Our Colour Explosion is coming....

There is nothing better than fun fundraising and what could be more fun than a Colour Explosion?  This term, in conjunction with Australian Fundraising, we will be holding a Colour Explosion on Friday 27 March.

Last week, your children should have come home with a sponsorship and information booklet that outlines how the program works including how to set up your online fundraising platform and how to order your prizes! We have also attached below a Parent Information letter to get you started.

All profits from this event (and all P&C fundraising activities) will be invested back into classroom air-conditioning so please get behind this donation drive, share it with friends and family near and far!

Important dates:

Please find the important event details and deadlines below:

• Fundraising start date: Today!
• Fundraising deadline: 3pm Friday 20 March
• Prize orders open: Monday 23 March
• Colour Explosion event day: Friday 27 March
• Prize orders close: Friday 3 April
• Prize delivery: Early Term 2

Important info:

• To be eligible for a reward (prize) and to take part in the Colour Explosion, each student must raise a minimum of $10 before the fundraising deadline and be registered online (even if doing paper based donations). Students participating will also receive a pair of Colour Explosion sunglasses and rainbow wrist band.
• Raise $20 or more and students will also receive a rainbow head band!
• If, for any reason at all, you would like to participate in the Colour Explosion but can NOT meet the registration or donation deadline, please email the P&C BEFORE the deadline and we will be able to assist.
• Unfortunately, once the deadline has passed no further registrations or donations will be able to be accepted.

Good to know:

• Whilst online fundraising is preferable, families that do not wish to do fundraising online do have the option of a paper based donation. Please refer to the sponsorship and information booklet for more details.
• If choosing a paper based donation option, you still MUST register your child online
• When setting up a student profile you will need to enter your child's full name for administration purposes however, when sharing the profile, only your child's first name will display online.
• The highest fundraising class (per capita) per year level will win the chance to have a water balloon fight with Mr Graham (and the sector Deputy) and their classroom teacher.

On the day - Colour Explosion event day information:

• Teachers will confirm what time your class will be participating in the Colour Explosion by no later than Tuesday 24 March.
• Families are more than welcome to come along and cheer their children on!
• Children participating in the event will need to bring along on the day white or lightish coloured old clothes to participate in, thongs (we participate in bare feet but use the thongs to transition from class to the oval) towel to dry off with and a garbage bag to bring the colour explosion clothes home in.

If you have any questions please contact the P&C.  Happy fundraising!

Dear Mums, Dads, Carers and Colleagues

Prep restructure

Our staff led the students over to their new class this afternoon and I was so proud of how the teachers made a big deal that they were chosen and had the other students say, 'See you in the playground'. It was truly lovely. Then they were greeted by Mrs Atkinson. They were able to play, colour in and complete some ‘get to know you’ games.  Mrs Atkinson had made each of her new students the gift of the magic play dough and again said how excited she was to have them in her room.  Thank you to the staff and parents for making this change so successful for our preppies.  I also know that Ms Luke will be joining the class next week as well and she is equally excited.  Both Mrs Atkinson and Ms Luke are experienced early years teachers and this class will blossom under their tutelage.  

Principal's conference

It was a privilege again this year to be able to attend the biennial Principal's Conference.  The conference was held on Monday evening through to Wednesday afternoon this week and 1300 of my colleagues attended. The program was filled with internationally regarded researchers such as Professor John Hattie and Professor Pasi Sahlberg. The Director-General, Tony Cook, spoke about the next two years as an education system and the Deputy Director-General, Peter Kelly, reinforced the message with what school leaders will be doing across this time. Their key message was enhancing collaboration between schools – something Coomera Rivers has commenced some time ago but we need to continue to develop. This is the key feature to what they call 'The Next Lift' in student performance.  It's all about learning.

New Newsletter Format

We are proud to inform you that we will be producing a new eNewsletter format. The purpose of moving to this new format is to engage the school community more effectively and provide our families and the community with a more effective and content rich newsletter format that is phone and tablet friendly. This new format will include videos, image galleries, online bookings, feedback forms, calendars and much much more.

