Dear Parents and Caregivers,

BUILDING UPDATE

As expected with further rain, the current handover date for our new building now sits at November 30, with further rain delays to be approved.  We are still hopeful of handover before the end of the year though, so that we can get moved in ready for the new school year.  Our new furniture and effects arrive on November 30, so we are also hopeful they will be able to go straight into the new building even if we have not quite reached completion. They believe that it will be mostly outside works and landscaping happening by that stage.

On another note, we are soon to have some disruption to the front carpark and stop drop and go zone for about a week. This will be happening before the end of the school year as Telstra needs to change the connection entry into the school from the road pit near B Block to the next pit down in front of the main front carpark. The new lines will go under the carpark and through to the library and D Block to the new building comms room, where the new centre network for the school will be located.  As Telstra will be connecting the new lines to the pit on December 12, after school finishes this means the lines to the footpath need to be prepared and laid by the builders prior to this.  We are yet to hear when and how this will work, but wanted to give families some advance warning that there may be disruption to the usual flow of the stop drop and go area and car park on South Pine Road due to this.

MULTI-PURPOSE ROOF PROJECT

Following a 3^rd tender process being conducted for this project and the price almost doubling since the projects’ first inception to the most recent tender, it looks like the project will finally happen and we will get a roof over the courts.  With the offer of the maximum funding from the School Subsidy Scheme (SSS) and other funding available, the P&C moved on Tuesday night to go ahead with the project. We will now wait for the final DoE and Procurement funding and tender approvals and processes to be conducted and the tender to be awarded be the winning contractor.  But it certainly is an exciting and massive step forward with a project that at times I feared may not even happen due to the price rises.

STAFFING

I am pleased to announce that the recruitment process for the Dance and Drama Teacher for 2023 has been completed and that Georgia Dunstan has been offered .6 Permanency with our school for next year.  Georgia comes highly qualified and experienced as she has a Bachelor of Creative Industries from QUT majoring in Dance and Drama and she also has a Masters in Teaching.  Since graduation she has undertaken teaching contracts at North Lakes State College teaching Dance, and also at Grace Lutheran College at Rothwell teaching Dance and Drama.  She has also been operating afterschool Dance clubs which have included a Boys Hip Hop class amongst many others and has prepared Grace Lutheran College and many students for dance competitions, performances and Eisteddfods.  She also currently works outside school at a Dance studio teaching and choreographing students from tiny tots upward.  We are most excited for Georgia to join our team next year to continue to grow our Performing Arts programs in the school.

We also have an additional classroom teacher who has been transferred into Enoggera State School for 2023.  His name is Thomas Eames and he comes to us from Narangba SS where he is a very popular and well-loved teacher who is passionate about sport and camps. He has been teaching Yr 6 at his current school and comes very well-referenced. We welcome Thomas to our school.

PREP TRANSITION

We currently have 60 enrolled Preps for next year and we look forward to welcoming them to our school next week for the first of the transition mornings.  The current Preps will do a transition morning to Yr 1 with the Yr 1 teachers in the library, whilst the new Preps are allocated to draft classes and spend a morning in the Prep rooms undertaking activities.  Whilst the new Preps are busy we will be running some sessions for the parents in EPAC and then the P&C will provide morning tea for them outside the EPAC before the new Preps return from class.  The uniform shop will also be open on the morning following the session.  The parent sessions for the first transition morning will focus on the Prep curriculum and preparing them for learning whilst the second week will focus on emotionally and socially preparing them for school.  We will have some guest speakers each week to deliver these messages.

A reminder that if you have a Prep student to enrol for next year please contact the office and book an enrolment interview prior to the transition mornings.

Please feel free to pass on this information to any families who are looking at our school for 2023.

ROLL UP AFTERNOONS

Again, this year we will conduct a roll up afternoon in the last week of school for all students to hopefully meet and spend time with their new teacher and class mates in their new space for next year.  As transitions are an important step in preparing students for the new school year we place high importance on offering these opportunities to our students and hope that this process helps to relieve anxiety over the unknown of the new school year and to build some excitement about the year to come.

