We respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we walk, live and learn, the Bullongin & Kombumerri people. We pay our deepest respects to Elders resting in the Dreamtime and to the Elders of today, who will continue to care, protect and nurture the Country that we gather on to learn and connect. We feel both privileged, and grateful to now be sharing and caring for the country on which we are living and learning.

Events, dates and times may change.  Please check the school calendar regularly to keep updated.

Term 2

Term 4

Dear mums, dads, carers and colleagues

Gosh!  This has been a tougher week than most.  Making decisions that impact on thousands of people in our community is stressful.  And decisions that also carry the weight of tens of thousands of dollars is even worse.  But this is what our P&C team - all of whom act voluntarily in their respective roles - needed to do on Wednesday afternoon.  

With the arrival of rides (semi-trailers) planned for Thursday morning, any decision to postpone the Community Fair due to weather needed to be made by Wednesday afternoon.  It was clear that we could set up without too much trouble.  The damage to the oval from the trucks was expected to be minimal and we had hired $1400 worth of track mats to minimise this.  But then there was the weather forecast.......

Any rain would result very expensive repair costs to get the rides (& semi-trailers) off the oval.  Plus the forecast at the time of the decision was for a cool day (18*) with showers in the afternoon with potential falls of 5-10mm.  Any showers would essentially need the rides to stop until the rain passed.  And with all of the sickness about the community, would it be safe?  What are the financial losses if we postpone?  What would the costs be (including repair costs) if we go ahead?  

They were very courageous in making the decision and I applaud them.  We will try to make a new date in Term 4.  And while we will always be at the mercy of wet weather, the temperature will be warmer.  We will let everyone know the new date as soon as it is set.  

Proposed teacher strike (Wednesday 6 August)

I contacted families on Wednesday evening to inform them that the Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU) have advised the Department of Education of their intention for teachers to participate in a 24-hour stop work action on Wednesday, 6 August 2025.

As a result, many of our teachers will not be attending school on Wednesday, 6 August 2025 as part of a statewide strike related to ongoing Teachers’ enterprise bargaining negotiations between the Department and the QTU.

I want to reassure you that, while there will be a reduced number of school staff onsite during this day of industrial action, arrangements are being made to ensure students are supervised.  At this stage, I expect a large majority of our teachers will be participating in this industrial action. However, while the school will remain open during this time, normal classes will not occur.  I humbly request that if you are able to do so, to please keep your children home on this day.  

By regulation, OSHC is only able to - and will - provide the usual before and after school care on the day.

I am hopeful that the two parties might come to agreement before this day, meaning the action can be cancelled. Time will tell. We also apologise for the inconvenience this causes families and appreciate your understanding and co-operation as we work through this process. I will do my best to keep our families informed of any changes or updates.

Strings bring happiness

On Friday morning, Miss Baker conducted our Espressivo Chamber Strings Group at the Gold Coast Eisteddfod. Mrs Ellison was cheering on from the audience and was impressed with their use of dynamics during their performance of the song Great Dividing Range; a piece composed by Brisbane musician Timo Jarvela. The girls had incredible stage presence and despite being a small ensemble, their projection filled the auditorium with wonderful sound. They earned a highly commended ribbon.  

Eisteddfods are such a great experience, not just for our students to build their performance skills, but for them to see other groups of the same age perform a different repertoire. The girls spent the whole bus trip there and back singing a variety of tunes from all different genres so it was well and truly a day for music! We look forward to taking our band ensembles to Eisteddfod in the next few weeks. 

Gallery:

And Oztag brings pride

I am extremely proud of the two Oztag teams who competed at the All-Schools carnival last weekend.  Both teams progressed to the finals on Day 3 but more importantly, they represented our school with terrific pride.  My sincere gratitude to both Mr Burrows and Mr Bradley for the weeks of training and them freely giving their weekend for the carnival.

Parent-teacher interviews

Thank you to the parents and teachers who braved the chilly breeze on Monday evening to meet at the parent-teacher interviews to discuss progress at school.  I am sure that everyone appreciated the efforts that teachers are making for their children and the great lengths they go to in their teaching.  I know the teachers appreciated the connections and partnerships that have formed as we aim at continued success in Semester 2.

Free dress day (Purple)

Bullying happens at school, in the community and around the world, despite our best efforts and strongest intentions for it not to.  Standing against bullying is everyone's responsibility. It takes a community to be brave and address bullying behaviours, within and beyond the school gate.

In our community and in our school, we want a place where everyone can belong, a place that celebrates everyone for their differences, and where bullying is never accepted.

This Bullying No Way Week, we are asking our entire school community to be bold and say something, be kind and support someone, and be proud to take a stand against bullying.

We are holding a free dress day on Friday 15 August to unite against bullying.  The theme is PURPLE. 

Click here to visit the Bullying No Way website.

Storytime has returned

We’re thrilled to invite you to Morning Storytime Sessions in the iCentre.  Start your day in the most delightful way — sharing stories, laughter, and quality time together. With a wide variety of engaging picture books, early readers, and class favourites, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.  These sessions are a wonderful way to connect, relax, and grow a love of reading.

When: Term 3 - Every morning 8am - 8:20am
Where: iCentre
No bookings required – just drop in and enjoy.

Thank you to Ms Costello for organising this activity.  It is a very valuable one.

Last week, our passionate Tangalooma Ecomarine ambassadors — Keanu, Skyla, Kendall and Willow — had the opportunity to visit Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary alongside students from other Ecomarine schools.

Their day began with engaging workshops on composting, recycling and waste management, where they brainstormed exciting ideas for future environmental projects at our school. The students also attended the renowned bird show and toured the animal hospital, gaining a deeper appreciation for the vital work the sanctuary does in rescuing and rehabilitating injured wildlife.