Click on https://coomerarivers.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe to subscribe to the newsletter.

Important dates

There are a few events that are fast approaching. Make sure you have all the information you need.

• School disco (8 March)
  • Deadline for ordering tickets is Wednesday 6 March at 4:00pm SHARP.
• Free dress day (15 March)
  
  • Orange day (National day of action against bullying and violence)
  • Gold Coin donation to our Student Council
  • Reflects our school pledge (Promise 2)
• P&C AGM (19 March)
• Harmony Day celebrations (22 March)
• Parent-Teacher Interviews (25 & 26 March).
  
  • Bookings will open next Tuesday evening at approximately 6:00pm.
  • I will email families with the bookings link
  • Bookings are provided on a first in basis.
• School cross-country (26 March)
  • What's your team? Your family is allocated to a sports house based on the surname of your oldest child. Eg Smith is Siganto house
    • Colman (A-E) Red
      
    • Foxwell (F-L) Blue
      
    • Pedley (M-R) Yellow
      
    • Siganto (S-Z) Green
• Colour Run (29 March)

Congratulations to:

I would like to introduce and welcome our latest new teacher to Coomera Rivers.  Ms Alanna Mackay will be taking over from Mrs Ellison and Mrs Clifton form Term 2.  Until then, Ms Mackay will spend the next few weeks working in other areas in our school until the change is made to start the new term.  She brings with her a wealth of expertise and enthusiasm and I am delighted that she has joined our team.

Disco with a difference - Barn Dance Disco!

Howdy partner!

Come along in your best Barn Dance outfit BUT never fear, whilst there might be the occasional boot scooting boogie dance opportunity, the music will still be that hip, cool and rad stuff the kids think is AWESOME!  Get those cowgirls, cowboys and sheriffs ready to come scoot along to our Barn Dance Disco on Friday March 8.

The Junior Hoedown (Prep to Year 2) starts at 4.30pm and finishes at 6.00pm.  The Senior Stampede (Year 3 to Year 6) starts at 6.30pm and finishes at 8.00pm.

The fair dinkum deadline to purchase your Barn Dance Disco tickets is Wednesday 6 March at 4:00pm - tickets available via Flexischools.

Please refer to the flyer below for all the details.

PLEASE NOTE:

• Please take special notice of the information, on the flyer, around senior students NOT to be at junior disco and junior students NOT to be at the senior disco as well as the requirements for signing in and collecting students as, refusal on the night of the disco, may offend.
• We are always here to help. If you would like to attend this event but, due to circumstances, are unable to meet the payment deadline please email the P&C prior to the deadline to request a payment extension.

Real leaders forget about themselves and instinctively react in the interest of their team.

This week for our student leaders, it was all about learning to serve others. Our 2019 KidFit Leaders were assigned their Prep Buddy Class and how the KidFit program works. Their role in the school is to support our Prep teachers by helping to run the Prep KidFit program. Learning how to organise 24 prep children into a game as simple as Duck, Duck, Goose is not as simple as our teachers make it look. Parents certainly grow an appreciation for our teachers when they try to simply organise a game of Pin the tail on the donkey at small children’s parties. So for our Year 6 children, this is a huge learning opportunity where patience and clear communication are vital.

We also saw 60 of our Year 6 aspiring leaders complete their River Ranger training. River Rangers are our playground helpers who support duty teachers by organising games in the playground and ensuring everyone has someone to play with. Some of our River Rangers also serve in the cafe during their break times. Very soon our River Rangers will be sporting their new orange lanyards and they will work towards completing 20 duties to receive special recognition of their service to school.

Our school enjoyed its first free dress day on Thursday to support Rare Disease Day. The last day in February each year is selected for this. Unfortunately some of our students' and staffs' families are affected by rare diseases so we had an opportunity to learn more about them and how amazingly resilient these suffered are actually are. They truly are incredible. Teachers also reminded students of our school pledge (Promise 6) and why it is so important to celebrate people's differences.

Here are just some of the classes decked out in their finest light blue.  Thank you to the teachers in every class for supporting this activity so well.

