3 March 2016

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL

Minions Movie

Thank you to Gold Coast City Council and Worongary State School P&C for the wonderful presentation of the Minions Movie. The weather was great, the crowds were large and the food and entertainment excellent. A good time was had by all and all students should be congratulated on their outstanding behaviour. It was a pleasure to spend the evening with them and their family and friends. My own grandson joined us on the oval and even though he is only 4 years old he thoroughly enjoyed the evening. I am definitely looking forward to the opportunity to see another movie in the not too distant future.

Every minute counts

The importance of coming to school on time and staying for the full day is outlined below, it is amazing how quickly just a few minutes a day adds up and becomes a significant amount of time when extended over the years of schooling.

Student Leaders

On Friday we had the pleasure of introducing all the student leaders for 2016. Congratulations to all student leaders, judging by the quality of the speeches given by our 4 school captains and the feedback from the Student Council it appears that this year’s student leaders are willing and definitely able to Make a Difference at Worongary State School.

Emergency Procedures

Like all schools, and all public places, Worongary State School has 2 responses to an emergency situation.

Evacuation and Lock Down.

Each term we practice each of these procedures at least once. We explicitly teach the procedures first and then practice them, each time reviewing them to ensure a fast and safe response.

Your children’s safety is of paramount importance to us. In the event of a real emergency our priority is our students’ safety. If we should find ourselves in a situation of either having to evacuate or lock down our school we will be concentrating our energy on maintaining a calm and safe environment for your children.

We acknowledge that in the event of genuine emergency parents will become very concerned about the safety of their children. In consultation with the Queensland Police Service we need to keep the area around the school free from excess vehicle and people traffic. While we are supervising and ensuring the wellbeing of students, shade, water, toileting facilities, sunblock etc it may not be possible to keep parents fully informed of the events. We may not have access to internet facilities and the school mobile phone needs to be kept open for communication with Regional Office and Emergency Services. Please rest assured that at the earliest possible opportunity parents and the community will be informed.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Research tells us that students learn best when teachers and parents communicate about the child’s progress. Please make an appointment to see your children’s teachers on Wednesday 16 March. This year all interviews will take place in the school hall. Interviews can be booked through the following link:

Behaviour

Term Focus

Week 6 and 7 Focus

Behaviour Expectations in our School

Each week, students are explicitly taught the expectations of our school. Students learn about what each of our school rules (Be Safe, Be Respectful and Be a Learner) look like in all areas of the school. Students in Week 7 will be learning about what it means to be a learner. Being on time is very important to ensure students do not miss out on important parts of learning. Teachers will be focussing on students being on time and ready to start learning at the start of each session. You can help by ensuring your child is at school on time and has the necessary items needed for their day. We would also like for you to talk to your child about the importance of following directions in the classroom, completing work to the best of their ability, and engaging in all learning activities. Together we will be able to make a difference.

Parking in correct areas

We have recently had a visit from Council parking inspectors. Please remember to park in the correct areas to help ensure the safety of all of our students. The drop off zone is for student collection and drop off only. Drivers are to remain with their car when waiting in the area. Please be aware of the laws regarding parking near crossings and bus stops.

P&C AGM

The P&C Annual General Meeting will be held in the staffroom is Wednesday 23 March from 6pm. All members of the community are welcome to attend.

Volunteers Meeting & Training

Worongary State School is extremely grateful to our parents and grandparents who came along to our volunteer training on 19 February. These volunteers are now ready to help in our classrooms and assist with our programs throughout the school year. Our second round of training being offered for people who missed the first session will be held on Monday 14 March, at 9am in the school hall. This training session will go for approximately 90 minutes and will cover Code of Conduct training, correct procedures when volunteering on school grounds and the Worongary State School’s guidelines for volunteering.

All parents who wish to volunteer in 2016 will need to undertake this training even if they participated in training last year as it is renewed annually. As we will end the training with a light morning tea and will need to cater according to numbers, please email; office@worongaryss.eq.edu.au 9 March if you intend on attending this training session.

Interschool Sports

Interschool Winter Sport will begin on 15 April for students in years 4 to 6. This year, students will be able to participate in Soccer, Netball or Oz Tag for girls and Soccer, Rugby League or AFL for boys. If your child has nominated to try out for one of these sports, they will be undertaking trials over the next two weeks, with teams finalised at the end of week 7.

The cost of participation in Interschool Winter Sports will be approximately $85, depending on the number of students involved. This is for 10 games over Term 2 and covers the cost of the bus and District Affiliation Fees. Games will begin term 2, week 1 (15 April).

