Dear Parent and Caregivers,

COVID-19

Following on from my communication yesterday- just another thank you to our whole school community for your amazing co-operation with the evolving COVID-19 situation at present.  This is an unfortunate but necessary precaution to minimise community transmission of COVID-19. I therefore ask once again that, as a school community, we work together to support each other.

Just a further reminder that due to the extension of the lockdown until 4pm Sunday 8 August 2021, at this stage the following arrangements will remain in place:

• Only students of essential workers or identified vulnerable students can continue to attend school for supervised learning only (no explicit teaching) whilst their parents/carers must leave the home to attend work.
• Students of non-essential workers will continue to have access to remote learning from home.
• School will be staffed by minimal staffing from Wednesday August 4, whilst most staff work from home.
• Your child’s teacher will continue to be your main point of contact during this time. However, if you have any specific concerns, please contact myself to discuss this further.
• All sports and extracurricular activities will be cancelled or postponed. Our onsite Outside Schools Hours Care (YMCA) will remain closed except for children of essential workers and vulnerable children who must leave home to attend work.
• Parents and visitors should not currently be onsite at all to minimise risk to students and staff, so I encourage you to use the Stop, Drop and Go zones at the front and back of the school each morning and afternoon. These are supervised every afternoon.
• For those families collecting items from school please liaise with the office to collect these from boxes at the front of the school to minimise contact with admin staff.
• It is important that we all continue to follow COVID-safe practices including physical distancing and wearing face masks throughout this period.
• I encourage you to continue to refer to the information on the Queensland Health website.
• If you, or a member of your family, is feeling unwell or displaying known symptoms of COVID-19 please get tested, stay home and isolate until you get the results and your symptoms resolve.

And finally, if your family is a deemed a close contact of a COVID-19 case and you are plunged into quarantine please let the school know.  If anyone in your family tests positive during this time please let the school know immediately so that we can inform Qld Health and DoE.

I will continue to provide updates as they become available via our Facebook page and by SMS. I once again thank all parents and carers for your support during this lockdown and we look forward to bringing our whole school community back together again as soon as we are able to safely do so.

And again, thank you for the fabulous work you are doing with the learning from home. It warms my heart to walk around my school this morning and see the teachers onsite interacting with their classes via the TEAMS Meetings. As I said in my email last night the most important thing is that our students are safe, loved and care for and that is the most important thing right now.  All we ask is that you do your best as we know that many of you are also trying to juggle jobs and work from home, whilst trying to ensure your children are safe and do not fall behind at school. Please do not let the school work put any further pressure on you or your family. Everyone’s circumstances are very different and we appreciate that.  We are here emotionally for you, if you need support please reach out.

PREP ENROLMENT

A reminder that we have set dates for two open mornings this term, where prospective families can come for a tour of the school facilities and listen to a general talk about our school and the programs we have on offer by the Principal and Head of Department-Curriculum.  These Open mornings will held on September 1^st and September 7^th from 9-10am and will commence in the EPAC facility on Laurel St.

Following that will be the Prep enrolment interviews with a member of the Administration team for those families that want to enrol a Prep student for 2022.  These interviews will be held in the last two weeks of this term between September 6^th and September 17^th and will be able to be booked through the SOBS booking system by each enrolled family at a time that suits them.  These bookings opened on August 1^st. At that interview we will collect some information about the child entering Prep and check that all of the enrolment paperwork is in order and provide information around the rest of the enrolment and transition process.

Following the enrolment process then in Term 4 we will hold transition afternoons and information sessions which will focus specifically on preparing the child for Prep and also providing all of the necessary information about the Prep program to the parents.  If you have any questions about the Prep enrolment process for 2022 please call the Administration office.

I would also encourage prospective families to attend our 150^th Celebration Family Fun Day on August 28^th from 11am-4pm on the school oval as there will be school tours also available on this day and it will be a wonderful way to get a feel for the culture and tradition in this beautiful school and to meet our supportive families.

STAFFING

The applications for the Defence School Mentor position at our school have now closed and the recruitment process is underway.  We are hoping to get this moving as soon as the lock down is over.

I am happy to announce that the recruiting for the permanent Deputy Principal position here at Enoggera State School has been finalised and I can announce to our school community that the successful candidate was Mrs Tina Burrows.  She is coming from the North Coast Region at Humpybong State School and is a very experienced Deputy Principal with a fabulous skill set that will value add to the work at this school.  We are still negotiating a start date for her but I am hoping that she will be able to commence with us in week 6 of this term.  As this will be the first permanent Deputy Principal position at this school we are currently setting up a work space for her.  It is very exciting to see how this role will compliment the current leadership team.  We are also lucky to be able to maintain our HOD-C position for at least the next 12months or so.

