Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

Many parts of our hinterland have been affected by bush fires across the past fortnight and it’s been an anxious time for these communities.  The weather has not been kind and has often worked against emergency services as they work to protect life and property.

A number of our staff - and I am sure extended families of our school - have been directly impacted by the bush fires - either through the evacuation instruction or damage to property.  On behalf of everyone in the Coomera Rivers community, our thoughts go out to each and every one of you as you work through these challenging times.

I would also like to acknowledge the outstanding work of our emergency services personnel for their tireless efforts over the past week or so.  While we hope that the worst conditions are behind us with a cool change continuing to move through, there continues to be a number of active alerts in place and it is clear that only rain can extinguish the many bush fires completely.  Let's hope this happens soon.

Highlights of this week

You will be able to read about some of the significant achievements we accomplished this week later in this issue.  I am so proud of how students and staff at our school represent and promote us and what we stand for.  Congratulations to:

• Parent-teacher interviews  (Just over 400 conducted)
• African drumming shows (These were VERY popular)
• Young Change Agents
• Year 4 public speakers at the AB Paterson competition
• iEducate representatives.  3 staff presented at the Department of Education conference
• Get Your Geek On! students and staff.  This was a massive event with 90+ teachers and school leaders joining our school on Friday.

Important events for next week

• Lights! Coomera! Action! Runners-up assemblies (Monday)
• P&C Meeting (Tuesday evening)
• Senior Sports Fun Day (Wednesday)
• Junior Sports Fun Day (Thursday)
• Lights! Coomera! Action! Winners Showcase assemblies (Friday)
• Last day for Term 3 (Friday)

Lights Coomera Action assemblies

NAPLAN 2019 Results

The school has recently received the results from the National Assessment Program in Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), in which Year 3 and 5 undertook in May this year.

This year was the first year that Coomera Rivers students completed the assessments of Reading, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy online. Year 3 students completed the writing assessment on paper whereas our Year 5 teachers completed the Writing assessment online. Feedback from NAPLAN Online showed that students engaged well with online assessments. One of the main benefits of NAPLAN Online is tailored (or adaptive) testing, where the test automatically adapts to a student’s test performance. The test presents questions of higher or lower complexity, depending on a student’s performance. To get an idea of what the online assessment looks like, visit the public demonstration site at www.nap.edu.au 

A paper copy of your child’s individual results will be sent home with them in the next few days.
The report shows your child’s achievement in comparison to:

• the state average;
• the range for the middle 60% of students; and
• whether your child has achieved the ‘national minimum standards’.

When reading these results it is important to keep the following in mind:

• This is only one set of tests that was completed 4 months ago, and our teachers use many assessment tools to assess their students throughout the year.
• The tests complement the class teacher’s assessment of literacy and numeracy, and the class teacher also assesses other aspects of literacy and numeracy.
• There is no pass or fail.

The data that is generated from students completing these assessments will be analysed and used by the school to evaluate current curriculum programs and will help guide future school planning.

If you have any questions about the results of your child’s NAPLAN results please contact your child’s teacher.

Evacuation practice

We completed our evacuation practice on Wednesday and set our best time for the year to leave classrooms and all be accounted for.  6 minutes and 25 seconds from the start of the signal to the all clear is very impressive indeed.  Well done everyone!

Social media

There has been quite a bit of misinformation floating about on social media recently regarding an issue from another school.  In my opinion, the Department of Education has managed the actual incident well and I have been informed of the parts of the incident that may impact on our community and school.  I believe whole-heartedly that the information provided to me by my supervisors is completely accurate in every aspect.  The information that I have personally read on Facebook is not correct, in some instances it is quite exaggerated and in a few instances it is completely false.  

Every member of the Coomera Rivers team is committed to making our school environment as safe as possible for our children.  We would never deliberately, carelessly or recklessly do anything that would compromise this.  Not ever.

Our school and its students have done nothing wrong and in fact, have had nothing whatsoever to do with what occurred.  However, as part of a public education system, we are obligated to help families where we can - and we are - and our commitment to a safe environment is steadfast.

If you would like any of your concerns clarified, please contact Mrs Jenkins (Click here to email or call 5596 8333) and she will help you coordinate a time to meet with me personally.  You can really help our school and our children by:

• remembering that our school IS a great (& safe) place for your family and
• not contributing to the gossip and innuendo on Facebook.  

