Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

We are back with an absolute bang this term.  Have a quick perusal of the newsletter (and the calendar) and you will see what I mean.  

Smokey Wednesday afternoon

Like everyone in our community, we also had a few challenges this week during the controlled burn off.  And if the thick blanket of smoke was not enough, one or two quite irrational Facebook posts followed, suggesting the school was responsible.  Common sense would suggest that schools do not start fires nor manage controlled burn offs.  Queensland Fire and Emergency Services do this.  

The strong winds and heavy smoke created more than a few asthma issues for students and staff at school and the Queensland Ambulance Service was called to assist a number of sufferers.  All were well again soon.  

This incident also highlighted the need for our families to ensure they have:

• Current 2022 consent to administer medication forms filled out if your child requires any type of medication at school.  The forms must be completed each year to be valid.
• Current “in date” supplies of that particular medication (Asthma inhaler in particular).

Please never assume that the school has your puffer because you left one with the school a couple of years ago.  I must commend the office staff on their management of student health and well-being on Wednesday afternoon.  Well done!

Dress up day

Today was our annual Book Week Dress Up Day.  Once again I was amazed with the ingenuity shown by mums and dads in the creation of costumes.  Wow!  The full report is later in this issue so be sure to check out the names and gallery.  Thank you to all who supported the Book Fair this week and to Miss Katie for her fine work organising the event for us.

Sports fun days

Our 2022 sports fun days were finally conducted last week after the weather from earlier in the year changed our plans. The carnivals were excellent There was team spirit and sportsmanship shown across the three days of carnival and after all races were run and activities completed, we tallied the points.  For the sake of transparency and fairness, we add the team points and divide them by the number of students in the house for that year.  

Congratulations to Pedley house for taking out the carnival in 2023.

Junior gallery (Prep and Year 1)

Middle school gallery (Years 2 and 3)

Senior school gallery (Years 4-6)

Thank you sincerely to:

• The parents who cheered and supported so wonderfully well.  Your tug-of-war and sprint races were excellent.
• Our awesome P&C for coordinating the Subway lunches and looking after the staff across the three days.
• Our grounds staff for preparing the oval surface.  It was absolutely superb, despite the showers that passed through each day.
• Our staff for running the carnival events so smoothly, and 
• Our sports team for their leadership and organisation of the carnival.  

Speaking and debating

This week saw some very talented students from Years 4-6 demonstrate their wonderful public speaking and debating skills.  

Our public speaking teams in Years 5&6 competed at the AB Paterson College public speaking competition on Tuesday evening this week.  Each of them was very well prepared and presented with a polish and professionalism that we have become renowned for.  

The following night, six Coomera Rivers' teams across Years 4-6 competed in the Alliance Schools debating competition.  Each of our six teams were successful in the round of debates against competition from local state and independent schools.  A fuller report is in the newsletter below.

Our success is no fluke and comes from the commitment from our teachers and Mrs Artz.  I am extremely grateful for their leadership and investment in our children.  

Staff appreciation day

Week 4 (of Term 4) has been set aside for Staff Appreciation activities.  Check the calendar for the precise dates of events.  We are very lucky at Coomera Rivers.  Our school has a highly professional, highly committed staff team who go far beyond the tasks for which they are paid.  They add so much to the lives of children in our community.  

I would be very grateful to you if you could show your appreciation of them by sending them a message of thanks, a card or even a very small gift as a token.  

Fundraising at school

Our P&C is the best in the business.  They continually volunteer their time to ensure that our school continues to provide the very best for our children and community.  Their fundraising events are fewer in number now that they operate the OSHC at Coomera Rivers.  Profits from events and business are always directed back to the school and students.  For instance, our tennis court, a majority of the classroom air-conditioning, our security gates and many more facilities were all provided by our P&C.  So please continue to support their two coming events (Spooky Disco and Colour SPLAT-tacular) as they invest profits into the school and community.

Chicken Pox is about

We have had a couple of cases of chicken pox (AKA Varicella) reported to the school.  Please consult your medical professional if you are concerned and check the Time Out poster below for advice on isolation periods.

Table Tennis trials have begun

We are about to begin our selection trials for our school table tennis teams.  We traditionally do very well in the state and national table tennis competitions and this year looks very strong again.  We have once again had a lot if interest in trialing.

Leaving in 2022?

