31 March 2022

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Carers and Worongary community,

As we enter the final week of Term 1 and look back over the journey that this time has brought each and every one of us, I personally reflect on my 20 plus years in education and cannot say I have experienced anything like what this year has delivered. Our children have been confronted with a delayed start to their year due to Covid- 19, further school closures due to the significant weather event that brought severe flooding and through it all they, alongside you, have demonstrated resilience and bounced back after adversity. Something for each and every one of us to feel proud of as we continue to work together through these times.

Amongst all this, together we have endeavoured to push on through and enjoy the ‘normal’ events from incursions to supplement classroom learning, excursions and school community events including last week’s Cross Country. As we navigate the end of term we can look forward to our other planned community events including our Student Leadership Ceremony this coming Friday morning and our Prep to Year 2 Hat Parade to finish the term. There is much to be grateful for and given our start to the year it is even more important than ever to model mindful habits and reflect on the positives amongst the adversity.

Let’s take a look at some aspects within our school we can be grateful for since our last Pipeline edition:

STEM NEWS

Our fabulous duo, Noah and Kai, have again last week shone as they competed in a live remote tournament in order to convert their face-to-face invitation to Worlds into a virtual invitation. This was necessary as unfortunately we were advised that student travel is presently still on hold given the current global situation. Nonetheless the boys, alongside their committed support team, participated in a virtual experience last week taking 4th place within the alliance which has now given them their place to attend the virtual Worlds to be held 10 – 12 May, 2022. Congratulations again Noah and Kai! A special ‘Thank you’ to Mrs Pikunic for being able to coordinate this live event between classes, of course not without the support of Noah and Kai’s parents.

Our Regional Assistant Director, Mr Daniel Duke was put to the test on the day preceding the Live event, when Noah and Kai gave him a demonstration of their skill and talent before putting Mr Duke in the driving seat. Mr Duke was very impressed by the level of knowledge and skill displayed by both students.

During Mr Duke’s visit he also attended the new operational STEM facility. Our STEM teacher, Mrs Pikunic and ground staff, Mr T and Mr Bryden will be working this week to prepare the rooms ready for STEM lessons to utilise the magnificent STEM environment from the beginning of Term 2. A formal opening will be announced next term where community members will have an opportunity to see firsthand these outstanding facilities available to the students at Worongary State School.

Cross Country – CONGRATULATIONS

The sun was shining for our annual Cross-Country event and the array of white, black, yellow and red was abundant around the school and within the house tents on the Senior oval. The student participation was outstanding with students showing their team spirit by taking one step at a time to move themselves around the course, prepared by our fabulous Physical Education teacher, Mr Jay.

Congratulations to all students who put one foot in front of the other and powered through with determination to cross that finish line. A fine achievement!

THE WEEK AHEAD!

• Student Leadership Ceremony
  This Friday morning the much-awaited presentation of badges to our 2022 Student Leaders. This event has been ticketed so please ensure you have forwarded an RSVP to our school office. The ceremony will commence at 9:30am in our School Hall.

• Hat Parade - Prep to Year 2 Last day of Term 1
  Prep to Year 2 parents, we hope you have marked your calendar for our much-anticipated Hat Parade and performance this Friday afternoon in the school hall between 2 – 3pm. Families are invited to create their own masterpiece and have their child bring it along to school on Friday morning ready for this event. Students have also been creating masterpieces in specialist Art classes as an alternate option to wear for the event as well.

TERM 2: HERE WE COME!

A few points to note as we prepare for Term 2:

• Class Newsletters will be forwarded home at the commencement of Week 2. This newsletter provides families with an overview of the learning content for the various subject areas for a particular year level and other information relevant to your child’s particular class.

• Assemblies will continue on a fortnightly cycle:
  - Year 3 to 6 will commence in Week 2 (26 April) and occur fortnightly on Tuesdays between 2:15- 3pm (unless otherwise specified)
  - Prep to Year 2 will commence in Week 4 (9 May due to the Public holidays) and occur fortnightly on Mondays between 2:15-3pm (unless otherwise specified).

