modelling to unsupervised students that it is ok to cross over Castile Crescent. The safety of our children is our community responsibility so please model the safe road behaviour we have asked of the children.

Premiers Reading Challenge

It is an absolute pleasure to note that 100% of students at Edens Landing State School have participated in the Premiers Reading Challenge. Reading is the single most important thing we can invest in with our children. I’m currently seeking information to see if any other school in the state had a 100% participation rate. I’m thinking we may be very special! Well done to parents, teachers and students for the work you did here. Read every day, read every night, read in bed, read at home, read at school, read in the car! It is a lifelong skill we need so have fun with it, who cares what you read!

Book Week Parade

We had a fantastic book week parade in the last week of school which was to highlight the wonder and enjoyment of reading and books. See the picture below where we had some fun with our characters and our local school based police officer.

Andrew Cummings
Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

It’s great to be back at Edens Landing after three years of travelling and working in Europe! For those who may not know, I started working as a Deputy here in 2009, then in term 3 2013 took leave to travel and work as a classroom teacher in England. Though I thoroughly enjoyed my time abroad I am glad to place my feet firmly here at Edens Landing State School.

As you are aware our work at school is centred on developing your children to become happy, active citizens of the future. You may have heard the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child”; this means that the responsibility of raising children to become successful does not lie with one or two people, or that certain elements of their education rests solely with a teacher or school; we work together to give your child the best possible experiences and opportunities so that they become safe, responsible and respectful adults.

Success in learning to read depends on the understanding that it is EVERYBODY’S responsibility. Reading with your child EVERY DAY is an essential element of this.

To encourage home reading we are introducing a reading reward system across the school. We are aiming to have as many children as possible reaching the goal of 60 days (nights) of reading by the end of the year. These students will be rewarded with a book prize from the school.

Reading can be in the form of:

• A whole book
• A picture book
• A chapter of a book
• A magazine article
• A webpage – check out National geographic KIDS

To get everyone involved I would like children and families to share WHERE you like to read and send a photo to me to publish in our next newsletter of children and/or families reading. Reading can be done in the car, at the beach, in bed, or sitting in a tree. You can be creative and share the excitement that reading brings.

Please email the photos to me as an attachment office@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au

By sending in a photo I will assume that, as set out in our media release form, you give permission to the State of Queensland, acting through Education Queensland, to use your photo for:

i. Future media activities;
ii. Promoting and advertising of the State of Queensland or Education Queensland and its students;
iii. State or Education Queensland publications

Regards
Anthea Grant

Deputy Principal’s News

Graduation for Year 6 Students 2016

At the end of this term our Year 6 students will graduate from Edens Landing State School. Notes will be going home in the next 2 weeks informing parents of the arrangements for graduation on the 6th December. Each year we have parents ask to bring younger siblings to the ceremony, and unfortunately, each year we have to say no. The venue has limited seating, there simply isn’t enough space to accommodate everyone’s younger siblings. Limited extra tickets are available for families who have two households and want tickets for step parents. The seating is restricted with very little additional seating available. Each student is allocated two seats within their graduation pack. Families who require additional seats for step parents are encouraged to purchase these early, as additional seats are allocated on a first-in-first-served basis. Once the additional seating is sold, there will be strictly two seats per student only.

Year 5 Senior Shirts

This year, Year 5 students will have the opportunity to purchase a seniors’ shirt, so they are ready for them to wear from day one of Year 6, 2017.

Sizes of the shirts are similar to the current (new stock) uniform sizes. If your child is wearing a uniform from a previous batch, the sizes may vary. A sample of each size is available for fitting purposes from the office. The cost for each shirt is $36. Please allow a little extra room for growth throughout next year as we cannot exchange sizes once ordered from the supplier. This is the only opportunity to purchase a senior shirt for 2017.

If you are unsure of the correct size, send the payment and order form to the office and your child can try on the shirts and select the appropriate size on the order form. There will be no extension to the payment deadline, so ensure all payments and forms are returned to the office by Monday 7th November 2016.

Whole School Rewards System

Most parents would have heard their children talking about Gold Rewards Day and Diamond Day. These days have been established this year and are offered to students who have ongoing good behaviour over the course of the term.

To receive a gold award, students must have:

• Coloured enough boxes for good behaviour
• On-time attendance at school for 92% of days with no unexplained absences
• No more than 2 admin consequences (e.g. thinking room, supervised play, lunchtime detentions to complete work in office)
• No suspensions over the course of the term

To achieve Diamond students must have:

• Coloured enough boxes for good behaviour
• On-time attendance at school for 95% of days with no unexplained absences
• No admin consequences (e.g. thinking room, supervised play, lunchtime detentions to complete work in office)
• No suspensions over the course of the term.