One memorable moment was meeting Pickles, a pelican recovering from an injury caused by a fishing hook. The ambassadors learned that once fully healed, Pickles will be released back into his natural habitat.

The day concluded with a guided tour of the sanctuary, where the students explored and learned about a variety of native and exotic animals. It was a fun, inspiring and educational experience, and our ambassadors are eager to share their new knowledge and ideas with the rest of our Environmental Warriors team.

As part of their HASS unit this semester, our Year 5 students have had the incredible opportunity to hear from a range of local charities, learning first-hand about the important work these organisations do in our community. So far, we’ve welcomed speakers from Animal Therapies, Red Cross and OzHarvest — with more to come!

Later this term, students will collaborate in groups to identify local issues and design innovative solutions. This project forms the foundation for our highly anticipated Annual Year 5 Global Innovators Day and Global Innovator Trade Show.

We’re currently seeking more charity organisations to visit and share their stories with our students. If you're involved in a charity, or know someone who is, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Ms Landers at lxlan3@eq.edu.au.

Three weeks to go...

There are three weeks remaining to complete the Premiers Reading Challenge and it’s not too late if you haven’t started. If you need a new form please contact your teacher or Ms Landers on lxlan3@eq.edu.au

Congratulations to the students below who have already completed the challenge and will receive their certificates after the challenge has finished.

Athletics trials

Congratulations to all of our students who competed in our 2025 Athletics Trials. The weather was not being kind, so the HPE team were very appreciative of everyone's support and patience.  We even took some events indoors - just like the pros.

Well done to the students below who received Age Champion for their efforts on the day. We will also be sending 20 of our students away to District Athletics. Good luck!

Age Champions

• 10 Years - Hudson & Rachelle
• 11 Years - Isla & Bobby
• 12 Years - Nia & Mason

Record Breakers

12 Years Boys High Jump - Mason

OzTag All-schools carnival

Last weekend, Mr Bradley and Mr Burrows went to the Sunny Coast with our Boys and Girls OzTag teams to compete at OzTag All Schools carnival. There were over 380 teams participating over the three day - and night - tournament.

We were both extremely proud of the effort and attitudes of both our teams. Thank you to the families and friends that supported us across the 3 days.

Our boys team lost 7-5 in the Quarters to Buddina. Buddina went on to win the GF. Very close indeed.

Our girls team lost their semi-final to Currumbin, who also went on to win the GF.

These were amazing achievements for our teams and we are all very proud of everyone involved.

I am very grateful to Mr Bradley and Mr Burrows for investing their time at training and the carnival weekend.  Their commitment and passion has been extraordinary.

Prep

Prep M’s hands – on learning!

By the end of Prep, Prep students need to be able to listen to texts, interact with others and create short spoken texts, including retelling stories. They need to be able to share thoughts and preferences and retell events using words and phrases from learning and texts.

When learning how to retell stories, we need to offer plenty of experiences to a child that can help them connect the text to themselves and the text to the real world. When we can experience parts of a story, our reading and writing comprehension can be a lot stronger!

This Term Prep M has been engaging in some outdoor learning experiences, recently starting their own class garden, planting snow peas and broad beans to link in with the tale of The Princess and the Pea.  Prep M has also been for an adventure to cross a ‘bridge’ that had a terrible Troll living underneath it! They had to make ‘trip trap’ sounds as they walked over the bridge and say “You silly old Troll”, just like the Three Billy Goats Gruff do in the story book!

Prep M have been having so much fun learning indoors and outdoors! Great Job Prep M.

Year 1

In 1S Term 3 has started very well. In English we are exploring listen to, speaking and writing procedures. We will explore procedures where we can have hands on experiences; like games we play, recipes we can follow, and crafts we can make. Last week we explored, ‘How to play Duck, Duck, Goose'. This week we are exploring, “How to make Fair Bread".

In math we have been exploring problem-solving using hands on materials to help model and understand the mathematics involved in addition and subtraction situations.

The first week of Term 1 was our opportunity to celebrate NAIDOC week. We had a great time exploring symbols in art works, music and this year’s theme of: The Next Generation, Strength, Vision, Legacy.

Year 2

This week 2B have begun writing and presenting persuasive speeches to convince their parents to let them have a new, upgraded room. They had many fabulous ideas like a ball pit, swimming pool, rock climbing wall, jacuzzi and petting zoo! We’ve been working on listening carefully to our classmates as they say their speeches. Then we can give them Tickled Pink and Green for Growth feedback so they can Bump Up their work.

In maths, we’re learning about different multiplication strategies. We had a blast creating Array Monsters with the eyes carefully arranged into columns and rows.   

Gratitude - Empathy - Mindfulness

Take a look at The Resilience Project in Year 3!

Have you registered for QParents? 

Here at Coomera Rivers, we encourage all families to register for QParents to help make school communication and administration easier and more efficient for you.

What is QParents?

QParents is a secure online portal that gives parents quick, easy access to your student information including timetables, report cards, payment history, enrolment history, behaviour records and attendance records.

Parents can also use QParents to report future absences, provide reasons for unexplained absences, update student addresses and medical records and pay outstanding invoices.

Coomera Rivers is working towards transitioning to QParents Consent Management for all excursion permissions and consent forms. This change will streamline the process for families by allowing consent to be provided digitally—eliminating the need for paper forms.

How do I register for QParents?

1. Your invitation code (these have been emailed to you - please check junk/spam folders).
2. Your child's EQ ID which can be found on any invoice you have received from the school.
3. 100 points of ID - see below.
4. Go to the QParents website to get started: https://qparents.qld.edu.au/#/landing