• Parent Teacher Interviews
  An email will be coming through on the first day of Term 2 with a booking link so parents/carers can schedule a mutually convenient interview time to meet with their child’s class teacher on Wednesday 27 April 2022. This is an opportunity for parents/carers to receive an update on how your child is progressing with their learning prior to receiving their Semester 1 report card at the end of Term 2. This conversation can help highlight next learning steps so that parents/carers can support their child’s learning further. Please note this interview is scheduled with the class teacher, however parents/carers may arrange a meeting with specialist staff through the school office.

• Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL): Student Code of Conduct
  Our PBL staff representative team has been an active professional learning community within Worongary State school for many years. This team reviews the systems and practices within the school through a collaborative approach. This year the focus of the team is to review all systems and is currently seeking parent representatives to be part of the review process. The role of the PBL parent representative is to:
  - Gain input from families and community to support the review
  - Provide parent and community perspective based on this input
  - Provide updates and seek further input from the parent/community group being represented
  - Meet with PBL representative as required ie: once a term
   
  Interested parents/carers are invited to share their ‘Expression of Interest’ by emailing office@worongaryss.eq.edu.au with “EOI PBL Rep” in the email title. EOI closes Monday 9th May

• NAPLAN – Year 3 and 5 students
  As mentioned in the last edition of Pipeline, the NAPLAN testing is scheduled in May commencing on May 11 (Term 2, Week 4) and this edition provided some baseline information and links for parents to gain a greater clarity of the purpose of NAPLAN.
  For any parents /carers who are concerned about their child’s involvement in the tests, contact can be made with Stephen Gaggin, Deputy Principal Yr 3 -6 to discuss their involvement and possible exemption or withdrawal.
   
  In preparation for these assessments, parents can support their child in the successful completion of these tests by:
  - avoiding any unnecessary student absences during the testing period where possible so they can complete the tests with their peers where possible
  - viewing the public demonstration site and/or engage their child in some practice NAPLAN activities using the link below.

With thanks

The commencement of Term 2 will see Mr Adam Brandt return from leave. Mr Brandt extended his leave for the remainder of the term but is looking forward to returning as Principal from the beginning of Term 2. I would like to thank Mrs Rochelle Cooke for continuing the learning and taking care of the students in Prep C whilst Ms Sienna Willis supported Mr Gaggin and myself within the leadership team. I look forward to returning to my position as Prep to Year 2 Deputy Principal and enjoying what Term 2 has on offer for our school community.

Thank you to the Worongary community for your support throughout Term 1. I would like to wish all our Worongary students a safe and enjoyable mid semester break. For those taking time out for a family holiday, I wish you safe travels and happy memories.

Looking forward to seeing everyone return safely for the commencement of Term 2 on Tuesday 19th April, 2022.

Until then keep smiling

Regards,
Shiree Salazar
Acting Principal

Save the Date

On Friday 16 March Worongary State School participated in Anti Bullying Day. The children in 5D blew up orange balloons and drew a face on them to symbolise a bully. On the count of 5 all the children burst their balloons to signify that we do not tolerate bullies and to represent eradicating them from our lives. We stand for a safe and supportive environment and respectful relationships.

FROM THE MUSIC ROOM

STAFFING UPDATE TERM 2

It is with great sadness, that I share with you, Miss Alexandra Auchere our Band Specialist, is relocating to Sydney with her family. We thank Miss Auchere for her enthusiasm and skill in guiding so many of our students to learn a Band Instrument at Worongary over the last three years. We wish her great happiness in her new location.

Ms Jones will continue in the role of Strings teacher in Term 2.

