Congratulations to the following students who received a Student Excellence Award this week.  

Friday the 15th March was designated as the day that our nation united to take action against bullying and violence. At Coomera Rivers, it was certainly a day where we really focused on Promise Number 2 on our school pledge, We Stand Against Bullying.  

5,726 Australian schools with over 2.4 million students participated in the day of action.  To show our support, our students and staff wore orange and used the day to openly discuss the impact of bullying and what we could do to help stamp it out.  Students also made a donation to a student council who have decided that our chosen charity this year will be The Starlight Foundation.  What better way to combat bullying than to teach children about generosity and kindness!  We raised $1169.  Well done everyone.

Students who made a donation received a Bullying. No Way! wrist band. 

We will do our very best to keep to the school photos schedule shown below.  Please consider it a guide to times.

All students need to wear their formal blues uniform for photos unless otherwise specified.

The school cross-country is planned for Tuesday 26 March.  

Details:

• Normal school times apply for the day but we will be at the mercy of the event when it comes to break times.
• Children should wear their house colours for the day.  Please don't use hair colours or zinc creams as they will only be involved in the carnival for a session before they return for the announcement of the age champions and the champion house.
• All students are expected to compete for their house
• Students are to bring a drink bottle, clearly marked with their name on it.
• Sunscreen will be available in the house areas.
• Points scoring: 10-1 Points will be awarded to 1st through to 10th. All competitors earn a point for their house.
• Ribbons:  Ribbons will be awarded to 1st – 3rd at the recording area. The first 4 place-getters are eligible to attend the District Cross Country Carnival in the 10-12 year age groups.
• Please note:  Prep – Year 3 students will run in their year levels.  Older students will need to compete in their respective age groups.
• Parents and families are welcome to come along in their house colours to cheer on the teams.  

Program:

Courses:

There are 2 courses - a short course for the junior and a long course for the senior runners.

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)

We will be conducting Parent / Teacher Interviews in Week 9.  

Dates: 

• Monday 25 March (3:00 - 7:00pm) and Tuesday 26 March (3:00 - 5:00pm).  Times will vary between teachers as they balance their own families with this commitment to yours.  

Venue

• All interviews are in the school multi-purpose hall

Bookings:

• You can make bookings via https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/?z=wMCEzg   
• The special event code is cjrzq
• Bookings will close to families on Thursday 21 March to allow time for teachers to prepare.

Duration

• Interviews are what we call a 'Lightning Round' - short and focused.  They will be 10 minutes in duration so please be early and leave on time so the next family can access their time as well.

Questions

Teachers will be prepared with information for you and will share your child's learning goals for reading, writing and maths with you.  But you might be surprised to learn that they are actually looking for information from you as well.  Don't be surprised if they ask questions like:

• What would you like your child to achieve this year?
• If I could assist you with one thing what would that be?
• What is something interesting about your child?
  
  

The deadline to register and donate $10 sponsorship to the Colour Run is 9:00am Friday 22 March!

To participate, please ensure you have:

• Registered online (ALL students must register online - even if raising cash donations)
• Raised donations online before deadline (minimum donation of $10 to participate)
• Raised cash donations AND returned to school prior to deadline (minimum donation of $10 to participate)

Event details are:

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.

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 lightish 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 and thank you sincerely for supporting our school.

Prep K students have begun using Seesaw at home as part of their homework grids this week. Uploading videos of them reading home readers, photos of writing they have completed or drawing's of which they feel particularly proud.  By using Seesaw for these experiences, Prep students are beginning to form understanding that learning using ICT has endless possibilities.

Prep W students have begun exploring Seesaw through a variety of experiences inside and outside the classroom. The children have been outside looking at clouds as part of their Science unit on weather. They took a photo of an interesting cloud and then imagined what it looked like. They uploaded it to Seesaw and then recorded what they imagined.

Prep M has explored Seesaw inside the classroom making weather wheels which children then took a photo of and recorded what they see in that particular weather event.  Ms Mac created instructions for her class and their parents so they have been able to continue the learning at home too.  

While we don't like these weather events because of their damage that can result, it is still fun to learn about them.  Year 6I and 6F were both involved in creative and playful learning experience when they made their own hail in science.  Hail forms when very strong winds push drops of water high up in the cloud where it is very cold.  The idea that a hail stone is layered because it has made several trips up and down in a cloud is sometimes a hard concept for students to understand.  But now they do.

