Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

Week 27 of the school year has seen some more amazing achievements and the scary reminder that coronavirus is very close by.

Highlights for me this week include:

• The amazing skills of the Year 6 debating team when they won The Great Debate against Pimpama State Secondary College for the sixth consecutive year.  Well done to all concerned.

   

• Year 3WH being interviewed for inclusion in the Gold Coast Bulletin.  
• The Prep and Year 6 buddy program has been heart-warming

     

• Mrs Pinnington leading her workshops at the statewide iEducate conference.  Both of her classes were sold out in moments.

Coronavirus is close by

It was troubling to learn that we have some confirmed cases very close by.  The threat of the virus affecting our community is very real so each of us needs to play their part in protecting each other.  

Families who know me, know how much I value attendance at school - but at the moment, health comes first.  If your children are unwell, please make sure that they do not attend school.  If they show any of the coronavirus symptoms below, they must get tested.

Symptoms of COVID-19 can range from mild illness to pneumonia. Some people will recover easily, and others may get very sick very quickly. People with coronavirus may experience symptoms such as:

• • fever
  • respiratory symptoms
  • coughing
  • sore throat
  • shortness of breath
  • Other symptoms can include runny nose, headache, muscle or joint pains, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, loss of sense of smell, altered sense of taste, loss of appetite and fatigue.

Remember to practice:

• Excellent hand hygiene and 
• Social distancing.  This is one area that all adults need to improve on.  We are not accustomed to maintaining these distances in our conversations and social activities but the costs of not trying to do this could be awful.

Free dress day is Thursday

Our Student Council is holding a free dress day on Thursday 3 September.  We are asking everyone for a gold coin donation and we will be supporting the Children's Hospital Foundation.  The theme is 'Twinning'

I need a twin and I would love for boys and girls to twin with me.  I will be wearing my blue denim jeans and a plain white shirt.  I wonder how many twins I can get?

Coomera Cup is this week

Good luck to our sports teams when they compete against Coomera Springs teams in touch football and rugby league this week.  We will be trying to stream live to Facebook once we obtain parent consent.  Good luck to all of our players and coaches.

Kind regards

Vic

Well done to all students who earned Excellence Awards this week.

Prep and Year 1

Year 2 and Year 3

Year 4

Year 5 and Year 6

Mathletics

Congratulations to our Mathletics Masters this week

Diamond promotions continue

Well done girls!

Prep and Year 6 class buddies

eSports team preparing for competition

Good luck to our eSports team and Ms Parker when they compete in the FUSE Cup in Week 9.  We have been training hard.

And meanwhile in the classrooms...

Thursday afternoon saw our very first debating competition take place where Year 6 students competed in The Great Debate. The Great Debate is now in its 6th year and sees students from Year 6 compete in two debates against Pimpama State Secondary College's Year 7 students. The aim of the debate is to prove that it doesn't matter how old you are, if your arguments are strong and well supported with credible evidence, if you deliver your arguments with a passionate confidence, you can persuade any audience. Your voice matters!

Debating exemplifies our 'Good at Learning, Good at Life' mission as it provides students with an opportunity to critically analyse contemporary issues through multiple lenses. Not only are they developing their oratory skills and confidence but they are developing essential skills that will make them knowledgeable and articulate future leaders and citizens.

The topics and our teams this year were:

Debate 1: That peer pressure is a good thing (CRSS - Affirmative)
CRSS Team: Summer, Ruby, Porsche and Scarlett
Chairperson: Tiana
Timekeeper: Taliea

Debate 2: That schools should have remained open during the COVID-19 restrictions (CRSS - Negative)
CRSS Team: Isabella, Kai, Hannah and Abbey

Our students all delivered strong arguments and spoke with such confidence and conviction that saw them win both these debates. So it looks like we need to embrace the power of peer pressure and raise strong and resilient children, and we are all in support of the government's decision to close schools to most students at the beginning of Term 2. We have future politicians in the making!

The Great Debate is normally the competition that kickstarts our extensive debating program at Coomera Rivers. However, this year, it will be the only debating competition for the year due to COVID-19 restrictions which is a real shame given the depth of talent we have in this area at our school. We've certainly developed a reputation for producing very strong debating teams.

