Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

I regularly add a section to school newsletters asking families to be patient and courteous while driving around the school and within the the car park area.  I do this based on feedback from other drivers and observations made by school staff who supervise the students in the car park and Kiss n Go area.  Of the many hundreds of vehicles that pass through this area, nearly every one of them is driven safely and patiently.  It isn't often that I get to actually drive in the afternoon traffic with families but I had need to do this yesterday.  I was very impressed with the courtesy and care shown by the motorists around me.  Thank you sincerely.  

Debating successes

It has been an extraordinarily busy time for our debating teams and coaches this week with two separate competitions.  The details of these events are following but suffice to say that we had seven individual debates for seven victories and for the seventh consecutive year, Coomera Rivers is the regional champion debating school.  Well done to everyone involved.

Student safety and development programs

Last week's parent meeting to discuss the Prep - Year 6 programs was very much a discussion starter that carried over into P&C.  Educating and protecting our children from predatorial behaviours and possible harm is just so important so it is pleasing to see that we are all in agreement when it comes to providing these programs next year.  Families will be informed of the content, a parent information session will be held and families will have the opportunity to withdraw their child from the sessions should they prefer.  

Year 5 leadership process

The leadership process for selecting the 2020 school leaders has begun.  The positions of  Head of School and Head of Student Council will be filled this year and the remaining positions will be filled at the beginning of 2020.

Aspire Higher will be holding leadership workshops with the Year 5 students to show them that we are all leaders - we do not need to wear a badge.  This is a really important aspect in character development for our children.  And then in late November, the shortlisted 25 will be able to attend the leadership camp at Runaway Bay.  And following speeches and interviews, the successful applicants will be appointed.  The announcement is secret and will be made at the Awards Assembly in Week 10.

Assistant Regional Director to visit

Our Assistant Regional Director, Brian Ragh, is visiting our school on Monday.  He will drop into some classrooms and spend time chatting with students and teachers discussing learning.  

Curlew family

Our plover family is on the move and the babies are very cute.  The parent birds are very protective so we do our best to stay away and give them space.  You will usually see them moving about the oval area each day.  You will probably hear them first.

You may recall our efforts to support and learn about pair of curlews that were nesting in the school late last term.  Of the two eggs laid one was successfully incubated and the protective parents have set up residence in the corner of the car park.  Please do everything you can to protect them.

School fees in 2020

Congratulations to the following students who received a Student Excellence Award this week.  We love celebrating their success!

It was an all girls team of 8 who represented Coomera Rivers at the Mid Coast regional debating competition at Merrimac State School on Wednesday. These Year 6 students knew the pressure was on given that our school has quite a reputation, being undefeated since joining the competition in 2013. And, we're happy to announce, the winning streak has not been broken with Coomera Rivers walking away from the competition, once again, undefeated.

Topics up for debate were:
1. That mobile phones should be banned at school, and
2. A social life is more important than academics.

Our students conducted themselves with such professionalism and confidence and we couldn't be more proud of them. Congratulations to our 2 teams.

We’d have to say the biggest highlight for the day was the visit to the ‘golden arches’ on the drive home and the celebratory singing in the car.

So for 2019, the debating shield once again remains in the hands of Coomera Rivers.

Wednesday night saw our 2nd round of debates for the Coomera Alliance Debating Competition. This week we had a total of 5 teams from Year 4 - 6 debate against Coomera Springs and Ormeau. We even had three students step in at the last minute to go up against our Year 4 team to replace a team that was unable to make the competition.

Our Year 4’s argued against the topic that ‘Electronics are spoiling our social life’. For Wyatt, Tiarna, Alyssa and Amber this was their first ever debate and they maintained that electronics haven't spoilt our social lives, merely changed it.

This year we have 2 Team B Year 5 teams which is testament to the depth of debating talent we have at Coomera Rivers. The topic, 'It is better to be smart than wealthy,' saw Kalen, Kai and Abbey's team agreeing with the statement while Harry, Talia, Ava and Jasmeet's team disagreed. In the end, both teams walked away with a win which goes to show, the strength of your argument and the way in which you deliver it, is the key to persuading an audience that your opinion is correct.

Our Year 6 team tackled the topic, ‘That beauty contests should be banned,” and they agreed wholeheartedly. Georgina, Isabella L, Isabella W and Layla questioned who are we to decide what makes a person beautiful? It appears, the adjudicators agreed with them and it was another win for Coomera Rivers.

Special mention must go to three students who stepped in a week before the competition. Unfortunately we had one school who were unable to make it to the Year 4 debate and rather than a team missing the opportunity to participate, we had Jasper, Christian and Hannah from Year 5 band together to form a team. Their willingness to step in when they knew they couldn't technically 'win' this debate was praiseworthy. And they didn't just 'step-in' they certainly 'stepped up' by putting in a mammoth effort and providing their opposition with a very robust debate.