Mrs Hadfield has been immersing the Year 4 students in rich art through the eyes of Picasso.  Pablo Picasso is probably the most important figure of 20th century, in terms of art, and art movements that occurred over this period. The Spanish born artist had become the most well known name in modern art, with the most distinct style and eye for artistic creation. They used the App Tayasui Sketches School.  These are very clever.

3W were learning about multiplication this week.   Miss Wolbers encouraged her class to be active and playful.  The class was active as they were physically moving and interacting with their environment to embed their learning concepts.

And in photography this week, Mrs Hadfield designed some very clever activities that showed our Year 2 students how to consider different camera angles and views - even of everyday things.  The results were impressive.  

Students from Year 1 met all manner of creatures this week on their trip to Jacobs Well Environmental Centre. Agro the snake and Lucky the turtle were crowd favourites, and the students all enjoyed sorting different critters- crabs, tadpoles and fish to name just a few – based on their external features.

The day was both educational and a whole lot of fun as students waded into ponds and trekked through muddy mangrove flats as part of their investigations.

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 -Cyberr-bullying
Newsletter 7 - Respect for property 

Respect for property

The school invests enormous amounts of money each year to provide our students with everything we need.  However, like all household budgets, the school budget is limited.  This means that equipment must be looked after.  Everyone shares this responsibility.  We recognise though that some items can be lost, accidentally broken or simply wear out.  This is expected and replacement equipment is organised.  

We teach children to:

• Borrow equipment fairly
• Share the equipment with others
• Use the equipment for its intended use
• Return equipment to where it belongs
• Report loss or damage to equipment to their teacher

Wilful damage, vandalism and destruction of property is never ok and is one of the highest forms of selfishness and disrespect.  

We recognise that students from Prep to Year 2 can still be learning right from wrong as well as socially acceptable expectations.  However, our students from Years 3-6 will be expected to have learned this. If students in Years 3-6 deliberately steal, damage or destroy school property for any reason, their parents will be sent the invoice for repair or replacement.  The student will also be suspended from school.  Continued vandalism may result in police intervention and exclusion from our school.  This includes writing on walls, in toilet cubicles, etching tables or block work and more.  There is no valid reason for anyone to do this and I will consider all of these and similar behaviours as vandalism.  

Please discuss this with your children.  

Rugby League:   Congratulations to Kobe, Alyssus, Si’u (11 Years) and Harry (12 Years) for their selection in the Broadwater District Rugby League teams.

Hockey:   Any students who play club hockey to a high standard and are interested in attending the district representative trials, please see Mr Raffin and Mr Burrows on Monday at second break.

Running Club:  Our Running Club has expanded to four days a week this year. We would like to select a runner every week to acknowledge their commitment and dedication to

AFL:   Our school AFL team played two practice matches against Livingstone Christian College. We won one and lost one but what was most impressive was the way in which our students represented our school. They certainly espoused our mantra of fun, fitness and friendship.

Athlete of the Week:   Alyssus is the Coomera Rivers Athlete of the Week.  Some of Allyssus’ achievements include: attending Running Club regularly, he has represented Coomera Rivers in rugby league and touch football. He was recently selected in the Broadwater District Rugby League team.  Well done on his recent achievements and commitment.

Monday was a great day for 21 of our SSC students. There was lots of excitement as we got to meet some of our role models from the Gold Coast Suns. It was a hot day but everyone made the most of the time we had to spend with these inspiring athletes.

The day consisted of meeting the players and getting photos and there were plenty of smiles all round. We split off into groups where the students had the opportunity to learn different passing and kicking skills and of course some games with the GC Suns players, finally finishing the day with a massive high, each student received a poster and had the opportunity to get each player to sign it.

All of the students who attended should be congratulated on their behaviour and respect they showed to the staff and players who made this day possible. You made Coomera Rivers proud!

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.

Busking At The Cafe

DATE CHANGE - Unfortunately we have to change the dates for our Busking concerts until Term 2 because of Year 6 camp.  Please add the following new dates to your calendars. Our apologies.

• Monday 29th April- Choirs
• Tuesday 30th April- Junior Band
• Wednesday 1st May- Senior Band
• Thursday 2nd May- Junior and Senior Strings

Prep Families Start Saving for Some Fabulous Art Purchases!

