Dear Parents and Caregivers,

LEARNING CURVE WELLBEING PROGRAM

The Learning Curve this week is from the Meaning and Purpose category and the wellbeing skill builder is ‘Joy of People’. This focus is about learning that the joy you experience by spending time with people far outweighs the enjoyment from being on screens.  By spending less screen time and more people time, you will experience the feel-good emotions from spending time with other people. We are hard-wired to be at our best when we are co-operating with and working together with others. Our 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 re this topic is attached for your information.

This fortnight, I will unpack the second priority of our Strategic Plan and Annual Implementation Plan and what that looks like this year.  The second priority is Successful Learners –Mathematics which is about increasing the percentages of students achieving Exceeding in NAPLAN Numeracy and the percentages of students achieving A/B grades in Mathematics and ensuring consistency of practice of agreed teaching and learning practices in the teaching of Mathematics.

To do this we are focussing on developing and implementing whole school approaches for the teaching of problem solving and mental and written computations.  We are also embedding a school-wide approach to the pre-testing of student mathematical knowledge and skills each term to inform teaching and learning sequences and differentiation.  We are prioritising the work with teachers to continue to provide professional development to build capability in the new V9 Australian Curriculum Mathematics.  We are also working to refine the use of Warm-Ups to aid in fluency and move required knowledge and skills to long term memory.

A reminder that the full Strategic Plan 2024-2027 and the Annual Implementation Plan for 2024 are on the school website with a link from the bottom of the home page.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Thank you to all of the families who booked interviews with their child’s teacher at our recent Parent Teacher Interview muster in EPAC.  It was great to see 318 interviews booked for the evening, which is a lot of conversations had.  Please ensure you follow up with the conversations, as we do at school, to ensure students are ready to take on the feedback and step into the business end of Semester One with vim and vigour as we head to end of semester assessments and reporting.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Mr Colin checked the areas on our clean up map and chose a winning class to be the recipients of the Environmental Award for this fortnight. The winners of the coveted Enoggera Earthworms trophy announced on assembly this week were Prep B. They will hold the trophy in their room until the next assembly in week 2 of Term 2.

Students in Yr 5 and 6 are applying to be Green Vest Leaders.  Mrs Burrows and I have looked at the applications handed in thus far and we presented our first two Green Vest Leaders on assembly this week.  We are still accepting applications as they do not close until May 8.  Applications are available in the office. Our first two green vest leaders are:  Victoria D and Poppy M.

As the gardens have all been cleaned out now, we are hoping to get some new plants as soon as possible.

NAPLAN

The NAPLAN testing is all completed and finalised now.  Thank you to families of students in Yr 3 and 5 who ensured they were at school ready for the testing every day. We managed to get all students through except for one student in one test.  We now await the data in Term 3 to assist us with interventions and evaluating our school programs.

P&C AGM

Last night after the March General Meeting, the Annual General Meeting was held to elect the new executive for 2024. I thank the current outgoing executive for their tireless work for the P&C and the school over many years and particularly for the legacy they have left the school with the erection of the multi-purpose court roof and lights. Khesanh Brock has been working for the P&C as a member and executive for many years and Dean Collings has been the President for the past 2 years and Debbie Brauer has been the Treasurer for the past 3 years. We thank them whole-heartedly for the work they have done and the difference they have made to the students of this school.

The newly elected executive moving forward for 2024 are:

President – Mel Russell

Vice-President- vacant

Treasurer- Debbie Brauer

Assistant Treasurer- Shane Evans

Secretary-Jess Wall

We wish our new executive team all the best and I look forward to working closely with them over the coming year. It is great to see some new faces joining the P&C as members and executive and also to see Debbie continue on for her fourth term as Treasurer.

YEAR 6 GRADUATION

A further reminder that this year we have decided as a school to take on the graduation dinner/dance as a school activity which will allow the school Student Council to fundraise, if necessary and the school to organise the activity so that is a sanctioned school event and not a private function. 

This will ensure the activity is accessible by all families and will alleviate the need for a parent graduation committee. This has come about due to the legalities around fundraising, supervision and accessibility.  Instead, the school will be asking for parent help with particular activities leading up to the event as part of Student Council fundraising, decorations etc.  We look forward to sharing more information as the event gets closer.

