Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

A big week of planning this week as we prepare for a restructure of classes in the junior school so that all classes are below the maximum student number of 25.  This is an annual need for all public schools as we prepare for the year ahead.  

There are a few parts to our plan.  We will be:

• Creating a new prep class (7 classes)
• Creating two 2/3 composite classes

There is an opportunity for families in Prep and Year 2 & 3 to let me know if they would like their child to be in one of these new classes.  Please do not send me an email to request that your child is not moved. 

• On Tuesday, Ms Waide and Mr Meijboom will help me create the restructured class lists. 
• On Wednesday, class teachers in Prep and Years 2&3 will send home a paper note with every student to inform parents of possible changes.  Most students are NOT AFFECTED by the restructure.  
• On Thursday we are setting up new rooms
• On Friday, we are moving to our new classes.

You can help us with this by reassuring your child that the change is a positive and exciting thing.  The teachers are well prepared for these changes and will help their students adapt very quickly.  

Free dress day

Wear stripes (any colour) on Friday 28 February to recognise rare disease day.

Good at learning

Congratulations to 3WH on how well they completed their Maths activities this week. They took advantage of the many spaces their teachers had created for learning with activities happening on tables, floors, benches, kitchen and outdoors! The bean bag toss addition game was engaging to play and watch!

      
Prep A students have been learning about similarities and differences and sorting. They had lots of fun with hands on materials and worked well in small groups to sort by colour, size and shape. They are still practising using their words to explain how they sorted. The children also noticed lots of similarities and differences among classmates like different coloured hair and eyes and different types of shoes. Well done Preppies!

Thank you to the students of 6D who started their buddy reading program with a Year 2 class this week.  This weekly activity is a perfect opportunity for students to put their leadership skills into practice.

Car park gardens to get a make over

Cr Caldwell has arranged for our car park gardens to get a much needed make over. The work is expected to start on Wednesday 26 February and conclude by Friday 6 March.

In order to minimise disruption for our families, the Gold Coast City Council has agreed to complete this work between the hours of 10:00am and 1.30pm each school day.  It is important to note that they have advised that there may be some restricted access to the car park during the garden refurbishment.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Year 3 Woolies Breakfast a big success

Thank you to our P&C for coordinating a successful Woolies breakfast for Year 3 students.  Thank you to the student leaders and staff who helped on the morning.

Congratulations to the following students who earned themselves a Student Excellence Award this week.  These lucky recipients not only received a snazzy pencil but they also got to celebrate their success down at the office.

Rare disease day

We are holding our first free dress day for 2020. There is no gold coin donation and we want to raise awareness around rare diseases.

The theme for this day is  Show your stripes!

Where does this rally cry come from?

The zebra is the official symbol of rare diseases and is noted for its black and white stripes, which are central to its uniqueness. Everyone has his/her own stripes, those characteristics that make each individual distinct. While each of the more than 7,000 rare diseases is unique, there are many commonalities that unite the rare disease community.

It doesn’t matter what colour your stripes are, we just want you to get involved.

Mrs Pinnington’s DigiDesign classes have made a great start to 2020.

Preps have focused on following instructions by watching how robots always follow the instructions we give them. This is a very important skill for Preps to have at school so they have been practising giving and following instructions with the BlueBots, drawing robots and learning how to care for their iPad.

In DigiDesign, Preps are working towards earning three badges to achieve their iPad Licence from Police Officer P (aka Mrs Pinnington). Your prep child may have come home last week with their first ‘sticker’ badge for knowing how to care for their iPad. Keep your eye out for the next two badges in the coming weeks for knowing how to use an iPad as a learning tool and knowing how to stay safe on an iPad.

Year 5 & 6 DigiDesign students have started the year investigating sustainable futures with the film 2040 and learning how to sketchnote. Sketchnoting is a more personalised way of note taking as students who are more image focused can add drawings to their notes and students who are more words focused can write their notes or use a combination of both. Each week we have learnt a new sketchnoting skill and practised it as we’ve viewed the film. From the film, we now have all of the knowledge about sustainable technologies to assist with our design challenges this year.

Year 5 & 6 have also completed an audit of the Senior DigiDesign classroom and made suggestions for how we can reduce our environmental impact in DigiDesign. Suggestions from students were to use alternate sources of energy to charge iPads if anyone is running low in afternoon classes, purchase real plants to reduce the carbon and improve the air quality, keep lights off on sunny days and introduce recycling bins.

Mrs Pinnington set about making their suggestions a reality and with a few new purchases and some changes to our actions in the classroom and we have easily reduced the environmental impact of the Senior DigiDesign classroom.  All of this and it is only Week 4!