A very big thank you to our adjudicators Rod Dixon and Francesca Thorn from Toastmasters who are very experienced in the public speaking and debating arena. Their feedback was extremely complementary and they were once again impressed with just how well primary school students can persuade and entertain an audience.

Debating is a program we value highly at Coomera Rivers and we look forward to being able to get back on track in future debates next year.  Congratulations to our students on a very deserving win.

Congratulations to 3WH, Miss Wolbers and Mrs Hardwick.  This week the Gold Coast Bulletin visited the 3WH classroom to cover the story on the publication of their global book, A Snapshot in Time, (Coronavirus 2020).  Look out for their familiar faces in the Gold Coast Bulletin sometime over the next week.  How exciting!

AFLQ Cup

On Wednesday the 26th, Coomera Rivers competed in the AFLQ Schools Cup. They were in a pool playing against Helensvale SS and Miami SS. The first game against Helensvale saw the CRSS team winning by 60 points. The boys came out firing, kicking a whopping 9 goals in a very fast paced game. However, in the second pool game, Miami got an early jump in the first half, kicking 2 goals and a hand full of points. Unfortunately, CRSS only scored 1 point. The boys reset for the second half and came back very competitively kicking the next two goals, creating a very close game. Unfortunately, the game ended, and the boys did not progress to the finals, losing by 5 points in their final pool game. The Coomera Rivers AFL team represented our school and community proudly.

Coomera Rivers Touch Competition

Our Coomera Rivers Touch competition drew to a close on Monday with all 4 Grand Finals getting played. It was great to see the teacher support, the crowds that were there to watch the games and the competitors who gave it their all during their match.

Grand final winners
Year 3: Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner (3B) beat Diamonds in the Rough (3MB)
Player of the Match: Connor

Year 4: Winners are Grinners (4M) beat The Frosties (4F)
Player of the Match: Seantayne

Year 5: 5Crusaders (5C) beat The Vikings (5M)
Player of the Match: Ihaka

Year 6: NOMOP (6K) beat Fishy Nippies (6F)
Player of the Match: Kobie

Broadwater District Cricket

Congratulations to Chris for being selected as the Broadwater District Wicket Keeper in the U12 cricket side.  This is a superb achievement.

Coomera Cup

In Week 8, we have our Senior Girls Touch team and our Senior Rugby League team taking on teams from Coomera Springs. The winners of each game will be awarded with the Coomera Cup trophy. We are very excited for this opportunity to represent the school in sport in 2020.

Coomera Rivers Soccer Competition

Classes from Grades 3-6 have each nominated a team to compete in our Coomera Rivers Soccer competition. We are excited to provide our students with these opportunities learn different sports, compete with their mates, and display Fun, Friendship and Fitness. Thanks to our Year 6 students who have been refereeing our junior games.

Playground Play

Who doesn’t love a surprise visit to the playground? The children at OSHC absolutely love going to the playground. We had the chance to visit the playground and we had so much fun! Swinging upside down, hanging around like monkeys, slipping and sliding on our slides, and having a go on the flying fox!

Watching the kids have so much fun made OSHC realise we need more playground play! So, we are trying to squeeze in playground play as much as we can in our program, especially before the summer sun comes up.

The children understand that they need to be safe and respectful on the playground, they behave so well, we are always impressed with the kid’s attitudes after a good play on the playground!

Outside School Hours Care

OSHC Director

The Coomera Rivers State School P&C Association is seeking a full-time OSHC Director to be responsible for the day-to-day operations of their Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service.

The Director will have the opportunity to lead quality education and care in a growing and dynamic service. The P&C are seeking someone with sound organisational and management ability, ideally with robust experience in a school age care environment. This is an excellent opportunity for an OSHC professional who has a passion for quality and the ability to work autonomously.

Applicants must be dedicated to creating a safe, welcoming and enjoyable environment for school age children. The ideal candidate will oversee the design and implementation of engaging programs that encourage and support positive outcomes for all children aligned to ‘My Time, Our Place’ Framework for School Age Care.