SCHOOL TOILETS

Just a reminder to parents on the school site that if you need to use the bathrooms whilst here, you should use the staff bathrooms under D Block and E Block and not the student toilets. This means that as per our swimming change room expectations  parents are not permitted to enter student bathrooms whilst on site and likewise school aged children should not be going into staff bathrooms at all, even if they are with you. We thank you for your co-operation round this to ensure consistency of expectations to keep our students safe at all times.

EASTER BREAK

After a busy Term One we wish all of our families a lovely relaxing Easter break and we look forward to seeing everyone back for Term Two on April 15. 

Happy Holidays!

Till next time,

Mrs Anne Robinson

Principal

Happy Easter

It has been a very busy and productive first term!  I have enjoyed speaking to students across the school about what they have been learning about in English as part of our Learning Walk and Talks.  It has also been exciting to see our new preppies settle into ‘big school’!  The new captains have done a wonderful job stepping up into their leadership roles this year. I hope that our students and their families have an enjoyable and relaxing Easter Holiday and I look forward to seeing everyone in Term Two.

 

School Watch

If you live locally, please remeber to keep an eye on our school and if you notice anything suspicious, please contact School Watch on 13 17 88.

 

Facebook

Our school has a very active Facebook page with frequent posts to keep our school community informed of what is happening in our school.  Our events are posted throughout the term to allow parents time to be prepared for the term ahead. Click on the more tab and then the events tab in the dropdown menu to go to our events.  Dates for Term Two events will start being created on Facebook in the coming days to help you plan ahead for Term Two. 

If you have a Facebook page, we encourage all of our parents to follow our school page so you can enjoy the wonderful experiences our school has to offer.  The more you interact with the page by liking and commenting on posts, the more our page will appear in your newsfeed. 

A reminder that Facebook is not the best platform to ask questions that you need immediate or urgent replies to, as we don’t always see questions in the comment sections of a post. This is best done by emailing the teacher/admin or calling the office. Facebook is also not a site for posting complaints or negative comments about staff or school processes.  If you have some constructive feedback for the school or an issue that you would like to raise, we would respectfully ask that you make an appointment to speak with the Principal to discuss your concerns.   Any inappropriate comments will be removed from the platform. Please remember to never make comments on the page referencing a child’s name for privacy reasons.

Please note that Facebook will only be checked occasionally over the holidays, so messages may take time to be responded to.

Pillar Practice

Our three school pillars include Safety (Be Safe); Relationships (Be Respectful); and Learning (Be a Responsible Learner).  Each fortnight at Assembly, a Pillar Practice is shared with staff and students that becomes our focus behaviour improvement.  This fortnight, our Pillar Practice focusses on finishing the term strong.  Students are reflecting on all school pillars and key reminders for the last week.  

In particular we are focussing on these reminders:

Student Council

Thank you to everyone who supported our Subway Meal Deal fundraiser.  There were 198 orders from staff and students and we made $380 for the Student Council.  There will be another meal deal in Term Two.

Thanks to all the students who supported Harmony Day by wearing cultural clothes or orange for anti-bullying. 

The House Mascots competition has been extended until Friday 19^th April which is the end of Week 1 next term. There are official entry forms for you to draw your mascot and write about your mascot.  These can be handed in to the office by the due date. 

House_Mascot_Competition_2024.pdf https://enoggerass.schoolzineplus.com/_file/media/3084/house_mascot_competition_2024.pdf

There was a huge number of entries in the Student Council Easter themed colouring in competition this fortnight.  Four winners were awarded this fortnight!

Congratulations to:

Jamie L 5/6C

Rachel M 4A

Eden B 2B

Claire S 2B

The Student Council will meet again early next term to continue planning upcoming events and fundraisers.

Youth Leadership Academy

On Wednesday 27^th March, our Year 6 Student Leaders were invited to attend the Youth Leadership Academy Primary Dream and Lead Conference as part of their student leader training. Dream and Lead is a one-day, highly engaging event designed to support primary school students in discovering their leadership potential, whilst providing them with strong foundations to succeed.

Throughout the day, students participated in purposeful activities developing their problem-solving skills, and increasing their confidence and independence.  Facilitated by internationally trained young leaders, students recognised the impact they can create as a young person.  The nine captains travelled to the Brisbane Convention Centre in South Brisbane via train with Mrs Burrows to attend this special event.

