15 May 2017

Newsletter Articles

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Phone 3826 0333 or Email office@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au

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Principal’s Report

My Final Words of Wisdom to the Family…….

It is with a heavy heart that I cease my time here at Edens Landing, my family of wonderful parents, colleagues and the beautiful children we serve. I have had a massive learning journey here personally as we worked together to make our school great! My vision was to achieve not a great school, not a wonderful school, not even a sensational school! I wanted to make sure that I had achieved a school that was a leader in education, a marker for others to look up to, a leader in our respective field.

We focused on high expectations for all! With a staff of leaders and teachers who rose to the many challenges we put forward. I’m so very proud of what we have achieved as the professional Edens Landing Family. We are all on a journey together as we learn to make our Edens Landing Family school world class for our children.

I have been so very welcomed in our school and I wish you all the very best as you make the transition to your new Principal Gail Quigley. I hope my legacy is that I have grown a family that values learning as simply part of what we do, that understands and accepts that learning is a journey for us all, that moving forward at whatever stage of our learning is the goal and that within our Edens Landing Family we understand and accept every one of the family with open arms and support.

I’m not quite sure how to “wrap up” my journey as a learner and principal during my time here. I hope I have positively influenced your lives in a way that will impact on our children, community and staff long after my departure. There is no greater privilege than the time I have spent with you, your children and our staff at this school. Thank you so very much……

Leadership Retreat

We had the wonderful opportunity last week for 2 days to have a retreat for the Executive leadership Team and the new Principal. During this time we were able to discuss our current achievements, challenge our thinking on where we are heading and have some time to engage the Executive team in aligning researched strategies for the Quadrennial School Review. This was a really challenging 2 days for the team in terms of our personal Leadership. We engaged in really robust activities that left us “brain dead!” It was an amazing time with our new principal and we were able to really bond together as we change over Principal.

ANZAC Day Ceremony

We held our ANZAC ceremony and it was a very beautiful reflection on what ANZAC is about. It was well attended and I’d like to thank the Beenleigh RSL for their ongoing support in making sure these days are pointed in their purpose and that our children understand clearly the sacrifices made for them and their freedom and indeed the freedom we experience as a country. It is always a special time for me as I reflect on the role of my family during these times.

Mr Andrew Cummings
Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

BUSH DANCE

Please mark the 23rd June on your calendar for our 20th Anniversary celebration Bush Dance. Every class will be performing a dance, we have a bush band coming to perform and there will be entertainment, food and activities for the whole family. Tickets will go on sale soon, so please watch for the flyer which will be coming home soon.

Outside of school hours care (OSHC) is coming to Edens Landing State School.

Registration is now open for Outside of School Hours Care (Before and after school and holiday care). Packs are available from the school office. YMCA has won the tender to provide this service, and will be commencing services for holiday care during the June/July holiday. Please support this service as YMCA will be an amazing asset to our school community and the Edens landing Family. PLEASE SUPPORT THIS SERVICE BY RETURNING YOUR COMPLETED FORMS TO THE OFFICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Diamond Day Reminder

To reward the students who display appropriate behaviour, and to encourage students to strive to be the best they can be, we have a school wide rewards system. Every classroom has a rewards chart to record the behaviour of each student every day. Students who display ‘green behaviour’ colour a box on the chart. As students collect more coloured boxes, they climb the behaviour ladder to achieve bronze, silver, gold or diamond levels. Each level offers a selection of prizes to match the level of achievement. Last year we had some great activities for Diamond Day, including Diamond Day disco, Bowling and a giant water slide and sausage sizzle.

To receive an invitation to attend our Gold Day award, you must have:

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

To achieve an invitation to attend our Diamond Day award you must have:

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

We get many questions each term about having an attendance component included in this rewards system. PBL is about developing appropriate behaviour patterns to optimise learning. Students who are absent from school frequently or are regularly late, miss vital opportunities to advance their learning. This does not mean that we want sick students to attend school. If a child is genuinely ill please keep them home. Each rewards cycle, teachers take into consideration any students with extenuating circumstances before invitations are issued.