Each week this year, I have been updating our families with information about our school’s behaviour expectations. Our school Positive Behaviour for Learning plan is on the school website should you wish to peruse it. Our school invests most of our time towards teaching and rewarding the positive behaviours that our community wants.

Topics covered

Newsletter 1 – Swearing and inappropriate / offensive language and gestures
Newsletter 2 – Managing conflict
Newsletter 3 - Aggression
Newsletter 4 – Violence (including threats to others)
Newsletter 5 – Bullying
Newsletter 6 - Cyber-safety

Bullying
Bullying is a word that is frequently used but poorly understood.  It describes a vile behaviour that frightens parents and abhors communities. No reasonable person wants it but unfortunately it still exists.  

To begin to understand bullying, it must be clearly defined. Late last year, the Queensland Premier directed a 16-member Task force to develop a proposed framework to addresscyberbullyingg of children and young people in Queensland, and recommend community and government action. The task force terms of reference excluded workplace cyber-bullying of young people and recognised that cyber-bullying is one form of bullying.

The task force used the following definition of bullying:

• Bullying is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through usually repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that is intended to cause physical and/or psychological harm.
• It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more people. Bullying can happen in person or using digital or other technologies, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert).
• Bullying of any form or for any reason can have long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders.
• Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.

Based on my experience as a Principal, I can tell parents that bullying exists but it is rarer than families may initially think. Most families refer to conflict between students as bullying but this is very different. Conflict is two way interaction but bullying is very single sided. 

We also consider students who are being mean as being involved in conflict or aggression.  As adults we understand 'the line' that separates meanness from racial, sexual, or personal verbal attacks and insults and these are managed differently (Please see Newsletter 1 for more information about these expectations) and I expect senior students to recognise this as well.  Being mean is not bullying if the instance is single in nature.  Repeated deliberate meanness can be considered bullying.

Deliberate bullying requires different approaches to be used for the bully and the victim. Both must learn from the behaviour and as a school we take this seriously.  Did you know that:

• Every report of bullying form students, staff or parents is investigated by either myself or my Deputies
• Parents can expect to be contacted by the school should we believe that your child has bullied or has been bullied.
• If your child has been a bully, consequences will be applied.

Consequences:  While every instance is different in it circumstances, the following information is a guide to what parents could expect should their child bully others.  Our school:

• Believes it reasonable to consider that Prep to Year 2 students are still in the learning phase. Nonetheless, bullying will result in serious consequences applied to the bully each and every time.
• Expects that students in the senior sectors (Years 3-6) already know the difference between right and wrong behaviours and the serious nature of bullying. language to use. If students in the senior school bully anyone, they can expect:
  • First incident: Suspension – 3 days
  • Second and subsequent incidents: Suspension – increasing lengths.
  • If reteaching and suspension cannot influence student behaviour, it may become necessary to apply exclusion processes.

NB:  It is a legal requirement that students with a disability that may affect their behavioural capacity be supported differently.  We acknowledge this and always apply this in our decision making.  

Please continue to discuss with your children, the standards that are expected by our community.
It is an offence for adults to intimidate or bully others on or around the school. This applies to conduct towards staff, students or other adults.

*********

Next week, I will discuss cyber-bullying and the task force recommendations. I will also highlight the proactive approach of our school - your children are already involved in these protective programs.  And you can be involved too.

The Department of Education's Cyber-safety and Reputation Management team will be delivering cyber-safety presentations to our Years 4-6 students during week 5 & 6. (Parents are welcome to attend). Eight sessions will be presented over two Fridays.

• Friday Week 5: 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm;
• Friday Week 6: 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm PLUS 2 sessions during the disco on Friday evening Week 6.

Content covered will include:

• Understanding digital footprints and responsible digital citizenship
• How to protect personal information when creating online accounts
• Cyberbullying and standing up for friends online Account privacy and how to create a strong password
• Responding to negative online content
• How to handle yourself if you're having a difficult time online.

