LEARNING CURVE WELLBEING PROGRAM

The Learning Curve focus this week is from the ‘Meaning and Purpose’ category and the wellbeing skill students' are focussed on is called ‘Kind and Caring’. Our students are learning that it costs absolutely nothing to be kind and caring to other people and that it brings wonderful feelings of connection and belonging. Students' are working on this topic during their Health lessons and then following up with their class teachers as well as using their ESS Learning Curve diaries. The parent article regarding this topic is attached for your information.

WINTER SOIREE

Since our last newsletter we have held our Winter Soiree as a mid-year opportunity for our many Performing Arts extra-curricular groups to share their progress and repertoires thus far. It is a real credit to our wonderful Performing Arts staff who work tirelessly with our students, week in and week out to get them to this fine standard in such a short time. Much thanks to Mrs Rees, Miss Dunstan and Miss Kirk for their expertise and dedication. Thanks also to our other staff who assisted on the evening with organisation and supervision, the many parents and family members who attended, and also to the students themselves for such fine displays of the Performing Arts.

READER’S CUP COMPETITION

Since our last newsletter we have also had our Reader’s Cup teams attend the Brisbane North Competition. They performed credibly on the day coming away with a 3^rd place and 8^th place out of 49 teams in attendance. This again shows the strength of our reading programs here at ESS. We have such talented readers amongst our students. Much congratulations to Adelyn, Ella, Kai, Matias, Zoe, Natalie, Vishnu, Jamie and Rose for their hard work in preparation leading up to the day and their much-deserved success on the day. Thank you also to Mrs O’Malley for all of her work in preparing them and also to the parents who assisted with providing transportation to the event.

PREP OPEN DAY

We will hold another Open Day in Term 3 on July 26 before our Prep Enrolment Interviews start at the end of Term 3, through to the beginning of Term 4. The Prep Transition and Information sessions in Term 4 will be held on November 1 and 15, with our final roll up afternoon on December 11.

If you know of any families who live in our catchment and are hoping to come here next year, please let them know of the next Open Day in Term 3. Families who have made their decision can drop in enrolments forms to the office at any stage to enable us to get them on the system and into the communication channels for next year.

SCHOOL WATCH

We ask that everyone look out for after-hours crime in our school over the break. If you see anything suspicious, please call the School Watch number - 13 17 88.

The School Watch Program is a partnership between Education Queensland, the Queensland Police Service and the State Government Protective Security Service. It aims to reduce vandalism, theft and arson in Queensland schools. Let's work together to help create a safer school community.

ATHLETICS CARNIVALS

Last week we finished the term with our Junior Athletics Carnival at the school and then the Senior Athletics Carnival at Mt Maria College.  Both days were glorious with students having a great time as they demonstrated their skills and worked hard to earn points for their house.  The athletics carnivals were well organised thanks to the PE staff, Mr Woodrick and his band of helpers including Schools Officer, Mr Callaghan and Teacher Aide, Mrs Butwell, as well as the support of other school staff. It was great to see so many parents supporting their students as they had an opportunity to demonstrate their skills around the various athletic events, whilst earning some points for their house.  At the Principal Assembly Mr Woodrick announced the age champions and also the winning house.  A big congratulations to Waratah for winning a very tight race.

REPORTING

This afternoon the Semester One student reports will be emailed home.  If you have changed email addresses please ensure your up to date email address is recorded with admin on One School as this is the email address that will be picked up for the reports.  If you do not receive your reports please first check your junk mail before contacting the school tomorrow.

 

Whilst primary school reports are just a snapshot in time of your child’s development at school it is a good opportunity to have a conversation with your child around how they have performed this semester and make some goals as to what they could improve on next semester.

 

However, we all need to keep in mind that whilst valuable information for parents on your child’s development, it is not the end of the world if a child does not receive the grades you or they were hoping for.  As long as they are working to capacity and trying their best and have a positive disposition to learning they are setting themselves up for a successful journey of lifelong learning.

 

At the Principal’s Assembly on Monday, in my end of Semester Report, I left the students with a quote from one of my favourite authors Brene Brown which says:

What we know matters,

Who we are matters more.

I explained that whilst grades are important, being a good person is more important and that includes our interpersonal skills and how we relate to others.  What sort of friend we are and the skills we need to manage friendships and relationships throughout our lives will ultimately be more important and help us more in life than our primary school report card.  So, I ask parents to keep this in mind as you have the conversations with your children over the winter break.

If you have concerns re your child’s progress and wish to discuss this with the classroom teacher please make an appointment after the break. However, there will be an opportunity for all parents to discuss the Semester One results and make goals for Semester Two at the Parent Teacher Interviews to be held in EPAC on Tuesday, July 17 from 3:15-7:15pm, which is in week 2 of the term.  Bookings are currently open for these interviews on SOBS as per the emailed information re how to book an interview.  I believe the slots are filling quickly so please ensure you do not leave it until after the break to book

 PRINCIPAL’S AWARDS ASSEMBLY

It was great to see such a large audience attend the Semester One Principal’s Award Assembly on Monday morning.  I was privileged to present three awards to each class to students who have displayed success this semester around Academic, Positive Behaviour and Pride.  It was also great to hear from our Instrumental Music program again and I thank Miss Lisa Kirk and the Junior Strings Ensemble for the wonderful exhibition. Congratulations to our award recipients for the Principal’s Awards for Semester One.

EVENTS

We have another important event tomorrow morning and that is our Under 8s morning, where we celebrate the theme for this year, and the Under 8s in our wider community. The Under 8s morning tomorrow has taken much organisation by the early years staff under the direction of Mrs Nelson, so we look forward to that exciting event to finish off the term.

And finally, all the best to our ESS families as we head into the Winter vacation on Friday. Again, it has been a very busy term with lots of success on many fronts including academically, socially and emotionally and in our many extra-curricular activities.  I hope everyone enjoys some down time on the holidays and if travelling please stay safe and I hope everyone has an opportunity to reflect and refresh ready to go again when school returns on July 8. 

Till next time,

Mrs Anne Robinson

Principal