Issue 11 21 July 2021
From the Principal's Desk
Welcome to Term 3. It has been pleasing to see students settling straight back into our routines after their winter break. A warm welcome to all new students and their families to our school. I know that you will enjoy your time here at Kingaroy State School.
NAIDOC
At Kingaroy State School over 20% of students identify as being Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. On Friday we are holding our NAIDOC Day celebrations. Classes will be engaged in NAIDOC themed activities throughout the day. All parents are invited to a special NAIDOC Day Parade which is being held at 9.30am on Friday 23rd July.
District Athletics Carnival
This Friday a number of our students have qualified to represent our school at the South Burnett District Athletics Carnival, which is being held at Taabinga SS this Friday. These students will be competing to be selected in the South Burnett Athletics teams to compete at the upcoming Wide Bay Athletics Carnival. Good luck to all our competitors.
Semester 1 Report Cards
Semester 1 Report Cards will be going home in a few days. As has been previously shared with parents, this semester we have trialled delaying the sending home of Semester 1 Report Cards until the beginning of Term 3 to allow more teaching and learning time in Semester 1. If you have any questions about your child’s report card I would encourage you to contact your child’s teacher or take advantage of our parent-teacher interviews which are happening in a few weeks.
Parent-Teacher Interviews
These are happening in Weeks 6 & 7 of this term. Information about how to book a parent-teacher interview will be sent home soon. I encourage all parents and carers to book an interview with their child’s teacher.
School Opinion Survey
The annual suite of School Opinion Surveys will be conducted in Term 3 and will close on 30 July 2021. All families, school staff and students in target year levels (5, 6, 8 and 11) will be invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what our school does well, and how we can improve.
An invitation to complete the Parent/Caregiver Survey will be emailed to one parent/caregiver per family in the week beginning 5 July. The invitation will be sent from the Department of Education, not the school, and it will have the subject line School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2021. Please check your junk email folders if you can’t find it. The survey can be completed as soon as the invitation is received and will take approximately 5 minutes using a computer, tablet or smart phone.
Parents/caregivers who do not have access to the internet at home are welcome to complete their survey online at the school. School computers/tablets will be available.
Prep in 2022
Do you have a child who is starting Prep next year? We run an extensive transition into Prep program every year, and this is beginning shortly. We will be communicating key dates and events with families and the wider community soon.
From the Deputy Principal's Desk
Class News
Hello Everyone from Year 6M classroom!
We are off and running with our learning in Term 3. While we are always keen to start our new subjects, we are really focusing on our organisational skills and our completion of tasks – moving onto high school is getting closer and we are going to be ready for that challenge!!
In English, we are working with 5F to improve our reading and writing skills. Every week we have students who go to Prep D and help with their reading. It is great to help new learners with their reading skills.
After first break, we have paired reading followed by either a writing lesson or our reading lesson. Our teachers are being very particular about our handwriting as well. Apparently, they want to be able to read what we write!!
If you walk past our classroom, you might think we are on holiday in Mexico! We have started our learning wall for HASS and English with a lot of information about Mexico. Did you know…
- Mexico is bordered by the United States of America, Guatemala and Belize.
- It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
- Mexico is the largest Spanish speaking city in the world.
- It is located in the Northern hemisphere and is part of the North American continent.
- There are over 128.65 million people living there (2020).
- The currency used is the Mexican Peso.
We hope to have a fiesta at the end of term and maybe convince Mrs Montgomery we need a daily siesta as well!
A Day in the Life of Year 6
From Guidance Officer
Talking Families JULY 2021
Your time to shine, or to just recline
Me time, self-care – they seem to be the buzz words of the day, but what exactly does it look like when in reality you’ve forgotten what colour the tiles are on the laundry floor, because you have resigned to walking on a cloud of dirty clothes. And the kids are asking for the millionth time that day – what’s for dinner? Whether you’re a new parent or one that’s been in the game for a while now you’re probably thinking the same thing – sounds nice but can I take a raincheck?
So how do we find the time? How do we put ourselves number one when society seems to tell us that our kids must come first. Cast your mind to the last time you packed up the kids and went on a good old fashioned roadtrip. You know the drill – the packing, the repacking, the “are we there yet”’s and the sheer relief when you finally reach your destination! No matter how frantic the lead up is, we always check we have enough fuel! Because the last thing you want is to be stuck on the side of the highway waiting for roadside assistance! Much like parenting, if you’re running on empty you can’t fill the tanks of those around you.