PRINCIPAL CONFERENCE

Recently, I was able to attend the State-wide Principal’s Conference held at South Bank.  It was a great opportunity to hear about the DoE’s new Strategic Plan for 2022-2025 titled ‘Equity and Excellence’.  It was also interesting to hear about the changes ahead particularly with the introduction of a new Qld educational region for 2023, which will be the Brisbane North area along with the Sunshine Coast South area, meaning our region will be changing. We are hearing that down the track this will also impact the school sports regions as well.

Till next time,

Mrs Anne Robinson

Principal

The term is well under way and it is hard to believe it is Week 4 already.  Despite the rainy weather, students are enjoying being back in the pool for their swimming lessons with Mrs Jardine and Mrs Prill.   

Last week, it was wonderful to see over 30 Year 5 students attend the first Student Leaders Workshop with Mrs Robinson and myself.  For any students who missed the workshop, the application packs and criteria cards are available at the office.  I am looking forward to reading the applications from the students.  There will not be a workshop this week due to other professional development commitments, but this workshop will be run next week on Tuesday.  Students will be reminded by their class teachers.

Classroom visits have begun again for the term, and I have been into many classrooms to share in the learning happening with the students.  I have seen Year 1 students working on how to write procedures, Year 5/6 students learning about the building blocks in writing Chinese Hanzi, and Prep students who are writing additional events to traditional stories.  I am always so impressed by the enthusiasm for learning demonstrated by students in our school.

This Pillar focus is currently around safety.  Students are working hard to remember to use their ‘walking feet’ especially when going to and from the toilet; and when returning from the fort and oval after playtime.  Special ‘Walking Feet’ Gotchas are being given out by staff when students are seen consistently walking in the school grounds.  The focus on this Pillar Practice has certainly seen an improvement in walking and a reduction in falls and minor accidents. 

Students place their Gotchas in a special basket in the office foyer and then random Gotchas are drawn out on parade.  Students will receive a colourful shoe keyring to hang from their school bags as a visual reminder to students to use their walking feet to stay safe in our school grounds.

Gratitude Tree

The Student Council likes to promote wellbeing in our school community.  This term, they have decided to create a Gratitude Tree as an initiative to promote staff and student wellbeing.  Research tells us that showing and acknowledging gratitude is one of the many things you can do for your own mental health!  Students have been given the opportunity to express their gratitude on leaf templates that are being displayed on our ‘Gratitude Tree’ that was kindly lent to us from the drama department.  As the leaves are placed on the tree, it continues to grow and flourish!    A special thanks to the teachers who have taken the time to assist students to complete their leaves and cut them out for the tree!

Facebook

Term Four is a very busy term and to help families to plan ahead, all upcoming events are located in the events tab down the side of our newsfeed. Please take a moment to go through the events and add them to your diary to allow plenty of time to prepare your schedule so you don’t miss out on anything!    Remember also, that the more you interact with the page by liking and commenting on posts, the more our page will appear in your newsfeed.  Messages and questions on our Facebook page can be overlooked, so this is not the quickest and most reliable way of getting clarification around school events.  It is always best to ring the office or email the class teacher.  

Day for Daniel

Once again, Enoggera State School will be supporting Day for Daniel on Friday 28^th October.  Students will be permitted to wear a red shirt to school on this day in support of Day for Daniel and the Student Council will collect gold coin donations from students to donate to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.  There will be a “Dance for Daniel Disco” on the concrete in front of the Year 1 classrooms and our Enoggera DJ Mr Roxburgh will get everyone dancing from 8:15 to 8:45am!  Parents are welcome to attend.

Student Council Fundraising

This term, the Student Council will be running two meal deals.    The first “Sub and Drink’ meal deal is currently live on line the My School Lunch website.  Once you are in the site, you will be required to make many choices regarding your sub to get it just right! 

Please be aware that orders close at 9am Tuesday 8^th November. Food will be delivered on Thursday 10^th November.

The second meal deal with go live after the first one to avoid confusion.  It will be held on Thursday 24^th November.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Student Council as they fundraise for their Legacy Gift to the school.

Morning Routines

A friendly reminder that under C Block (Year 2A and Prep B) is out of bounds before school for children and adults.  All students are to be waiting under D Block before school unless they are with a parent.  Students in the care of their own parent are required to wait under E Block.  For duty of care, all other areas are out of bounds as they are not supervised before school.   When students are waiting with parents, it is important that are expected to remain seated and to not run around playing, to keep our ‘before school expectations’ consistent for all students.  Thanks for your assistance with our morning routines.