Cyber-safety Presentations Week 5

Representative sport:

Basketball:  Congratulations to Eden, Aysa and Dallin for their selection in the Broadwater District Girls Basketball Team. These representative selections are the fruitful reward for our basketball development program led by Mr Justin Murillo and Miss Sophie Reid. The girls will train hard and represent our district at the South Coast Regional Basketball Carnival.

Netball:  Congratulations to the Chezaan, Mykealee and Hadyn-Lee, who made it the second round of Broadwater District netball trials for Netball.

AFL:  Well done to Noah and Taylan for making through to the second round of their Broadwater AFL trials.

Touch:  Congratulations Kobe for making the Broadwater U12 touch team.

Rugby League:  Congratulations to the following boys who have been selected to represent our school at the Broadwater District trials for rugby league: Koby, Perry, Alyssus, Si’u and Harry.

In other news:

Ten Pin Bowling:  Our school successfully received a grant from Sporting Schools to receive some ten pin bowling equipment to teach our students the sport of bowling.  Students in years 3-6 will be participating in ten pin bowling lessons in Physical Education this year.  They are sure to have fun!

Cricket:  Some of our students have been participating in a unit on Cricket. This is an exciting opportunity for our girls to become involved in a fun development program.  There are also cricket clubs in our area for serious cricketers, including Coomera Hope Island Cricket Club.

Golf:  Any students who play golf and have a high level of skill are invited to see the HPE Department about Broadwater District Trials coming up soon.

New trampoline:   Thank-you to Vuly Trampolines who have kindly donated a trampoline to our school. The trampoline is located in the SSC area and will be used by SSC students and many other students as a reward system here at school.

Kokoda Challenge:  The second trial for our Kokoda Challenge participants is on Saturday morning at the Nerang Forest. Well done to all Students who take on the challenge and especially to the dedicated staff who give up their own time to facilitate such a great experience.

KidFit:  Our KidFit Leaders started their campaign this week. Great to see them out with their prep classes each day.

Running Club:  A big thank you to Ms McLean and Mr Murillo for their efforts in running and organising some great running club sessions this week. A shout out to Ms Stuurstraat and Ms Zander for all their running efforts at Running Club.

Contact our PE team:

Jason Raffin:  jraff4@eq.edu.au 

Jack Burrows:  jtbur1@eq.edu.au 

Belinda O'Sullivan:  bosul8@eq.edu.au 

Busking At The Cafe:   Once again our first Music performances this year will kick off with some Busking in Week 10. Each performance will begin at 2:10pm at the Cafe undercover area.

• Monday 1st April- Choirs
• Tuesday 2nd April- Junior Band
• Wednesday 3rd April- Senior Band
• Thursday 4th April- Junior and Senior Strings

Choir:   This week we began our first choir rehearsals and this year there are 3 choirs available to join. Everyone is welcome so please come along and have some fun! Preps will have the opportunity to join choir later in the year.

• Year 1 Choir- Monday 2nd Break
• Year 2-4 Choir- Wednesday 2nd Break
• Year 5-6 Choir- Tuesday 2nd Break

Band:   CRSS Band programs have started off with a bang this year!  

• Senior Band have already started morning rehearsals (Tuesdays) and have 2 songs nearly perfected. 'Dragon Dance and Danza Africana.'
• Beginner Band (all Year 4’s) will start their morning rehearsals next Wednesday (6 March 2019) at 7:30am in the Music Centre. All beginners should be able to play their first 3 notes by now and I’m sure have been entertaining families with their beautiful sounds. 

Strings:   The instrumental strings program is off to a strong start.

Our senior ensemble has begun to play 'The Abandoned Funhouse' with beautifully haunting tones. In contrast, they are playing 'Kings of Stone' with strong and confident bows. Our juniors have all learnt how to care for and hold their instruments are now able to read some music! They have learnt their first concert piece 'Russian March' and look forward to sharing it with an audience at their first concert in week 10.

Contact the team

Emma Blyth:  eblyt9@eq.edu.au 

Cassi Zander:  czand4@eq.edu.au 

Courtney Morris:  cande211@eq.edu.au 

Wakakirri 2019 try outs are about to begin. Students in year 1-6 are eligible to join our Wakakirri team in 2019. Each class has been spoken to during their music/drama lessons this week about our 2019 story.