Prep Art Gallery  -  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 on the walkway near the Cafe in the afternoons of week 10 from 2:15pm. Please come and along and visit the gallery 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 April 1.

• 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

Wakakirri

We have had such a HUGE response to Wakakirri 2019 and have now completed the 250+ try outs.

As previously mentioned, the maximum amount per team is 120, so unfortunately there will be some disappointed little people.  Although we would love to choose everyone, as with all things sometimes people miss out. Please thank your child on behalf of the Wakakirri team and encourage them to try again next year. The children chosen were the ones who were prepared (new the moves), put in a top effort and danced in time to the music. We handed out the acceptance notes to the successful students today, if your child received one, please make sure you pay your invoice (when received) before our first rehearsal which will be on Thursday May 2nd (2nd week back next term).

Wakakirri shirts

This year we are making Wakakirri team shirts.   Do you have any contacts that could assist with this?  If so, please contact Emma Blyth at eblyt9@eq.edu.au .  

The OSHC report focus this week is  how we use the school iCentre each day.

Each afternoon, our OSHC children are exploring various homework options in the iCentre.  The OSHC staff encourage our students to interact with different technologies and homework formats to extend their learning.  The educators are really enjoying seeing our children engage with technology, puzzles, and books to maximise their learning and show us that they are confident and involved learners (MTOP outcome 4).  Many of the children are taking on leaderships roles by reading to peers and assisting others with iPad homework.  We love our time in the iCentre!

     

Australia is home to some of the world’s most iconic and breathtaking natural landscapes and wildlife. But climate change is putting all this at risk.  To protect our unique species and their habitats, we need Australia to step up now and take stronger action on the promise we made at the 2015 Paris Agreement. The latest government data shows that Australia will miss its 2030 targets. We risk losing our beautiful natural heritage - forever.

On 8:30pm (local time) on Saturday night,  March 30,  millions of people all around the globe will switch off their lights to help our planet. We want our families to play their part in this too so plesae join Earth Hour 2019.

Plan 2

Our school is collecting your empty plastic 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.

From our Environment Warriors (Isabelle, Isabelle and Ava)

The internet is having an increasing influence on the social development of children and how they interact with each other. Social media, smart phones and other technologies provide children with wonderful opportunities to learn, be creative and socialise. However, just as with face-to-face interactions, sometimes bullying and harassment can occur online.

Over the past two weeks the Cybersafety and Security Team came to talk with students in Years 4-6 about positive and responsible technology use.  Students were informed that many social media apps, such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and Youtube, have an age restriction of 13+. They were advised that even if a parent had given them permission to create an account, they are still breaking the rules of the terms and conditions of those sites. 

Students were asked to go home and ask the adult in their life to help them delete or deactiviate their accounts.

If you do have children that are 13+ make sure you know which social media your child uses and create your own social media accounts and add your child as a friend / follower.

“BE QUICK - Limited spots available” 

Coomera Rivers State School is excited to offer two new after-school programs in Term 2 for students in Years 3-6 who are interested in design and technology. The two programs will run on separate days from 2.30pm - 3.30pm and will commence in Week 2.  

Year 5 & 6 : Tuesday afternoons from 2.30 - 3.30pm - $60.00 for the term *FULL*

STEAMIE : Inventing & Entrepreneurship with STEAM - (20 places only)

This Tuesday program is based on the $20 Boss Program.

$20 Boss participants move through a series of phases designed to promote critical and creative thinking. Within the Problem Space learners identify the problem they are aiming to solve through their social enterprises and the positive impact they are seeking to have in their local communities. The Solution Space is where learners design, prototype and test their innovative product or service ideas, in readiness for business trading. Students will be given a $20 budget to purchase their materials to create their product or service.

Years 3 & 4 : Thursday afternoons from 2.30 - 3.30pm - $60.00 for the term

This Thursday program has a LEGO Focus.  30 students only will choose one of the following groups to join.

1. LEGO Masterbuilder : Creative lego engineering challenges. Different challenge each week.

2. LEGO Robotics : Creative robotic design challenges using LEGO We-Do. Different challenge each week.

3. LEGO Animations : Creative stop motion animation. One term, one animation.

To register:

Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dream-design-innovators-club-term-2-2019-tickets-56540501161

Use the password: CoomeraRivers

Select one program for your child

Please register using the name of your child and class (eg: Molly 5T) and use your own email address.