Please discuss this process with your child and encourage them to work hard to achieve a Diamond Day invitation. Teachers will also let students and parents know how students are tracking in regards to Diamond Day and Gold Day.

As you are aware, Gold Day was washed away by the floods at the end of last term. To ensure the students who missed out on their celebration (though many students have asked for 2 extra days off again this term as their reward), any student who reached Gold last term, will participate in a ‘catch-up’ Gold Session. It will tie in with this term’s Gold Day.

Indigenous Homework Club runs each Monday afternoon from 3pm-4:30pm. We work on Homework until 4pm and then engage in a variety of cultural activities until 4:30pm. If you are interested in your child attending, please collect a permission form from the office. We encourage all indigenous students to attend as this is a great opportunity to not only build academic skills but also a better understanding of their culture. Parents are always welcome.

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 3 and 4 of term 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.

Rule of the Week

The rules for weeks 5 and 6 are outlined below. Teachers will be discussing these with students over the next two weeks, and it would be wonderful if parents spoke with their children about the importance of each rule.

Week 5 - Be respectful - Respect the belongings of peers, staff and the school

During week 5 teachers will be discussing what respecting belongings means through the follow:

STEPS TO SHOWING RESPECT

1. Showing appreciation for your belongings begins by first recognising their value. You might value one of your possessions because you worked hard to earn it, or it was a reward for doing well on your last report card. Sometimes, people value something because it has been in their family for a long time and it has sentimental value. For example, you may have an old T-shirt that you wore when you and your family went on vacation. To your friends it is just an old T-shirt, but to you it represents a special memory. Sometimes we value something because it is beneficial to our learning or enjoyment during play time.
2. After you have recognised that your possessions have value, the next step is to appreciate them. To appreciate something is to be thankful for it. For instance, you may not appreciate the value of a winter coat in the summer, but in the winter, you are thankful and appreciative that you have a warm coat to wear.
3. Thankfulness and appreciation lead to the next step, respect. You show respect for your possessions by taking care of them. Taking care of your belongings includes:

• Not abusing them.
• Keeping them clean and orderly, in their appropriate places.
• Being sure that others who may use them, take care of them as well.

People and schools have rules regarding property. For instance, not walking on the carpet with your shoes on at home, or not eating and drinking while using the computers and ipads. Not to play ball in the hall, because the ball could break the window or someone could get hurt while running for the ball, or not hitting the computer keyboards too hard because the keys will break. When we make rules regarding our property, we are, in effect, telling others how we want them to respect our belongings. Rules show that we care about what we own and that we expect others to care as well.

Week 6 - Accept consequences

How to Teach Children to Accept Responsibility for Their Actions - Encourage your children to stop the blame game and start accepting responsibility

Many children are quick to fault others when things go wrong. If they get a bad mark in class, they say it's because a friend wouldn't stop talking to them. And when you see muddy shoe prints all over the carpet, they claim they're the dogs! Children don't necessarily understand that everybody makes mistakes, blaming somebody is simply their way to avoid disapproval and negative consequences. The following ideas may help your children to go from "It wasn't me!" to learning to be accountable for their actions.

• Connect the Dots - Help your children make the link between what they do and what happens next by pointing out real-life examples. For instance, you could say, "Because you studied hard, you got an A on your report card" or "Since you jumped in a puddle, your shoes are soggy." You can ask children to think of a cause or an effect for certain situations. The more experience children get identifying causes and effects, the easier it will be for them to work through this inner dialogue before and after their own actions.
• Make Honesty Easy - If you want your children to come to you with the truth (or admit to it when asked), try to keep your cool when expressing your dissatisfaction about her poor behaviour. Being calm and approachable makes it easier -- and more likely -- that children ‘fess up’ in the future. It is important to let children know that everyone makes mistakes, but what matters most is that they are truthful, learn from the situation, and try to right their wrongs. Then, discuss what they could have done differently, how they can make it better, and any consequences. Don't forget to praise all instances of honesty if they owned up to their actions.
• Stick to the Rules – We all allow some things to slide on occasion. But if you often let your child's adorable face, charming ways, or pitiful pleading persuade you not to enforce consequences, your child learns that they don’t have to take the rules seriously and can convince you to go easy on them. To be accountable, children need to learn to accept the consequences of their words, actions, and decisions, and the only way they'll do so is if you're consistent with rules and follow up.

