27 November 2020

Newsletter Articles

WHAT: Literacy- Greater than 75% of students will achieve a C standard in English.
HOW: Positive Relationships and High Expectations
WHY: Literacy is the key to a life of choice not chance

Principal’s News

Dear ELSS parents, carers and community,

At the start of the year, I outlined our two ELSS foundation pillars of Positive Relationships and High Expectations. Throughout 2020, our foundations where challenged in many ways, however we finish strong as Partners in Learning. I am extremely proud of our students, staff and community for continued focus on Positive Behaviour for learning.

There has been many rewards, certificates, tokens, positive reinforcements, reteaching and celebrations for our 700 students.

We have been working hard to ensure our students have a strong finish to 2020 and are prepared to move forward into 2021 with the necessary skills and confidence to do so. Our teachers have been thoughtfully reporting on student’s progress against the Australian Curriculum over the last semester. As a school we have also been working hard to ensure that students are placed into classes for 2021 and that we have the necessary staff to cater for our predicted enrolment.

We look forward to 2021 with excitement for community engagement onsite. We are still unclear with 2021 guidelines from the Queensland Government, however we anticipate a model of parent’s onsite in some way shape or form. As a father myself, I share your frustration and desire to connect further with teachers and inside the school gates.

My many highlights throughout the year consist of moments when students see themselves as learners and put effort into their learning. Every week I am in classes seeing the learning and amazing teaching from our talented teachers. The ANZAC day drive by, Learning pack pick up, book week, star of the school, welcome back parade from home learning, NAIDOC week, starting Sports Academy and Day for Daniel are just a few memorial events.

anzac driveby2.jpg

Students returning to school after Day 1 next year

If your child/ren are having extended time off and returning to school after Wednesday 27 January 2021 (Day 1 of the new school year) please contact the office to complete a Student Absence form. This form is required by the school to ensure the enrolment at Edens Landing State School is continued.

Clint Curran
Principal

Deputy Principal’s News

The Jacarandas are now in full bloom, which signals the rapidly approaching end of the school year. Our school is one of the most beautiful schools I have ever seen, especially at this time of year. 2020 has been a huge year filled with many strange and wonderful educational and fun filled experiences for our students and staff. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents and friends who help and support our school. A big thank you also goes to the staff who work tirelessly to ensure every student gets the very best possible outcome and to the students who come to school with a smile and willingness to learn. Our school community is certainly a wonderful place in which to raise our children.

As this is the last newsletter for the year, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and peaceful holiday break, full of family and fun. I look forward to seeing you all again in 2021.

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, we keep a supply of spare clothes in the office for students who have ‘accidents’ and to donate to families in need. If your child is leaving the school, or has grown out of their school uniform, please consider donating any spare items to our office. All donations will be gratefully accepted and can be sent directly to the school office.

END OF YEAR ANXIETY

How to Help Prepare your Anxious Child for the Last Day of School

Childhood anxiety has become more pronounced and prevalent in our children. In fact, some researchers believe one in eight children has an anxiety disorder. A certain amount of anxiety is healthy; however, anxiety is identified as a disorder when the indicators are excessive and controls a child's overall functioning.

One of the greatest contributing factors to childhood anxiety is when there is an anticipated change or interruption in a child's routine. All children react to change and unconsciously crave structure and consistency; however, children who struggle with anxiety have greater difficulties coping and recovering from these life events. One such major event for a child is the end of the school year.

Why is My Child Anxious? Why would a child be anxious about the last day of school? Don't kids usually want school to end? For many children, this is not necessarily true. Children develop new and lasting friendships at school, with both peers and teachers. They engage in activities that foster these connections while learning about themselves. When school ends, a natural distance appears between these connections especially when a child is moving into high school. There is also a higher degree of unpredictably throughout the day and less consistency with a routine.

