Filter Content
- Principal's news
- Excellence awards
- Great work this week
- What a show!
- Students now published authors!
- Year 3 excursion
- Free dress day (October 30)
- Staff appreciation day (October 30)
- Kindergarten visits commence
- Colour Explosion deadline is next Friday!
- OSHC news
- 2021 before & after school care bookings open
Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues
Week 3 is finished and it has certainly been a busy one. I am always very appreciative of our staff and the opportunities that they provide our community. We carefully meet every coronavirus restriction and we still maintain the momentum of opportunity for students. Unfortunately, I cannot report the same for our parents. The restrictions are keeping parents from being directly involved with their children at school and this frustrates me. The restrictions will, one day, lift and we will return to families enjoying moments with their children and teachers.
Road safety
I am sure by now that many families will have seen the reports on social media this week about three students helping some toddlers who looked as if they were going to cross onto Foxwell Road. I am very proud of the responsible actions shown by our students. At our school, we consistently speak of ways that we, as citizens, can serve others. We want our children to learn that citizenship starts now, as students at school, and not after they finish their schooling. I managed to catch a quick view of the footage and was immediately impressed but the selflessness shown by the girls. They had quite clearly placed the safety of these toddlers ahead of their own.
I must also applaud the driving of motorists at this time. While I have only briefly viewed the footage, it struck me that nearly every driver reacted quickly and evasively to ensure that the toddlers and our students were kept as safe as possible. I value greatly the care that our community shows for each other.
And while tragedy was avoided this time, it is all too easy for drivers to get it wrong. Please ensure that you never drive too quickly through the Kiss n Go or car park areas. One car in particular has been seen as moving too quickly around the children this past week. Please be very careful and courteous.
Book lists for 2021
Click here to access all of the book lists for 2021. You can order through the school supplier or print the lists and organise your own materials. Regardless of which method you prefer, your children must have these items for school next year. The school does not use communal resources and anything you purchase for your children remains your property and will not be given to other students.
Student Resource Scheme for 2021
The Student Resource Scheme was discussed at the P&C meeting earlier this week. Mrs Porch explained the new government requirements about the scheme including:
- The scheme needs to be reported on at each P&C meeting to show that the school is not profiting from the funds from families
- The letters of explanation need to identify the resources so that parents who choose, may opt to provide their own.
- Opting into the scheme means that families remain in and annual renewal is not necessary.
- Parents can opt out at anytime.
- Payment plans are available.
- The same policy applies to all state primary and secondary schools.
We will be sending these SRS letters to families via email in the coming days. Click here for all the 2021 SRS details.
Human relationships education
HRE is part of the Australian Curriculum so it must be taught at school. However, teaching children about sexuality and personal safety can evoke strong opinions from parents so it is important that all parents know what is covered in the program.
Our school will be using the True Relationships organisation again this year to assist teachers with the All School Program that will be covered. Click here to go to the website that will provide more information about the program. All students will be involved in the lessons - except if their parents opt them out. Teachers will send home information about the program and the opt out process.
Parent session: The parent information session is booked for October 28 at 2:45pm and will be held in the music room. Seating is limited to just 30 adults. Please email Michelle McMurtrie to reserve your place.
I have included the two information brochures again this week - one lower school and one upper school. I encourage you to peruse them closely and contact your child's teacher should you have any questions.
Lower primary brochure for download
Upper primary brochure for download
Best wishes to Ms Rafton
The Department of Education contacted me late last Friday to inform me that they were offering one of our teachers a transfer within the next week. Ms Rafton accepted the offer for family reasons, and will start at her new school on Monday. Mr Shannon Ingram will continue on as Ms Rafton's replacement for the remainder of the school year. I would like to extend my best wishes to Ms Rafton for a successful move.
Important dates
We will keep adding to this list of events as we finalise our plans the conclusion of the 2020 school year. Please check this list each week and add the pertinent information to your fridge calendars.
| Week | Date | Event |
| 4 | 26 October | Year 3 excursion to Ngutana Lui Aboriginal & Torres Islander Cultural Studies Centre (Group B)
|
| 28 October | HRE parent session at 2:45pm in the Music Centre | |
| 29 October | Rugby League gala day | |
| 30 October |
Staff appreciation day
|
|
| 30 October |
Free Dress Day
|
|
| 5 | 2 November | Year 5 Gold Rush excursion (Group A)
|
| 3 November | Year 5 Gold Rush excursion (Group B)
|
|
| 6 November | Sports gala day against Picnic Creek | |
| 7 | 20 November | Year 6 Challenge Day and Sleepover (camp) |
| 8 | 27 November | CRSS Colour Run |
| 9 | 3 December | Year 6 Graduation Dinner @ Southport Sharks |
| 4 December |
End of Year Awards Ceremony
|
|
| 10 | 7 December |
End of Year Awards Ceremony
|
| 7 December | Year 6 transition to high school day | |
| 7 December | Year 3 & 4 Swimming Fun Day | |
| 8 December |
End of Year Awards Ceremony
|
|
| 8 December | Year 5 & 6 Swimming Fun Day | |
| 9 December |
End of Year Awards and Graduation Ceremony
|
|
| 9 December |
|
|
| 10 December | Special Student Free Day 1 | |
| 11 December | Special Student Free Day 2 |
Kind regards
Vic
Well done to everyone who has been recognised with an Excellence Award this week.