We are beginning to complete our plans for the start of 2023.  If you are leaving Coomera Rivers, please let our school office know as soon as possible so that we can make preparations.  

Kind regards

Vic

with Ms Waide

Well done to these students on a great start to the term.

Prep

Prep gallery:

Prep Science

This term, Prep students are learning how different objects and materials move. This week, classes visited the Loose Parts playground, some for the first time, and searched high and low for objects that bounce, roll, slide, can be knocked over and ones that can be pushed or pulled. They were very excited with the opportunity for some play-based learning and were all able to incorporate the language in their conversations.

Year 1

Year 1 gallery:

with Mr Meijboom

Well done to these students on a great start to the term.

Year 2

Year 2 gallery

Sports Fun Day

In Week 1 of Term 4, our Year 2 students enjoyed the annual Sports Fun Day! Their behaviour, effort and sportsmanship was exemplary.

Fun in PE

Year 2 students have been having fun this week in PE with Mr Cope, learning eye hand coordination by keeping balloons in the air.

Junior Book Club

Year 1 and 2 students have been lucky enough to join Book Club with Mrs Fischer.

Bookweek Dress-Up

Students looked amazing in their Bookweek costumes! Congratulations to the class winners and overall Year 2, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners!

Container Recycling

Well done to 2B students who have collected enough containers to contribute over $60 to the school, as part of the containers for change initiative.

with Mrs Gatti

Year 3 excursion

Our Year 3 students travelled up to Ngutana-Lui Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies Centre in Inala this week. Throughout the day students participated in a range of engaging activities to further enhance their knowledge of the diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

The day was very busy.  We completed dot paintings of native Australian animals which is a way of telling important stories, and learned the correct way to throw a boomerang while pretending to hunt for food whilst developing our hand eye co-ordination skills through games. We listened and learned all about traditional bush medicine and now we know which plants in nature could help us if we are hurt and which are best to clean our hands or make our clothes smell nice. We even found out about a plant that is a natural insect repellent. We learned about how we could use different parts of animals to help collect and carry food, use as a utensil, wear as clothes, and even hold and rock your baby. We learned how to use leaves and fibres to create works of art, jewellery, nets or even a sail for a boat.

The students also learned a lot about the Torres Strait Islands and about their traditional fisherman. At the end of the excursion, the elders taught us special dances and songs and then played the digeridoo for us all to enjoy. It truly was a day to remember.  

Well done to these students on a great start to the term.

Year 4

Year 4 gallery

with Ms Artz

Well done to these students on a great start to the term.

Year 5

Year 5 gallery

Year 6

Year 6 gallery

Developing and encouraging our students' public speaking is a skill we truly value at Coomera Rivers. We do this as a whole school though our mySpeak public speaking program but then we extend on this in Year 4 - 6 by joining the A B Paterson Public Speaking competition. The Year 4 section was held last term and provides students with the experience rather than a formal competition.  This week saw our Year 5 and 6 students compete and take on private and public schools from around the Gold Coast.  In previous years, we have had no limit on how many students we can enter, however this year, schools could only select 5 students from each year level, consequently strengthening the calibre of speakers. 

All students spoke incredibly well and their speeches were both entertaining and informative.  If they were nervous, it didn't show, in fact, we think their parents were the ones more nervous for them.  We are happy to announce that Connor B from Year 5 and Micaela V-H from Year 6 have successfully made it through to the preliminary finals and return to do their speech next week at A B Paterson College. A massive congratulations to our students for being selected to represent our school.  They certainly captivated their audience and made us all very proud. 

Year 5

Connor B, Frankie G, Lia L, Lana P & Alana B

Year 6

Micaela V-H, Annabelle N, Annabelle F, Camille S & Ella G

Wednesday evening saw the first round of debates for our 2022 Coomera Alliance Debating Competition. This is the 4th year that Coomera Rivers has organised and hosted the competition, with its purpose being to bring our local schools together to learn the valuable skill of presenting and defending a side of an argument in a friendly competition.  This year, seven other schools jumped on board and the competition is impressive. 

The competition is open to students from Year 4 to 6 and we have been fortunate enough to enter more teams than any other school, showing the calibre and depth of talent we have in the public speaking arena.  Our six teams represented our school extremely well and we walked away from the first round with every team winning their debate. This puts Coomera Rivers in a position of being a school that is undefeated thus far for every debating competition this year. Students will now begin to prepare for Round 2 which takes place in Week 6 and then we will need to wait and see which schools fight it out in the Grand Final in Week 9.  It’s certainly a promising start!  

