2025, Term 2, Week 4, Kilcoy State School Newsletter
18.5.2025
Acknowledgment of Country: This newsletter comes to you from Jinibara Land. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country througho2t Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples today. We are thankful to be able to work, learn and play on Jinibara land.
Vision & Values: "We believe that all members of the Kilcoy State School community have the right to work, learn and play in a safe and inclusive environment." Our STAR values are SAFETY - Taking Responsibility - Active Learning - Respect
2025 Annual Improvement Plan
- AIP Focus area 1: The quality enactment of Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum, leading to measurable improvement in student academic achievement.
- AIP Focus area 2: The development of a school culture which underpins a rich, engaging and consistent learning environment, prioritising excellence in curriculum, teaching and learning, resulting in enhanced staff and student learning and wellbeing.
News from Mrs Nash - Principal
Dear Parents and Carers
As I walk around the school each day, I am delighted to see evidence of great teaching and the learning that results from it. We are committed to providing our students with what they each need to be successful. My conversations with students in our 'Learning Walks and Talks' allow students to clearly demonstrate their understanding of the content being taught. Our high expectations for every student to be successful is matched with high levels of support, directly where needed. It is truly wonderful to see a child beam with pride when talking about their work.
Free Prep Vision Screening at school
Children’s Health Queensland (CHQ) is running a free vision screening program for Prep children in all Queensland schools. A Registered Nurse will visit our school to provide this free screening service for our Prep students. Good vision is important for children’s educational, physical and social development. The earlier a problem is picked up, the better the treatment outcomes. The online link for booking (below) is open until 09/06/2025 and can also be used to access the consent form as a PDF.
Uniform Policy changes
This week, a paper survey about Uniform Changes will be sent home with each child for you to complete. The survey is seeking parent feedback about changes to the Uniform Policy at Kilcoy State School. When your child returns their completed survey form to the office, they will receive a token to swap for a free 'Zooper Dooper' iceblock at the Tuckshop. To ensure every child in your family can benefit, please include each of their names on the one survey returned.
Attendance Check: Our current whole school attendance rate is 91.7%. Our goal is 95%. If your child is reluctant to attend or you would like assistance in this area, please make contact with the office on 5422 3333 to make an appointment.
Kind regards, Mrs Belinda Nash.
| Date of event | Brief event details/reminders for Weeks 5-10 |
| 21-5-25 | Australian Olympian visit - Yr4-6 9-10am (Taylor McKeown, Rio 2016 Swimming) |
| 21-5-25 | National Simultaneous Storytime - 12pm |
| 29-5-25 | Valley Champs - AFL: Selected Yr4-6 students |
| 2-6-25 | Coff & Co Pie Drive Orders Due (12/6 delivery) - P&C Fundraiser and Community event |
| 3-6-25 | UniSC Excursion for year 5/6 students |
| 9-6-25 | Fluoride Varnish program (new permission forms provided) TBC |
| 10-6-25 | KSHS Drama Students performing for Prep, in the hall from 12-1.30pm. |
| 20-6-25 | Under 8s Day - Community event - all Under 8s are welcome |
| 25-6-25 | Interhouse Athletics - Yr3-6 |
| 26-6-25 | Interhouse Athletics - P-6 |
Safe and Happy Bus Travel
Many students at our school travel to and from home via bus. It is important that we share with you some information regarding responsible ways to manage this travel. Our aim is for every child to arrive at school happy and ready to learn and arrives home happy and ready to be with your family. This information comes from a document called: The Code of Conduct for School Students Travelling on Buses.
There are a range of stakeholders that are required to work together in a positive manner to make bus travel safe. When students, parents, bus drivers and the bus company all work together with resect, we can optimise our success. If your child is a bus traveller, please take the time to peruse the Rights and Responsibilities sheet. More information on this topic can be found at the link below.