As parents, we naturally become anxious as the last day approaches as well. Similar to our children, we rely on our routine and autonomy. For parents with anxious children, the last day of school may elicit some similar reactions. We think, "What are my childcare arrangements going to be? How can I afford holiday care? Will we be able to take our usual trip this year?"

Positive Phrases to Say to Your Anxious Child about School End of Year

“Tell me about your worries, I am listening.” - If you sense that your child is stressed or concerned; invite them to tell you about it. Children feel comforted when they know they have adults to confide in. Try active listening. Don’t feel pressured to jump in with solutions or rationalisations. Simply lending an ear shows children we care.

“It sounds like you’re feeling nervous about ____.” - Parents naturally want to solve their children’s problems. However, many of us skip over one small detail that makes a big difference to our children: validation. After listening to your child express themselves, restate their words back to them. Paraphrase what you have understood, and double-check that you got it right.

“How can I help?” - Instead of jumping in with an enthusiastic list of ideas, ask your child what they need. It could be that something small like arranging holiday play dates to catch up with friends or making a phone call from time to time makes all the difference.

“Let’s list all of the things you are looking forward to.” - Writing down all the positives builds anticipation for and shifts our focus to the ‘good stuff’. It doesn’t matter what your child feels excited about, whether it’s moving into ‘big school’, going into a grade which has camp, being able to start instrumental music, being in the same class as a friend or just getting new uniforms to start high school in the new year. Focusing on the things that will make your child happy will ease their concerns.

Of course, our amazing staff will continue to work with each student to ensure the transition into their new class will be as stress free as possible. If you feel your child is exhibiting undue stress or anxiety, please let your child’s teacher know so additional support can be provided.

YEAR 3 NEWS

Our Year 3 students have been cooking up a storm in the kitchen as the stimulus leading up to their sensory poem assessment this term. They have been seeing, hearing, smelling and feeling their way around the kitchen and delicious food they prepared alongside Chef Chris. The students have really enjoyed learning about the kitchen and the senses we use when cooking. Of course, the best part of any cooking experience is tasting it all at the end. Sorry Year 3, your parents now know you also know how to clean up and wash & dry up afterwards.

YEAR 5 NEWS

Student Leaders 2021- After a lengthy selection process, we are very happy to announce our 2021 school leaders.
School Captains: Mohadisa 5K, Judah 5C, Alysha 5ME and Micah 5K
PBL Leaders: Ruby 5H, Aliviah 5K, Ruby 5H, Delilah 5C.

Sports captains:

Nicholson: Isabel 5ME, and Riley 5ME
Lawton: Maharlia 5H and Zen 5K
Freeman: Levi 5H and Bailey 5K
Riley: Joshua 5ME and Te Karu 5H

The senior shirts for 2021 have been ordered. If you missed the payment deadline, please speak to the office staff as we hope to see all year 6 students in their senior shirt next year.

YEAR 6 NEWS

Graduation for Year 6 Students 2020- Organisation for Graduation 2020 is well underway. Notes have gone home informing parents of the arrangements for graduation on Tuesday 8 December. Whilst this year’s arrangements are different to past years, we will ensure that our Year 6 students will have lasting memories of their graduation form ELSS with a whole day spectacular. Please make sure payments are made by the due date to ensure no one misses getting their graduation pack, which contains the much-anticipated Year Book.

Year 6 Big Day Out - To make sure we can have every student attend our ‘Big Day Out’ this year, we have arranged a Summer Splash Fun Day at the Beenleigh Aquatic Centre on Wednesday December 2. This event is completely FREE to all Year 6 students. We have planned a very exciting day with activities both in and out of the pool, which will create lasting memories for our senior students. Students must return their completed permission form and medical details to attend.

Parents are required to drop students at the Beenleigh Aquatic Centre at 9:30am and collected them no later than 1.30pm. Please consider carpooling for those parents who cannot deliver their children on the day. Teachers will be returning to school so parents may drop students back at school for the afternoon session if they wish.