Yours in Education
Cheryl Gibson
cgibs2@eq.edu.au

Deputy Principal’s News

Mother’s Day Pamper Morning

Thursday morning all the Prep classes hosted a Mother’s Day pamper morning. Children wrote their own invitations for Mothers and Grandmothers. Mr Cummings enjoyed getting pampered as well. Everyone had a enjoyable morning.

Under 8’s Day

Under 8’s day, 2017
25th May 9-11am
Prep – Yr 1 – Yr 2
Junior Oval area.

Parents and younger siblings invited to come along. We have a range of amazing activities for the children (and adults) to enjoy.

Anthea Grant
Deputy Principal

Curriculum News

It has been wonderful walking around the school over the past fortnight and seeing classes so settled and engaged in their learning.

Our Stephanie Alexander Kitchen and Garden program is in full swing and it is amazing to see classes in the garden describing plants, developing their oral language, planting seedlings, identifying plants, taste testing the produce and monitoring the growth of plants.

Our resident Chef does a wonderful job alongside our teachers engaging the students of all year levels, providing them with learning in a real world context across the curriculum.

NATIONAL FAMILY READING MONTH

The month of May is ‘National Family Reading Month.’

This is a wonderful opportunity for families to come together and share the experience of reading.

Can you put 10 minutes aside each evening during the month of May to read together as a family? Maybe a different family member could read each night.

It is just as valuable for our children to be read to as it is for them to be reading.

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR

To continue to encourage and foster a love of reading Edens Landing will be hosting a ‘Scholastic Book Fair’ from Tuesday May 23rd until Friday May 26th.

Students will view the book fair and bring home a wish list of books they liked. Students and parents will then have the opportunity to purchase books before and after school. Details regarding times the fair will be open and the process around purchasing books will be sent out closer to the date.

The wish list that your child brings home may also be a chance for you to see the types of books they are interested in reading.

PREMIERS READING CHALLENGE

All students will be participating in the Premiers reading challenge again this year.

Last year we had 100% of our students who participated in the challenge achieve it and receive a certificate from the Premier. We want to continue that success this year and will be aiming for another 100% result.

Students will be completing the challenge in class time but they can also request another recording sheet, if they would like to continue the challenge at home.

YEAR LEVEL NEWS!

YEAR 2

Year 2 are enjoying working on retelling familiar stories and learning all about water and how we use it. We have also started work on learning the Heel and Toe Polka ready for our bush dance to celebrate Edens Landing State School's 20th Birthday celebration!

YEAR 4

All about the Year 4 excursion to Saint Helena

Written by Te Ataahua and Sebastian (4K)

On Friday the 21st April 2017, the Year 4 students travelled on a ferry to Saint Helena Island. We left school at 7:45am and arrived at the Manly docks 45 minutes later. The ferry ride took 35 minutes.

When the ferry connected to the docks on St Helena Island, the Year 4 students departed and the Captain and his crew followed. We walked across the jetty as the icy winds whipped through our hair. We started walking on sand tracks, with some students collecting spiral shells and dried up coral.