WORONGARY PICCOLOS PERFORMANCE

Last week our Worongary Piccolos performed for the very first time in 2022 at Junior School Assembly and what a great job they did! The students performed “I’m a Little Robot” and “My Singing Voice”. Congratulations students on a wonderful performance! Thank you, Ms Salazar, for sharing this photo taken.

ADVANCED STRINGS IMPROMPTU PERFORMANCE

Last week our Advanced Strings surprised many students arriving in the Central Games area before school to give an impromptu performance! Great job Strings and what a rich vibrant sound you made. Thank-you to Miss Pikunic from the STEM Department for your support and taking some photos of us!

YEAR 5 & 6 STRINGS WORKSHOP- ROBINA STATE HIGH SCHOOL

On Wednesday March 30 our Year 5 & 6 Strings students will be attending a half day workshop at Robina State High School. This will be an exciting opportunity for our students to experience musical life at Robina! Many thanks to Robina State High School for providing a bus for our children to return to Worongary at the completion of the workshop.

MUSICIANS OF THE WEEK

Congratulations to our Musicians of the Week.

Junior School – 2C
Senior School – 6B

END OF TERM 1 PARTY – CHOIRS, STRINGS & BAND

To celebrate our hard work in Term 1, we will be having an end of term ‘Milk, Cookies and a Movie Party’ on Monday of the last week – March 28. Students in the Choirs, Band and Strings are invited to come and have some snacks and spend time being social with their musical friends! Any donations of fresh unopened milk to assist with catering will be gratefully received on the morning of the event.

ENSEMBLE MUSIC @ WORONGARY

• Worongary Voices (Singing Years 3 – 6) Wednesday mornings 7:45am - 8:45am, Band Room
• Worongary Piccolos (Singing Years 1 – 2) Thursday mornings 7:45am – 8:45am, Music Room
• Band Ensemble (Years 5 – 6) Monday mornings 7:45am – 8:45am Band Room
• String Ensemble (Years 4 – 6) Tuesday mornings 7:45am – 8:45am Band Room

Have a wonderful restful break filled with Music!

Ms Katheryn Jones kjone416@eq.edu.au
Instrumental Music Teacher Strings and Classroom Music Teacher

FROM THE JAPANESE ROOM

Konnichi wa,

The last 2 weeks we have been practising our numbers and students are encouraged to do this at any opportunity- in the car, at home etc! We have also been discussing pets and their colours and again, can use this vocabulary daily.

I have also put charts in every classroom to help if students are away, want to catch up, reminders and free time activities.

Students will be doing a rotation of activities based on the term’s work of numbers, facts about Japan, colours, greetings and hiragana sounds where they play sensei to help their group.

Culture Note: We will be celebrating spring in Japan, ‘haru’ and the cherry blossoms are out! My favourite time, and hanami- flower viewing is in progress with parties under the Sakura trees. The whole country celebrates with cherry blossom food, cakes, clothing, perfume, wines, even toilet paper!! Let’s make Sakura trees in our class!

The cakes are amazing and too pretty to eat!! It’s the best time to be in Japan!!

Doomo arigatoo
Sensei Kim

As part of our end of term 1 celebrations we will be holding a Prep -Year 2 Hat Parade. Children are invited to make at home their own special hat to wear on the day! It could be a traditional bonnet, bunny ears, decorated sun hat, baseball cap or your child’s favourite dressing up hat.

The students will be parading their colourful creations around the hall and then each year level will perform a song learnt during Music with Mrs Jones.

The Parade is on Friday 1st April 2-3pm – Hall

We ask that you observe social distancing requirements whilst in attendance at this event and ensure you do not attend if you are feeling unwell.

We request that children bring their finished hats to class on the morning of the parade. We look forward to seeing all their creations!

Sienna Willis
Acting Deputy Principal

Will your child be ready for Prep?

Enrol them in a
Queensland Government Approved Kindergarten Program near you

This program is for children in the year before Prep who are at least 4 years of age by 30 June in the year in which they are enrolled to participate in the program. It is delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher.