Students must wear board shorts and a swim shirt for the whole day, they may wear swimmers underneath if they wish. Only students wearing school appropriate attire will be permitted to participate. All students must wear their school uniform over the top of their swimwear travelling to and from the pool.

The canteen will be open and offers a limited selection of food and drinks. Students will be allowed to bring a small amount of money to purchase bottled water, packets of chips and ice blocks. Students will not be permitted to purchase soft drinks.

High School Transition Days- please notify ELSS if your child is attending transition days for high school to avoid an unexplained absence being recorded.

Uniform - Please ensure all students remain in full school uniform right through to the last day of term. Students are not permitted to have others sign the uniform they are wearing at any time. If students wish to have their peers sign their shirt, they are to bring an additional shirt to school to have it signed on graduation day. As has been the case in the past, students who get their shirts signed will be asked to turn their shirt inside out for the day.

Yours in Education

Cheryl Gibson
cgibs2@eq.edu.au

Deputy Principal’s News

The last few weeks of school are probably our busiest, especially with swimming, assessments, prep playdates, meet the teacher, and of course our celebration days.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents, children and staff who have helped make this very interesting year a successful year for all our students. No matter how tough things get we all strive to make things better.

Stay safe in the holidays and come back safe and refreshed for 2021.

Prep for 2021

In preparation for their transition to school, the children who are starting prep next year have been coming along for visits to the classrooms and joining in activities. They have been listening to stories, drawing, cutting and gluing. Though there may have been anxiety from both children and parents, everyone was able to settle and make the most of the time together. The children from our local centres have been visiting regularly this semester. They have been joining in with the current preps, and so have had the opportunity to have great role models to copy.

We look forward to seeing the new faces next year.

Holiday Fun

Playing games can help your child develop their executive brain function and self-regulation skills. Giving children the opportunity to practise dealing with the emotions of winning, losing, strategising and taking chances. At the simplest level, there are games such as Concentration, in which children uncover cards and have to remember the location of matches. At a more complicated level are games that require tracking types of playing cards as well as remembering their locations, including Go Fish and Old Maid. For more ideas follow the link

From the classrooms

Year 2 have been writing recounts – to explain the who, where, what they did, and how they felt about it.

NAIDOC PARADE

Dear Mum and Dad,

On Friday, 1/2W and all of the other classes went to the special NAIDOC Parade. We saw people from Loganlea High School who were indigenous. My favourite part is the didgeridoo it sounded like a dingo. Last of all the dancing was amazing. They were all covered with paint.

Written by Samuel 1/2W

NAIDOC WEEK

At assembly on Friday, 1/2W went to watch boys play the didgeridoo. Mrs Webster was shocked to see that only boys could play didgeridoos. Also Mrs Webster thought they sounded like dingos. I love didgeridoos because they sound funny. It was so cool. I did not laugh but I thought it was funny though. Now we are going to play NAIDOC games.

Written by Lianah 1/2W

NAIDOC Parade

At the parade me and 1/2 W were in the hall to celebrate NAIDOC week. We listened to all the things that they did at Loganlea High School. When they played the didgeridoo it sounded like a lost brown dingo in the dessert. It was so loud. I felt excited.

Written by Clairebelle 1/2W

The Awesome NAIDOC Parade

At the parade on Friday, 1/2W were listening to the didgeridoo from the boys from Loganlea High School. We looked at some dancers as well. The dancers were teenagers who picked some people from the audience to dance with them. I loved the didgeridoo because it sounded beautiful. I was super happy.

Written by Savannah 1/2W

Playgroup – weeks 2- 9 Term 4

Anthea Grant
Deputy Principal

PBL News

Edens Landing is a PBL School. This means that we explicitly teach students about the behaviour we want to see repeated. The rules are explained on assembly each Friday and teachers follow up with lessons and activities in class. It would be wonderful if parents spoke with their children about the importance of the rules each week.

ELSS has CC (Captain Courageous) as our mascot. He helps to remind students of our expectations.