The teachers told us to have some lunch before we journeyed around the island. While we had lunch the convicts told us stories about convicts who had really lived on the island. After a short time, the Captain ordered us to pack up our lunch and start a convict walk to the prison barracks. There were two lines of students following two different convicts to two different parts of the ruins of the prison barracks and buildings of the old island lock up. In one building, we listened to the recording of a man’s voice whose dad was one of the wardens. In the house there was also a board that showed all the tools they had in their pack and a few pictures of the people that worked as tailors. We had to walk a couple of hundred metres to completely get to the ruins and another couple of hundred metres to get to the sugar cane mill, gravesite and kitchen barracks.

Then at eleven o’clock the Captain said it was time to learn about punishments for convicts on St Helena Island. One of the punishments was whipping. There were nine pieces of rope which were knotted every finger length. Convicts were made to whip other convicts and if they did not do it hard enough they also got a punishment.

After learning about the punishments, the rain started to fall and the icy winds came back. We waited for the rain to settle and then travelled across the rest of the island and saw the graveyards, mangroves and plenty of wallabies! It was mostly grass covered plains and rusty ruins from the history rich island.

- Te Ataahua and Sebastian (4K)

YEAR 6

Some of our senior classes have been experimenting with new digital technologies in our fabulous STEM centre. It's been lovely to see such engagement and enjoyment.

Have a wonderful week!

Rachel Pope

Chappy Word

Hi Everyone,

Term 2 is already well on the way, time goes too quickly. This term I have quite a few things happening. Some year 6 girls are doing the Chic Chat program on Thursdays during first break. This is a wonderful program that assists the girls to see how valuable they are. This runs for 10 weeks and will run again next term. If you would like your daughter to be involved next term, and they are not involved this term, please encourage them to let me know so I can organise for them to do the program next term.

You can also catch me at the school on Tuesdays or Thursdays or leave a message at the office with your details, if you would like to know more about the program.

SUPA Club is continuing this term, this is a spiritual program. Numbers have been growing and we have been having a lot of fun. SUPA Club is on Thursdays during second break in B block, upstairs.

11th of May was the start of a parent support afternoon, with coffee and tea provided. This is a relaxed atmosphere where parents can come and talk and get to know me and each other parents. It will continue to run on the second Thursday of each month at 1.45pm and finishing at 3pm in G Block. Please feel free to drop in.

Please if you see me in the school to say hello and have a chat.

Thank you,
School Chaplain
Patricia Quattromani

Tuckshop News

ORDERING PROCESS

At the bottom of the menu there is information on how to order tuckshop using the paper bag system. If you use this method for your tuckshop orders, please use 2 bags if there is more than 1 item i.e. sandwich and juice needs 2 bags. Use one staple in the top left hand corner of the bag to secure the 2 bags together. Please do not staple or sticky tape the entire top of the bag closed. Just fold the bag/s a few times and either drop off into the quick drop box or take it to class to put in the tuckshop folder in the classroom. If you are concerned about money falling out of the bag, pop the tuckshop bags into a snap lock bag.

Another method of tuckshop ordering is the DIY system. There are bags and a quick drop box set up at the tuckshop counter. If you use this to order your tuckshop please write the order on the bag/s put the money inside the bag, fold the bag a few times and place it into the quick drop box. If change is required, it will be put in the corner of the bag and returned with the tuckshop. Friday mornings there will be 2 DIY areas and another quick drop box.

We also have an online ordering system called Flexischools. This is our preferred method of ordering. Our flexischools cut off time is 8am the morning of service, please make sure your orders are in and confirmed by 8am or they will not be processed on the flexischool website.

If you make a Flexischools order and for some reason your child does not come to school, call the tuckshop and let us know before 9am so the order can be cancelled and you will be refunded. If you do not let us know then the order will not be cancelled and therefore you will be charged. If no one answers the phone it is because we are busy so just leave a quick and clear message with child’s name and class.

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.

Any information regarding the tuckshop and volunteer rosters will be here in our fortnightly newsletters and if there is anything that cannot wait for the newsletter I will post on the Edens Landing State School P&C Association Facebook page -

Any problems or concerns please contact me

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