Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

2W on the Channel 9 news, the Chinese Speaking competition at Griffith University and the 2021 School Tree Day were highlights for me this week.  Add to this the installation of the cover across our Yarning Circle and it was another big week.  Congratulations to the students involved and thank you to the staff team for their support.  

Birthday Party

Next Friday is our school Birthday Party celebration and we are all a little nervous about the current COVID conditions around the south east part of Queensland.  We will always comply with government regulations, so please be ready to support us should they change before the event.  At this stage:

• Everyone 12 years of age and over is required to wear a mask for our birthday event - except those with an exemption  
• Only those who live in the household (students and staff) are able to attend
• Only people with registered tickets can attend and tickets will need to be shown at the gate and
• Everyone must register their attendance through the Check In Queensland app

Solar installation

I have been informed that the solar installation program will commence next week.  The program at Coomera Rivers involves the installation of 477 roof panels so it will take approximately six weeks to complete.  I am really excited to be able to teach the students about the importance of sustainable energy sources.  

There are a lot of other events planned across the next few weeks so please read on.

Kind regards

Vic

To our 10th Birthday Party!

And what better way to celebrate than with a great big Birthday Party on Friday 6 August from 4pm - 8.30pm! We will have all of the fun of the fair at our Birthday Party with rides, sideshows, food vans and that is just the beginning!

There will even be a fireworks display to celebrate all things Coomera Rivers!       

Who can attend

Unfortunately, COVID restrictions prevent this event being a wider community event (like past Community Fairs). These requirements must be strictly applied. Details of who can attend are:

• Current student of Coomera Rivers, their siblings, parents and step parents

• Current staff of Coomera Rivers, their children and partners.

• Siblings of students and children of staff, MUST reside with the student of school or staff member concerned.  For instance, if a sibling of a student or child of a staff member was no longer living at home - than that sibling / child is unable to attend.
• The people attending must reside within the household of the student of school or staff member.

Tickets to attend

• FREE entry ticket (no rides included)
  OR
• $30 All Day Ride Pass ticket (Includes entry ticket. Ride passes are $35 if you attend under a FREE entry ticket and purchase the ride pass on the day of the event)

All Day Ride Passes and Rides

The All Day Ride Pass costs $30 pre-purchased or $35 on the day. You can also purchase individual ride tickets on the day ranging from $5 - $10 per ride.

The rides included in the All Day Ride Pass are:

• Cha Cha
• Water Balls
• Bungees
• Giant Slide
• Swinger
• Rock Wall
• Cannibal Pots
• Pirate Ship
• Monkey Castle
• Land Train
• Kids Centre

Fun Fair activities

When purchasing your tickets you will also be offered the opportunity to purchase a Fun Fair Discount Pack. The pack provides you with 5 x Fun Fair tickets that can be used on the following activities:

• Bungee Run Teacher Challenge
• Laser Tag
• Mobile Gaming Theatre
• Pony Ride
• Animal Farm

Other Activities

• Make your own Teddy Bear
• Photo Booth
• Face Painting
• Crazy Hair
• Spin Art

Our resident DJ will provide the sound track for the event.

Local sporting groups will be on hand to provide some fun free activities for our families.

Food and drink

We will have a range of food trucks available at the event along with our own Rivers Refreshment area that will cater specifically for the adult attendees.

If you have any questions please contact the P&C

Our olympic team

2W were on the news

The atmosphere in the 2W classroom was electric after the Channel 9 news team visited to prepare a story on our support for our Olympians in Tokyo.  Mrs Worland and the class were just incredible as they explained how they reflect our school ethos about showing support and kindness to others, including our community.  Our children completely understand that you can make someone feel loved, even from afar and Mrs Worland tells me that they literally talk like Tom is ours.  We can’t wait for them to meet him.

And our paralympic team 

Ms Katie gave her time with 3GN this week to share her story about a Paralympian called Grant Patterson. She used to live in Cairns and was a swimming coach and this is where she met Grant.

Grant is competing in Tokyo as part of the Para-swimming team. He has demonstrated numerous times in his life the amazing commitment to training and competition and overcoming setbacks before again realising his dream of being selected for the Tokyo games. Grant’s impairment is called Diastrophic dysplasia which is related to his limbs. His nickname is Scooter as he actually uses a specially designed scooter to assist him to move around more freely, especially around the swimming pool.

3GN were attentive and asked excellent questions while Ms Katie had us glued to her words the whole session. 3GN are now following up with some research of their own into Grant Patterson and also tracking his progress at the Tokyo Paralympics!  He will compete in the S3 disciplines. This session was part of our Growth Mindset Project for Term 3 and we thank Ms Katie for being one of our guest speakers.  Click here for more information on Grant.  

Congratluations to these young champions!

You, Me and Sustainability

4B and 4K went on a tour of Old Parliament House and began learning about democracy, and how we can use our voice to be change makers, by participating in the ‘You, Me and Sustainability’ workshop presented by the Museum of Australian Democracy. We then examined our lunchboxes to gather data on how sustainable they are, and have been set a challenge to reduce single use items which end up in landfill, and replace them with more environmentally friendly options. We will re-examine our lunchboxes and gather a new data set in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we see some changes!

