Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

May I begin this week's issue by extending our collective best wishes those affected by the bush fires in the hinterland.  I sincerely hope that families and property remain safe and well.  The Year 5 students are studying natural disasters in class at the moment and bush fires are included in their research.  This natural disaster is too close to us.  

This issue is probably the biggest issue of the year so far.  It is hard to fathom just how much happens around our school and for our children.  I won't go into detail about everything in this section but please continue to scroll through the stories below to see both what has been happening this week and what is on the horizon and heading our way. 

Exciting events and achievements this week included:

• Author visit in the lead up to Book Week (Term 4)
• SSC Invitational athletics carnival was awesome fun
• Cluster chess tournament with lots of our players impressing
• ACE project winners
• eSports - Coomera Rivers was the only public school invited to the event that saw the most prestigious and innovative private schools on the Gold Coast come together.  It is very satisfying and humbling to see us recognised alongside these schools
• Year 2 enjoyed their excursion to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. 

Coming events include:

• Parent-teacher interviews (this coming Monday)
• Young Change Agents pesentations (Tuesday evening)
• Sports Fun Days (Week 10)
• Special assemblies (Week 10)
• Book Week (Term 4 Week 2)

P&C conference

Thank you to our P&C executive for attending the annual P&C's Queensland State Conference this weekend.  It is a very full program aimed at developing the skills and knowledge of P&Cs across the state. I learned today that there are 1230 P&C Associations in Queensland with over 24 000 volunteers in schools who collectively raised over 30 million dollars for thier schools in 2018.   Amazing!  

Lights!  Coomera!  Action!

Auditions for our Lights! Coomera! Action event have been running over Weeks 7 and 8 but there’s still a few decisions that need to be made around the senior dance competition. We are hoping to have this finalised this week. Our student councillors have been giving up their lunch breaks to judge these performances and provide each performer with some encouraging feedback. They now appreciate how hard it is to judge these acts and only choose the top 3. However, with the support of staff, they’ve been doing an exceptional job.

Mark these dates in your calendars because we are going to be showcasing the talent of our Coomera Rivers winners and runners up very soon in the following assemblies.

• Lights Coomera Action Runners Up Assembly – Monday 16th September (Juniors 8:30AM & Seniors 1:30)  Students who have been awarded a 2nd or 3rd placing will perform at both the junior and the senior assembly.

• Lights! Coomera! Action – Winners Showcase Assembly – Friday 20th September (Juniors 8:30AM & Seniors 1:30)

Students who have been awarded 1st place will perform at both the junior and the senior assemblies. There is also a special performance by our very own student councillors.

Treasure hunt

This week, avid train spotters will be on the look out for Wonder Woman.  Find her somewhere else in the newsletter and email Mrs Artz with the story title before 4:00pm each Tuesday.  This is what she looks like.  Winners receive a slushie for each child in the family and every entry earns a ticket into the draw to win $25 at the book fair.

Last week readers had to find Captain America.  The lucky winners were:

• Sophie (3L) and Abbie (1S) win the slushies this week.  

Have a great week

Kind regards

Vic