Parents will be invoiced $60 per participant after registration

Permission forms will be sent home via students to finalise registration

Please note: that the listed 'free' amount on the registration page is not accurate - this is simply the default price on this free version of Eventbrite

Numbers are strictly limited and payment is required before participation can be confirmed.

Materials will be purchased in advance so once the program has commenced, no refunds will be possible for non-attendance as we can't start new students part way through the programs.

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.

One of the childrens' favourite events each year is the opportunity to guess how many Easter eggs are in the container.  And boy!  Do they win BIG if they are closest (*).  

Guessing opportunities will start from Wednesday and you will see the guessing table outside the Music Room before or after school.  Guesses cost $1each or 3 guesses for $2. The person closest to the correct number, without going over, will win the Easter eggs!  If there happens to be more than one correct entry then all of the correct entries will go into a random draw to determine the single winner.  The winner will be announced on Thursday the 4th of April.

Thank you to Woolworths Coomera East for donating the eggs for this fundraiser!  Good luck everyone!

That very important day of the year is fast approaching and, with that in mind, our Mother’s Day stall vouchers are now on sale on Flexischools.

Purchase a voucher via Flexischools between now and the deadline of 4:00pm Wednesday 24 April and your child will then visit the stall with their class, during the week starting Monday 29 April.

There will be an amazing variety of gifts from which children can select that special gift for their mum.  We love watching the thought and consideration that children take when considering what to purchase for their mums and grandmas.

We will be holding the next Woolies breakfast on Wednesday 27 March  and this time the lucky recipients are Year 6.  Full details on the invitation below.  Thank you to Woolworths Coomera East for their ongoing support of this event and our school community.

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.

ANZAC Day Community March registrations now open.  We would like to once again offer all our students the opportunity to represent our school in the Upper Coomera Community and School ANZAC Day parade on Thursday 25 April, 2019.  The atmosphere at this march is incredible and I know families feel a great sense of pride watching our school remember those who have given their all for Australia.  

Students are to wear their blue formal school uniform, including school hat.

The school assembles at Coomera School of the Arts, Gawler Place, Upper Coomera at 8.10am. This is when we organise our students into their lines.  The march through the street then commences at 9:00am and proceeds along Reserve Road onto Oxenford-Tamborine Road to the cenotaph.  A memorial service will be held at the cenotaph at Charlie’s Crossing Road, Upper Coomera at 9.30am.

The RSL provides mats and water for our students, however they have advised for students to bring extra water on the day.  Our school leaders will lay a wreath on behalf of the school community at the service.  We encourage all students to attend and support our school to have a notable presence at this significant community event.

Please click on https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/lestweforget to register your children to march with us this ANZAC Day.  Registrations close 4:00pm Tuesday 23 April.

From Friday 11 March, all volunteer in any part of our school or on school excursions MUST be a registered and inducted volunteer.  This is a legal requirement.  No registration and induction means you are not able to volunteer.  But luckily, both the registration and induction processes are simple and quick.

Details on how you can register:

We need help with:

Easter Guess

We need assistance from 8.00am to 8.30am on the Easter Guessing Table on the following days:-

• Thursday 21st March - 2 volunteers needed
• Friday 22nd March - 2 volunteers needed
• Monday 25th March - 1 volunteer needed
• Tuesday 26th March - 1 volunteer needed
• Thursday 27th March - 2 volunteers needed
• Friday 28th March - 2 volunteers needed
• Monday 1st April - 1 volunteer needed
• Tuesday 2nd April - 1 volunteer needed

iCentre Book Covering

• Miss Katie has bags of books for book covering ready for collection from the iCentre.

Future Volunteer Opportunities

Cross Country

Cross Country is on Tuesday 26 March. We will be looking for volunteers to assist us in delivering drinks and refreshments to staff on the day. We will need assistance at the following times throughout the day:-

• 9.30am
• 11:00am
• 1:45pm

Colour Run

We will be looking for volunteers to assist us in various capacities on Friday 29th March for the Colour Run.  If you are interested in assisting with any of the above opportunities please email volunteers@coomerariversss.eq.edu.au .  

Volunteers will need to 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.

Have a great week

Kind regards

Vic

Vic Graham

Principal