Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

The cold weather has arrived this week and we have enjoyed 5*C starts to the school day on both Thursday and Friday mornings - we are still some way off any frosts though.  Despite feeling the winter chill outside, the classrooms are lovely and warm.  This is made even more comfortable following the wonderful State of Origin result from Wednesday evening.  

The oval and a lot of the lawn areas around the school are still suffering from the autumn rains.  The grass looks green but the sub-surface is still soft mud.  We still cannot use the oval but we are getting closer - so long as we do not receive any more rain.

The young learners of Coomera Rivers have been shining these past few weeks.  The school mySpeak competition has drawn to an end, the Mathletics challenge has one week remaining, the chess competition has been completed and our Year 2 learners have been ripping into their maths learning.

And senior students have been representing our school as team members on the various sporting fields or courts.

Chess

Our school chess club meets every Wednesday afternoon after school. We undertake coaching on chess strategy, play friendly matches against each other and in school tournaments, and prepare for and participate in regional tournaments.  

Thank you to the staff who volunteer their time each week for our chess club.  Thank you also to our coach, Stephen who provides us the mental challenge each week.

Our Semester 1 school chess tournament finished recently and we conducted our presentation ceremony this week. Congratulations to:

• Tiaki
• Taylor
• Landon
• Emma
• Bodhi
• Hala

Pyjama Day is coming

Book Fair sales start on Monday

Thank you to Miss Katie for her wonderful work in setting up for the Book Fair this week.  If you would like to purchase books or stationery for your children, make sure you come in to the iCentre before or after school this week.  

The Book Fair sales close Friday morning.

Past students shine in Foxwell musical

On Wednesday, Mrs Boyd and Miss Ellison walked the students involved with Wakakirri and the REACH program over to Foxwell State Secondary College to watch their production of Matilda. Our learners were blown away by the energy and talent these high schoolers have! Upon returning, students collaborated to create a ‘golden stars’ card where we shared with the cast our favourite parts of the musical.

A dozen or more of our school staff also attended the musical performances on the Thursday and Friday evenings.  It was so exciting to see our past students absolutely shining on stage.  Thank you to Foxwell College for this wonderful community event.

COVID and Flu update

Not surprisingly, our attendance has been affected by both the flu and COVID.  Numbers for both are rising again so please keep an eye out for signs and symptoms of both.  If your children are sick, they need to stay home.  Please help us try to minimise the risk of infection at school.  

Report cards and parent-teacher interviews

Report cards will be sent home on the last day of school this term.  They will be emailed to families.  Please keep an eager eye out for them in your inboxes.

Parent teacher interviews will be conducted in Week 2 of next term.  I will advertise the dates and how to book your interview in the next issue of the school celebrations newsletter (Issue #9).

Cost of living continues to climb (Reminder)

I am acutely aware of the financial stress that the rising cost of living is placing on family life - especially the rising rental costs.  A growing number of our families are being significantly affected by this, so we will continue to do some little things that we hope may help. 

We have a small supply of exercise books and uniform items that we will provide free of charge to children whose families cannot currently afford them.  So if you need a little help, or are in a position where you can donate items for school (to add to the uniforms and unused stationery supplies), we are only too glad to assist. 

Kind regards

Vic 

Great job to these clever kids this fortnight!

Prep

Prep gallery

Year 1

Year 1 gallery

Year 2

Year 2 gallery

2O have been learning about money in class.  Their shop looks awesome.

2T enjoyed playing and exploring some indigenous resources and activities this week. The students got to play snakes and ladders, compete indigenous puzzles, paint traditional animals, play bush food snap and we learnt how to play ‘min-wa-la’. This game is similar to relays, you need to run to a spot and crouch walk on the way back, tag a partner, the first team with all its players back, wins. This game was a ‘hit’!

They also visited the yarning circle earlier in week and spoke about how yarning circles are used in the indigenous community.

2A have been focussing on the concept of Money. The class have been counting and ordering small collections of Australian coins and notes according to their value. The students have enjoyed using a range of hands on activities to consolidate their learning and created beautiful artwork to represent their knowledge and understanding of counting a collection of coins. Well done 2A!

Year 3

Year 3 gallery

Year 4

Year 4 gallery

4R and 4W worked together to create their floatation devices for their culminating science project.  Learners were engaged in their learning with lots of communication and collaboration happening around the room.

Year 5 

Year 5 gallery

5W were all sticky fingers in science completing the Runny Races experiment this week.  They had to measure the viscosity of different liquids.

5B have been busy with their writing this week.  They were required to create a persuasive piece to convince me that city life is better than country life ... or not!

Year 6

Year 6 gallery

Mathletics this week

South Coast Cross Country

Congratulations to Remmy, Mylah, Lana, Zane and Henko who competed in the Regional Cross Country Carnival at Rivermount College on Tuesday. The track was wet and super muddy, but it looked like everyone had a great time competing against some of the best runners on the Gold Coast.

Interschool Sport - Term 2

Thank you to all the students, coaches, parents and ex-students who assisted with the Interschool Sport day last Friday. It was a little tough given the condition of the grounds, but the finally got to play, and the mud only made it more fun. The final day of our Interschool Sport Term 2 is Thursday 16th June. Draws will be posted to the Coomera Rivers Facebook page.

Interschool Sport - Term 3

We have met with students to inform them of the sports on offer for Term 3 Interschool Sport. OzTag, Rugby League and Netball. If your child is interested in playing one of these sports for Coomera Rivers, they will soon come home with a permission form.

Athletics

Due to inclement weather, we have had to postpone our School Athletics day until Term 3.

Sports Fun Days

In Week 10, we will hold our Sports Fun Days.

• Tuesday 21st June: Years 4-6
• Wednesday 22nd June: Year 2 & 3
• Thursday 23rd June: Prep & Year 1

Parents and families are invited to attend.  The focus is on the fun and participation.  This is not a competitive event - we earn points for our sports houses.  Come along in your family's team colours and remember to bring along:

• Cameras
• Chairs
• Sunscreen
• Hats
• Rugs 
• Snacks
• Cheering voices

NRL Gala Day

Early in Term 3, we will hold our trials for our NRL Gala teams.  We will be sending along the following teams:

• Year 3 & 4 Girls
• Year 3 & 4 Boys
• Year 5 Boys
• Year 5 & 6 Girls
• Year 6 Boys

We will select up to 12 players per team, so some experience will be beneficial.

Happy Families premium account available to our families

Our P&C has invested in the emotional support for our entire community this year and has engaged Dr Justin Coulson to share his expertise with us. 

You may have seen Dr Coulson on television. He talks regularly about parenting, education and psychology issues for The TODAY Show, The Project, Studio 10, Mornings, The Daily Edition and Parental Guidance.

Families have FREE access to his Happy Families website. The P&C has paid the 12-month account membership for all of our families. You are welcome to access it when you wish.

The link to access your FREE Happy Families account can be found here.  Further details can also be found in the flyer below.   If you have any questions, please contact the P&C.