Treasure hunt

This week, avid train spotters will be on the look out for the Power Puff Girls.   Find them somewhere else in the newsletter and email Mrs Artz with the story title and your childrens' names before 4:00pm each Tuesday.  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.  This is what they look like.  

      

Last week's slushie winners:

• Riley 2MC
• Abbey Prep S

Kind regards

Vic

Congratulations to the following students who received a Student Excellence Award this week.  We always enjoy celebrating their success when they come down to the office and hearing about what they've been doing to acheive this award. We think some of them think we get a little TOO excited!

Over the term, a team of Year 4 students with Mrs Pinnington and Ms Parker have been working on the Young Change Agents program developing social-enterprise ideas to make our community a better place. 

It was a very hard decision to choose only two teams to go through to the final event and on Tuesday night, five very excited Year 4 students participated in the shark-tank like, South East Regional Pitch Evening. The Inventors (Emmy, Talia, Millah) and Perfect Protectors (Ehva and Kaysiah) pitched their social-enterprise ideas to a panel of four judges and a packed audience of families and their teachers at Event Cinemas, Coomera. 

The students showcased the focus and dedication they have for making their community a better place now and in the future. Our future is in good hands with these community-minded young people. A big thanks from Coomera Rivers to all of the judges, teachers, sponsors and presenters for giving up your valuable time to spend the evening with us.

More information about the Young Change Agents program https://youngchangeagents.com  

Year 4 students show their talent

On Thursday, Tyler and Emerson took their public speaking skills to the next level by participating in the AB Paterson Public Speaking Competition.  This is a rather prestigious competition that sees schools from all over the Gold Coast, both public and private, showcase some very talented speakers.  While Emerson entertained the audience with his speech on 'First Steps', Tyler educated the audience on 'Natural Disasters' with a focus on his knowledge of volcanoes.  Both boys were very nervous but they knew their speeches well and represented Coomera Rivers beautifully.  The Year 4 competition is all about participation and gaining experience however Tyler and Emerson demonstrated they are more than ready for the competition.  It was also great to see two boys take on the challenge as this is a field that girls normally dominate.  Congratulations to Tyler and Emerson on their awesome effort and outstanding speeches.

Our Year 5 & 6 students will participate next term with the first lot of heats being on Tuesday 15th October.  We hope they enjoy dusting off their old mySpeak palm cards and practising over the holidays!

This week we held our annual Digital Pedagogy Open Day. This was the fourth year of the event and the number of visitors attending, including many who have been before, is still very strong.

Over 90 teachers, deputies and principals, from all over Queensland came to spend the day learning about the opportunities to transform learning using technology across all areas of the curriculum. Teachers and students opened their classrooms to showcase the great things they do each and every day.

Following an inspiring address from Mr Graham and an amazing Keynote from Linda Pitt and the education team at Apple , who continue to support us and challenge us, visitors spent some time in classrooms before learning from our teachers during masterclass sessions after school.

Again our visitors continue to be impressed with how well our students can articulate not only what they do, but how and why.

The feedback from visitors so far has been incredible.

“It was a positive and helpful event. Loads of good information about how to succeed in using iPads and relevant apps to enhance the learning experience.”

“The students were absolutely beautiful, they were so well mannered and helpful! From the chaperones to the students in the open classrooms they were so willing to answer questions, help, and very well spoken.” It was very impressive and they definitely deserve the mention! Thank you so much for all your hard work and a great day!”

By opening our classrooms, sharing our journey and offering a selection of masterclasses, others were inspired with many ideas for how to begin their digital journey.

Congratulations to Ms Muller and the Digital Pedagogy Team for coordinating yet another successful event. Thank you to all staff who worked behind the scenes on the day and thank you to all our students for sharing your learning with the visitors.

Special thanks to our staff who stayed on until 5:00pm on a Friday, as learners themselves, or sharing what they love doing every day – empowering students by transforming learning with technology.

The annual sports fun day carnivals are coming this week.  We have been practising war cries and training for events, we have prepared the arena and all that is left to do now is to run the carnival.  Please remember that the focus for the carnival is participation and fun.  

What to wear:

• Students should wear their HOUSE coloured shirt on their respective sports day
• School hat

Where to sit:

The competitors will move around the oval with teachers to participate in the events for the day.  Feel free to sit with your children.  Please do not move your children away from the group or team areas to sit with you.  This often results in them missing events and opportunities.  Parents can sit with their teams.