A very big thank you to all staff who continue to give up their lunch breaks and an afternoon each week to coach our students. Thank you also to our staff who have supported in the set-up and adjudication role.   Our students certainly have a formidable reputation in this field!

Congratulations to all of our debaters.  For many, this was their first formal debate.

Year 4

That Christmas is better than your birthday (CRSS - Affirmative)

Team: Arabella, Callum, Archer, Hugh & Julissa

Year 5

That super heroes are good role models (CRSS - Negative)

Team A: Connor, Frankie G, Alana, Lana & Ellie

Team B: Lia, Mirielle, Frankie T, Tamara & Stella

Year 6

That charity begins at home

Team A: Annabelle F, Chase, Ashley, Lucas & Mariyae (Affirmative)

Team B: Ella, Fellyn, Annabelle N, Micaela (Negative)

Reserve Team B: Ivy W, Poppy, Mia & Ivy R (Negative)

Also thank you to Ella (Year 5), Leyla (Year 6) and Mrs Comley’s daughter Ella who stepped in on the night to help out with chairing or timekeeping the debates.

Wow! Every year we are just astounded by the amazing costumes that students create (with many hours of parent help we are sure!).  Well done to everyone who wore a costume today.  Judging was difficult, but the following students were selected as winners.

Prep
1^st Kera - Prep C
2^nd Marley Menzies - Prep M
3^rd Coleton -  Prep S 

Year 1
1^st Mackenzie – 1B
2^nd Jesse – 1O
3^rd Genesis – 1D 

Year 2
1^st Layla and Alexa – 2S
2^nd Olivia - 2O
3^rd Robin – 2A

Year 3
1^st Kendall 3H
2^nd Edileen 3MC
3^rd Emily 3W

Year 4

1^st Jensen & Bailey 4P
2^nd Charles 4E
3^rd Thilini 4W

Year 5
1^st Liliana, Ella, Alana & Riley – 5M
2^nd Frankie G, Frankie T, Lana P – 5C
3^rd Hunter 5EN

Year 6
1^st Holly – 6K
2^nd Cameron – 6E
3^rd Annabelle N, Micaela, Brooke & Mariyae 6WC

Time To Shine Concert 2022

Yes, that’s right - we are looking to hold our end of year music showcase concert. More information will follow in the next newsletter but for now, please keep practising!  

Instrumental Music Program 2023

All students in Years 2 and 3 watched the Senior Strings and Senior Band perform at a concert on Tuesday, to showcase instruments that students can learn in years 3 and 4 at Coomera Rivers State School. We are asking all families, whether their children are interested in joining the instrumental program or not, to complete the survey (which takes approximately 4 minutes to fill out) so that we do not consider your child in our selection process if they meet our specific criteria.

Year 2 and 3 teachers have emailed families the following survey links    

• Parents of current year 2 students interested in joining the string program in 2023, please click here.    
• Parents of current year 3 students interested in joining the band program in  2023, please click here.

Please remember that if you are selected for the strings program in 2023 you are not able to leave the program to join the band program the following year.  Students who wish to join the band program will need to wait another year for the 2024 recruitment process - please complete the string survey and indicate this at the specific question.

Instrumental Music 2022 End Of Hire

Parents of students who are currently enrolled in the Junior Strings or Beginner Band program are asked to complete this survey to indicate their preferences for next year. The survey takes approximately 2 minutes to fill in and if you have any questions please email your child’s instrumental music teacher.

At OSHC we always encourage the children to use their imagination and engage in creative, mindfulness play. Monday afternoon was a perfect example of imaginative, innovative games and play with Miss Cayley and Miss Ange running a game of “Camouflage” and “Portrait”. Camouflage is like a version of mobile hide and seek, where Miss Cayley would count down with her eyes closed while the children would hide. If she turned around and spotted anyone, they would have to be a seeker like her, before she would count down again, and the children would have to move to a new spot. The children had so much fun, and loved playing a different game. It was awesome to watch!

After Camouflage Miss Ange decided to run a game of Portrait, where she would clap her hands before calling out to the children a scene or picture they would have to make within groups. For example, Miss Ange would yell, “pretend you're at the beach” or “you’re at a dance party”.

The children (and educators) had a blast!

