Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

The cold weather has arrived this week and we have enjoyed 5*C starts to the school day on both Thursday and Friday mornings - we are still some way off any frosts though.  Despite feeling the winter chill outside, the classrooms are lovely and warm.  This is made even more comfortable following the wonderful State of Origin result from Wednesday evening.  

The oval and a lot of the lawn areas around the school are still suffering from the autumn rains.  The grass looks green but the sub-surface is still soft mud.  We still cannot use the oval but we are getting closer - so long as we do not receive any more rain.

The young learners of Coomera Rivers have been shining these past few weeks.  The school mySpeak competition has drawn to an end, the Mathletics challenge has one week remaining, the chess competition has been completed and our Year 2 learners have been ripping into their maths learning.

And senior students have been representing our school as team members on the various sporting fields or courts.

Chess

Our school chess club meets every Wednesday afternoon after school. We undertake coaching on chess strategy, play friendly matches against each other and in school tournaments, and prepare for and participate in regional tournaments.  

Thank you to the staff who volunteer their time each week for our chess club.  Thank you also to our coach, Stephen who provides us the mental challenge each week.

Our Semester 1 school chess tournament finished recently and we conducted our presentation ceremony this week. Congratulations to:

• Tiaki
• Taylor
• Landon
• Emma
• Bodhi
• Hala

Pyjama Day is coming

Book Fair sales start on Monday

Thank you to Miss Katie for her wonderful work in setting up for the Book Fair this week.  If you would like to purchase books or stationery for your children, make sure you come in to the iCentre before or after school this week.  

The Book Fair sales close Friday morning.

Past students shine in Foxwell musical

On Wednesday, Mrs Boyd and Miss Ellison walked the students involved with Wakakirri and the REACH program over to Foxwell State Secondary College to watch their production of Matilda. Our learners were blown away by the energy and talent these high schoolers have! Upon returning, students collaborated to create a ‘golden stars’ card where we shared with the cast our favourite parts of the musical.

A dozen or more of our school staff also attended the musical performances on the Thursday and Friday evenings.  It was so exciting to see our past students absolutely shining on stage.  Thank you to Foxwell College for this wonderful community event.

COVID and Flu update

Not surprisingly, our attendance has been affected by both the flu and COVID.  Numbers for both are rising again so please keep an eye out for signs and symptoms of both.  If your children are sick, they need to stay home.  Please help us try to minimise the risk of infection at school.  

Report cards and parent-teacher interviews

Report cards will be sent home on the last day of school this term.  They will be emailed to families.  Please keep an eager eye out for them in your inboxes.

Parent teacher interviews will be conducted in Week 2 of next term.  I will advertise the dates and how to book your interview in the next issue of the school celebrations newsletter (Issue #9).

Cost of living continues to climb (Reminder)

I am acutely aware of the financial stress that the rising cost of living is placing on family life - especially the rising rental costs.  A growing number of our families are being significantly affected by this, so we will continue to do some little things that we hope may help. 

We have a small supply of exercise books and uniform items that we will provide free of charge to children whose families cannot currently afford them.  So if you need a little help, or are in a position where you can donate items for school (to add to the uniforms and unused stationery supplies), we are only too glad to assist. 

Kind regards

Vic