Me time doesn’t have to be a big deal – it might be enjoying a hot cup of coffee or tea as opposed to the usual cold murky liquid that you’re faced with when you finally get around to drinking it. Or calling in the cavalry (also known as the grandparents or bestie) to watch the kids while you try your hand at an art class. Or why not pop the little ones in the stroller and walk down to the local coffee shop and enjoy some time out of the house (and some incidental exercise along the way). There’s no right or wrong way to do it, but looking after ourselves needs to be a priority to keep ourselves happy and well. If you’re looking for some inspiration to get you started, why not download our “Me Time Bingo” – packed full of simple ideas to squeeze some self-care into your week!
If you find that the thought of leaving the house makes you shudder, or you just seem to find it hard to muster up the energy to get up and moving, remember the team at parentline are always happy to have a chat. Or why not head to oneplace and connect with a service in your area.
Visit: https://www.talkingfamilies.qld.gov.au/your-time-to-shine-or-to-just-recline/
Download your ‘My Time’ Bingo card here - https://www.talkingfamilies.qld.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Talking-Families-My-Time-Bingo-Card-1.pdf
Well Done Tiahna
A big congratulations to Tiahna who represented the Wide Bay in the State Trials for Qld School Sport – 10 to 19 Years Cross Country which was held at Ipswich on Monday. It is wonderful to see our student competing at State Level.
Well done.
Book Week - Monday, 23 August to Friday, 27 August.
This year’s theme is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds
Book Fair will commence on Monday, 23 August coinciding with PJ Night in the Resource Centre on Monday night – more information to come. Come and enjoy an evening with children in their pyjamas as they listen to stories from teachers. Afterwards there is hot milo and our fabulous book store officially opens.
Book fair will be running for the week and will be open each morning before school from 8.30am to 8.55am, first break 11.15am to 11.45am and until 3.30pm each afternoon after school.
Grandparents/Carers/Elder’s Day will take place on Thursday, 26 August in the Resource Centre. Permission notes will be sent home with students early next month. This is a perfect opportunity to engage with your grandchildren/children reading a short story, and reminiscing as you examine the many old items on display from yesteryear. Afterwards there is coffee/tea and biscuits and a time to catch up with old friends.
All year levels will be participating in the Book Week parade on Friday, 27 August. All costumes preferably to be based on a book or the theme for this year. Never has there been such a diverse theme to base your costumes on. Let your imagination run wild, the possibilities are endless for your costume design!
From the P & C
Welcome to our newest channel of communication for fellow parents.
Here, we can create a space of awareness about what we are doing to support the school and your children in helping them have the best possible opportunities to become the unique little people they were meant to be.
Being a kid is one of the best parts of life. The P&C is searching for ways to support the school and help create as many opportunities as possible for our little people to explore the wonders of learning. Learning about who they are in relation to the world around them. It is important for us as parents to do our bit to support our children and school staff? After all, we have entrusted them with our precious legacies and showing gratitude to them I think is priceless, and essential.
It is all, in my opinion, very exciting. So, what do you think? What are your ideas? We would love to hear them. Many ideas can help create the space for positive change and that is what we are all about. I would like to share with you all somethings we have been brainstorming to help create, support and maintain a wonderful place for our children to learn and grow.
- Working on the presentation of the school gardens
- Implementing and improving existing recycling programs
- Working towards a uniform shop (this one may be a long term project)
- Bringing money into the school by applying for grants
- Veggie gardens for the school.
Again, these are all ideas we are throwing around. And again, we would love to hear your thoughts. We are all learning together. Please, come along to our next P&C meeting.
It will be held at 6pm on Wednesday, 11 August in the school library.
Kind regards,
Karmen Cleveland (President)
Candice Braithwaite (Vice President)
Sharon Dale (Treasurer)
Kristen Vickery (Assistant Treasurer)
Sam Hartshorn (Secretary).
Recycling at Kingaroy State School
We have been recycling at Kingaroy State School for 2 months now. We have collected nearly 1000 containers. This is great news and there are many benefits for establishing a recycling program in a school. Students who participate in recycling will have more of an incentive to carry on as adults. At school, children learn the benefits of recycling and how easy it is to recycle with the right system in place. Recycling keeps containers out of landfill and means resources can be used again.
We take the containers to the ‘Containers for Change’ Depot on Kingaroy Street, past the intersection with Cornish Street and receive 10 cents for every container. This money goes to the P&C and will be used to benefit the students. This week, we have a poster competition about recycling, that we hope all students will take part in.
Meet our Adopt-a-Cop
National Pyjama Day - Friday, 30 July
About National Pyjama Day
National Pyjama Day is all about swapping your everyday uniform or clothing for your favourite pair of pyjamas to help raise much-needed awareness and funds for children living in out of home care (Foster Care, Kinship Care, Residential Care).
As there are a number of children at Kingaroy SS living in out of home care, the Wellbeing Committee thought this would be a great initiative to start raising awareness.
We will be asking for a gold coin donation and money raised will be going to South Burnett’s Partners in Foster Care.
Help us support our little kids with BIG dreams this July!