If your child is interested in participating, they must have their name on the sign on sheets outside the music room by Monday 4 March. The try out dance for years 1-5 is 'Feel It Still' (the flash mob routine from 2018) and the Year 6 try out dance is 'Better When I'm Dancing' (their flash mob routine from 2017).  Both of these can be found on YouTube to practise at home.

If you child signs up, they will receive more information including their try out time next week. Please be aware there are only 120 spots available so to ensure your child has the best shot, please encourage them to practise their routine.

Items for sale at the busking concerts.

Prep students have been creating fabulous self portraits in their art lessons (check out our works in progress!) and these will be available for purchase at the Busking afternoons. Please come and along and visit the gallery while listening to the music performances from 2:10pm and purchase your child's artwork for a donation.  Alternatively if you can't attend the gallery, please send in your donation (clearly labelled with your child's name) to the classroom teacher during the week of Monday 1 April.

• Monday 1st April- Prep M and K
• Tuesday 2nd April- Prep O and BD
• Wednesday 3rd April- Prep W and S
• Thursday 4th April- Prep A and C

Everyone is invited to come to school dressed in their own cultural dress/national dress or costume/ national sports uniform etc. on this day.  Our kids come from all over the world and some may have been born in Australia, but identify with a different culture, so we are hoping to create a day of bringing together and celebrating all of our differences.  (School Pledge - Promise 6)

Our three school environmental warriors need your help with this project.   Ava, Isabella and Isabella are collecting your empty water bottles and soft drink cans!  Not only will you be helping the environment but you will also be helping us raise valuable funds for our school.  Please see the details on how you can get involved below.

With Cross-Country scheduled for Week 9 of this Term, it is time to start thinking about those house colour accessories!

This year, not only do we have the hair ties and wrist bands available for purchase but we also have House coloured shirts through our partnership with Reklaim.

Orders for these shirts are open now through Flexischools and, to allow production of the shirts in time for the Cross Country, orders need to close next Friday 8 March at 4:00pm.

We understand that this is a short turn around time and this was unavoidable as this opportunity has only just been provided to us so, with that in mind, if you are unable to purchase and pay via Flexischools by the deadline we are willing to take orders via email - the deadline for email orders is also 4pm Friday 8 March. For these email orders the deadline for payment is Wednesday 20 March - shirts will not be delivered unless full payment has been received.

House coloured hair bands and wrist bands will be available to order via Flexischools right up until 2 school days prior to the event.  This allows enough time for the orders to be processed and the items to be delivered.

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

Nothing better than fun fundraising and what could be more fun than a fundraising School Community Colour Run?

This term, in conjunction with CUA Fun Run, we will be holding a School Community Colour Run on Friday 29 March.

Last Friday your children should have come home with a sponsorship and information booklet that outlines how the program works including how to set up your online fundraising platform and how to order your prizes! We have also included below a Parent Information letter to get you started.

All profits from this event (and all P&C fundraising activities this year) will be invested back into CLASSROOM AIR-CONDITIONING! So please get behind this donation drive, share it with friends and family near and far and help us get this CLASSROOM AIR-CONDITIONING off to a great start!

Please find the important event details and deadlines below:

Fundraising start date: Friday 22 February
Fundraising and online registration deadline: 9am Friday 22 March
Prize orders open: Monday 25 March
Colour Run event day: Friday 29 March
Prize orders close: Thursday 4 April
Prize delivery: Early Term 2

Important - To be eligible to take part in the Colour Run, each student must raise a minimum of $10 AND register online (even if doing the paper based cash only donations) before the fundraising deadline.

Good to know:

• Whilst online fundraising is preferable, families that do not wish to do fundraising online do have the option of a paper based donation. Please refer to the sponsorship and information booklet for more details.
• All students MUST be registered online - even if choosing the paper based cash donation option
• When setting up your online platform the account is set up in the parents name and then you will be promoted to set a “student” account under your parent profile.
• When setting up a student profile you must use the child’s full first name and correct class but you can use a last initial for the surname if you prefer.
• You do NOT have to upload a child’s image to the student profile unless you wish to.

