Issue 3 2 March 2022
From the Principal Desk
Easing of COVID-19 restrictions
Last week the Premier announced that many of the restrictions that have related to COVID-19 will be eased in schools from 6pm Friday 4th March. Changes include;
- Masks will no longer be required in QLD Schools. However, individuals may wish to continue wearing a mask.
- School assemblies, camps and excursions will be permitted.
- Restrictions on parents, carers and visitors to schools will be eased.
I would like to thank all parents and carers for your support in complying with restrictions during the past six weeks. Whilst these restrictions have eased, we will continue to take common-sense precautions into the future to maximise health outcomes for students, staff and the wider community. Students are still required to stay home if they exhibit COVID-19 symptoms. Students are still required to isolate if they or one of their immediate family members are diagnosed with COVID-19. Students who become unwell at school can be supplied with a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) for testing at home.
Student Illness
It is still extremely important that students do not attend school if they are unwell or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. We continue to have a small number of students test positive, so please keep your children home if they are unwell and assist them to undertake a RAT or PCR test. The most effective way to keep our school safe and healthy is for individuals who are sick to stay home until they are feeling better.
Class Changes
Due to a growth in junior school numbers after Day 8, our class structure had to be tweaked to ensure all our classes complied with maximum class size rules. Whilst it is never ideal to move students from one class to another, unfortunately this was a process that we had to undertake. Our new class grouping started officially this week, and I would like to thank all affected students and their families for their understanding and flexibility.
Swimming Block
Our Senior Swimming block started this week, thank you to our co-ordinator Miss Candice Humphreys and our coaches Mrs Aimee Freeman and Mrs Elizabeth Bunyoung. Also thank you to Mrs Cathie D’Arcy for stepping up to support swimming earlier this week. Our school offers swimming lessons free to all students as a way of supporting our families and ensuring that all students have the opportunity to engage in these lessons.
Parent-Teacher Interviews
I have made the decision that this term’s Parent-Teacher interviews will occur via telephone only. This is in the interest of keeping both parents and teachers free from COVID-19. These interviews will take place over weeks 8 and 9 and all families will receive information soon about how to book an interview with your child’s teacher. We look forward to hopefully being able to undertake face-to-face parent/teacher interviews in Term 3.
Farewell Mrs Reka
This week we say goodbye to one of our teachers, Mrs Reka Allotta, who has accepted a position at a school in Brisbane for the remainder of the year. I would like to thank Mrs Reka for all her hard work over the last two years and wish her all the very best for the future.
From the Deputy Principal
From the Guidance Officer
At Kingaroy State School we set high expectations for attendance because there is a direct correlation between attendance and academic achievement. Every day counts!
It is a legal requirement for school-aged children to be enrolled in a school and attending every school day. It is a parent's responsibility to ensure their child attends school, and all absences are explained with a reasonable excuse. There are legislative processes that schools must follow to guarantee students are engaged in learning.
We understand that personal circumstances and complexities can affect a student’s ability to attend school. We provide a range of supports for students and their family wherever possible, to assist with overcoming any attendance barriers that may exist.
When there are worries about attendance, I will get in touch with you so we can consider additional strategies to improve attendance. For more information about attendance and resources that may assist your child, please see the Every Day Counts campaign, visit: https://education.qld.gov.au/initiatives-and-strategies/initiatives/every-day-counts
Class News
Welcome to 1/2D!
It has certainly been a very interesting and busy start to the school year.
At the beginning of the term, we were lucky enough to receive a visit from Ms Kate and her Therapy Dog, Augie. The students enjoyed learning about how to interact with Augie, and were astonished by his many tricks.
The Wonder Doods
This week, we said “farewell” to our classmates in Year 2, who will be joining Mrs Kim Turner in 2/3T, and welcomed some new Year 1 friends into our room. We are excited to make new friends; however, we will certainly miss our learning time with Year 2 and look forward to catching up with them out in the playground.
In English, we have been working hard to improve our reading and writing skills. Students have been learning about characters in narratives and writing in complete sentences. We are very excited to be using our Year 1 writing lines for the very first time!!! Each week, we also welcome students from 5C into our classroom to help us with our reading.
Handwriting
Identifying, representing and counting numbers to 100 has been our focus in maths. We have been solving simple addition and subtraction using counting strategies. Later in the term, we will be describing two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and using the language of direction to move from place to place.
Addition and Subtraction
In Science, we have been learning about living things. We have been making connections between their external features and the environments in which they live, as well as how the needs of living things are met in a variety of habitats.