Week 9 & 10 Term 4:

During weeks 9 and 10, students will be meeting their new teachers and learning about what 2021 will look like for them when they return to school. During this time, student may feel added anxiety about meeting new teachers, moving classrooms and having to get to know the different students in their new class. Reminding students of the things that stay the same and letting them know that consistency will continue around expectations is helpful to during times of added anxiety. Teachers will be reinforcing the school expectations (CC says I am safe, I am Respectful, I am a Learner) and classroom rules (see poster below) as the year draws to a close, along with revisiting the skills and strategies from our Zones of Regulation program to support all students with a seamless transition to 2021 classes.

Office News

Payment Window is now closed for 2020 and will reopen Wednesday 27 January EFTPOS ONLY.

2021 Student Resource Scheme

SRS Fee Payment arrangement form and a payment for SRS must be received prior to school commencing 27 January 2021.

If you have not received your invoice via email please contact the office.

The scheme for next year was approved at the last P&C Meeting to remain at $200 per student, which provides exceptional value for money. If families were to purchase the individual items via other methods the total cost could be between $780-990 per student.

Families who wish to alter their SRS participation preference for next year, either to opt in or opt out, must complete a new Participation Agreement Form. These forms are available from the school website or the office.

Instrumental Music participation follows the same process, so if your child currently has instrumental music lessons at school or hires a school instrument and you wish to change the participation option for 2021, a new PAF will need to be completed and returned to the school office asap.

Payment options are listed on the SRS Fee Payment Arrangement form. Please complete the form outlining your selected payment option and return the form to the school office. All outstanding SRS invoices must be paid in full to be eligible for 2021 SRS participation.

Information documents are available from the school office and the website.

Cash Payment No Longer Accepted

BPoint is the easiest way to pay for school activities. Payment information and a hyperlink are on the bottom left-hand corner of each invoice. The hyperlink makes the payment process very easy, providing a simple and quick link to the payment portal for that individual invoice.

Working With Children Blue Cards for volunteers

Anyone wishing to volunteer at our school, unless you are currently a parent of a student enrolled at our school, requires a current Blue Card as per Queensland legislation. Blue cards must be available for viewing upon request, so please carry your card with you at all times while volunteering.

To apply for a Volunteer Blue Card in order to volunteer within our school, go to the link below.

and register for an account at the bottom of the web page. Once you have your account number, please email this to office@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au so you can be linked to our school. Please also include your full name, date of birth, phone number and email address in the email.

Once you’ve received notification from Blue Card Services that you’ve been linked, you can complete your volunteer application. (Please Note: if you apply prior to receiving this notification, you will need to pay a fee.) After receiving the notification, the application will be free.

Please be advised that restricted persons cannot volunteer or be employed at a school. If you are a restricted person and start or continue volunteering or working at a school, serious penalties can apply. For further information on restricted persons and penalties, please go to: the link below.

Report Student Absences

Text message your childs absence to 0429 904 926

Text first and last name of your child, date, duration and reason of absence.

To leave a message. Alternatively you may also use the absence email - absences@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au. Please record your child's name, class, date of absence/s and reason for absence.

Late Arrivals

Students who arrive to school after 8.50am must report to the office windows for a late slip prior to going to class.

Change of Details

Please email the school on office@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au stating your child’s name and class to confirm your email address and if applicable advise of any contact details that may have changed, to ensure we are able to contact you in an emergency.

Thank you for your continued support

Charmaine Johnson
Business Manager

PE News

Interschool Sport

Congratulations to the soccer team who finished 1st in their division at the Beenleigh Zone Interschool Sport Competition.

School Swimming

Swimming for grades 3 and 4 will commence next week. Students attending are to wear their swimming attire underneath their full school uniform as classes will be departing at 9am. In a separate bag, students need to ensure they have a towel, swimming cap, sunscreen and spare underwear. Goggles are recommended but not compulsory. Please ensure all items are named.