Earn extra points:

Parents can earn extra points on the day by:

• Wearing house colours too
• Cheering their children on
• Participating in the parents race and tug-o-war.  Lots of fun!

Collecting children early:

Parents can collect their children after the carnival and before the 2:30 bell should they wish.  They will need to:

• Notify their child's teacher who will be on the oval with the group then take their child to the office to
• Collect a early leave slip

Scoring:

We will be tallying the points earned by each haouse and dividing this total by the number of students in each house this year.  The house totals are:

Colman – 298 athletes
Pedley – 327 athletes
Foxwell – 334 athletes
Siganto – 280 athletes

Senior Sports Day Program (Wednesday 18 September)

Junior Sports Day Program (Thursday 19 September)

Our Junior and Senior Sport Fun Days are being held this next week and Subway lunch packs are available to order for these sports days.

The cost is $8 and they include a Sub (with your choice of toppings), a cookie (choice of chocolate chip or double choc-chip) and a choice of drink.

If you are coming along to cheer along our children on the day then why not order one for yourself as well?  Simply order an additional Subway Lunch Pack under your child’s name and it will be delivered to your child’s class at lunch time.  Check the sports day program for the approximate time.  

Orders are open now and close on: (Strict deadlines)

• Monday 16 September 4:00pm for Senior Sports Fun Day
• Tuesday 17 September 4:00pm for Junior Sport Fun Day

To assist refuel our parents attending on sports days, we have the following available:

• Order from the Cafe (under your child's name) and you can collect your lunch from your child's class - ONLINE ORDERS ONLY - PLEASE ORDER BEFORE DEADLINE.
• Order Subway (under your child's name), by the advertised deadline dates, and you can collect from your child's class. ONLINE ORDERS ONLY - PLEASE ORDER BEFORE DEADLINE.
• Purchase a coffee on the day from the onsite coffee van. CASH / EFTPOS SALES ON THE DAY
• Purchase a cold drink, bag of chips or a chocolate from our P&C refreshment stand. CASH / EFTPOS SALES ON THE DAY

Are you getting your house colours ready for Sports Fun days? We have House coloured wrist bands and hair ties available to purchases via Flexischools.

Touch football competition

On Thursday we witnessed some excellent quality on the field.  Both games were extremely close and only a try separated each game

• Blue Monkeys (5S) beat 5R 3-2
• 6M Croissants beat 6Winners 2-1

On Monday, we have the big dance, the Grand Final between the Blue Monkeys and the 6M Croissants. Good luck to both teams!

Brianna earns selection

Congratulations to Brianna on her selection in the for 10-12 girls South Coast schools cricket team.  She is very excited and the group of girls she is playing with have bonded so well at the training sessions they have already had.  The competition matches will be played in Toowoomba from October 6-9.  Good luck Brianna.

Fitness Club

There was what seemed to be a record amount of students down for Running Clubs before school this week.  This is a great way to start your mornings!  Well done to Judd and Ehva who won our skipping challenge this week too!

Running Club

We've introduced Lap Records to Running Club.  Girls and Boys from Prep to Year 6 can join and try and beat the records!  We're trying to get a teacher and a parent record, too!

Salaka Drumming

Kilele Kilele Awo Awo Kilele!
This week students participated in an incursion with the Salaka Drumming group.  Every child who attended had a go on the African djembe drum, sang along and danced to some African grooves.  Every group had a brilliant time and enjoyed learning more about another culture's music.  Even Mr Isele found his rhythm.

Pick up SURPRISE next week

Each afternoon at 2:25pm next week there will be a surprise for families.  Please see the email from your child's classroom teacher outlining where your surprise will take place (generally outside their classroom). If you or someone in your family can arrange to be outside your child's classroom for pick up this week, you won't be disappointed!  Bring your camera!

Change can be difficult for all of us. This week at OSHC we have been having many conversations with our students about the change of seasons. We are saying hello to Spring and welcoming the change that has come with it. Through purposeful discussions, craft activities and reading books, our students are provided the opportunity to become connected with and contribute to their world (Outcome 2). Luckily for us, the first week of Spring brought beautiful warm weather. This allowed our students to recognise the change of season and learn that environmental changes occur. They loved discussing the flowers that will grow and insects we will see buzzing around. However, as we to expect, change is not as simple as it seems. This week has been chilly again, but we still know it’s Spring. Come inside and have a peek at our Spring art hanging around!