Easter Bonnet Parade

Our annual Easter Bonnet Parade will be held on Thursday 28^th March on the multipurpose court under the new roof!  This event is for Prep and Year 1.  Students will be walked down to the court after marking the roll in the morning with their bonnets on.  Bonnets will be made by the students in their classes in preparation for this event.  

Parents are welcome to attend and the audience area will be around the edges of the tennis court on the South Pine Road end.  Each class will walk the parade circuit twice.  There will then be an opportunity for parents to dance with the students for two songs after the parade.  We look forward to seeing the students in their Easter bonnets this year.

Prep Open Morning

Parents of Prep 2025 and all new prospective families are invited to meet with the Leadership Team to learn about our curriculum programs and extra-curricular offerings across the school, and to then enjoy a tour of our beautiful school.  This information session is aimed at parents with a 90 minute presentation in the Performing Arts Centre before a tour of the grounds. 

Ms Tina Burrows

Deputy Principal

Hello Parents and Caregivers,

Just a reminder that full payment on the below invoices are due this week. See the below;

All invoices have been emailed out to families and these invoices can also be found through QParents online. If you believe you may have a student credit on your account, please contact me direct to apply this credit as you are unable to allocate credits through QParents online.

Invoices for the Year 3,Term 2 excursion to Mt Cootha Planetarium have been issued this week. Consents are required to be completed through QParents online. If you do not have QParents please collect a consent form from the office. We strongly recommend all parents to sign up to Qparents, so they can stay in the loop with the school's happenings.

Camp invoices for 2024 have been sent out to all families along with all the relevant paperwork. This year we have invoiced the total amount of the camp and full payment is due by Friday the 3^rd of May. You will be able to make a partial payment via BPOINT online, if you would like to pay off in increments. To do this open your invoice. Roll to the bottom of your invoice and click on the BPOINT link. From there it will bring up a new screen and you will be able to insert the invoice number, student name and amount you would like to pay. Partial payments cannot be completed through QParents, only BPOINT or in the office via EFTPOS.

Reminder again that we are still awaiting on a few families to complete their online consents through QParents. The State School Consent and Online Consents due dates have been extended for parents who haven’t completed this yet until the end of the term. It is very important you fill these consents in online so that we have the most up to date details surrounding your child. If you are having trouble, please feel free to contact administration and we can try to assist.

School photos are being taken in Week 1 of Term 2 (Friday the 19^th of April). Each student has been issued with an order form from MSP, please contact MSP directly if you have any questions in relation to photo orders. If your student has misplaced their order form please come and collect a blank one from the office.

If you have any other financial enquiries, please contact me directly on 07 3550 1333 or email me on bsm@enoggerass.eq.edu.au

Have a safe and happy Easter break!  

Ellie Mastrapostolos

Business Manager

Defence School Mentor

P&C AGM

Last night we held our AGM to elect our new Executive Committee.

Congratulations to our Executive Committee for 2024. Mel as our new President, Jess as our new Secretary, Debbie our returning Treasurer and Shane as our new Assistant Treasurer -  a fresh executive to see out a new year. We look forward to hearing lots of new ideas and seeing lots of new faces become part of the P&C community.  

We will be hosting another P&C member's night in Term 2. We would like to get to know some of our members: including those we might not have had a lot of face-to-face time with; members who aren't always available to physically volunteer; our regular supporters and those that are new to the P&C. Growing a community like ours is essential to keeping the P&C running to ensure valuable resources for our children can be facilitated through our fundraising efforts.  More details to come after the holidays.

EVENTS

As this is the last week of school, here are some of the exciting events coming up this year. If you have any new ideas that you would like to explore please let us know.

Annual Mother’s Day Celebration Event

Ladies...... it’s time to frock up!

After the success of our annual Mother’s Day High Tea, ESS P&C are very excited to bring this event back again for 2024!

Hosted at the gorgeous Communa Cantina on Saturday May 18th from 2.00-4.00pm- arrival from 1.45pm.

Early bird tickets at a discounted price are on sale now, but hurry we only have a limited number available. Early bird sale ends April 5^th at 8pm.

Tickets include 2 hours of bottomless beverages which include selected cocktails and mocktails, a delicious tapas spread including tacos, and an entry into the lucky door prize.

This is a perfect opportunity for new parents to meet other parents, old and new friends to catch up and an excuse to enjoy each other’s company while feeling and looking fabulous!