We are continuing to focus on our routines, rules and procedures and striving to achieve our “BEST”. Students have earnt a wealth of Kingaroy Cash to spend at the school reward shop and many are saving so that they can participate in WOWs later in the year.
Garage Sale - Monday, 14 March
Kingaroy State School will be holding a garage sale on Monday, 14 March from 3:30pm to 4:15pm. The sale will take place from the shed next to F Block.
The school will have student desks, filing cabinets and student laptops for sale.
Student laptops will range from $20 to $40, this is based on the condition of the device. All student laptops have been factory re-set and do not have Microsoft Suite installed. You are able to get a free copy of Microsoft Suite to install onto the device. Instructions on how to do this will be provided at the time of purchase. You will require access to the internet and another computer to complete the installation.
Filing cabinets available are 3 and 4 draws. The 3 draw cabinets will be $20 and 4 draw cabinets will be sold for $40 each.
Student desk will be available in a variety of sizes. Student desks will be $10 each.
Computers are purchased on an 'as is' basis with no warranties implied or given, no after sale service or assistance implied or given.
Please note there will be a limit of 1 laptop per household. If you are planning on purchasing desks and/or filing cabinets, please make sure you have someone to assist with loading them onto your transport.
P & C News
Hello All,
Just a friendly reminder and some information for our wonderful new families regarding our
CAPS CRUSADE PROGRAM.
The program is run by a Brisbane based volunteer group called “Ocean Crusaders”. These amazing warrior-like people devote their own precious time to cleaning up the junk and rubbish which makes its way into our precious waterways... and eventually into the ocean. One of the main perpetrators wreaking its havoc on these waterways is PLASTIC. Plastic bags, fishing line, nappies, chip packets, toothbrushes... you name it, they find it.
Such a marvelous and convenient yet MENACING invention.
Did you know there is a gigantic island of floating rubbish in the North Pacific Ocean called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It is about 3 times the size of France and contains around 1.8 trillion pieces of rubbish. I bet the fish and turtles love that!
Did you know that 91% of all plastic ever created has not been recycled, and will not break down into the earth for the next 500 years!
Imagine having a pile of all of the plastic you have ever had and thrown out over your entire life decomposing in your backyard. Then add your husbands pile too. Not ideal I know.
I wonder. Could we as a community start to take some time to look at our rubbish? Life has become convenient, and we are working harder than ever before I know... but at what cost?
We can at least start the journey with our plastic bottle lids or CAPS.
You can collect your plastic lids (better still, get your children to collect them) ... Give them a wash... Remove any foam inserts... and send them off with your child to school. (I’m sure your Neighbour down the road would love to give you her caps as well). Super simple. Just like learning to brush your teeth. Pretty annoying at first, but after 50 years of going to the trouble of brushing and having teeth that chew your food without falling out, well worth the effort I would say.
The Earth is no different. We only get one. Then we have to pass that same one on to our kids. Imagine doing that with your teeth!!!
As I mentioned, I know our lives are busy. But maybe there is a small fraction of time where we can look at our habits and see where we can do something for our wonderful planet rather than expecting it to do absolutely everything for us, on demand mind you.
If you are interested in helping with the Caps crusade or with any other “Environmentally Friendly” projects for the school (such as our containers for change program or National Plant a tree day in July),
I would LOVE to hear from you. Little tiny baby steps still make a big difference.
Here are some great pics for you to see what we are doing with our sorting system at school before they are sent off to Brisbane to be recycled into multi-functional bricks. Currently we have some fantastic year 6 future warriors who come and sort the lids on their 1st break. Great job!
Please wash and remove inserts
Ocean Crusaders – Your Waterway Cleaning Team
Thankyou kindly to all of the parents who returned their “We Love Volunteers” form. We were stoked with the response. You can still return those forms to the office.
Have a great week friends!
Karmen Cleveland
President
Klc383@hotmail.com
0493105595
Bookclub News
Welcome to Book Club 2022: An easy way to get your child excited about reading!
Scholastic Book Club Catalogues offer a terrific selection of books at hugely discounted prices (from $1). Every order placed earns bonus rewards, to be used to purchase items for the school library.
Two issues will be distributed each term (they can also be downloaded from the Scholastic website). Order due dates will appear in the school newsletter.
You can place an order by:
- a) Filling out the order form in the catalogue and returning to the school office with payment (cash or cheque) by the due date.
- b) Order and pay online via credit card at scholastic.com.au or via the LOOP App.
- c) Order over the phone on 1800 021 233.
All orders are sent to the school where they are sorted and delivered to the students in their classrooms.
Book Club is always an exciting time for the students and we look forward to receiving your orders!
Orders for Issue #2 2022 are due by Friday, 18th March.
Community News