FACILITIES

We have been advised that our new building is going ahead with construction hoping to start over the Christmas school holidays. We have seen further designs and colour schemes, so it really is becoming very exciting and will be a wonderful and much needed addition to our great school.

The multi-purpose court roof is still on the agenda as we work with a range of groups and Departments to get this project happening also, but it may mean if we can get the project to move ahead that it may be delayed as we have had our grants funding extended through to 2023 at this point. 

We have also been advised that we are getting an upgrade of facilities for E Block which will also be a great addition for us.  The classrooms and staff room in E Block will be refurbished to make them more modern classrooms and more aligned to the new building, internally.

Till next time,
Mrs Anne Robinson
Principal

Welcome back to Term Three.  Thank you greatly for your patience and dedication with home schooling. Whilst I’m sure the students revel in staying home with you they will transition back to school eagerly and happily so please don’t be worried.

When at school, we continue to have a strong learning focus on our Reading and Spelling programs, which are proving to be fantastic.  The students are involved three times a week in reading groups and three times a week in spelling. The classroom teacher is also teaching the explicit strategies required to be a literate student.  

In Mathematics, we are covering a range of topics including number, patterns, chance and data, mapping and direction, measurement and space.  It is interesting to note how much basic number facts impact on most areas of both mathematics and our lives.

We are also engaging with our HASS unit, which looks mapping conventions and recycling. 

In Science, we are looking at materials and their properties. We are also working on PE, health, technology, digital technology and art when at school.  We are awaiting news on lockdowns before we know for certain what is and isn’t happening.

Overall, despite our unusual happenings, we know it will be a productive and positive semester.

The Year 4 teachers.

Please note these awards will be presented at the next assemby.

Term 3 is always busy for sport, however, recent days have shown us that things can change very quickly and any changes to sporting events will be communicated directly to those involved, when any details are known.

As always if you have any questions relating to sport, please email me at jjard16@eq.edu.au and I will endeavour to answer them or find out the answers from the relevant group.  

Queensland State Championships

Congratulations to Ari and Tyler who have both competed at Queensland State Championship Carnivals in July.

Ari competed as a member of the Met North Cross Country Team over the weekend of 17^th to 19^th July in Ipswich.  Brilliant effort!

Tyler competed as a member of the Met North Football (Soccer) Team at Highfields from July 22^nd to 25^th.  Well done!

City District Track and Field

A number of our students have been nominated to participate in the City District Track and Field, which due to the Covid lockdown has been postponed at this stage until Monday 16^th and Tuesday 17^th August. Provided that It does go ahead on these dates the team will be accompanied by Mrs Fitzpatrick at Team Manager on the day and Mrs Jardine will also be at the event working as an official on behalf of the school.  Whether parents and spectators will be allowed to attend will be a subject of discussion closer to those dates and dependent on the advice from Queensland Health to the School Sporting Program Staff.  We will keep parents and student up to date with this information as it comes to hand.

Volleyball Cup

The Annual Primary Schools Cup is scheduled to be held on Thursday 2^nd September, at Craigslea State School.  Students from year 5 & 6 have been invited to participate in this carnival. Notes were sent home last week to those interested, please return the Permission Forms as soon as possible to help with planning numbers.  The invoicing on Qparents will be available in the next few days.

Gala Sports – Term 4

Year 5 and 6 Students will be participating in Gala Sports in Term 4.  This involved full days of sport at various venues around Brisbane on the first three Fridays of Term 4. Our chosen sports are Touch and T20 (Cricket). Permission Forms will be sent home over the coming weeks. Students have nominated their preferred sports and planning is now underway for teams, staffing and buses.   Students in year 5 will participate in the final two Gala Days as they will be on Camp during week 1.

Plans are being made for some sports activities with Year 3 and 4 students at school on those days. More details will be provided in the coming weeks. 

District Sport Trials – Term 3:

District team sports trials for the year have almost all been completed. Cricket is the last remaining sport on the calendar, with trials over the coming weeks.  Students involved will receive their information as it becomes available.  

Key Dates – this term.