Students will be notified if they have been successful in gaining a place on a team in week 7, with parents invoiced after Tuesday 8 March. The participation fee will be due by Tuesday 12 April. Unless prior arrangements have been made, students who have not paid by the due date will not be permitted to attend and their place may be offered to another student.

Second Step Program

Worongary State School will be rolling out The Second Step Program, from Term 2, 2016. The Second Step Program P–6 program is a universal, classroom-based program designed to increase students’ school success, improve peer relationships, and decrease problem behaviours by promoting social-emotional competence and self-regulation. It teaches skills that strengthen students’ ability to learn, have empathy, manage their emotions and behaviors and solve problems.

The program is based in part on the risk and protective factor prevention science framework. Research has consistently shown that children with poor self-regulation and social-emotional skills are at risk of developing problems in school and later in life and that social competence, peer friendships, school connectedness and many of the specific skills taught in the Second Step program protect children from negative outcomes. The Second Step curriculum, is a universal prevention program, and is designed to develop skills that are central to children’s healthy social-emotional development, including self-regulation, empathy, emotion management and problem solving.

As we approach term two, a Parent Information session will be offered.

Student Disco

The Student Council Disco Term 1 Disco will be held on Wednesday 23 March. The theme for Junior School will be Easter and the theme for Senior School is Around the World. More information will be emailed out to families later this week.

CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY COACHES

Sizzling Starts

When writing, kids always want to start their stories at the beginning of the day, or the start of the week or even the first day of the school holidays.

Before:

I leapt out of bed that morning and hurried to get dressed because today Dad was taking us to the zoo. I was really excited because they have this big monkey enclosure there and I was mad about monkeys. I also needed to get some really good photos for my Science project.

After:

'Here,' I told my sister, 'hold my rucksack. I'm just going to get a bit closer to the monkey's cage.’

A bit closer meant over the fence, past the sign that said 'No Entry' and right up to the wire.

'You're monkey mad,' said my sister. Well, maybe I was. But I was also desperate for an 'A' in my latest Science project. A picture of a cute monkey, smiling right at the camera, would make all the difference, right?

TOP TIP:

Start stories right where the action begins. Not in the morning, but at the zoo as the person sneaks up to the monkey's cage, shiny earrings dangling in the sun, just waiting to be grabbed by a quick sharp paw. Far more interesting!

ACTION ACTIVITY:

Next time you are watching a movie with your children, see how the movie begins with lots of action to grab your attention. Adventure movies (e.g. James Bond) are especially good at this.

Regards Donna Ermer & Megan Taylor Curriculum and Pedagogy Coaches

MUSIC DEPARTMENT

Band and Strings – A big thank you to parents for ensuring your children arrive at school by at 8:00am Monday and Wednesday mornings to attend their rehearsals. A reminder that if there are still outstanding SRS and Hire forms, please return them to the office by the end of this week. Payment was due 12 February so please finalise payment as soon as possible. The students are preparing for Fanfare in term 2 and Eisteddfods in term 3, therefore I cannot stress the importance of practise at home and attending their rehearsals. If you have any inquiries about strings please contact Ms Futo dfuto2@eq.edu.au and for Band Ms Ashton casht28@eq.edu.au

Classroom - if there are any parents who have unwanted working electronic keyboards with 61 keys (not smaller) with an adaptor that you would like to donate to the school it would be greatly appreciated. I am currently teaching year 4 - 6 piano/keyboard and would like to do the same with the Junior school. Additional keyboards would make this possible.

Choir - the attendance and notes received from Lorikeet Choir (years 2 and 3) has been fantastic. The numbers in our Rosella Choir (year 4-6) is minimal and I would love to have more recruits. We welcome any new or interested students. Currently both choirs are preparing to sing at the Anzac Day Ceremony next term and to travel to Eisteddfods in term 3.

EXCURSIONS

PLEASE NOTE ALL EXCURSION NOTES ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE
NO LATE PAYMENTS WILL BE RECEIVED.

LEARNING VINE AWARDS

P&C COMMITTEE

P&C MEETING

The Annual General Meeting of Worongary State School P&C will be held this year on Wednesday 23 March 2016 in the Staffroom at 5:00pm.

Each year at the AGM the P&C will seek to elect an Executive Committee that will comprise of:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Vice Treasurer

We would love to see some new faces. If you would like to become a member of the P&C, please come along to our AGM and fill out an application form to join.