Coomera Rivers Outside School Hours Care is now taking bookings for our Spring Vacation Program.

Vacation Care bookings are open to ALL primary school students including students that do NOT attend Coomera Rivers.

Vacation Care bookings are also open to our families that do NOT use the before and / or after school service.

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

Bookings for primary school aged students are encouraged so please share with friends and family that may be looking for an exceptional school holiday care option.

The details of the upcoming program are attached - the program document (on page 8) also includes a ready reckoner that shows an estimation of families out of pocket expenses for our Vacation care days after your Centrelink CCS is applied. Please note that this is a guide only. CCS benefits vary, and benefits for multi-day bookings will depend on approved activity hours. Please contact our Service Director for a personalised quote.

For bookings or further enquiries please contact us:

Phone: 5596 8377
Mobile: 0455 968 377
Email: croshc@coomerariversss.eq.edu.au

Important information for Coomera Rivers parents regarding changes to Individual Curriculum Plans for 2020.

The Department of Education has released a new Individual Curriculum Plan (ICP) policy which may affect your child. You may read the policy document here: https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculums/Documents/individual-curriculum-plan.pdf

Our review will be factoring in the key recommendation that students with an Intellectual Disability may continue with either a partial or whole year ICP. Students who do not have an Intellectual Disability may be able to access whole year level ICPs however this decision will be reached through consultation with teaching staff and families. 

Consequently, we wish to advise our families that our school is required to review all students’ current ICP plans and some plans will need to be changed. These changes may include either implementing a whole year level ICP or for some students, the decision may be to focus on targeted intervention programs and have no ICP in place. 

Please note, we will make the ICP decisions based on our professional judgement of your child’s learning skills and strengths, and through close consultation with families. 

Below is a list of Case Managers that you may wish to contact directly to discuss any questions you have arising from the updated ICP policy changes due for implementation from  2020 onwards. 

 Learning Support (STLaNs)

• Years 2-3   Samantha Fischer
• Years 4-6   Jody Ward

Student Support Centre (SSC)

• Year 2   Tracy Voce
• Years 3-5   Valen Dyson
• Head of Special Education:  Jacqui Walker

In Week 4 of this term, we will be holding a parent information session where you are welcome to discuss these changes with us and gain further clarification. We will provide more information about this session via the newsletter and email.   

Thank you very much for your support and working in partnership with us.

The next General Meeting of the P&C Association will be held on Tuesday 17 September at 6:00pm.

P&C meetings are a great way to keep up to date with what is going on around our school. They provide our families with an opportunity to provide 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.  If you have an agenda item please email the Secretary with the details by no later than 9:00am Monday 16 September.  We look forward to seeing you there.​

Is it time to update your family portrait?  If it is, well then we have the fundraiser for you! For a $20 donation to the P&C, you will receive 20 minute photo session and a 10 x 13 portrait of your family.

In addition, you can, at time of viewing your images, secure additional poses and copies at some REALLY discounted rates. They even have a lay by option!

That said, purchasing additional images is NOT a requirement of this special $20 family photo promotion. You can simply come along and have your​ photo session and then, at time of viewing, select the image you would like to receive for your donation. There is absolutely NO obligation to purchase any additional images.  What a wonderful way to update your family portrait for just $20! To book and pay for your session visit Flexischools to reserve your time slot.

The photo shoot will take place on Saturday 26 October with bookings close at 4:00pm Wednesday 23 October.  For more information please contact the P&C.

This week we held our Volunteer Afternoon Tea. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the afternoon and congratulations to Jacqui Bertram who won a bake off trophy.  We appreciate every single volunteer and are very grateful for your support of our amazing school and kids.

   
Sports Day:

We have Senior Sports Day on Wednesday and Juniors on Thursday however we do not require volunteers for this day. We would love you to come along and cheer your children on.

   
Year 5 excursion:

We also have the Year 5's going on excursion and all volunteers are organised and inducted for this so no further volunteers needed.

   
Cafe:

We always welcome new faces to join in with our friendly cafe team.  Term 4 will be upon us soon and we will require some new cafe helpers so if you have any mornings free we'd love you to give it a go!

We hope to have a new Administration Support Officer appointed by the end of term, so I look forward to introducing them when they start.