Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

Week 8 was rather a big week at Coomera Rivers. Graduation dinner, class field trips, swimming lessons, chess finals, strings concert, water and zoology studies and of course, the colour explosion. All this is on top of regular class activities as well. Congratulations to everyone who contributed to the success of these events and activities.

I was amused:

• with the girls room at sleepover with how many suitcases were used for the one night sleepover; and
• with the boys room at sleepover on how the boys could make one small bag of belongings spread from almost one side of the hall to the other.

Graduation dinner

Thank you to Mrs Artz and Mrs McMurtrie for coordinating the Year 6 Graduation Dinner this week.  The full story of the evening is later in this issue but it truly was a wonderful evening.  The 'feel' of the room was one of positive collegiality and unity.  It was a wonderful event.

Colour explosion day

Thank you to our P&C and staff for organising and running the Colour Explosion this week.  It was a lot of fun and the Facebook comments were very positive.  Family colour explosion returns next year - COVID dependent of course!

Report cards

We will email report cards to families on Tuesday 8 December.  Please check junk boxes as sometimes they deliver there.  

Homework survey

How would you like homework to look in 2021?  How would your children like it to be?  Please complete the parent and student surveys by next Thursday evening.  

Parent survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QD3SVVT 

Student survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QYTXXDR  

Awards assemblies

We are holding individual assemblies for our annual awards this year.  The assemblies will be held in the school hall.  We will be inviting one parent of each family to attend. We will also inform families of award winners before the event.  This is because we are limited to one person for each 2m2 and with 180 students and their teachers, our COVID plan limits of the hall area are quickly reached.   

Gastro is not fun

Gastro is still about.  Please let school or OSHC know if your family is affected by this .  

Important dates

We will keep making necessary adjustments to this calendar 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.  

Kind regards

Vic

Well done to these students on earning Excellence Awards this week.

Prep to Year 2

Year 3 to Year 6

Prep swimmimg lessons begin

Brianna excels with bat and ball

Brianna competed in the state cricket titles recently.  Her stats across the 6 matches were very impressive.

Batting:  116 runs off 149 balls (Strike rate of 78)

Bowling:  18 overs / 5 maidens with figures of 5 for 55

Trey earns Queensland selection

Congratulations to Trey on his selection in the Queensland indoor hockey team last weekend.  He will travel to Wollongong once COVID restrictions ease, and then train in Brisbane to get ready for the Australian championships.

2B investigate Christmas

Mrs Parker joined 2B this week and they had great fun researching Christmas around the World.  They made iMovies to show what they learned. Learners were involved in country selection, research, recording and editing.

Year 3 Koala Rangers aim to make a difference

On Wednesday 3WH became council koala rangers for the day. To finish off their writing unit and give their final information report a real purpose and audience they dropped them in the local letter boxes with a letter on how to help the koalas. Ranger Sheridan took them on a walk in the local koala corridor and they learned all about how to spot a koala and what to do if they see one.

What the rangers thought:

• It was so exciting putting my work in someone’s letter box because now people will get to see my work and maybe that will help the koalas. – Ella 3H
• It was so cool to find clues like a detective. I thought it was interesting that the koala poop actually smells nice. – Kyris 3W

Promoting water awareness in 2M

2M have been MESH'ing Maths, English, Science and HASS together this term to learn all about water and what they can do to help the water cycle continue. Originally the task was to design and create a water bottle holder label that would promote why water is important and ways to save it. After investigating why water is important, the class watched a video called 'Water Walk', and were really moved by what they heard and saw. They could not believe that this was actually happening somewhere in the world in 2020. So 2M decided to make others aware of this by sharing what they know about water.

To make it fun and interesting 2M have been busy making posters, finding and creating images and making the walk interactive with a word search, bucket balance practise, weight lifting and giving others the opportunity to contribute to the walk as well. They are also going to take their parents on a virtual tour of the walk once they have it set up.  2M can't wait to share their Water Awareness Walk with everyone.

Christmas stars impress

Miss Kalinka has been teaching students how to create these paper Christmas Stars.  They are very impressive as Mr Meijboom learned.

Who wants to own a zoo?

On Tuesday grade 3 became a zoo. The children and staff dressed up as keepers and animals.  They have been learning all about living things as part of their Science unit. The students enjoyed an excursion to the Taronga Zoo… virtually of course!

Students and teachers dressed up as animals and zookeepers. There were pandas, lions, tigers, crocodiles and many more! The Year 3 teachers took the students on a guided tour of Taronga Zoo, learning all about meerkats, giraffes and even the hippopotamus! Some of the exciting activities included designing and building a habitat, Maths challenges, augmented reality with animals and even some creative art. They had such ROAR-some time!

• What the learner's thought:
  We were able to use the app google expedition to virtually explore Taronga zoo. It was so cool to learn more about the animals and see them in their enclosures. – Eli 3W
• I learned that Meerkats can eat poisonous scorpions! – Buddy 3H
• We also completed some fun activities about the zoo and its habitats like working out the price of admission and ordering off the menus and designing new homes for the animals. – Connie 3H
• It was so much fun dressing up and learning about the animals at the zoo. – Onyx 3W

Mathletics champs

Last Friday our Year 6 students experienced our first ever Coomera Rivers Challenge Day. Given our Year 6 students missed their school camp at the beginning of the year due to COVID, it was decided a day full of challenges designed to encourage teamwork and test character was in order. The Challenge Day was followed up by a sleepover at school where more challenges were set and not much sleeping was had!