• City District Track and Field – Monday 16^th and Tuesday 17^th August
• Primary Schools Volleyball Cup – Thursday 2^nd September

We haven’t received an update from Wakakirri as yet regarding the Live Performance. Given the current situation, everything is on hold until further notice. Thank you to all the families who have taken on Waka ‘tasks.’  Even Mrs Robinson our Principal has taken home some sewing, thank you Mrs Robinson! Our sets are also looking awesome thanks to Mr Roxburgh, Mr Woodrick and Ms Harris.

Wakakirri students and Senior Dance Ensemble members can practise to the soundtracks through The Learning Place - Ed Studio ESS Performing Arts Access key: S31259555.

I’m sure our show will make it to stage in some form, it’s perhaps just a case of when. Thank you for your patience and ongoing support. Chookas team!

Melissa Wilcox and the Waka team.

Online Learning 

There are Music activities and resources on Student Sharepoint that are directly linked to the Term 3 Curriculum we would usually be covering in face to face learning. 

https://qedu.sharepoint.com/sites/0035/Student/SitePages/Enoggera-State-School-Online-Learning.aspx 

I hope students can find Music time during their Online learning. 

Stay safe everyone! 

Ms Mariel Hopper
mxhop2@eq.edu.au 

Preparations are well underway for our annual BOOK WEEK celebration. This year’s theme is 

The celebration will be held in Week 7, 23^rd – 27^th August. There will be activities held in the Library daily at first break, the winners of the CBCA “BOOK OF THE YEAR” will be announced and we will hold our BOOK WEEK book character parade on Thursday 26^th August. The best costumes are often the ones that the students make themselves using resources from home.

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE 

We have already had some enthusiastic readers return their Premier’s Reading Challenge forms. The students were very excited to return completed forms to me and I was as excited to receive them.

This is a really easy challenge for the students to compete in as they only have to read 20 books for Prep to Year 4 and 15 books for Year 5-6 and they have until Friday 27^th August to return their completed forms to either their classroom teacher or to the library.  Or alternatively email them to me on sgree207@eq.edu.au

If you cannot find the School Record form, I have attached a copy of the link

https://readingchallenge.education.qld.gov.au/register/Documents/school-reader-record-form.PDF

The requirement for Year 5 and 6 to read 15 books acknowledges that older students are likely to select longer, more complex books that may take them longer to read.

Each student has now been issued with a SCHOOL READER RECORD FORM and of course 100% participation would be fantastic! As an added incentive, the class with the highest participation rate will receive a small prize.

So good luck everyone – set yourselves a reading target and read, read, read!

OVERDUE BOOKS

We still have a fair few overdue books from the first half of the term. If your child has overdue books could you please help them look for them and return to the library as soon as possible.

Shannon Green
ESS Library

A huge shout out to all students working from home.  Stay safe and we hope you will look at some of the activities we have available for you. Click on the Student SharePoint and in the Specialist Lessons we have uploaded a variety of activities for you to do. 

We look forward to seeing you all back at school soon.
Ms Hopper, Mrs Wilcox, Mrs Prill and Mrs Jardine

Gardening Club needs your help!  

We are now looking for small native shrubs that only grow to 1 metre tall or eatable native plants and native edging plants that would thrive in shade to complete the beautification of the ANZAC memorial at the front of the school and to create a fragrant sensory garden as part of the rockery.

If you are in the Brisbane council area and pay rates you are entitled to two free trees every year plus two trees to celebrate Arbor Day (to be claimed between August and October). If you are not planning to plant your trees, we would love it if you went and claimed your trees for the school to plant. 

To reclaim your trees, you simply take your rates notice to a distribution centre. I know the garden centre at the Aspley Hypermarket is one and there is one at the Downfall Creek reserve on Rode Road. 

If you are able to help the gardening club out, please ask your child to bring the plants to Mrs Kent class 1A. Gardening Club happens every Wednesday 1^st break. 

Position Vacant

Casual School Crossing Supervisor

 A position exists for a Casual School Crossing Supervisor at Enoggera State School.

• A School Crossing Supervisor must be able to work in all-weather conditions,
• 45 minutes morning shift 30 minutes afternoon shift - a maximum of up to 5 days per fortnight (on a rostered basis).
• Relief opportunities on your rostered days off.
• Pay Rate $31.88 per hour.

Commencement of employment for the successful applicant is dependent on: 

• The favourable outcome of a health assessment.
• A Positive Notice Blue Card (you do not need to have a blue card to apply for the position).

 Applications are available from the School Administration.