While Coomera Rivers currently remains undefeated in this competition, winning it is not our purpose. It’s wonderful to see our students joining with our neighbouring schools in a friendly competition and learning from each other. We look forward to seeing how the next round plays out in Week 6 when our Team A’s come back to battle it out for a place in the grand final.

Congratulations to our regional chess team who competed at the Gold Coast All Age Championships this week.  Once again every one of our students represented our school so proudly.  We played seven rounds against some of the best chess players on the Gold Coast.  Have a look at how well our players performed. Well done to them!  Thank you once again to Mrs Hardwick and Miss Nic for leading our team.

Our results:

We had a yummy start to the day thanks to Woolworths at Coomera East.  They provided our children with cereals and fruit to get their day off to a wonderful start.  Thank you to Woolies Comera East for their continued support for our school and well done to the teachers, volunteers and student council leaders who assited with the serving.  Great job.

Golf

Our school was successful in receiving a Sporting Schools grant to introduce our students to the sport of golf.  This week our Year 4, 5 and 6s commenced a golf lessons.  We received golf equipment and some professional coaching. We also have some discount vouchers for any students who particularly enjoy the sport and decide they’d like to pursue it further.
     

Cricket

Great to see our senior Students out playing games of cricket at play times. They are competing for the coveted Coomera Rivers Super 6s Cup.  So far 5W and 6L are the standout classes. Mr Raffin and Mr Burrows were named as the Queensland Cricket Ambassadors of the Month for the promotion of the game in our school.
     

Swimming

This week our Year 2s and 3s commenced a Learn to Swim Program. The students enjoyed the lessons and developing very important skills that could potentially save lives. It is a sad fact that children still die every year in Australia from drowning. Our Prep students commence their Learn to Swim program on 18 November. Year 5s will be heading to Burleigh in December to do a program on beach safety, basic first aid and surf life-saving skills.

Prep, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 5 have the opportunity for swimming lessons this year.  The lessons are heavily subsidised from the department grant of over $16 000 but there is still unfortunately a cost to families for transport.  Information will be sent home so please beat the response and payment deadline.

• Prep $55 - November 18th to 29th - Monday to Friday - 2 weeks - Rackley Swimming Pimpama
• Year 2 & 3: $35 - October 28, 30, November 11, 13, 18 and 20 - Gullivers 
• Year 5 Surf Safety: $15 - December 3 & 4 - Burleigh Heads Beach

Thursday 28 November 

Tickets go on sale Monday 11 November - $2 per person (to cover costs of hired seating).  Children over 12 months will require a seat. Performing students do not require a seat.  Parents with children in both concerts, will need to purchase tickets to both concerts.   Please check next week's newsletter for more information including the website link to purchase.

Junior Concert: 4:00 - 5:30pm

Groups involved:

• Prep Choir
• Prep Dance
• Year 1 Choir
• Year 1 Dance
• Year 2 Dance
• Junior Strings
• Junior Band

Senior Concert: 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Groups involved:

• Year 2-6 Choir
• Year 3 Dance
• Year 4 Dance
• Year 6 Dance
• Senior Strings
• Senior Band
• Extension Strings

First round offers were handed out to Year 2 and Year 3 students this week. If you wish to accept the offer please return the acceptance form before November 15 otherwise the position may go to a student on the waiting list. If you have any questions regarding your child’s offer, please email Mr Owens or Mrs Stephenson who will be happy to assist you.

Challenges – something were all faced with and must learn to overcome. This week at OSHC we were challenged by a number of things, however, through perseverance and teamwork we were able to find learn and find a suitable solution. As you may have noticed, we planted a herb garden in our courtyard. Well, we also tried planting some vegetables in our garden too. Being so eager to watch them grow tall and strong, we made sure they were watered every day and placed where the sun would get them. They were doing so well, even the lettuce and radish plants had started to sprout! We locked up OSHC excited to see our plants after the weekend. Unfortunately, when we came back to OSHC on Monday we discovered the vegetables were looking very sad. We realised that on Saturday and Sunday our vegetables were getting too much sun and not enough water to survive. This taught us that while plants need sun to grow, they also need water. We decided that from now on we would keep our plants in the OSHC room over the weekend and out in the sun during the week when we are able to water them every day.

Save money and access the Student Resource Scheme for next year.  This scheme applies to classroom learning activities.  All students MUST have these items.  You can join the scheme or organise your own.

The school and P&C conduct a tender process each couple of years to identify a preferred supplier for school books.  Kookaburra are the current suppliers after winning this tender process.  They offer a competitively priced and convenient option for parents however, you are still able to choose to visit the back to school sales to collect the items yourself should you prefer.  On-line ordering has opened.