As a school we understand that, at times, there may be extenuating circumstances around a student’s attendance, such as prolonged illness, hospital stays, and ongoing medical commitments of students or family members. These cases will be taken into account and a decision made by the classroom teacher on a case-by-case basis.

Rule of the Week

The rules for weeks 3 and 4 of Term 4 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 3 - Be Safe - Playing school approved games

The playgrounds can be a great place for children to have fun and get some exercise, but they can also cause some safety concerns. Each year, many children go to the emergency room with injuries associated with playground equipment or games (either at home or at school). To ensure our playgrounds are as safe as possible, schools must monitor the games students play. Any game involving contact with another student (personal contact or contact via an object) in any way is not considered safe play at school. Modified versions of popular games are often played, providing opportunities to develop skills, while reducing the risk of injury.

Teachers will discuss with students a variety of games which are suitable for play at school. Please encourage your child to ask the teacher if they are not sure about a game they would like to play.

Week 4 - Remain in view of teachers - Be in the right place

• Be in hall/JCA if at school before 8:45am
• Only student ordering lunches are to be at the tuckshop in the mornings
• Class appointed tuckshop monitors to take orders to tuckshop and collect for whole class
• Be aware of out of bounds areas and play only in designated areas
• Remain in your assigned eating area
• Line up in your class area when the bell goes
• Use the appropriate Toilets/bubblers (E.g. 4-7 to use senior toilets – not ones in hall)

Golden Rule

• If you can’t see a teacher you are probably in the wrong area!

Regards
Cheryl Gibson

Deputy Principal’s News

Firstly I would like to say thank you for the warm welcome to Edens Landing. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first two weeks and look forward to a productive Term 4.

Pokemon

Pokemon is certainly a very popular activity for students at present. It is great to see the children enjoying showing their collections to their friends. School policy is ‘Play yes - Trade no’. Students are not to trade their cards or give their cards away to others at school. As with all toys and personal possessions, if they are brought to school they are the sole responsibility of the student and are to remain in their school bags during class time. If there are any problems involving Pokemon cards at school, that student will be banned from bringing them in future. We would like the students to be responsible for their belongings and show respect towards others and we appreciate your support.

Regards
Tamra Murray

Curriculum Coordinator News

Year 2

Year 2 have had a fantastic start to term 4 after a well deserved break.

In English this term year 2 are learning how to write procedural texts including recipes. As part of this learning each class will be spending a couple of sessions cooking in the kitchen with Chef for the first time. Students are very excited about this new experience and we have had some fantastic parents offer to help out with the cooking sessions.

In Science we are exploring Forces in the form of pushes and pulls and what factors can influence the way objects move. In Geography we are getting to know our country better by exploring features of Australia including States, Capital Cities and landmarks.

Year 6

Not long to go until our year 6 primary school graduation. We have another jammed pack exciting term with lots of learning going on in all classrooms.

6S

6S are back from another lovely holiday break and are busy preparing items for their Geography expo. Children are working in groups creating posters and designing Power Points to present ideas. We are looking forward to showcasing our work in the coming weeks.

6C

6C has started connecting with the world through various blogging exercises. These include the Global Read Aloud and the 100 Word Challenge. The Global Read Aloud involves reading a book at the same time as other schools around the world and making interactive global connections through classroom activities based on comprehension tasks. This year's book we will be reading is Pax by Sarah Pennypacker. Comprehension tasks are posted and linked to student blogs. The 100 Word Challenge is another task that is linked to the student individual blogs. Students are given a stimulus prompt to use to write a creative piece of writing consisting of only 100 words. Students post completed paragraphs onto their own blog, which are then linked to 100 Word Challenge blog site for students across the world to read and give positive feedback.

5/6RB

We have been busy writing our scripts for the upcoming plays on natural disasters. We hope to perform these soon.

6H

Our class has been finishing their English explanations on natural disasters. These will be created into brochures. We have also been working hard on our research of an Asian country (Japan, India or China) for Geography and we are looking forward to starting work on our Travel Expo.

Have a wonderful week,
Rachel Pope

Physical Education

Interschool Sport

Last week, the first week of interschool sport commenced. Congratulations to all students who participated and good luck next week.