Students were placed into seven teams which saw new friendships form and an opportunity for some students to work with a chief (teacher) they may never have worked with before. Each team was awarded points based on the ASPIRE acronym.

A - Take ACTION - Have a go
S - SERVE - Be kind and give others a go
P - PERSIST - PERSIST through struggles and setbacks
I - INFLUENCE others and set the example
R - RESPECT for people, group and equipment
E - ENCOURAGE others.

Congratulations for a solid victory to the Pink Flame-ingos who were lead by Chief Comley. This was certainly the team with a big heart. Our Challenge Day was a huge success with students voicing this should now become a CRSS tradition.

Below is a recount written by Year 6 students Kade Bolin and Jackson Sampson, who together captured what our Challenge Day and sleepover entailed.

PREPARATION DAY

At last, the day had arrived. After spendng the morning in normal classes, we finally split into our groups for the upcoming days. Yellow, blue, purple, green, orange, white and pink were working hard to make their group stand out. Each group was given a box that contained all of the items necessary to complete challenge day. Inside this mysterious box was a scroll. This scroll told us the steps to prepare for the days ahead. Groups had to decide how to wear their team bandanna. There was a variety of ways that groups chose to wear it, including on the head, around the wrist and ankle. Next it was time to decide the team name. Names included The Dabbing Ducks, The Flaming Tigers, Purple Patricias, White Raiders, Blue Blizzards, Flaming Flame-ingos & The Baby Kermits. Home base design and decoration planning was next. Teams chose decorations such as streamers, balloons, drawings and much more. Other preparation activities included, choosing a team mascot, writing a war cry and painting a unique team flag.

CHALLENGE DAY

As students walked through the school gates, they saw the oval covered in fun activities that would be completed throughout the day. After a quick rules rundown with Mrs Artz, (AKA The Challenge Master), we headed off to decorate our home base gazebos. Flags were flown and mascots were on display. Colour was everywhere. After finishing off our home bases, we headed off to activity one. The gladiator activity was up first for a few teams. Big inflatable balls were swinging in all directions as the runner tried to dunk a point for their team. The risk of getting slapped across the face by a ball came with the reward of securing a valuable point for their team. The next activity was the ski and mattress race. Teams had the choice of racing on ginormous, heavy skis or roll a person on a mattress all the way to the finish line. Balance and teamwork was key when using the skis but the weight of the skis was a massive shock and almost everybody fell over. The mattress race required teamwork and communication. Teams would have to get the tubes out from the back and pass it to the front before the mattress fell over. Then came the ultimate obstacle course. Students were up against other teams and had to race to the finish line. Obstacles were physically challenging but students persevered and completed the course. After the ultimate obstacle course came the rugby challenge. Teams learnt the basic rugby skills and played a game at the end. This led us to our main break of the day. This was the chance to put on more sunscreen, rehydrate and have lunch. After the break, we had to pack up our colourful tents and prepare for the flour war. There were two teams competing in the flour war. The red team which included 6K, 6W and 6C verses the black team including 6F, 6L and 6D. Students were given a small bag filled with flour. At last the war started. Flour was everywhere and the sprinklers were on. After the bags were finally empty, we were able to rest. Challenge day was complete and we were in definite need of a shower! 

SLEEPOVER

At 5:30pm students started entering through the school gates. After setting up their bed for the night, they went to have their subway dinner. Once everybody had finished their dinner, we went to the under covered area to see the night’s activities. Yard games was up first for some groups. This fun half an hour included giant chess, ring toss and many others. The students had excitement written all over their faces, after some students went to play an amazing pool noodle game with Mr Graham and Mrs Artz. This game needed teamwork and communication, as they had to tag the opposition below the knee. Up next was the exciting game of spotlight. Posters were put around the school and students had to go and find them. For the first half students were allowed their torches but for the second half they weren’t. This is due to the wildlife down the side of the school. Some groups saw kangaroos and possums. Last but not least was trivia. This magnificent trivia was based over four categories Science, Australia, Sport and Geography. Students worked in groups of five and worked together using the knowledge of the team. After trivia was finished, all students headed to the hall to watch Goosebumps. Teachers handed out chip packets so the students could enjoy the movie. At 10:45pm students were told to brush their teeth and go to bed - were we meant to sleep? At 5:30am the next morning, all the students were up. After some morning exercise, the students had some breakfast. The meal included, a sausage in bread, juice, muesli bars and a range of fruit. Shortly after breakfast, students were sent to pack up their belongings. In the courts students put their belongings down and played games waiting for the arrival of their parents. By 8:30am all the students had gone home and the teachers could enjoy the rest of their weekend.

Are you looking for that accessory to support your team on our senior school Swimming Fun Days?

Well we have the answer!

Available through Flexischools now are silicon wrist bands and corkscrew hair ties in our house colours!

Stock is limited so order yours today!

The final general meeting of the P&C Association for 2020 will be held on Tuesday 1 December at 6:00pm

If you have an item that you would like included on the agenda, please email the P&C Secretary with the details before 9am Monday 30 November.

P&C meetings are a great way to keep up to date with what is going on around our school. The meetings also provide our families with an opportunity to have input and feedback on matters relating to school and community life. Meetings are open to all families and we encourage families to come along and contribute to your school community which forms a vital part of your children's educational journey.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Vacation care 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 vacation care. Enrolments for vacation care are very welcome from all of our Coomera Rivers families.

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

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

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