If, for any reason at all, you would like to attend the Spooky Disco but can NOT meet the payment deadline, please email the P&C BEFORE the deadline and we will be able to assist.           

Unfortunately, once the deadline has passed no further tickets will be available.

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.     

Ticket price is $10 and includes entry, sausage sizzle and a drink.  There will be a range of other food available to purchase (with cash) on the night. We will also have a photo both available.       

If you would like more information please contact the P&C.

NO phones at the Spooky Disco.

Please be advised that students are not permitted to bring mobile phones into the Spooky Disco.

Students who need to contact home for any reason throughout the event, will be assisted to do so by speaking with a staff member who will assist.

Students will be asked upon entry and, if they do have a phone with them, it will be able to be stored securely and collected again at the end of the event.

If students are found using a mobile phone at the event, parents will be contacted to collect their child.

Students should now have their sponsorship booklets!

Woo hoo! It’s time to start fundraising! 

Students have received their sponsorship booklet and can now create their online profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au.

(If you have not as yet received your sponsorship booklet , please contact your classroom teacher).

Please see the newsletter article below for all you need to know about the Colour SPLATacular!

#schoolrun4fun #funrun #australianfundraising #fundraising #coloursplatacular

Please note: If, for any reason, you are unable to complete the event eligibility steps  by the advertised deadline, please contact the P&C PRIOR to the deadline and we will be able to assist. No further registrations can be accepted once the deadline has passed

A paper copy of the below information, along with a sponsorship booklet, was sent home by classroom teachers during Week 3.

For any questions please email the P&C.

It is with great excitement that we open the orders for our 2024 seniors shirts.

Our Year 5 students have been involved in a design development process that culminated in six designs being presented to the cohort. Every Year 5 student was then able to vote on their favourite with the design with the most votes becoming our 2024 senior shirt design.

An image of the finalised design for 2024 can be found below.

Important information - What you need to know.

• Orders are open to our current Year 5 (Class of 2024) students only
• Orders are open now via School24 and will close at 4pm Friday 17 November
• The cost of the shirt is $35
• REALLY IMPORTANT! When determining sizing, please refer to the size charts available below (and on the School24 site) or you can email the P&C to book a time to try on sample sizes. Please ensure that you check and order the correct sizes as there is no exchange of sizes available once your order has been placed.
• Families that would like to purchase but, for any reason, are not able to make full payment before the deadline date, can email the P&C to request a payment plan.  Please note - to be eligible for a payment plan your school credit rating must be in good standing - meaning you have no outstanding payments to school or, if you currently are on a school payment plan, your payments are up to date.
• The school requires that a minimum of 100 student orders are received for the senior shirt to proceed. If orders do not reach this target, we will process refunds and not proceed with the order for this year.
• The 2024 Senior shirt can be worn on sports days at school.
• Students will still need to have a standard "green" shirt as these must be worn when representing our school off site requires full sport uniform.
• 2024 Senior Shirts will be handed out in Term 1 Week 4 of 2024 after confirmation that students have the full correct "blues" and "greens" uniform.
• The seniors shirt is not able to be signed at school at the end of the year as a memento     

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

Notification of uniform price increases

The School Locker has advised the school that they will be increasing their pricing of school uniform items effective from 1 November 2022.

As a result, we are encouraging families to beat the price rise and consider making any Term 4 or 2023 uniform purchases prior to any price rises.  

If you have any questions, please contact The School Locker

Please email the P&C at pandc@coomerariversss.eq.edu.au for a TEAMS link.

P&C meetings are a great way to keep up to date with what is going on around our school. The meetings also provide our families with an opportunity to have input and feedback on matters relating to school and community life.  Meetings are open to all families and we encourage families to attend our on-line meeting and contribute to your school community which forms a vital part of your children's educational journey.

We look forward to seeing you on-line at our next meeting.

Get your Sport House colours ready!

With our Sport Fun Day event scheduled for late this Term, now is time to start thinking about those house colour accessories!

Our sports house shirts are made of a breathable fabric, have a collar for sun protection, school logo and, most importantly, your house colour and name!

Orders of these shirts are open now on School24 and Stock is limited! 

We have included below the size chart to assist with sizing for your orders. This chart is also accessible from the School24 site when ordering.

Please note

Sports House Shirts are now located in a dedicated uniform ordering section of School24. Please click on the Uniform Online - Order Uniform tab on the home page to access ordering.

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