Junior Strings

The Junior String Ensemble had their first rehearsal last Friday and incredibly learned a whole piece - Russian March - in this first rehearsal! Senior Strings Ensemble have also started rehearsing with two contrasting pieces. The first piece requires precision and advanced bow control, while the second piece challenge their concentration and coordination to clap, stamp, click, tap and play. We look forward to sharing our pieces at the busking concert which will take place at the end of Term 1 - details about busking at the cafe will be sent out in a future edition (Mrs Stephenson)

Year 1-4 Choir

Our first rehearsal was on Wednesday and we had over 80 enthusiastic singers show up for some fun! We sang about Michael Finnegan (who grew whiskers on his chinnegan!!) and also started a two part piece. It was incredible to hear the 2-parts of ‘I got a little dog’ come together so quickly. We cannot wait to perform for you at the end of the term!

Year 2 Music

Music in year 2 started with a laugh when students learned the song ’Naughty Pussy Cat’ and how he’s so fat because he’s eaten heaps of butter! Another favourite is the game that goes with 'Lucy Locket’ - if you’ve got a year 2 student, ask them to sing it for you. Be sure to check out the Performing Arts SeeSaw page to watch the video of students from 2W singing and playing ‘Kangaroo’ - a much loved song from year 1.

Performing Arts has its own blog!

That’s right, this year we’ve created a portal for you to see what happens in a band rehearsal or a strings lesson. And we will also be adding snippets from lessons with Mrs Blyth, or Mrs Benton…be sure to check out the blog each week as there’ll be something new to discover!  Simply click on the link https://blog.seesaw.me/2020crssarts and then don’t forget to make it a favourite too!

Drama in Year 1 and 2

We have had an exciting start to drama this year with both Year 1 and Year 2.

Year 1:    What have we been learning to respond to text.  Students have been using their voice, body and movements to show the emotions of characters, response to characters and act out different parts of the text.  Year 1 students were lucky enough to go on a bear hunt and find a BEAR in the classroom.

After school activity - Zumba

(Open to all year levels) (Cost involved)

We are excited to offer Zumba classes at Coomera Rivers in Term 1 2020. The class is run by professional Zumba coaches from Cube Sports on Thursday afternoons from 3.30pm until 4.30pm

Program details are:
When - Thursday afternoon 3.30pm - 4.30pm from Week 5 - 8 (27 February - 2 April)
Where - Coomera Rivers Hall
Who - Coomera Rivers Students
Cost - $42

If you would like your child to participate in this fantastic program, please email the P&C to register your interest.  Places are limited and will be allocated on a first received basis, so please email as soon as possible. You will be emailed with the outcome of your expression of interest by the end of business the next school day.

Please note - If successful, a parent must sign their child in at the Hall at 3.30pm and collect at 4.30pm for each Zumba session.

Basketball

Congratulations to Jordan, Jordan, Gabriel and Esme who will attend the Broadwater District Basketball trials next week.

QLD Samoa Rugby Union U12s

Si'u (5W) has trialled and been successful in making the Queensland Samoa U12 Rugby Union team. This is an incredible achievement as Si'u in only 10. Well done and keep up the hard work.

Running Club

This week the sun was out and Running Club was back under way before school on Tuesday and Thursday. It was great to see so many students and some parents come down and get some morning exercise. It is free to come and you don't need to sign up - just run.

Thank you sincerely to Angel-Rose and Aiden in 5M who have made our Running Club a lot easier as they are recording everyone's laps digitally and saving it in a share file. Angel-Rose also clocked up 12 Laps on Tuesday morning (3km) and is a part of our Kokoda Team.

Well done to Ms Wager, Mrs Zander and Mrs Comley for their running inspiration.

This week's runners of the week:

Prep - Sonny Prep F & Layla Prep F
Yr 1 - Connor 1C & Sammie 1S
Yr 2 - Callum 2M & Honor 2M
Yr 3 - Cooper 3BG & Frankie 3MB
Yr 4 - Chace 4F & Yuri 4K
Yr 5 - Alakai 5C & Angel-Rose 5M
Yr 6 - Tobias 6L & Leah 6C

Friday Fitness (Skipping Club) 

Wednesday we had some technique work with our running and then finished with some Red Rover. There were 100+ kids on the oval before school. Mr Graham came out to help us and modelled some footwork for the students too... still got it.

Friday morning was our skipping club. We have some very talented students at our school.
Skipping comp winners:

• Long Rope: Scarlett 5R
• Last Girl standing: Jordan 4M
• Last Boy standing: Judd 5L

Rugby League

On Thursday, our senior rugby league team attended the NRL All Stars Gala Day. The All Stars Maori and All Stars Indigenous NRL teams were there offering coaching and development activities. Our students were very excited to be able to mix with some of the best players in the NRL. Our team won our first 3 matches to make the Grand Final against Coomera Springs State School. In a close match, we were defeated 2 tries to 1. The Coomera Cup has unfortunately gone to the wrong side of the M1 but our players are determined to train hard and win it back when we play them again later in the year. Our captain Si’u was the standout player of the tournament.