Tickets can be purchased via the QKR! App. Please set up a profile under your own name to purchase the ticket.

There are gluten free and vegetarian options available- please select this when purchasing your ticket.

Mother’s Day Stall 

The highlight for the Enoggera State School P & C Association every year are the Mother’s and Father’s Day Stalls. The students get so excited about being able to buy a special gift for the special people in their lives.

This year the Mother’s Day Stall is scheduled for Friday 10^th May. Gift vouchers can be purchased from the QKR! App, up until 8.00 pm on Thursday, 9th May. The denomination of the gift vouchers available are $5, $10 and $15.

Upon entry to the Mother’s Day Stall, students will be given the gift voucher(s) purchased under their QKR! profile, and they can then select a gift to the value of the voucher(s). Please note to help our volunteers, vouchers that are purchased are colour coded by denomination and that is what the child will spend on each present. Eg. $5 vouchers will go to the $5 table and purchase one gift.

This year we are also running a raffle for a Mother’s Day gift basket. Tickets are $1 and these can be purchased via the QKR! App. You can buy as many raffle tickets as you like. The winner of this prize will be drawn on Friday 10^th and given to the winner at school to bring home.

To purchase the gift vouchers via QKR! App: (You will need to install and set up student profiles on QKR! App.)

1. Under ‘EVENTS’ select Mother’s Day Stall Gift Vouchers.
2. Select the Student Profile you are purchasing the voucher(s) for. You will need to purchase voucher(s) per student profile if you have more than 1 child attending Enoggera, as the vouchers will be allocated via student names.
3. Select a gift voucher denomination. Up to two gift vouchers can be purchased per student, this allows 2 gifts per student.
4. Add to Cart and Checkout.

There will be a variety of lovely gifts available to suit all, including jewellery, relaxing soaps and bath salts, candles, manicure sets, gardening sets and plenty more. Students are to bring a carry bag to take their gifts home in.

We are also seeking a few volunteers to assist on the day. If you are available on the day, please contact the Enoggera P & C via pandc@enoggerass.eq.edu.au

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Enoggera P & C via pandc@enoggerass.eq.edu.au

Trivia Night

Who will be the Trivia Night champs of 2024?

Last year was our most successful Trivia Night and we are looking forward to surpassing all our goals for this year with another amazing evening.  If you would like to lead or be part of a team to take on our Trivia night, please get in touch via email or our Facebook page.

P&C Executives

For any questions or concerns please email pcsecretary@esspandc.com.au

The Enoggera State School P & C meets every 4^th Tuesday of the month.

Our next General meeting will be on the 23^rd April at 6.15pm in the staff room.

Keep up to date on all things P&C via our Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/EnoggeraSSPandC

It has been a busy term making the adjustment from Prep to Year One. Students now have their own desk and tidy tray and consequently need to be more organised and responsible for their belongings.

In English we focussed on writing a retell. Students sequenced a familiar story and wrote simple sentences describing the character setting and events.

In Maths we learnt about teen numbers and place value. We created plucking, tapping and shaking instruments for our Science unit on Light and Sound. Last week students planned a design for an Easter bonnet to make for the Easter Bonnet Parade on Thursday.

A big thank to parents for coming to the Parent/Teacher meetings last week. It was wonderful sharing your child's achievements with you. 

The Year One teachers are in the process of planning an incursion next term for a Science unit on Habitats which will be linked to writing information reports during English. We look forward to working with you all then.

Have a safe and happy Easter!

From the Year 1 teachers, Mrs Nelson, Mrs Farrell, Mrs Boone & Ms Hunt

Class Swimming:

Thank you to all of our parents in the lower years who have continually been attending and supporting their students' swimming lessons. I really appreciate your support in the classes as it allows more quality time with teaching the students.

We have been really lucky weather wise and the pool has been a nice change, however with the wind and rain, the temperature is lower. As it is our last week, I will try to keep the students moving, however time outside of the pool may be needed.

This is our last week of swimming until Term 4. 

Inter House Cross Country

Our Interhouse Cross Country was washed out. Our aim will be to hold the event on the first Tuesday of Term 2, 16^th April.

This only gives us a very small window into the City District trials which are on Wednesday 24^th April.

Students are encouraged to keep training over the holidays so they are “race fit” for the cross country.