And if you need more incentive to fundraise….

If CLASSROOM AIR-CONDITIONING and rewards are not enough to get you fundraising up a storm we have a bonus promotions on offer that we are sure will help:

• The class, from each year level, with the highest fundraising (per capita) will win the opportunity to have a water balloon fight with Mr Graham, their Deputy and their classroom teacher.

On the day - Colour Run event day information.

• Teachers will confirm what time your class will be participating in the Colour Run by no later than Tuesday 26 March.
• Families are more than welcome to come along and cheer their children on!
• Children participating in the event will need to bring along on the day white or light coloured old clothes to participate in, towel to dry off with and a garbage bag to bring the colour run clothes home in.

If you have any questions please contact the P&C.  Happy fundraising!

The raffle to win the use of the VIP car park (located in the car park beside the hall) for Term 2 is now open on Flexischools.  For as little as $2 you can go into the draw to win!

The lucky winner will have exclusive use of our VIP car park throughout Term 2 on all school days and at all school events.  Raffle tickets are available through Flexischools now and close at 4:00pm Friday 29 March.

Are you looking for great quality pre-loved uniforms to purchase?  Check on Flexischools now for the stock we currently have on hand.

Do you have some no longer needed uniforms you are looking to sell?   Drop in to Corporate Services or email the P&C for a sale form. Complete the form and return, with the uniforms, to Corporate Services and we will process your request.  It is a simple as that.  

Please note that:

• Purchase and sale prices are set
• All garments are given a stringent quality assessment and are returned to families if they do not meet requirements

The Annual General Meeting of the Coomera Rivers State School P&C will be held on Tuesday 19 March at 6:00pm in Corporate Services.

Nominations for the volunteer executive positions are open now and nomination forms can be requested at Corporate Services or by emailing the P&C.

Nominations for executive positions must be returned to Corporate Services with nominations closing at 3:00pm on Tuesday 12 March.

The general meeting of the association for March will be held directly after the AGM.

Next week's volunteer vacancies

Thank you to everyone who gives a little or a lot of their time and expertise to help our school.  You are awesome!

Cafe:   We need assistance from 8.30am to 10.30am in the Cafe on the following days:-

• Tuesday 5th March - 1 more volunteer required

Barnyard Disco:   With one week to go we are still in need of volunteers to assist at the Barnyard Disco on Friday 8th March. The event is broken down into the following shifts:-

• Bread Buttering - 1 more volunteer required from 4.00pm to 4.30pm
• Junior Disco Cafe Shift 1 - 4 more volunteers required from 4.30pm to 5.15pm
• Junior Disco Cafe Shift 2 - 5 more volunteers required from 5.15pm to 6.00pm
• Senior Disco Cafe Shift 1 - 5 more volunteers required from 6.30pm to 7.15pm
• Senior Disco Cafe Shift 2 - 5 more volunteers required from 7.15pm to 8.00pm
• Disco Ticket Cutting
• We are looking for 2 more volunteers to assist with disco ticket cutting on Friday 8th March from 8.30am. After the tickets have been cut and sorted we would also love some assistance to have them delivered to classrooms.

iCentre Book Covering:   Miss Katie has bags of books for book covering ready for collection from the iCentre.

Future Volunteer Opportunities

Easter Guess:   We will be looking for volunteers to assist with the Easter Guess table daily from Wednesday 20th March to Wednesday 3rd April. Morning shifts will be from 8.00am to 8.45am and afternoons from 2.00pm to 2.30pm.

Containers for Change:   We are looking for a volunteer with a large 4wd/ute that would be willing to take our containers for change to the Staylpton recycling centre

If you are interested in assisting with any of the above opportunities please email volunteers@coomerariversss.eq.edu.au 

Remember:   Currently we have a volunteer amnesty period in place until the start of Week 7.  From Week 7, it is Queensland law that all volunteers have completed the 2019 induction and registration process in order to be able to volunteer at the school.  This of course includes excursions.  So if you have not already done so request an information package on how to become registered for 2019.