Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

Well done to our students and staff on a wonderful Term 3, filled with solid work and many highlights and notable achievements. I am especially pleased that our school community has remained well (Coronavirus free) and for this I am tremendously grateful. I do not know what will happen in this space but, as you know, I am determined to do my best to keep everyone safe and well.

Term 4 will be another busy end to a school year – mostly because we are concurrently wrapping up 2020 and planning 2021. There has been a change to the final week of school and we will provide a term planner to all families next term in Issue 32 (Week 2).  This will include swimming carnivals, graduation, annual awards assemblies, excursions, musicals, sleepovers and more.

Facebook

Because we have not been able to have families share in the activities at school we have begun to utilise Facebook more often.  The response to this has been extremely positive and the parents and friends of the school have appeared very happy with what we have shared and how we have shared it.  

I am wanting to do this more often so families can share in the excitement.  I will always tell families in advance of our intention and families will always have the opportunity to opt out.

The next big event for our school that will appear on Facebook is the Sports Fun Days which will be held in Week 1. 

• Wednesday - Prep and Year 1
• Thursday - Year 2 and 3
• Friday - Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 including the presentation to the winning house.

Book Week dress up day (16 October)

Homework in 2021

The P&C has asked the school to review its homework policy - which we are glad to do.  We will be seeking parent input via a survey and will use this information to frame how homework will look in 2021.  We will send the survey home in Issue 32 (Week 2).

School Resource Scheme 2021

We have been organising the School Resource Scheme for 2021 and will present it at the P&C meeting on Tuesday 20 October.  It will cover the resources that your children will need for the school year.  This year saw the resources total $120 for the year.  Next year will see prices increase as businesses increase their prices.  

Important information to know:

• The school makes no profit on this scheme.
• The school will never charge families for items that should be provided by the school - such as library books.
• The school will present a profit & loss statement to the P&C each meeting to show families that the funds are being directed to where we all agreed they would go.
• The scheme costs may vary from one year level to the next as we use different resources.
• You will be able to supply your own resources should you wish but you will end up paying twice as much.  We save families as we can make bulk purchases.
• High school schemes will cost between $250 - $350 annually.  Our school will be much less than this.

ACE project at PSSC

Last week 10 students represented our school at the ACE program at Pimpama State Secondary College.  

We all enjoyed ourselves and had so much fun we represented our school with pride. We were respectful to all, and we tried our best when competing against the other team. We had to use playdough to decorate a cheese cake and make our cheesecake look the best.  The goal was to convince people to buy our cheesecake.  Unfortunately we lost but we used perseverance to keep pushing ourselves to new limits and at the end of the day our group received a certificate for being the kindest, hardworking and respectful group.

This is all of us in a team meeting

The first day we went to the ACE program we had to take a lot of photos, but it was ok, because the next day we would see all the photos that were taken. Thomas was the photographer if you didn’t know.  The first thing we did was look at a cheesecake and then we had to talk about how we can make it look more interesting and delicious. The ideas came out so fast we had filled up the whole page of paper. Then it was morning tea. For morning tea we had juice boxes fruit and wedges. Then we went back to the library to do more research and design.  We had 30 minutes to plan more ideas for our slogan and what our products were to be called.

The second day was so fast and hard for our whole team.  As soon as we got there we all had 1 hour before morning tea.  We had to have our slogan ready, our video done, our poster done and our design done - all before 12:30pm.  

At 10:30 it was time for morning tea this time we had juice boxes fruit and fairy bread.  Then at 11:00 we headed back at the library.  Everyone was rushing to get the design finished because we only had one hour left.  But then the teacher said we had 25 minutes left to finish our whole product.  Everyone was stressing out and trying to finish everything at once.

So after all the hard work and teamwork in the excursion I think I can say we all had a great time and would love to do it again. I would like to say thank you to all of the people who helped run and participate in the ACE program.

( by Ataahua - 5C)

Plans for 2021

We have actually begun our plans for 2021 and across Term 4, we will frame what our 2021 school year will look like.  

Classes for 2021

Teachers will soon start to form the classes for next year.  The best advice I can provide parents is to leave the construction of the 2021 class lists to the teachers as they will have a completely unbiased view of how children will work together best.  If you have concerns about next year, please consult your child's current teacher.  

Moving schools next year?

If you are planning to move schools for next year, please email Mrs Finch so that we can complete the necessary transfers for you.  

Enrolments for 2021

We have less than 50 spaces left across our school for next year (Prep to Year 6) - including some out of catchment spaces.  Please tell friends who may be interested in joining our school community to get in quickly because these spaces will be filled by mid-October.

End of year announcement

During the week, the Director-General announced that the final two days of the regular school calendar will become student free days.  On top of this, he has approved special leave for staff as well to thank them for their wonderful work across the year.  This means that our school calendar needs to be re-designed.  Look out for the revised calendar in Issue 32 of the school newsletter. 

School resumes for Term 4

School resumes for Term 4 at 8:25am on Tuesday 6 October.  I hope that everyone enjoys a lovely spring break.  Keep well and stay healthy.

Kind regards

Vic