           
Swimming

On Tuesday our Coomera Rivers swimming team competed at the Broadwater District Swimming Carnival. All our swimmers represented our school with distinction. Sylas and Sophie have qualified for the next level, the South Coast Regional swimming carnival.  Well done!

          
School Trials for Districts

Monday - 2nd break: Girls and Boys AFL trial (12years)
Tuesday - 2nd break: Boys Rugby League 11 and 12 Years (mouth guard required)

Scarlett and Indy competed in the 2020 Inter-school Primary Doubles Championships - a tournament for all Gold Coast Schools.  The team was undefeated winning their way through to the final where they played Coomera Anglican College.  In a close match, the girls won 6-4 and took home trophies for themselves and the school.  Awesome work girls.  Their families and friends are extremely proud.

Leo recently competed in the Submission-Only competition at Jamboree Heights State High School.  He was in the 7 year old 24kg Gi division and the 7 year old 21kg NoGi division. He finished second in both sections, picking up 2 silver medals in his first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition.  What an awesome achievement!  Mum and dad are very proud of him.

He is looking forward to competing again on March 22 at Brisbane Grappling Industries (held at Somerville House).

This week our esports team met for the first time and the excitement was evident, not only in their faces, but in their voices! (their cheers were very loud)

This year Coomera Rivers has joined The Federation of United Schools Esports (FUSE) Cup.  This is a nationwide network of schools connected in providing young students with an opportunity to participate in a safe, supportive and structured national esports competition, while developing positive gaming behaviours and digital wellbeing.

We welcomed Dan Martinez, founder of The Fuse Cup, who introduced our team to the competition and explained the values of The Fuse Cup.  A face the team will become familiar with as Dan joins us later in the term to prepare our final selected team members to attend the Gold Coast finals.

There are 4 overarching values to The FUSE Cup that are it's foundation and are in place to ensure that everyone involved enjoys a positive and safe experience that help promote and establish positive gaming habits for younger gamers.  

It is going to be a fun, actioned packed afternoon every Thursday! #gameon

Can you believe we are almost halfway through term 1 and starting week 5 already?!  Time flies when you’re busy learning, building friendships and having FUN!

This term we have been focusing on positive behaviour and helping our students learn new strategies for regulating emotions. It’s been amazing to see so many of our students encouraging each other to make positive choices. It is great to see the children interacting in a positive manner and being positive helpers particularly during afternoon rotations.

Over the past week we have implemented Rivers Rewards at OSHC and the children are very excited. This is part of the positive behaviour for learning approach used school wide and we are excited to extend this initiative to OSHC. Educators have Rivers Rewards ready to give to students when they see them making great choices, being good citizens, trying hard and generally being a great OSHCie!

OSHC educators have participated in multiple professional development sessions already in 2020 – all focused of encourage positive behaviours in children. Part of our OSHC philosophy is continual reflection and growth for the service, and we believe that training our staff to be the best educators they can be will have a positive effect on our children and community.

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!

The Annual General Meeting of the Coomera Rivers State School P&C will be held on Tuesday 17 March at 6pm 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 10 March.

A general meeting of the association will be held directly after the AGM.

Next Friday evening (March 6)

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 6.

• The Junior Hoedown (Prep to Year 2) starts at 4:30pm and goes to 6.00pm
• The Senior Stampede (Year 3 to Year 6) starts at 6.30pm and finishes at 8.00pm.

Click here to organise tickets on Flexischools.  The fair dinkum deadline to purchase your Barn Dance Disco tickets is Wednesday March 4 at 4:00pm.

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.

The dental van is currently at Coomera Rivers and is offering free dental check ups for all students, even if you don’t qualify for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule! This means every student can have a free dental check up and all general dental treatment done in a facility conveniently located at our school, thanks to the Queensland Government. We are a service that only treats children, so we are accommodating to the extra time some children need.

The dental van is at our school until April 13 so book in now as appointment slots fill fast!  Ring 1300 300 850 to book.  Click here for more information. 

All volunteers must be registered and inducted to now volunteer.  This is a legal requirememt.  This applies to school activities, excursions and events.

Volunteers are such an important and valued part of Coomera Rivers given that their participation strengthens and improves classroom learning, programs and school activities. We are asking parents (and grandparents) to consider if they have any free time that they might be willing to use volunteering at our school.  As little as half an hour every couple of weeks or so is enough to make a HUGE difference. Even if you are not available during school hours to help out - we have volunteering jobs that can be done from home after hours!

For full details please refer to the We Need You flyer below. If you would like more information, or to request a 2020 Registration and Induction form, please email volunteers@coomerariversss.eq.edu.au .

We look forward to seeing you volunteering really soon!