Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

Report cards

The school emailed the Semester 1 student report cards home yesterday.  Please check your email in-boxes for copies.  Remember to place equal value on academic progress and effort grades.  A strong work ethic is will maximise learning outcomes each day so continue to promote this with your children.

Sports days

We very much enjoyed the sports fun days this week with races, field events and the very popular tug-o-war.  The full wrap and galleries are in the sports news section below.  

Thank you to the families for supporting the students and the event once again this year.  Your attendance and positive encouragement has an enormous impact on the enjoyment levels.

Thank you to the P&C for supporting the days again this year.  Most people do not see their work as it is mostly behind the scenes.  But Subway lunches, staffing the cafe for the day, and acknowledging staff are just some of the jobs they fulfilled each day.  

And thank you to our school staff for their commitment to ensuring that the event was memorable for our children.  Special thanks to Ms Findlay, Mrs Duffy, Mr Burrows and Mr Barnes for their hard work.

Colman, in fourth place after Day 1, blitzed the competition on Day 2 and emerged victorious at the close of the carnival.

Attendance breakfast

We acknowledged students whose attendance this term met the target number of days at school.  To congratulate them, we cooked pancakes.  I must apologise to families for my poor communication regarding the event.  It led to confusion and some families being unaware of the event.

Thank you to our P&C for supporting this event and to the staff who cooked and served our students.

A very generous offer

One of our school mums is a talented and published author.  Montanna has very generously donated a copy of her book ‘The Forest of Tukino’ for each of the students in Year 6.  Click here to learn about her and her story.

The book, The Forest of Tukino, follows the stories of four different forest creatures – each experiencing a form of domestic violence.  I have read the book and found it a clever tale where the stories, initially appearing separate and isolated, all intertwine with, for me, a very poignant conclusion – AKA The Beginning.   When you read the book, you will see what I mean by this.

I am convinced that the story will be a very powerful tool for family conversations about the harmful effects of coercive control and domestic and family violence. The book launch for The Forest of Tùkino took place in early May, in the lead up to Domestic and Family Violence prevention month here in Australia.

How to get a FREE copy:

A FREE copy of the book is available to Year 6 students (Year 6 only), should you wish for them to have it.  Simply email me with your child’s name and class and we will send a copy home.

Helpful supports:

Should you or someone you know need support due to domestic or family violence, there is help available. 

• Queensland Government Support 
• White Ribbon Australia 
• The school’s Guidance Officer and Social Worker are also available to assist.  Contact the school to speak with them.

School chess tournament

Our Semester 1 chess competition finished this week.  As a club, our chess knowledge and strategy is improving all the time, and the current quality is excellent.  

Semester 1 winners:

• Junior champion (Prep to Year 3) - Coleton
• Senior champion (Year 4-6) - Danika
• Coach's awards - Kayreen, Harry and Sam

Thank you to our chess coaches, Ms Lewis and Ms Vanessa, and our Head Coach Stephen from Gardner Chess, for a great semester of learning and fun.

Please contact the school office if you would like your child to join chess club.

Thank you

Thank you to staff and families for a wonderful Semester 1.  School resumes on Monday 8 July at 8:30am.  Please enjoy a busy and safe winter vacation, preparing for another busy term ahead. 

Some of the  headline activities for Term 3 include:

• Sea World excursions for Prep students
• Eisteddfods competitions for our band and strings ensembles
• Inter-school sport
• All schools touch football and Oztag competitions
• Year 4 day camps
• NAIDOC week celebrations
• Public speaking competitions
• Parent-teacher interviews and 
• The opening of the Crusaders Cafe (Run by our P&C Association)

Happy holidays

Vic