Prep to Year 2
Year 3 to Year 6
STEM Olympiad
Pimpama State Secondary College
Imagine spending the day completing the work of a civil engineer. Well, that’s precisely the way some specially selected year 5 & 6 students spent last Friday. The students were invited to take part in Pimpama State Secondary College’s STEM Olympiad where they studied the problems of a civil engineer. They put their teamwork skills together to solve a multitude of problems from designing the tallest building, to creating a chair which would hold the weight of one team member. They were busy creating towers that held “oreos”, marble runs and boats, just to name a few. An inventive and enjoyable day was had by all - some of us even won trophies!
Our school museum
This term year 3 have been learning about living, non-living and once living in science. 3WH decided to open a pop up museum and our wonderful families contributed to our exhibit. We had living animals such as a bearded dragon, birds, green tree frogs and a guinea pig. Our exhibit on non-living was filled with crystals, car parts, toys and so much more. The most interesting exhibit was the non-living section we had so many amazing items from a snake skeleton to an umbilical cord. Classes from all over the school came for a tour. We had a blast and loved bringing our science unit to life.
Representative sport
Best wishes to Trey and Spencer when they represent South Coast at the State School Boys Hockey Championships at Ipswich. We are very proud of their achievement.
Year 1 in DigiDesign
This term students in year 1 will be learning to write algorithms using Dash robots. Students started to learn how to connect their robot to the app on their iPad using blue tooth and write a simple algorithm in the correct sequence.
Writing and maths in Year 2
Imran chose a selfie stick to share his work around persuasive writing. Meanwhile Nathen and Noah recorded chance possibilities in their maths explorations.
Miss Conroy earns special recognition
Over the recent holiday break, Miss Conroy was named the winner of the Kennelly Constructions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Achievement Award. Congratulations to Cheyanne as this is a fabulous achievement.
Cheyanne is a proud Wurundjeri woman, a primary school teacher and Indigenous leader. She helped introduce our school-wide program allowing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at Coomera Rivers State School to identify with and connect with their culture. As a member of the school's Indigenous Champions team, she has coordinated with AIME to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with a focus on learning the Yugambeh language.
Cheyanne was the first Aboriginal to receive the Sir Samuel Griffith Scholarship at Griffith University where she completed Bachelor of Primary Education and Bachelor in Child and Family Studies, both with distinction. Our school is incredibly proud of her and this achievement.
Smart money in Year 4
This week the Year 4 students participated in a Start Smart session run by ‘Coach Cash’ from the Commonwealth Bank. The session focused on beginning to educate children about financial maths, budgeting and the importance of saving. The catch phrase to remember is, ’Spend some on you, save some too!'
Year 1 visit was fun
Each week at school, I try to reward the class that has the highest attendance percentage. This week it was 1CM and they managed to achieve an incredible 99% attendance in Week 2 of this term. My visit to the room included the reading of the class story at the moment and some carpet games where I was working hard to trick them. I also spent some time perusing some of the excellent work they have been doing.
Congratulations to all of them on a super week of school.
And around the classrooms this week
Day 10
Year 6 calls every tenth day at school, Day 10, and, as luck would have it, Day 10 falls on every second Friday.
Day 10 was another highly successful day for everyone lucky enough to be involved last Friday. The wide range of activities on offer for our Year 6 students, gave them opportunities to engage and learn in their chosen areas of interest and passion. From coffee art with an expert, to creative arts, leveraging digital, hairdressing, baking, special effects make-up, Yoga, Zumba, cultural activities, sport and more; there was definitely plenty to excite, challenge and engage all students.
The Hour of Power
This week Year 4 students eagerly dived into their second round of Hour of POWER. These session are an opportunity for students to pursue their Passions, have new Opportunities, Wonder about new things, develop Empathy and strengthen Relationships. All the teachers involved love the chance to work with students from other classes and explore students’ interests. Everyone is super excited for our next session in a fortnight!