Click here to go to the advertisement.

OSHC Senior Educator

We also have a new position in our OSHC team for a OSHC Senior Educator. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in this role, please refer to the below link for more details and how to apply.

Click here to go to the advertisement.

Friday 4 September 2020 is a student free day and our OSHC service are taking bookings for a Superhero Student Free Day Adventure!

Student free day bookings are open to ALL families of schools. You do NOT have to attend the before and / or after school service to be able to attend student free day care. Enrolments for the upcoming student free day are very welcome from all of our Coomera Rivers families.

Please be aware that there are limited spaces so reserve your spot today!

For bookings or further enquiries please contact us:
Phone: 5596 8377
Mobile: 0455 968 377
Email: croshc@coomerariversss.eq.edu.au

Bookings are open now

Vacation Care bookings are open to ALL families of schools and limited vacancies are still available. Our current availability is:

• Monday 21 September - 16
• Tuesday 22 September - 19
• Wednesday 23 September - 10
• Thursday 24 September - 11
• Friday 25 September - 12
• Monday 28 September - 18
• Tuesday 29 September - 10
• Wednesday 30 September - 6
• Thursday 1 October - 13
• Friday 2 October - 13

There is no minimum number of days that you need to attend - just book for the days you need.

Price includes breakfast and afternoon tea.

All children require the following items every day of Vacation care:

• Morning tea
• lunch
• water bottle
• closed in shoes
• brimmed hat (no caps)
• Sun safe clothing (no singlets or stroppy dresses)

The details of the upcoming program are attached. The program colour code is:

Green = Excursions
Orange = Incursions
White - In Service days

Important Vacation Care booking dates:

• Wednesday 9 September 2020 Excursion t-shirt orders close
  – after this date your choice of shirt size will be limited to stock we have on hand.
• Sunday 13 September 2020 Last day to make changes to booking requests
• Monday 14 September 2020 Service begins processing booking requests and sending confirmation emails

For bookings or further enquiries please contact us:
Phone: 5596 8377
Mobile: 0455 968 377
Email: croshc@coomerariversss.eq.edu.au

The 2020 Year Book is under construction now and, as with previous years, it is going to be a fantastic reflection of a year full of wonderful activities and memories for students to keep for years to come.
2020 Year Book orders are now available to order on Flexischools and the deadline to order is 4pm Friday 23 October. We will only be ordering from the printer the required copies from orders received so please be sure not to be miss this deadline!
If you do require a deadline extension, you MUST email the P&C before the deadline to request one.
* Please note - Year 6 students receive a complimentary copy of the Year Book at graduation (* Conditions apply)

We would like to offer our Prep students the chance to create their own little masterpiece as a souvenir of their first year at school and time in Prep.

While saved artwork on paper can tear and fade, children’s art that is turned into any one of the products listed below can be enjoyed for many years.  And what a great Christmas gift they would make!

The items below are available to purchase now through Flexischools:

Please find below the important dates in relation to this opportunity:

If you do require a deadline extension you MUST email the P&C prior to the deadline to request one.

Each year we offer our graduating class the chance to purchase a signature bear as a memento of their time at Coomera Rivers.

The signature bears are available to order now via Flexischools with orders closing on Wednesday 2 September at 4pm. If you do require a deadline extension you MUST email the P&C prior to the deadline to request one.

Once the deadline has past, orders will then be arranged and personalised (with class of 2020 school logo) and will arrive in time to be distributed to class late in Term 4 with students offered the opportunity to have their bears signed by their peers and teachers before bringing them home.

If you require more information please email the P&C.

We have had to take our Father’s Day Stall online this year.

Visit Flexischools to view our range of Father’s Day (and Grandfather’s Day) presents and place your order.  Our stock is limited so get in quick to make sure you secure your awesome gifts.

Orders will be sent home within a week of being placed.

Orders close on Tuesday 21 August at 4:00pm if not sold out prior.

This year, for every purchase made, families will receive a free raffle ticket in our Father’s Day Raffle.  

For further details, please contact the P&C.