Hats

Over the course of the year, lessons will be held on the oval. It is essential that your child/ren has a suitable school hat for all lessons. If your child/ren is unable to take part in a lesson due to an injury or medical reason, please provide a note.

Sporting Achievement Shout Outs

Our school would love to hear about any sporting achievements your child/ren have made. It could be as simple as competing at a ballet performance, player of the match, a new personal best or an action shot playing a game. We are always looking to celebrate student success. Please send photo and a short comment of their achievement to kodon30@eq.edu.au

Edens Landing Sports Academy

In preparation for selections for the 2021 Edens Landing Sports Academy, we are offering Year 4 students an opportunity to take part in a ‘come and try’ session. Students whom wish to be considered for ELSA are invited to participate in our session on December 1 at 8:00am. This session will target and focus on areas such as:

• physical fitness through targeted/monitored fitness components

Should you wish for your child to attend the ‘come and try session’, please email Mr O’Donnell or complete the form which was sent home this week.

This week at swimming, we have been learning skills on how to be safe in and around water. Learning how to dive, tread water, swimming through hoops, picking up objects, floating on our backs, using our rocket arms and learning how to freestyle stroke. It has been so much fun at the pool this week, the students huge smiles show that.

Miss Linsdell

Communication

Should you need to discuss anything related to HPE, please contact the following

Ken O’Donnell- kodon30@eq.edu.au (grade 4-6)
Michelle Linsdell- mhlin0@eq.edu.au (prep to 3)

Yours in Sport

Ken O’Donnell & Michelle Linsdell
Health and Physical Education Teachers

Tuckshop News

TUCKSHOP IS NOT accepting money and you can only order tuckshop through Flexischools. Please do not send cash with your children to order tuckshop for any of the breaks.

Tuckshop will be closed for cleaning the last week of the term.

• Last day for first break tuckshop – Thursday 3 December.
• Last day for second break tuckshop – Friday 4 December.
• First break Friday 4 December – normal tuckshop menu not available. Subway lunch only available via Flexischools.

If you place an order and your child is away on the day, the order will need to be collected. As it will have already been made, it cannot be kept and will not be able to be cancelled or refunded.

A note has been sent home with details of this event. Check out our P&C Facebook page for more information at the link below.

Flexischools cut off is 8.00 am the day of service, please have your orders in before this time. If you have ordered lunch for your child and they are absent from school on the day you have ordered, please contact the TUCKSHOP on 38057999 to let me know by 9.00 am to either cancel or hold over the order for another day. If no contact or late contact is made the order will stand and no refund or hold over of the order will be available. Please do not contact the busy office staff nor leave a message on the absence line, the absence line is for absences ONLY.

Flexischools IOU feature. If your child has forgotten their lunch and you are contacted by the office and wish the tuckshop to supply lunch for your child, you will receive a note from the tuckshop letting you know how much you owe. You can then pay that amount on the flexischools IOU feature. For example, if your bill comes to a total of $6.80 then click onto the IOU icon and select the different denominations to the amount of $ 6.80 (3 x $2 and 4 x .20 c) that amount then is transferred to the tuckshop and your bill is paid. I receive confirmation each time an IOU is paid. It is a fast and simple way to know your bill is paid and as the tuckshop is not accepting money, it is an ideal way to pay.

I have had a few people ask why they cannot find the specific lunch menus whether it be before school, first break, second break and IOU.

If you are using the Flexischools App

• scroll down to FOOD
• swipe across to find the appropriate menu
• click on ORDER for any of the 3 different FOOD selections or click PAY on the IOU section

If you are using the website, this is what it will look like. Use the arrow at the side to click across to select the correct service.

Getting online is easy and only takes a few minutes to register. Simply go to 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 is also a highly informative help section on their website. At the current time, their phone lines are not in operation, you can find email contact information on their website.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any issues with tuckshop or would like to come and volunteer. There is no need to stay the whole day, a couple of hours at the most is normally only what is needed. The tuckshop can only provide lunches to children if volunteers help. Many hands make light work.