The Queensland Government Approved Kindergarten Program plays an important role in preparing children for Prep.

Children learn many skills and concepts during the year and some are listed below:

• They learn the social skills necessary for them to interact appropriately in the school playground and make friends.
• They learn how to listen and follow directions.
• They learn how to co-ordinate and control their body and participate with strength in physical activities.
• They learn basic concepts which are the foundation for reading, writing and numeracy.
• They learn how to master their fine motor skills necessary for writing and using scissors.
• They learn how to express their ideas and feelings in an appropriate manner.
• They learn resilience.
• They develop confidence and a love for learning.

The Government encourages every child in this age group to attend a Government Approved Kindergarten Program for at least 15 hours per week in preparation for Prep. Children of non-working families are also eligible for at least 36 hours of child care per fortnight so that they can participate in the program. The Government gives an additional subsidy to reduce out of pocket expenses for families who have a health care or pension concession card, making the cost more affordable. Children of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander heritage are also entitled to this extra subsidy.

Look for this sign at a long day care centre near you.

From the Guidance Officer

Our children learn from us.. they watch and they listen and they follow our lead. They learn from us how to communicate with others, and how to feel about themselves.

None of us are perfect parents, and kids are incredibly resilient. However, it can be useful to take a look at how we speak to our kids. Are we helping them learn to be independent and calm or are we reacting to situations and therefore teaching them to react rather than respond calmly?

Happy parenting .. and as always, remember to breathe!

EXCURSIONS

P&C NEWS

P&C NEWS

Our first P&C Meeting will be held on Wednesday 4th May 2022. This may be a reasonably long meeting as it is the first for the year and it will also be our Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meeting starts at 4:30pm and the location has yet to be decided as we have to ensure all our serving members and executives can attend where possible, especially considering the current Vaccination mandate as per the Public Health Directive.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: P&C Executives and Members are defined as workers (volunteers) under the Public Health Directive. As such, this has created a massive impact on all P&Cs in QLD, including ours.

If an Executive or Member is on a school site in their capacity as a member or executive, they must be fully vaccinated, this stipulates it doesn't matter whether it is within school hours, or after school hours.

At the AGM all vital executive roles must be vacated, and all current memberships are lapsed. Become part of our WSS P&C- you won't regret it.

WSS P&C Membership; The following persons are eligible to be members of the Association however must be Covid vaccinated and potentially may be exempt from holding a blue card if you don’t meet the criteria.

• A parent of a child/student attending the school
• A staff member of the school
• An adult who is interested in the school’s welfare

Please go to our WSS P&C Facebook page to view what is required in each role. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

GRANTS

The WSS P&C have submitted another application for a Grant. If successful, we will have $100.000 towards our Senior Playground upgrades. We hope to hear between June- August if we have been successful in any of the grants we have applied for. Fingers crossed we are successful, as we are very passionate in getting this completed.

TUCKSHOP

The WSS Tuckshop ordinarily doesn't open on the last Friday of Term, however we are open to assist at The Stem reSUPport ~Sausage Sizzle on the last day of school (Friday 1st APRIL) and the proceeds* are going towards building our STEM Robotics. The Tuckshop Menu will not be running as normal on this day, as going into school holidays we already reduce our menu to ensure no stock loss or otherwise over the holidays. Instead we are assisting with this special fundraiser by cooking all the sausages and serving them up. There will be minimal Menu items available for first & second break from the original menu, and Nil other Hot food items other than the Sizzle will be offered.

We highly recommend ordering through QKR! For the sausage sizzle, as this will aid us in obtaining the correct food requirements and not over catering. There is no guarantee that there will be some items available over the counter for the sausage sizzle.

Frozen treats will still be available for purchase over the counter at Second break Playtime.