- Our sessions for Term 4 are:
- The Global Write
- Wellbeing Warriors
- Dauntless Debaters
- Minecraft Mini-City
2020 musical wows audiences
Congratulations to the cast and crew of the 2020 school musical, Cinderella Rockerfella. I was feeling anxious for the performers as I sat waiting for the curtains to open, but this soon turned to enjoyment as the show hooked me in. It never ceases to amaze me just how talented our children (& their teachers) are. It seems that the higher the challenge, the greater the determination to be successful and I am so proud of them all.
Check out the gallery for some snapshots of the show. The video will be available soon.
Back in August, Jacobs Well Environmental Centre invited three Year 6 students from Coomera Rivers to participate in a writer's workshop. This workshop was facilitated by the award winning author, Anita Bell. Students joined other budding authors from schools around the Gold Coast for a 3 day workshop where they created, planned, wrote, redrafted and published their very own stories, all under the guidance and tuition of Anita and supervising teachers.
This week, the students and school were presented with a professionally published book, inclusive of all the participating students work. A really big congratulations to our now published authors, Scarlett Smeltz, Isobel Pope and Emma Whitney who took home their own copy. This was also a very proud moment for Ms Wager, Mrs Dare and Mrs Walsh who accompanied our students to the workshops and witnessed just how much effort they placed in creating their brilliant stories. Students can also find a copy of their book in our library.
To Ngutana-Lui
Over the next two weeks the Year 3 students are visiting Ngutana-Lui, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies Centre in Brisbane. The purpose of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitation program is to promote reconciliation through developing cultural understanding and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The philosophy of the centre is based on a holistic view of creation and spirituality. This is the heart of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and is central to the program provided.
The students absolutely loved the opportunity to be immersed in some cultural activities across their day. See below some of the activities the students participated in during their excursion.
Day for Daniel
We are recognising Day for Daniel on Friday 30 October with a free dress day. We would like everyone to wear their best red clothes and provide a gold coin donation to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. For more information about this event, please click here.
Given the scale of our school workforce, we have chosen to have a single staff appreciation day instead of multiple days for the various roles within our school. The Staff Appreciation Day is planned for Friday 30 October.
Please let our staff know how much you appreciate them by sending them a personal message or, should you choose, by providing them a small gift. I know just how hard they work to contribute to this community and ultimately, your children.
This week saw the commencement of visits from some of our local kindergartens as part of our school transition program. The students from Coomera Playschool and OkeeDokee enjoyed having a sample of what school life entails. We look forward to welcoming other centres to visit in the coming weeks.
Introducing Miss Jodie
Our new OSHC service director
We are very pleased to introduce you to our new Coomera Rivers OSHC Director, Jodie Smith.
Jodie brings with her a wealth of experience in the OSHC industry and her personal and professional culture aligns with that of our school and community.
Jodie's addition to the team ensures that we continue to provide exceptional levels of service to our community.
Jodie's first day at our service will be Monday 2 November but you may see her around our school before then as she starts to transition over the coming week.
Children and Parent Corner
We have a new area at OSHC! Our Children and Parent Corner is officially up and running! This has been in the works for quite a few weeks now as the team scurried around finding the right equipment and set up for our family’s corner! This corner can be used by everyone and anyone! Have a question, suggestion or just have something you’d might like to say? Well this is what the corner is all about! We have three separate mailboxes for you labelled 'Tickled Pink', 'Green for Growth' and 'Questions Box'. All you have to do is pop what you write into the corresponding mailboxes. These will be read and answered weekly, then put into a scrapbook that will be on display for you to read. These can be anonymous or feel free to write your name. The location of this corner is in the OSHC room, next to our art cupboards. You will see a wonderful set up thanks to Miss Rae, as she put in so much time and effort to make our corner look spectacular!
As we near the end of the 2020 school year, it is time to start considering your before and after school care needs for 2021.
All current 2020 BSC and ASC bookings will cease after close of business Wednesday 9 December 2020. Bookings will not roll over to 2021. All families seeking care at Coomera Rivers OSHC in 2021 must complete a new booking request.
How does the booking process work?
Step 1 - Family submits booking requests
Booking requests are open now for families to apply for OSHC in 2021. Please ensure your start date for BSC and ASC is Wednesday 27 January 2021.
To enrol for BSC and/or ASC in 2021, please click here to submit a booking request.
Step 2 - Service sends booking offers
Booking requests received will be responded to within 2 business days.
Step 3 - Family accepts and confirms booking offer
Families need to accept and confirm booking offers within 2 days of receiving the booking offer email to finalise the booking process. This is done by following the steps that will be outlined in the booking offer email.
Please note the QikKids website is not optimised for use on mobile devices, including iPads and mobile phones. The enrolment process must be completed on a computer.
If you have any questions regarding this process please do not hesitate to contact the service via email