MOVIE NIGHT

We had so much fun at the Movie Night! Thank you to everyone that came. It was great to see so many of you there enjoying the jumpy castle, the yummy food and of course the Minions Movie. We hope you enjoyed it just as much as we did and we hope to have another one in the near future.

SCHOOL BANKING

We had a fantastic turn out for our student sign up day 23 new students signed up to start school banking.

We now have over 100 students banking on a Friday, which is great to see, but our wonderful banking team need more helpers. If you have a spare Friday morning to come and help out please do. It would be very much appreciated. You don’t need to come every Friday and even if it’s only for half an hour, every little bit helps to get the job done. If you are interested, please come and see us in the Staffroom on a Friday morning.

TUCKSHOP

** PLEASE READ **
MAJOR CHANGES TO SMART CHOICES GUIDELINES

The Queensland Government has recently released revisions to the Smart Choices Strategy that will affect items available from our current every day and counter sales menus.

The updated guidelines will be mandatory in Queensland State schools from Term 3, 2016.

The Smart Choices Strategy categorises foods and drinks into 3 categories – GREEN, AMBER and RED. The foods and drinks in the RED category are only allowed for supply in Queensland State schools a maximum of twice per term. Therefore, these foods and drinks should not be on any Queensland state school tuckshop menus.

The changes that will directly affect our menus are as follows:

SAVOURY SNACKS

• All potato chips (crisps), other vegetable chips (crisps), cereal based snacks (corn chips, rice chips and wholegrain snacks), extruded snacks (savoury puffs, balls or rings) and similar snacks are classified as RED
  With the help of our Suppliers, we are on the hunt for alternatives to the Red Rock and Smiths chips. Any suggestions from our community to add to our brainstorming would be greatly appreciated!

SWEET BAKED PRODUCTS

• All products with added confectionery, icing and sweet fillings are classified as RED. This includes, but is not limited to, chocolate chip cookies, iced buns, cakes and slices.
  Muffins and cookies will remain available from our menus. The new flavours for our muffins will be Apple Strudel and Blueberry; and freshly baked ANZAC cookies will replace the current Choc chip option.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

• Formulated meal replacements, formulated supplementary foods and formulated supplementary sports foods such as breakfast drinks and protein bars must not be sold or supplied.
  Without our Up&Go breakfast drinks, we will still have Fresh and Flavoured milk, Water and Bottled Juice available for purchase.

We look forward to your assistance and understanding as we continue with preparations for these new guidelines ahead of Term 3. And, again, please do not hesitate to contact us with your suggestions for alternative items.

VOLUNTEERS:

We are always busy with ‘Over Counter Sales’ for Years 2-6 so please feel free to stop in any day to help serve our eager students between 1.30pm-1.55pm

Regards, Jasmine Smith, Tuckshop Convenor

UNIFORM SHOP

Open hours:
Monday 8:30am-10:30am
Thursday 2:30pm-3:30pm

Direct Dial number: 5502 4409

Uniform News

Old Style Uniforms

We have reached the end of our two year uniform changeover period and old style uniforms are no longer acceptable to wear. Any old uniforms you’d like to clear out can be dropped off at the Uniform Shop. Once we finish collecting them all, they will be donated to a needy overseas school.

Seniors Shirts

Seniors Shirts have now been ordered and production is in the hands of our supplier. All going to plan students can expect to receive these around week 3 of Term 2. Watch this space for updates.

House Shirts

Remember that we now have House Shirts available for purchase. They look amazing. The shirts have the school logo on the front and house birds on the back. They are of course available in all house colours: Narairee - black, Karee - white, Nyunga - yellow and Pilleen – red. The cost is $17.00 each.

Online ordering

If you haven’t already used online ordering and would like to give it a try you can register an account with Schoolshop Online by following the links on the school website.

Key things to note about online ordering are:

• Online ordering is great for busy parents. Orders can be placed online at your convenience.
• Any orders placed online will be processed on the next uniform shop day (Monday/Thursday) and a note will be sent to your child’s classroom so they know when they will be able to collect it from the canteen. Please let them know to keep an eye out for the note. Please note that due to Uniform Shop hours being in the afternoon on Thursdays in 2016, orders processed on Thursdays may not reach your children until Friday.
• Please ensure that you include your child’s details as well as your own on the form ie. name and current class.
• Please be sure to update your child/children’s class for each new school year.

Pre-loved uniforms

We will buy back the following items in good condition to add to our supply of pre-loved uniforms: new style polos, new style shorts, skorts, pullovers, trackpants and zip-up cardigans.

Regards, Michelle Lee, Uniform Convenor

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