DAYBORO STATE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER No: 01 27 JAN, 2015 Dear Parents/Caregivers, Welcome to the 2015 School Year! A special welcome is extended to our 41 Prep students who commenced their school today and to the many new families who have made Dayboro State School their school of choice for their children's education. Thank you for the confidence you have placed in our school and our teachers in delivering a high quality education program for your children. 2015 is a year of change for our school. Our school campus now is home to Prep to Year 6 students, with all Year 7 students now commencing Junior Secondary from this year. We have had strong enrolment growth, and even with the departure of our Year 7 cohort, our commencing enrolments numbers exceed our 2014 starting enrolment. Today we have commenced with 352 students, which allows a staff of 14 classroom teachers. Also in 2015, our students will be exposed to new areas of the Australian Curriculum , including the Arts, Business and Economics and Civics and Citizenship. The new LOTE curriculum will also be implemented with our Year 5 and 6 students. As part of the Arts Curriculum, our students will, in Term 3, have the opportunity to undertake the Drama component of the curriculum with the Homunculus Theatre Company. This is in place of Dance Fever for this year. I am looking forward to working with our school community and our dedicated team of teachers and support staff to drive our culture of achievement and provide the best possible learning opportunities for all our Dayboro children. Thank you to our School Watch Volunteers I wish to acknowledge the great work by our team of School Watch Volunteers who worked throughout the break checking on our school, ensuring it was secure. This is most valuable community activity and something for which as a school staff, we are very grateful. Thank you to Sergeant Ken Robinson for co-ordinating the program. First Assembly and P&C Meeting Our first assembly for 2015 will be held next Monday 2 February at 9:00am in our school hall. The first P&C Meeting will be held on Monday 9 February at 6:30pm in the school staffroom. All welcome to attend. The School Leader’s Induction Ceremony is scheduled for Monday 23 February. Continued over … 1 PRINCIPAL’S NEWS CONT. P&C NEWS New Smoking Ban introduced From January 1 this year, the smoking of any tobacco products or using an electronic cigarette within 5 metres of any state or private school grounds has been banned. This applies before, during and after school hours as well as over weekends and school holidays. On the spot fines can be issued by environmental health officers, police officers or other officers authorised by local government to anyone found in breach of the legislation. Please remember to put out your cigarette and dispose of the litter thoughtfully well before you reach the school boundary. Hi everyone, Parent Nights These are being arranged by your children's teachers over the next couple of weeks. Please look out for an invitation to these events later this week. The P&C also looks after our Uniform shop and Tuckshop and I know that we are always on the lookout for new volunteers. If you can help out at all please give me a call. New Staff for 2015 In addition to the new staff announced at the end of 2014, it is a pleasure to welcome Mrs Carmel Bridger to our school in the capacity of Special Education Teacher. Carmel will work two days a week in this role with Mrs Tracey Hammond undertaking three days in the role. Mrs Bridger has transferred from Strathpine West State School. We warmly welcome her to our school. Our first P&C meeting for the year will take place Monday 9th February at 6:30pm in the school office staffroom. Everyone is welcome and it’s a great way to find out what is going on with your school. The first meeting will be to tidy up any loose ends from 2014 and to have a look at what the P&C would like to achieve in 2015. HOUSE LEADERS Armstrong Captains Jack B Poppy B Armstrong Vice-Captains Tom L Ella S CAN YOU HELP?? I am looking for volunteers to work on the stall with me from 7:30am. I have a roster and would love to be able to put your name down. Also looking for donations for our raffle and home baking to sell on the day. This BBQ is an easy way for us to raise money for our school so please give me a call and let me know if you can help! Welcome back to Dayboro State School for 2015 and a big welcome to all of the new students and families. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and enjoyed the school holidays. We have a very exciting year ahead with many projects for the P&C including Dayboro Day, Melbourne Cup, Walkathon and much, much more! We are also in the process of applying for grants to obtain Classroom Dividers in the upper school. Our Annual General Meeting will take place in March and that is when we will be electing our positions on the committee. I am not continuing this year as President School Leaders for 2015 and I do know that there are a number of other The School Leaders for 2015 were announced on the positions that will become vacant. If you are interested final assembly in 2014. They are as follows:in taking on a position please don’t hesitate to contact me. Without a committee we are unable to fundraise School Captains Band Captains for the school and we would not be able to run our Bailey D Stephanie O Uniform and Tuckshop. Rusty R Chelsea S Taya M Election Day BBQ—Saturday 31st January 2015 Georgia H Our first fundraiser for the year is a BBQ this Saturday for the State Election at the school hall from 8am. Choir Captains We will be cooking and serving a sausage sizzle plus Jasmine V W-F bacon and egg rolls. I would also love to hold a raffle Keita A as well. Rush Captains Maisy G Lexi M Rush Vice-Captains Dominic T Mary P Terrors Captains Dan F Courtney C Terrors Vice-Captains Charlie H Emma F An Induction Ceremony for School scheduled for Monday 23 February. Garry Drummond Principal Leaders I am very much looking forward to what the P&C can achieve in 2015. If you have any questions, queries, suggestions etc, please don’t hesitate to contact me! Enjoy your first week back and I look forward to seeing you all at the P&C meeting. Thanks is Angie Russian 34251331/0414637659 [email protected] 2 TUCKSHOP NEWS SCHOOL ROUTINE **TUCKSHOP STARTS THIS FRIDAY** The school day commences at 8:50am and finishes at 3:00pm for all year levels. First break is from 11:00am to 11:50am. Second break is from 1:20pm to 1:50pm. This year’s menu and information are enclosed with today’s newsletter. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries. Roster Friday 30/1/15: please. Arrival – Unless participating in authorised activities, children should not arrive at school before 8:30am. As there is no playground supervision before school children must sit quietly in the Covered Sports Area before school. Playgrounds and the oval are out of bounds before school. Children should be at school in time to prepare for classroom activities. Dayboro State School students are able to access a before and after school care facility at a cost. See OSHC Helping Hands. C. Ihm, C. Burns plus 1 more Alison Taylor 34256132 UNIFORMS NEWS The uniform shop will be open every Wednesday from 8:30am to 9:15 a.m. You can find the uniform shop under B Block, which is just up from the office. Departure – Children should leave the school grounds as soon as they are dismissed, except for bus children and children enrolled in the Outside School Hour Care Program. Bus children are supervised until the last bus has departed. The P&C will now be selling backpacks, lunch boxes with accessories and drink bottles through the uniform shop as a fundraiser with the company All Too Cool (www.alltoocool.com.au). These products are specifically designed for the hot Queensland conditions and are excellent quality. There will be samples of these products at the uniform shop and any orders placed through the uniform shop will result in the P&C receiving a percentage of the sale. Please check out their website for more details and prices. EARLY DEPARTURE & LATE ARRIVALS If it is necessary for your child to leave school prior to 3:00pm they will need to be signed out at the office. Late arrivals must obtain a late notice from the school admin. ABSENCES If your child is absent from school, please phone the school to leave a message on the dedicated absence line (07) 3425 6160 or send an email to [email protected]. All absences must be explained or they will be deemed unacceptable absences by the Principal. MORE READING BOOKS TO COVER We are currently processing yet another batch of new Classroom/Home Reading Books and would like to request help with covering them. We have packaged them into convenient take-home packs, with all the contact pre-cut. If any parents would like to volunteer to take home a pack or two, they will be available from the Library. Book packs can also be sent home with students. Our aim is to have these books ready for students to use this term. There are approx. 50 packs left to cover. Many thanks to those who can help. Graham Kitson (Teacher-Librarian) If you know in advance that your child is going to be absent, an early note to the teacher is helpful or if calling before or after school hours you can leave a message on the student absence line. If students are going to be absent from school greater than 9 days, an Application for Exemption from Compulsory Schooling must be completed. This form is available from the office. ALLERGY AWARENESS Procedures are in place for reducing the risks for children with allergies. Staff are trained to recognise allergic reactions and in the use of an epi-pen. Parents should inform the school of any known allergies when children are enrolled. JANUARY 27 First day Term 1 (Tuesday) FEBRUARY 03 School Banking Commences 05 Day 8 enrolment collection 09 P & C meeting @ 6:30pm in the staffroom 23 School Leaders Induction Ceremony Currently there is a student at risk of Anaphylaxis to EGG in Prep S this year. We are asking that parents in Prep S and P/1D do not send 'high risk items' such hard boiled egg, egg sandwiches or quiche to school in lunch boxes. Home baking is fine in lunchboxes, however the student is not to consume eggs in baked goods. Thank you for your support. Any queries please see your classroom teacher. 3 30 Ways You Can Help Your Children Succeed in School As a parent, you are your child's first and most important teacher. When parents and families are involved in their children's schools, the children do better and have better feelings about going to school. In fact, many studies show that what the family does is more important to a child's school success than how much money the family makes or how much education the parents have. There are many ways that parents can support their children's learning at home and throughout the school year. Here are some ideas to get you started! This is the first part of a weekly item from Mrs Linda Smith, Head of Learning. Develop a partnership with your child's teachers and school staff 1. Meet your child's teacher. As soon as the school year starts, try to find a way to meet your child's teacher. Let the teacher know you want to help your child learn. Make it clear that you want the teacher to contact you if any problems develop with your child. 2. Get to know who's who at your child's school. There are many people at your child's school who are there to help your child learn, grow socially and emotionally, and navigate the school environment. 3. Attend parent-teacher conferences and keep in touch with your child's teacher. Schools usually have one or two parent-teacher conferences each year. You can also ask to meet with your child's teacher any time during the year. If you have a concern and can't meet face-to-face, send the teacher a short note or set up a time to talk on the phone or ask if you could keep in touch by email. Watch for Part 2 of this series in next week’s newsletter! HELPING YOUR CHILD WITH READING IN PREP 4