* Please note that this calendar is a guide only and dates and times may change as required.

Coomera Rivers offers students a plethora of opportunities to enjoy sporting and cultural pursuits.  Nearly all of the activities are offered by staff who volunteer their time and we are very grateful to them.  

Term 3

Monday

          
Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

I hope everyone has been keeping well despite the current spike of both COVID and flu cases.  The school is informed of multiple cases each day, and I appreciate these reports from families.  Of course, these viruses are also affecting staff and their children, and all of us are doing our best to manage to keep our learning programs moving.  If your children are displaying COVID symptoms, please test.  If positive, let the school know and then complete the isolation requirements as set out on the Queensland Health website.  If your children are unwell, they should stay home until well again.  But if they are well, come to school.  Every day matters.

Year 4 camp next week

Year 4 camp to Tallebudgerra begins next week.  I am sure that the children are feeling a mix of both excitement and anxiety.  This is very normal.  This is a wonderful opportunity for them to develop their independence - making beds, tidying up, hanging their towels, packing their bags and experiencing new adventures.  Keep encouraging them and teach them how to pack their bags and how to roll their sleeping bag.  This will prove invaluable when they return home.  

We will keep families updated regularly via some generic photos and reports on Facebook.  I can guarantee some tired kids upon their return.  I also encourage families to consider a small gift of appreciation for teachers who led the camp.  This is not at all like a family holiday and the responsibilities on school staff are enormous.  

School calendar

Please check the school calendar each week for changes to routine.  We have a public holiday on 26 August and a Student Free Day on 2 September.

AFLQ finals

Last Monday, our girls AFL team proudly represented us at the AFLQ Schools Regional Finals. The AFLQ Schools Cup Primary Division started with roughly 200 schools, and making the regional finals meant that we were in the top 15 of the competition.  This is a tremendous achievement on its own.

The girls were set to compete against some extremely tough teams however, they were up for the challenge and held their own. We ended the day with a draw, 2 loses and win. We are extremely proud of all the girls for their commitment to AFL over the first three terms. Thank you to all the parents for their ongoing support as well.  And a special thanks to Mr Cope and Mr Burrows for their leadership of the girls.

A busy week in sport continued with:

• Broadwater District athletics on Monday and Tuesday and
• Inter-school sport today

We will provide detailed reports in the next issue of the newsletter but I am delighted with our achievements and very proud of how each student represented our school.

A gallery from some of the inter-school action today

Stranger danger

I was provided a report of suspicious activity that involved a person in a car, trying to entice some children to the car.  This occurred last weekend and the police have been informed.  

Please speak to your children about stranger danger and how to manage in these circumstances.  

Kind regards

Vic

Congratulations to these wonderful learners on their achievements.

Prep

Prep gallery

Year 1

Year 1 gallery

Congratulations to these wonderful Year 2 learners on their achievements.

Year 2 gallery

2B & 1/2MC Learning

Some 1/2MC and 2B students have been developing their fluency and expression when reading by rehearsing and delivering some reader’s theatre. Keep up the great work!

Congratulations to these wonderful Year 3 and 4 learners on their achievements.

Year 3

Year 3 gallery

Our own Little Legend of League

Radio station Triple M Gold Coast recently promoted a Rugby League competition between Under 9 players on both sides of the Gold Coast border.  The coaches were Matt Rogers (Queensland) and John Cartwright (New South Wales).  And our very own Flynn represented Queensland in this match.  

New South Wales skipped away to a strong lead but that 'Queenslander' spirit saw a fight back with a fitting 20-20 draw at the full time whistle.  Congratulations to Flynn on his achievements - we are very proud.  

Year 4

Year 4 gallery

Congratulations to these super Year 5 and 6 learners on their achievements.

Year 5

Year 5 gallery

eSports victory

On Wednesday Mrs Aimes, Carlos, Zane, Conner & Connor went to Emmanuel College to compete in the Fuse Cup. They competed in Rocket League against 10 other teams from all across the Gold Coast and showed the Fuse Cup values of Integrity, Strength, Teamwork and Inclusion.  Carlos and Zane won the competition and will now represent Coomera Rivers at the state championships in October. All 4 boys represented Coomera Rivers to an exemplary standard and should be very proud of their efforts.  Thank you to our eSport coaches for supporting our students.

Year 5 are helping others

Sensational Point of View Writing

This week Aliya, Meah and Brooklyn from 5B shared their incredibly creative writing with Mrs Artz.  The writing task required students to write a letter from the point of view of one of the crayons in the crayon box.  These 3 students' writing pieces were highly entertaining and Mrs Artz thoroughly enjoyed reading them.  Here, Brooklyn shares her letter from the point of view of 'Blue Crayon'

Year 6

Year 6 gallery

Goodstart

Goodstart has now recommenced for the term and is being offered to Year 5 and 6 students.  This term, the focus is on PHYSICAL ACTIVITY and how it keeps our bodies and minds healthy. Physical activity can benefit our bodies; it helps our heart, bones, lungs, brain and muscles. It promotes teamwork, helps build relationships and friendships, and is a fun way to spend time with family through play, dog walking, gardening and family activities.