Happy and Safe Holidays

I want to wish you all a happy and safe holiday. Take the time to recharge for what will undoubtedly another busy sporting term in Term 2.

Term 2 will see our focus move into Athletics – running, jumping and throwing.

Andrew Woodrick

HPE Teacher

Premier's Coding Challenge

Over the Easter Holidays students are welcome to access their QLearn resources to improve Coding and prepare a Premier’s Coding Challenge entry.

For the Premier’s Coding Challenge, students (Years 4,5,6) may choose to work in pairs or as individuals using opensource, free coding software e.g

Scratch,  Alice , mBlock , Blockly , tynker , code.org , Microsoft makecode education (Microbit, Arcade and Minecraft. Login with your school username and password and save your files to the cloud) .

The challenge task is to develop a new app/ prototype that can help the school- either children, adults or both.  Many students have already built learning games worthy of being entered in the competition. This is a fantastic activity that is free and can be completed independently outside of school. I am more than willing to assist the students prepare their entries. Students need parental permission through a return email after submitting an application online here.

BEBRAS

After the holidays Years 3 and 4 students will be using one of their lunch hours to participate in the BEBRAS computational thinking quiz. We will be participating in Round 1 - Tuesday 23 April to Thursday 9 May 2024. Email mharr94@eq.edu.au if your child/ren are keen to participate. Check out these quiz questions for primary students.

RoboCup Junior

I am very excited to have received some brand new robots to replace our aging Beebots. Students participating in the RoboCup Jnr will be using the Cutebots and other robotic equipment on Saturday June 8, 2024 at the Islamic College of Brisbane, 45 Acacia Road, Karawatha. Families of those students will need to ensure they can transport their child to and from the event on that day.

Michael Harris

Digital Technologies Teacher

Musical News

Lead Cast

Our lead cast rehearsals are well underway! Students have begun working on character development, storylines, songs, choreography and dialogue. It's been fantastic hearing all the students sing and watching them work together as a team!

All forms for our leads have now been handed in however we still have outstanding fees which are overdue. Mrs Rees has sent emails to those lead cast parents so please check your emails and pay the overdue fees ASAP. 

Musical Ensemble Information

Attention Year 4-6.

An email went home to all families in Year 4-6 two weeks ago regarding our ensemble packs. Casting for our ensemble cast for Years 4-6 is closing soon. 

If your child has already been assigned an ensemble role during the first round of offers and didn't collect an information pack, this has now been emailed home.

For those who would like to sign up to be in the musical in an ensemble role, please ask your child to come and collect an information pack from Miss Georgia Dunstan or Mrs Rebecca Rees from the EPAC office this week. This will be the final opportunity as we need to cast the ensemble students before Term 2 begins. 

If you prefer a digital copy we can send a pack via email. The pack includes information about the musical, what role the ensemble plays in our musical, as well as all the official forms required for rehearsals and performances.

Prep - Year 3

Prep to Yr 3, not to worry we haven't forgotten about you. More information regarding ensemble roles for our junior school we be sent out VERY soon. Please keep an eye out for emails!

Backstage/Tech Crew

If you are in Year 4 - 6 and interested in being a part of the backstage / tech crew. The expression of interest signup sheet is on the EPAC office door. Please write your details on the sheet as we will be releasing some information to you VERY soon. Please ensure you are checking your emails. 

Ms Georgia Dunstan & Mrs Rebecca Rees

Performing Arts Team

Congratulations to our Strings ensemble conducted by our new Instrumental Music teacher Mrs Kirk on their first assembly performance this year.

Dance News

Dance Ensembles are well underway. Please ensure students are coming along to rehearsals each week so they can continue working and learning the dance. Due to the wet weather interruptions, we haven't been able to run all Dance ensembles, so I appreciate everyone's understanding.

I will be uploading practice material to student SharePoint for students to access over the holidays to practice so they're ready for Term 2. Students can access the SharePoint through their school email. If students are unsure Mr Harris can assist students on how to access it. 

Rehearsal Times

Boys Crew - Monday first break after eating

Dance Ensemble Green - Wednesday second break after eating

Dance Ensemble Blue - Thursday 8am before school

Dance Ensemble Red - Thursday first break after eating

Permission forms have been sent home and they are overdue. Please ensure these are back ASAP. 

Georgia Dunstan

Dance and Drama Specialist Teacher