Softball

Edens Landing 1 vs Pimpama 1 - loss
Edens Landing 2 vs Pimpama 2 – loss
Edens Landing 1 vs Edens Landing 2 - Edens 1 win

Touch

Edens Landing 1 vs Waterford 1 - loss
Edens Landing 1 vs Livingstone 1 - draw
Edens Landing 2 vs Calvary - loss
Edens Landing 2 vs Eagleby South 3 - win
Edens Landing 2 vs Livingstone 3 - win
Edens Landing 3 vs Livingstone 3 - loss
Edens Landing 3 vs St Joseph’s 2 - loss

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.

Swimming Program

This week a note was sent home to all year 1-2 families regarding the school swimming program. The expression of interest form is due 19th October. Payment of $64 is due the 14th November.

Yours in Sport
Ken O’Donnell

What’s On at Edens Landing State School

P&C News

School Banking day is Wednesday.

Remember, Wednesday is School Banking day and students should bring in their weekly deposit.

For every deposit made at school, students will receive a silver Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for an exclusive School Banking reward item in recognition of their regular savings habits.

School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school, raising 5% on every deposit made through the school (to a maximum of $10 per individual deposit). If your child has lost their book, they can bring their money to school in a sealed envelope with a note on the next School Banking day. We will issue them with a replacement.

Thank you for supporting the School Banking program at Edens Landing State School. We would also like to thank the wonderful parents who volunteer as our School Banking Co-ordinators and process our banking every week.

New School Banking rewards now available!

Exciting new Term 4 rewards with an Outback Savers theme are now available while stocks last!

For every deposit made at school students will receive a silver Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for exclusive School Banking reward items in recognition of their regular savings habits. There are two new items released each term so be sure to keep an eye out for them!

Thank you for supporting the School Banking program and remember School Banking day is every Wednesday.

Fundraising

This term we are having 'Crazy Change Fridays'.  Starting Tuesday 18th October and ending Friday 11th November 2016. Students can bring coins in every day and they will be collected by their classroom teacher.  They will be counted on Friday and added to each class's tally.  A note has gone home this week with the details.

Cadbury Chocolate Drive

Sadly we still have people that haven’t returned their Chocolate Money.

If you have outstanding money please return it ASAP in a clearly marked envelope in the black P&C Box in the office.

Thank you to those that have done the right thing and returned your chocolate money.

*PLEASE USE AUSTRALIAN CURRENCY.  There has been an increasing amount of foreign currency coming through with the money returned for our fundraising and the bank does not accept.

To contact us via email: fundraising@elsspc.org.au

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

Book Club

You all should have received ISSUE 7 this is our last issue for this year. If you haven’t received one we do have spares so please ask the office or the volunteers room. Loop ordering closes on 14th of October 2016 at 10pm. Paper orders and money need to be put in a clearly marked envelope and into the P&C Box in the office by 9am on Tuesday the 18th of October 2016.

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

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

Welcome back to term 4, where has the time gone!

A few reminders about how lunch breaks and ordering works. First break, which is the time when children eat the larger amount of food (sandwiches and hot food) is at 11:00am for Prep to Year 2 and 11:15am for Years 3 to 6. All food from the tuckshop for this break is on a pre-order basis either through FlexiSchools, paper bags from home, or over the counter sales before school. No purchasing of drinks or any other item is permitted at this time.

Also, children should consume all their hot food, sandwiches, burgers and drinks from the tuckshop at this break. Leaving this sort of food for second break and after school is not advisable. With this in mind, please consider the amount of food ordered that needs to be eaten in this break time.

Second break is at 1:00pm and the tuckshop is open for over the counter sales until 1:25pm. No hot food/sandwiches are served at this break; this break is for snack type items. If your child has pre-ordered second break via FlexiSchools, paper bags from home, over the counter orders before school or have money to spend, they need to come to collect/buy at 1:00pm. All second break slips from orders are kept for a term so if your child forgets one day they can come the next day.

Please talk to your children about what the process is if there is something wrong with their tuckshop order. See the teacher on duty first (they should send them down to the tuckshop so we can sort out the problem). If I don’t know there was an issue or problem I cannot help fix it.

I would like to thank those who have been attaching a second bag if there is more than one item, ie a cold drink and sandwich. I would also like to say that the children doing their own orders in the morning have been slowly adding in the 10 cents per bag and even adding the second bag when required. I actually heard a young boy remind someone “don’t forget to pay for your bags” at the DIY counter.

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

Student of the week

7th October 2016 (Week 1, Term 4)

9th September 2016 (Week 9, Term 3)

Smart Tennis Academy

Community News

Trinity College