Next term, Goodstart will be offered to Year 3 and 4 students.    

'Learning to debate means learning better ways to state one’s point with gentleness graciously,' (Rebecca Devitt) and what an essential skill this is in today's world!

Friday afternoon saw our first debating competition for 2022 - the traditional Great Debate. The Great Debate is now in its 8th year and sees students from Year 6 compete against Pimpama State Secondary College's Year 7 students. While some may argue this is an unfair competition given the age difference between the two opponents, our young debaters certainly disagree. Each and every year we aim to prove that it doesn't matter how old you are, if your arguments are strong and well supported with credible evidence, if you deliver your arguments with a passionate confidence, you can persuade any audience. Your voice matters!

Debating exemplifies our 'Good at Learning, Good at Life' mission as it provides students with an opportunity to critically analyse contemporary issues through multiple lenses. While most children are great at arguing their point of view and what they believe to be fair in their world, debating expands on this by making them explore both sides of an argument and defend a side they may have not initially agreed with. Debating also strengthens students ability to collaborate given it is a team sport and it's important that each speaker supports and strengthens the arguments of the team.

The topic and our team this year was:
That the school years are the best years of our lives (CRSS - Affirmative)
CRSS Team: Ashely M, Annabelle F, Annabelle N and Ella G.
Chairperson: Poppy G

Poppy summed it up well when she introduced the debate saying it was a topic that had generations and people divided in their opinions. Our students all delivered strong arguments and spoke with such confidence and conviction that they convinced the adjudicators they were right. So it looks like the school years are the best years of our lives, even if we don't always realise it. Watch out Mums and Dads, these students know how to put forward a convincing argument! A massive congratulations to our students who are now looking forward to the Coomera Alliance Debating competition in Term 4.

Queensland Children's Activities Network (QCAN), the peak body for Outside School Hours Care in Queensland, recently ran a competition as part of National OSHC Educator Day where they asked families, staff and students to nominate an Educator that always goes above and beyond for their students and families.

Our Service nominated Miss Rach in recognition of her outstanding commitment to our school community. As you will see, from the nomination below, Miss Rach's hard work does not go unnoticed by staff, students and families.

QCAN, received over 300 nominations and our Miss Rach was deemed to be the winner!

Congratulations Miss Rach!

Coomera Rivers will celebrate book week next term with a book fair event running for the first two weeks. Our annual Book Week dress up day will be held Friday 14th October. Every year we marvel at all the amazing costumes. It truly is very difficult picking year level winners!

This years theme is 'Dreaming with Eyes Open' and is about listening to Country as the first storyteller and learning from friends who have helped you in your own story. Of course students can dress to the theme or are welcome to dress as any favourite literary character!

Thursday the 4th of August, was National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Day! It’s a celebration of the strength and culture of indigenous children in our community. To celebrate, we chose a craft activity that would celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. The children had the option to colour in a rainbow serpent or create their own boomerang. The boomerang papers also had a section describing different Aboriginal drawings and their meanings, and the children could include these in their design This was a fun new way to gain meaning from a language that they are not typically exposed to, and to create their own story. Some of the children even mentioned that they had learned things like this in school, and they felt excited to have knowledge they could apply to their drawing.

Our online Father's Day stall is now open!

To order you can visit School24 to view our range of Father’s Day presents 

Our stock is limited so get in quick to make sure you secure your awesome gifts.

Orders close on Tuesday 29 August at 4:00pm if not sold out prior.

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.

We would like to offer our Prep students the chance to create their own little masterpiece as a souvenir of their first year at school.

While saved artwork on paper can tear and fade, children’s art that is turned into any one of the products listed on the below flyer can be enjoyed for many years.  And they make a great Christmas gift!

The items on the below flyer are available to purchase now through School24.

Please find below the important dates in relation to this opportunity:

• Orders open: Now via School24
• Orders close: Friday 23 August at 4pm
• Templates completed in class: Wed 28 August - Tues 3 September
• Orders delivered: Friday 15 November

If you do require a deadline extension you MUST email the P&C prior to the deadline to request one.

The Association of Spanish Language and Culture in Australia, is a program of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training that provides, free of charge, complementary Spanish language and culture classes to children of Spanish residents in the ACT, QLD, NSW and VIC.  For more information, please visit the website.

The classes have been functioning in 2022. The registration period for 2023 is open now from 1 August – 15 September 2022. We need more students to ensure that the classes can continue on the Gold Coast in 2023 and beyond. The children participating should be between 6 and 18 (turn 7 next year and not turn 18 before February 2023). The participating children will need to hold a Spanish passport, if not then both or either parent must hold a Spanish passport.  If you live on the Gold Coast, please contact Ana Maria on 0419 206 947 or via email.