Schools tree day 2021

We recognised School's Tree Day today and continued to plant out the area around our tennis court.  Thank you to Ventia (our school's facilities management) and our very own student Environmental Warriors.  

Zooming with 2T

This week 2T connected with Alana in New Zealand via zoom. Alana has Cystic Fibrosis and this experience was a great way for our class to show compassion and express empathy.

The students saw what it feels like for a person with CF to breathe. They were asked to jog on the spot and then breathe through a straw. Our class was also very interested to hear about the difference in climate.  They were excited to hear that they could leave soft ice cream outside and it would freeze as it was -1* in New Zealand today.

Speaking competition

Last Sunday our students participated in the Chinese Speech contest at Griffith University. Coomera Rivers had 8 students in total participating in the competition. Results this year included:

• Year 5 Mariyae (3rd place)
• Year 6 Cooper (3rd place)
• Year 5 Grace and Annabelle earned highly commended awards.

We are just so proud of our student's achievement.  My sincere appreciation to Mrs Huang for her guidance for the students, and giving up her Sunday to lead our competitors.

Some sizzling starts in 2A

2A students sharing their outstanding green screen / video sizzling start writing this week.  

Discovery learning in Year 1

       

Cooking with Deadly Choices

Learning what healthy food choices are and how healthy food options help our body is made much more enjoyable when you can taste them for yourself. Students from years 5 and 6 who attend the Deadly Choices -The Junior Good Quick Tukka program, are putting their knowledge where there mouth is, making and eating healthy food options and learning about safe food handling and cooking skills along the way.

Year 5 relationships workshop

Year 5 completed the Positive Peer Relationships programs today to learn about building personal and social skills to enhance the quantity and quality of their interpersonal interactions.  They really are working on our ethos of Good at learning - Good at life.  

Regional sport

Rugby Union

Two of our students, Si’u and Noah represented the South Coast Region at the recent Queensland Rugby Union Carnival. We also had a former student Brigham, in the side. The South Coast team went through the carnival undefeated and played Metropolitan East in the Grand Final winning 14-7.

District sport

Broadwater Cricket

Congratulations to Summa and Chris. They have selected in their respective Broadwater Cricket sides.

School sport

NRL Gala Day

Congratulations to the Year 4, 5 & 6 students who have been selected in our NRL Gala day sides. The Gala Day is coming up in late August.

AusKick

AFL Queensland were at our school all week promoting their upcoming AusKick program. The kids loved it and I am sure will love their program too. See the flyer for details on how to register.

We have reached Longreach AND we have a new member of our 50km club - well done Rocca!

For all of this week's Runing Club news, please see below.

National Consistent Collection of Data

After having a break from Loose Parts for a while, we returned for a fun filled afternoon on Tuesday. The children were very eager to get their creative juices flowing, with an abundance of open-ended resources to be used. Children of all ages worked collaboratively together to create their own cubbies, build sleds to go down the banks and swing their friends on the tyre swing!
The benefits that our children get from loose parts is incredible, as they get to arrange and manipulate objects as they please, creating their own innovative designs and inventions. We see our children take a great sense of ownership over their loose parts creations, developing their own rules and expectations for other’s who wish to join in their play. Children’s thinking and problem-solving abilities are challenged, which also assists in the development of their own dynamic risk assessment skills. As their dynamic risk assessment skills develop, we see children start to identify hazards and take action to reduce the risks. We saw their critical thinking in action, as a group of children tried to figure out the safest way to slide down the banks. After some ideas were shared amongst the group, it was decided that they would trial cardboard “sleds” to slide on, and after a few attempts, found that this was successful. We look forward to seeing what other wonderful creations come from the loose parts playground in the future!

If you have any questions, please email the P&C.

Visit Flexischools to view our range of Father’s Day (and Grandfather’s Day) presents and to place your order.

To see images of the gifts available, please click on the 'view product list here' tab in Flexischools (Image below shows were to access this link from in Flexischools.)

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 Friday 27 August at 4:00pm if not sold out prior.

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

Orders now open

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 School24 with orders closing on Friday 23 August 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 2024 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.

2021 Year Book Sponsor.

Do you own or know of a local business that would be interested in advertising in our 2021 Year Book?

Year Book advertising opportunities are now available.

You can secure your business advertising in our 2021 Year Book for as little as $50!

Advertisers can choose (from the available class pages at the time of payment) which page or pages they would like their advertisement to appear on.

This sponsorship opportunity closes on Tuesday 5 October.

Advertising spots are limited so be quick to reserve your spot!

For more information, please email us at pandc@coomerariversss.eq.edu.au

We are currently gathering feedback via an on-line survey in relation to our Cafe.
The survey is an annual feedback mechanism for the school.
Your suggestions make a difference so please complete the survey before it closes on Friday 6 August at 4pm.

The link to complete the 2021 Cafe Survey can be found here.