Week 4 Assembly

Written by all the students of the three 5 and 6 classes:

It’s was a rainy Monday of week 2 in term 4 and the grade 5 and 6 students of ESS headed to Luther Heights, Coolum on the Sunshine Coast (or Raintime Coast) for our school camp!!! The bus arrived at what we were sure to be one of the best school experiences of our lives. We received our induction talk from the camp master Dave and then took our gear into our spacious dorms to unpack.

In no time, we were into our activity rotation, with highlights being;

The Flying Fox described as a simultaneous feeling of terror and thrill. It had everyone screaming for 30 seconds while flying 200 meters over a valley 17 meters below. There were amazing views for those brave enough to open their eyes.

The Escape Room had us breaking out of jail through various secret tunnels, decoding messages, problem solving and teamwork, but had we better not ruin it for any future escape artists.

Rogaining (which is like a scavenger hunt) on the side of a mountain in the pouring rain made it challenging to keep our paper dry to check our results.

Other activity highlights were the Koala Climb, Raft Building, Box Climb and Catapult Build.

The camp food was absolutely delicious and always filled everyone up – waffles, bacon, spaghetti, nachos and burgers were all on the camp menu, but we can all agree the desserts were just the best and beat every meal hands down!

Night time activities had everyone performing in a range of acts in ESS Has Talent. Some were active, some funny and some were just plain weird. There was one obvious winner on the night… the Irish jig of Mr Michael Flatley himself (AKA Mr Roxburgh) who brought the house down with his homage to his (questionable) Irish heritage.

Luther Heights camp taught us a whole range of life, team building, communication and personal development skills that we will always remember. We all had a terrific time! Especially Ms Burrows who just loved waking up with the classic hit of Tom Jones “it’s not unusual”, thanks to Mr Roxburgh.

We pushed ourselves to the limit for the 3 days of camp, exhausted, emotional and tired…. it was so pleasing to see mums, dads, siblings and grandparents there to welcome us home.

Thanks to Luther Heights camp for having us and a massive thanks for the camp legends who attended, Ms Burrows, Mrs hall, Mr Roxburgh and Mr Woodrick and Mr Bodrog.

Book Packs 2023

Bedrock Books will be supplying Enoggera State School Book Packs for 2023.  These have now been finalised and electronic forms for 2023 year levels will be emailed to families this week.  Please note that there has been a slight increase in costings for Prep – Year 6 due to inflation; increased cartage and the implementation of Sound Waves - a whole school phonics and spelling program. 

Booklists can be ordered online; over the phone or in store.  Orders placed by 2^nd December will be delivered before Friday 13^th January 2023.  Orders placed after this date will incur a $6.50 packing fee.

Scholastic Book Fair

Enoggera state school will once again be hosting the Scholastic Bookfair this term.  Books, posters and other stationary items will be available for purchase from Friday 11^th November until Wednesday 16^th November.  Books can be purchased online or in person.  In addition to before and after school The Book fair will be open for parents, carers and students after school until 6pm on Monday 14^th November.  Students will have the opportunity to browse with their class and make lists of any items of interest to share with you prior to purchasing.

MUSIC NEWS

Put it in your diary

Come one, come all to our annual Performing Arts showcase, Arts on Stage on Friday 18^th November at 6:15pm. You will be treated to performances from Wakakirri, Senior and Junior Choir, Recorder Ensemble and Senior Dance.

Interschool Sport

Our year 5 & 6 Students will hopefully be participating in their final Friday of Gala Sport for this term. (As long as the wet weather stays away).  Thanks to Mr Roxburgh, Mrs Hall, Mr Woodrick and Mr Taylour who have supported the students during these activities – including where needed umpiring or refereeing games.

Reminder that everyone needs to be bringing their hats, water bottles, lunch and sunscreen. 

Please have your student at school and ready by 8.30am.

Year 3 & 4 Sport

Sadly our last week of our year 3 and 4 sport was washed out with wet weather, but we had a wonderful time for the two weeks we got out to practice skills from the three sports that year 5 and 6 students participate in at Enoggera.  Touch, T20 (Cricket) and Volleyball.