SENIOR SHIRTS

Last day to order 2022 Senior Shirts on Thursday 31st March 2022 (no exceptions). The shirts are not available throughout the year after this date and nil refunds, exchanges, returns etc will be accepted. The WSS P&C will collate the orders and send it to the manufacturers the very next day, to avoid any further delay. Once they have arrived, we will notify the community and they will be delivered to the students’ classrooms to bring home.

UNIFORM STORE

The uniform store is open this Thursday 31 March 2022 between 8am- 0930am. It will reopen Thursday 21st April 2022.

Please be advised that we no longer can house second hand uniforms, instead we have opened an additional group on Facebook called Worongary SS ONLY Second-hand Uniforms buy, swap, sell. If you can find anything you are looking for, please create a post requesting what you are chasing, and we will approve it. Alternatively, you can donate your old uniforms that still have some life in them to the office where they will pass on to families or students that may require one.

FUNDRAISING

Our Mother’s Day Stall has been scheduled for Thursday and Friday 5 & 6 May 2022. If you are able to spare an hour or so on any of these days to assist at the stall, please go to our Facebook Page from 4 April where you will find a link to the Volunteer signup sheet for this event. We appreciate anything you may be able to offer. Remember all volunteers must adhere to the Current Covid Vaccination Mandates and are required to show proof of your vaccination certificate to WSS P&C President Tracy Bosworth. If you are feeling unwell, please do not attend for the safety of our students.

WONDER RECYCLING AWARDS

Another Recycling initiative for our environment and School!

It's easy! Please, may the Worongary SS Families assist by collecting Bread bags you use each and every week from now until September 2022. This initiative is for any soft plastic specifically for containing bread loaves/ buns etc. Use one empty Bread bag to collect a bunch of other empty bread bags and then drop them off to the WSS Tuckshop where we will do the rest! It's that easy, you can get the whole family in on it too!

**NB** it is important that the Bread bags are not contaminated by other products, if we can also ensure that they are free from crumbs to reduce any further contamination. They do not need to be washed. Just empty the crumbs outside for the wildlife to munch on and collect the bags for WSS.

Not only are we doing extra recycling for our environment, but we have the chance of getting more sporting equipment for our school and going in the chance to win our very own REPLAS Exercise Circuit that is made completely from recycled soft plastics! Woah!

This Recycling incentive is only for the soft plastics specifically from containing bread, however you can still continue your general soft plastics recycling by either dropping your soft plastics (other than the bread bags) to the specific collection bins at Woolworths or drop them to your nearest REDcycle soft plastics.

CONTAINERS FOR CHANGE

We have received the official word of our last recycling efforts for Term 1 where all the money raised is going towards building our STEM Library. We fundraised another $96.30 to add to our previous $190.91. Which is fantastic. All up for Term 1 we have raised $287.21 towards educational books about STEM for our STEM library. What an effort!! Thank you!

The next recycling day starting Term 2 will be Friday 22 April 2022. So please continue to collect your eligible containers and drop them off on this day, or alternatively you can attend a recycling deposit area and donate it to our scheme ID C10179198.

“Thank you for all your support, please keep continuing to collect and support your School and the environment. We cannot 'make the change' for our environment without your helpful container’s contribution every fortnight. We cannot 'make the change' to improve our STEM class requirements without you! Can you be part of our Change???”

EXCITING NEWS

Raw Challenge GOLD Coast recently held an event on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March 2022. A small, dedicated group of our parent community associated with RAW Challenge Gold Coast and our STEM Robotics building at WSS, arranged with RAW to donate all the eligible containers for recycling and donate them to our scheme ID which in turn is being directly injected into our next Initiative: STEM Robotics. We Thank you!

We collected 3 x Bulka bags (about the size of a pallet {x3}) of eligible containers which has raised a further $162.00 towards our Robotics STEM initiative. That’s most welcomed and amazing! Thankyou RAW Challenge Gold Coast for your support and kind donation.

For further information and events held at Numinbah- please visit the RAW Challenge Gold coast website, linked below.

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