Have you seen our official P&C Facebook page yet? If not, please search Edens Landing State School P&C Association and click the like button. Important information regarding the Tuckshop will be posted on our P&C page, so have a look to like and follow our page.

Annette Honnery
Tuckshop Convenor
tuckshop@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au
3805 7999

Uniform Shop News

OPEN DAY
21 JANUARY 2021
9am-12pm, 1pm-4pm

The uniform shop will not be open as per normal again for term 4, this is due to parents not being permitted onsite during the term (as stated in the school newsletter). What has been done to help during this unusual situation is we have added an additional ordering day. Uniform Shop Flexischools orders be available for Term 4 on the regular day of Thursday and the new day of Tuesday.

This will allow parents to be able to order over 2 days in Term 4 and the orders will be delivered to your child in their classrooms on the selected days during the day.

OPEN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY,

Please email uniform_shop@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au or contact the school office on Phone: 3826 0333.

If you are a new family or need new sizing for your child, you can email the uniform shop to make an appointment to come and try on and purchase uniforms. (Eftpos only as there is NO CASH accepted onsite again in Term 4).

Any other questions can be emailed to the Uniform Shop and will be answered as soon as possible. uniform_shop@edenslandingss.eq.edu.au

Make sure you like our P&C Association Facebook Page for any updates as they will be shared on our Facebook page.

Getting online is easy and only takes a few minutes to register. Simply go to the link below and click “Register”. 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 (unavailable at the moment so please email them), or you can contact them via their website. There is a variety of payment options supported, including Visa, MasterCard (credit and debit) and Bank Transfer. The system operates via a pre-paid account.

Flexischools has a cut off time of: Monday 4:00pm for Tuesday orders each week, and Wednesday 4:00pm for Thursday orders each week.

Prep 2021 Parents:

You’re now able to order on Flexischools, please create an account for your 2021 Prep Child then use the category “PREP 2021 UNIFORMS” all these uniform orders will then be sent to the office for collection.

Do not order for anyone other then your Prep 2021 Child, this category is strictly for Prep 2021 children ONLY.

All other students/grades can order via the normal uniform category.

• If you have any uniforms your children have outgrown but that are still in good condition you can donate them to the Uniform Shop.

Thank you.

Outside School HOURS CARE- OSHC

Term 4 ends on 9 December. We will be open for Vacation care from 10 - 23 December to t and then return on 4 - 25 January.

All bookings are to be made via the My family lounge app or by emailing the service. The Program has been emailed to families. If you did not receive this please contact us.

There will be no paper booking forms.

My Family Lounge app is back online
Please Log in on a computer/laptop and request your bookings for Term 4. Current Bookings remain until the end of the year.
Permanent bookings will need to be requested via your online account.
Please use the app to book casual places, Mark as absent
And make any cancellations.

NEW ENROLMENTS

Enrolments for 2021 are now open. If you are an existing family Enrolments need to be resubmitted and Bookings requested
by the 18 December

Important Messages

Reminder to parents and families regarding parking.
Parking is NOT permitted in the top administration car park or in the staff car park at any time.

Outside School HOURS CARE- OSHC

Opening times:

Monday to Friday
Before school: 6am – 9am
After school: 2.30pm -6pm

Pay as little as $3.50 per session after ccs

YMCA Edens Landing OSHC

P: 07 3805 1233
M: 0459 899 887
ael@ymcabrisbane.org

Important Dates to Remember

Contact Details

• Have your contact details changed?
• Have you moved address?
• Do we have your current phone number in case of an emergency?
• Are your emergency contacts still current?
• Are you receiving our newsletters by email?
• Do we have your current email address?

PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE TO UPDATE YOUR DETAILS

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

Community News

Windaroo Valley State High School will be hosting its final Enrolment Night for 2021 Year 7 students on Tuesday, 1 December from 3.30 – 6.30 p.m.

Parents of successful student applicants will need to book a 30 minute slot on this night