Swimming

Swimming continues through the term.  With forecasts looking not so great for the entire term – please make sure you send along the students swimmers, irrespective of the forecasts – we will make decisions about swimming based on the actual weather at the time and where necessary make adjustments to the lessons to cope with the weather.  Last week was the perfect example – lots of rain was forecast for both Wednesday and Thursday but for both days the rain did not arrive until after school allowing for full days of swimming lessons. Another thanks to parents who have been notifying us if their child is unable to participate in swimming.

We are still looking for help from parents in all of our Prep to year 2 space with some classes in more urgent need of help than others especially: 

• 1B – 9am-10am Wednesday
• Prep B – 10am – 11am Thursday
• 2B – 12.10 -1.10pm Thursday

If you are able to help either for one lesson or maybe each week please email either Mrs Jardine at jjard16@eq.edu.au or Mrs Prill  tkfar0@eq.edu.au .  Adult support in these age groups makes a huge difference to our programs.

Date Claimers:

• Wednesday 30^th November (Week 9) – Senior Swimming Carnival (3-6)
• Thursday 1^st December (Week 9) – Junior Swimming Carnival (Prep -2)

WAKAKIRRI

Congratulations ESS on being awarded the NATIONAL STORY AWARD - for excellence in performing arts and raising awareness about the Environment. Our school’s story dance featured in the online National Wakakirri Showcase Part 1 Special, top job! 180 schools from across Australia took part so this what a fine achievement! Well done to everyone involved.

Wakakirri Festival Director, Adam Loxley had this to say, “The standard of performance and the stories being told by schools this year was exceptional so Enoggera State School should be very proud of their awards.”

We look forward to sharing the story with the wider community at Arts on Stage! Come along.

Melissa Wilcox and the Waka team

A very big thank you to our wonderful Tuckshop convenor Rosetta who last term had officially been with is for 10 years. We apricate how much effort Rosetta puts into the tuckshop and the amazing atmosphere she creates in the Tuck Inn for our special volunteers.

We have had great feedback that parents are enjoying volunteering with their year level as its been nice to meet some of the other parents in their grade. We will continue with this format for Term 1 of 2023.

 Please click on the following link to go to the signup sheet and volunteer on either a Wednesday or Friday for your child’s/children’s year level. All parents and grandparents are welcome to volunteer. Don’t be put off if the dates don’t suit, if you are available to volunteer on specific dates please sign up as we do not want to miss out on your help!

volunteersignup.org/JQ73K

The Term 4 - Tuckshop Home Bake Roster is also available. If you are unable to volunteer in the tuckshop on a Wednesday or Friday, you may be able to assist with baking. We try to find easy recipes to follow! Please click on the following link to go to the signup sheet:

volunteersignup.org/WP8PK

Thank you for volunteering!

Fundraising and Grants

We are always on the lookout for fun new activities and events for the P&C to run. If you have any suggestions, please make sure to get in touch as we would like to start planning for 2023!

If you know of any grants that might suit, please feel free to send them through. We are also looking for volunteers to help with the writing of grants. If you would like to help, please get in touch via email.

Uniform Shop

Uniform Shop is open every Friday morning during the term from 8.00 – 9.00 am. You can purchase from the shop or pre-order uniform items via the QKR! App and pick up from the shop on the following Friday. If you are unable to pick the items up, they will be provided to the office to distribute to your child.

Please feel free to drop off any pre-loved / second-hand uniform items in a reasonable condition to the Uniform Shop on a Friday morning or the tuckshop on a Wednesday.

Arts on Stage

The P&C will be running the annual BBQ at the Arts on Stage evening on Friday 18^th November from 4.30pm. We are looking for some volunteers on the night.  Sign up via the link below to lend a hand. We promise that all volunteers will be finished in time for the performance.

volunteersignup.org/FT37C

Key Dates

Follow Enoggera P & C on Facebook to keep up to date on planned events, activities, Tuckshop menu and Uniform Shop.  It is the best way to stay informed on all the latest happenings!

https://www.facebook.com/EnoggeraSSPandC

P&C Executives

The Enoggera State School P & C meets every 4^th Tuesday of the month – next meeting is 22 November 2022