Dear Parent and Caregivers,

NAPLAN

This week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and next week on Monday, we wish our students in Years 3 and 5 all the best as they undertake the NAPLAN testing in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy, as part of the National Testing program.  We will conduct catch up tests each day as well Tuesday next week to ensure we capture as many students as possible. This year again we see all tests conducted online, apart from the Yr 3 Writing which remains as a paper-based test.  As the testing program has been moved forward to Term One this year we are hopeful that results will be available much earlier in the year, so that we can use this data to guide our future teaching and learning and student support programs. 

Another change to the program this year, is the move away from the ten-band system to four proficiency scales which will provide different information for parents.  We will still get our full school-based normed data of mean scale scores and national minimum standards, as well as the data against the four proficiency levels.

If your child is undertaking NAPLAN this week we ask that they are at school in plenty to time for the school day to start and to please ensure they are having a good breakfast and getting sufficient sleep to be at their optimum performance level for the tests.  We are ensuring students are hydrated and are providing the students with an Uncle Toby’s muesli bar each test, as a healthy snack to ensure they are able to concentrate.

 MULTI-PURPOSE ROOF

We are still working with the company MODCON and the Project Manager and DoE around a schedule of works for the multi-purpose roof project to commence.  The work is likely to start by the start of Term 2 and will likely take 10 weeks pending rain delays. 

It is also good news that they will be doing the works from the front of the school and South Pine Road entrance so that our ovals will not be used in the construction at all, so we will not be losing our green space again.  We will however, lose use of the court for Term 2, but after that it will be a much more usable space moving forward.

As the front of the school and South Pine Road access will be disrupted for the lift in week we will keep our community informed of these changes as there will be some impact on South Pine Rd parking and our off-road car park bays for some time.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

A reminder that the next opportunity to meet formally with your child’s teacher will be at the first round of Parent Teacher Interviews for this semester, which will be held this term on Tuesday, 21/3/23 in EPAC between 3:15 and 7:15pm. Bookings are open now in the SOBS program as per the email sent to all families around booking processes. These interviews go for 15 minutes each and will be an opportunity for our teachers to report to you how your child has settled into the new school year and how they are progressing with their learning in readiness for Semester One assessments.

OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE

A reminder that Camp Australia will be taking over our OSHC from the first day of the Easter vacation on April 3 with their Holiday program called Rocketeers.  Families who use the service for before or after school care will need to enrol with Camp Australia for care for Term 2 and also for the holiday program.

There is more information in this newsletter about the programs on offer and how to enrol through their online portal. We are looking forward to partnering with Camp Australia to continue to offer excellent outside school hours care to our students and them becoming part of our school community, as YMCA have done for many years before them, which we are extremely grateful for.

Thank you to those parents and caregivers who attended the Parent Information session last night with Camp Australia.  I understand the session went really well and there were some great questions and concerns answered to the group in attendance.

STAMP OUT BULLYING PERFORMANCE

It was great to see the Stamp Out Bullying show back at our school again this year to celebrate the anti-bullying messages from the Bullying No Way day. Unfortunately, the date was changed for this day this year to later in the year after we had booked the performance, but it certainly is a good message to share at any time. Our students were engaged in the show and hopefully some great discussions were had in the classrooms afterwards as they reflected on the show. 

Thank you to those parents who paid and sent permission forms back by the deadline last week as it makes it much easier to organise the staffing and supervision for the morning when we know how many are attending, earlier rather than later.  It can also cause distress for the child if they are unsure whether they are going or not as if payments are made late it takes time for the school to be able to see those payments.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Last week we celebrated International Women’s Day to celebrate the themes of this year ‘Digit-ALL- Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality' with a talk by guest speaker and ESS Mum, Sian Brownlow, who is a Mechanical and Space Engineer.  She spoke to our girls in Yr 4/5/6 and their Mums and female staff to encourage more girls to go into these fields.  Whilst sometimes the theme for International Women’s Day is appropriate for the boys to also attend, this year the clear message was to encourage more girls into these fields and the talk was directly targeted at the girls.  The questions and conversations were focussed on what it is like to work in such a male dominated fields.

Much thanks to Sian for her presentation and to our girls and Mums who asked such thoughtful questions.  We look forward to making this event a regular on the school calendar.

As Term One comes to a close, we have many special events still on the calendar.  Today we celebrate Red Pillar Day to support Chaplaincy and a focus on our Red Safety Pillar.  We saw some wonderful red outfits and hair accessories on display today.  We also have our Inter-house Cross Country event coming up on the last Monday of school, Monday 27^th March on our school oval from 9am-11am.  On the last day of term we celebrate with our Prep and Yr 1 student at the Easter Hat parade. We also have our Student Council Fundraiser to support Downs Syndrome on 21^st March and our final assembly for the term also on the afternoon of the Cross Country on 27^th March.

On top of that we have learning and assessments to finalise and units of work to close out for the term and a full school review. Term Two looks just a busy as we are working on our calendar now and Mrs Burrows is starting to populate events and dates for Term Two activities such as our MSP School Photo Day on Friday April 21 and our ANZAC Ceremony on Monday 24^th April.

ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCES

Regularly our Deputy Principal and I analyse the school data around absence and late arrivals to ensure we are able to support our families to get their students to school and on time for learning to commence.  We are noticing a large number of students who are continually late to school and who are missing vital beginning of the day routines, which set them up for success for the rest of the day.  When they arrive after roll marking and the orientation to the day they may become confused and disoriented throughout the day as they are unsure of what is on the schedule.  If they are continually late in the morning they are also likely to be missing the essential morning program consisting of Soundwaves phonics/phonemic awareness and spelling, reading and sight words activities etc, which are vital literacy learning to enable them access the curriculum.

Recently we have sent home letters to families of students who have a concerning number of absences already this year or continual late arrivals, in the hope that we can open the communication and support these families better.  If you have received a letter and wish to discuss how we can support you, please make an appointment through the office to speak with myself or the Deputy Principal.

FULL SCHOOL REVIEW

A reminder that as 2023 is the final year of our 2020-2023 Strategic Plan, this will be the year of our Quadrennial School Review where we take information and feedback from all stakeholders to assist in developing the strategic plan for the school for the next 4 years, 2024-2027.  As part of that process our school will undertake a Full School Review from the EIB Education Improvement Board to feed into that process. We have been notified that our review will be commencing on March 28, just after the completion of NAPLAN for the year. We are currently in the process of planning for the three reviewers to be in our school for the three days from 28-30^th March.  As part of the review the reviewers will be speaking with most staff, students, our educational partners and also P and C, School Council and parents and community members. The link below will take you to a fact sheet for parents and community members.

https://schoolreviews.education.qld.gov.au/review/Documents/parent_community-factsheet.pdf

P AND C ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Tuesday 28^th March at 6pm in our new G Block Staff Lounge will be the next P and C General Meeting followed by the Annual General Meeting.  At that meeting we will do our annual compliance activities but also vote in our committee for the next year.  Our committee of dedicated parents who have held executive positions this year have done a fantastic job and have worked well together to support wonderful school, so we are always hopeful they will continue in their roles for another year, but there is always an opportunity for new blood to come onto the P and C in some capacity, whether that be attending meetings, volunteering at events or activities or taking on a specific role.  We look forward to a large roll up at the next meeting.

Till next time,

Mrs Anne Robinson

Principal

This term Year 2 have been busy reading and innovating familiar poems and looking for clever ways we can incorporate noun groups and alliteration into our writing to make it amazing and exceedingly entertaining for the audience. We have also been learning to identify the features of poetry and these features are used to convey meaning.

In reading, we will continue to work on developing reading skills, engagement and goal setting. We will be looking at strategies for reading unfamiliar words, building our reading stamina in independent reading and retelling to show understanding. Students have been busy working on finding the main idea in texts.

2A poem

Tiny Tiny Talking Toad

Tiny, tiny talking toad.

Don’t go jumping on the road.

If you go out on the street.

Watch out for some tiny feet.

Tiny, tiny talking toad.

Don’t go jumping on the road.

2B poem

Jumping Jumping Little Fin

Jumping, jumping little fin.

How I wonder how you spin?

Deep down under the deep blue sea.

Won’t you have a swim with me.

Jumping, jumping little fin.

How I wonder how you spin.

Coding Book-in some times with Mr Harris in the Digital Technologies lab first lunchtime, Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday, to play “Jumpy Platformer” on the year 5/6 retro games console.

The current school record is 80 points, held by Mr Harris!

Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge. Time to start practising for the next month’s quiz. Go to Bebras 365 and scroll down for practice questions from previous years. Signed consent forms to be returned to the Admin Office by the end of Term 1.

Bebras students are encouraged to visit Coding Club, in the library, second break Wednesdays.

International Pi Day Tuesday the 14^th of March. Congratulations to the Enoggera SS “Pi-rates” who successfully recalled at least ten digits of Pi.

Well done Jarvis, for knowing the first 40 digits of Pi!  

Robot Clubs Tuesday second break are Seniors are building and decorating dancing robots. Thursday second break juniors are also building dancing robots. Senior Robot students are encouraged to drop by and help.

All students please note that second lunch breaks, the computer lab is closed unless you are participating in a Club activity.

Michael Harris

Digital Technologies Teacher

Paper Recycling 

The next stage of our recycling program has commenced this week. Classroom paper waste will now be composted to help feed the worms. Classes have been asked to rip up their paper waste into small pieces and then place the paper into the large blue paper recycling bins. Each week, Sustainability Club students will transfer that paper to the tumble bins where it will be mixed with the food waste, coffee bean waste from the Home Café and grass clippings from the mowing. Together this mix will make an amazing food for the worms.

Feed the Worms

The worm farms have moved in preparation for the construction of the roof over the tennis court. Our wriggly friends are now comfortable under the big trees near the early years play-ground. Further, the worms' food is now including coffee grounds from the Home Café as well as the classroom shredded paper. Our little friends are feasting as you read and I am happy to take time to show the students the worms in action. Remember your food scraps from home are also welcome. Here are a few food items that worms love.