Principal's news
Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues
Term 1 has officially concluded and I have been absolutely delighted with the achievements and opportunities that our school has provided. I think a glance over the celebrations newsletters each fortnight will attest to this.
We bid farewell to Mr Lewis
I would like to congratulate Mr Lewis (6L) on recently achieving permanency with the Department of Education. Unfortunately for Coomera Rivers, this means he will transfer to Pimpama State Primary College from the start of Term 2. I have admired his growth & development as a teacher across the past couple of years and Pimpama are certainly lucky to have his services and skills. I know that he will commit to Pimpama just as significantly as he has done for Coomera Rivers. Replacing Mr Lewis will be Mrs Barnes who is returning from long service leave. Welcome back Mrs Barnes.
What is in our sights this year?
Our aspiration for every student is to be
Good at learning - Good at life
To achieve this in 2023, we will be focused on:
Reading
- We are focused on all students developing a deep love of reading and being successful in learning to read and comprehend texts.
- We need families to read at home - a lot!
Deep learning
- We will be further developing character, citizenship and collaboration skills for all learners.
- We need all students to attend school as a strong routine. Our target is 95% attendance. We need families to create strong school routines across each week and each day.
Does strong attendance make any difference?
Strong attendance leads to optimum learning outcomes and lower anxiety for children and stronger partnerships between parents and teachers - it is as simple as that.
Attendance celebration breakfast
We acknowledged students who achieved the 95% attendance target this term with a special pancake breakfast on Thursday morning. Thank you sincerely to staff who contributed to make this massive logistical undertaking work so smoothly.
We will measure again from the start of Term 2.
Feedback about the celebration breakfast has mostly been positive. This is pleasing as the celebration was designed to recognise students who have been able to maintain excellent attendance across the term.
The two key criticisms leveled at the event were:
- The school is encouraging sick children to attend
- It was unfair that some students missed out because they didn't reach the target
The celebration is unashamedly designed to encourage and celebrate school attendance. We have never asked children to attend when they are unwell - nor do we want them to. While I would love for every student to experience the celebration, they all need to earn it for it to be of any value. I do not consider non-participation in the celebration as a punishment. It is a consequence of circumstances and we all experience these disappoinments in life.
I encourage everyone to set a new goal regarding their attendance for Term 2. It will be worth the effort!
Kokoda training session 2
Our most recent weekend training session saw us hit the hills and trails of the Nerang State Forest. Once again we were off to an early start and we ran into the state forest to complete our hill runs and prepare for the kinds of surfaces that we will experience when we undfertake the School's kokoda Challenge in June. Our next training session will see us return to Nerang once again, but this time the intensity will be increased quite a lot. We will run harder for longer and we will begin to break the squad members into competition teams.
Holiday training program
Two of our Kokoda coaches have created a vacation training program for the squad. Thank you to Ms McLean and Mrs Broy. Even if you are not involved in Kokoda, feel free to follow the program.
Good Start program
Selected Year 5 and 6 students attended our Good Start program this term and learned about 'Healthy Kai (food) for a Healthy Life.' Our educational facilitator, Amy, empowered our students to eat foods from the five food groups every day. Our students learned with hands-on activities and even got to experience making and eating some healthy snacks. Mr Campbell, our very own OSCH educator, was even invited as a guest speaker to talk about his story and health journey and enjoyed it so much, he now wants to become a regular attendee.
Next term, the Good Start Program will be on offer for Year 3 and 4 students who identify with a Māori or Pasifika background. The content, language and traditions embedded in this program are of our Pasifika cultures.
No parking in the Kiss n Go
I ask all parents and carers to please use the school Kiss n Go and car park areas as they are designed. There has been increasing frequency of cars parking in the front part of the Kiss n Go in the morning (the area after the pedestrian crossing towards the hall). Please do not do this as it strangles the flow of traffic and is very frustrating to other parents doing the right thing.
Autism awareness day
I hope that everyone enjoys a wonderful Easter vacation.
Kind regards
Vic