News from Miss Carlile - Deputy Principal
No Oval? No Problem
The rain that we have had over the last week and before, has left our oval in a condition that cannot withstand the attention of little feet running over it. We are not worried as it will dry out however in the meantime our kids have been redirected to other areas to play. This has led to some spots of the school being particularly full of kids at playtime. We are pleased to share that our kids have really put their STAR values into play. We have seen good manners, safety tips and responsibility for actions demonstrated every day. Well done kids!
Building Leaders
It is exciting to see younger students wanting to develop their leaderships skills so that they can help others. Esther, who shared that one day she would like to be a teacher, shared that her role as a Break Buddy is to look after younger students in the playground during break. She enjoys meeting new students and looking after kids. It is so great to not only see this Kilcoy SS initiative continuing to go strong, but also to watch both younger and middle-sized kids thriving with this extra lunchtime care.
Being Safe is Our Business
Mr Wade is our terrific crossing supervisor in the mornings and afternoons. His job is to make our crossing safe for students and parents. We have noticed that not everyone uses the crossing, preferring to cross up the road instead. It would be great, and more importantly safe, to see everyone use the crossing. It gives you a wonderful opportunity to say, “Good Morning and Good Afternoon” as well. This a lovely way to start and finish the day.
Thank you
I have a big and wonderful first week at Kilcoy State School. It has been exciting yet daunting to see how many names I can learn in one week. I’m doing ok but have a long way to go! Staff, students and community members have been wonderfully friendly and welcoming and that is helping me to work how I can fit in and hopefully value add to our school. I would like to thank Mrs Nash for being so generous with her time and for being patient with me as I learn about our lovely school. I look forward to spending more time here, learning and meeting more of you in the coming weeks. Thankyou.
-Miss Pam Carlile, Deputy Principal.
P&C News
Our next P&C Meeting is on Thursday 5th June in the Resource Centre at 3.30pm.
At our last meeting, we discussed how we can achieve many upcoming exciting events for our students, staff and school. We also discussed how to get more feedback from parents about Uniform Policy changes. While parents have already responded to a previous survey about this, the number of responses was quite low, and we would like a better representation of parent voice.
We now have a full P&C Executive Team and are looking for more P&C members. Please come along and learn more about what our parent-run P&C do, and where you might fit in to help. The thing we appreciate most is having a strong parent voice as the P&C are where the school looks to first when they need to get feedback or understand our wishes for our children's lives as students at Kilcoy State School.
-The P&C Team
Support Teacher: Literacy and Numeracy.
What are our Preps learning this term?
Our Prep students have had a wonderful start to the term, reading information texts and learning how to write facts about farm animals. You might hear them coming home with facts such as “A cow can moo.” or “Sheep have wool.” It’s wonderful to see how much they’re remembering and enjoying!
We’re focusing on the building blocks of writing, such as:
- Capital letters at the start of a sentence
- Full stops at the end
- Writing from left to right
- Understanding vowels and consonants
- Using singular and plural nouns
Students are learning to say their sentence out loud, check that it makes sense, and then write it down. They’re also practising how to read their sentences back – a great way to build confidence. We’ve been using sentence-building cards to help students understand word order and how sentences work. This approach is based on The Writing Revolution, a program that helps children become stronger writers by starting with clear, simple sentences.
The Preps have already come so far – from recognising letters and sounds to building sentences. We’re so proud of their progress, and we know you will be too! – See photos below.
-Mrs Karen Burton, Support Teacher of Literacy and Numeracy and EAL/D teacher
Sports News
-Mrs Joanne Smith, PE Teacher
Inclusion Support news
Our Year 2 students have been proudly nurturing their own plants as part of an exciting, hands-on learning experience. While this activity has certainly been fun, it also forms an important part of their Biological Sciences unit. Through growing mung bean plants students have observed, described and represented the changes living things go through in their life stages.
This inclusive, age-appropriate activity has supported all learners by engaging a variety of learning styles and needs. It's been wonderful to see every student meaningfully involved, curious, and connected to their learning (photos below).
-Mrs McVeigh, Inclusion Support Teacher
Please see the attached Community Calendar from the Somerset Regional Council detailing some amazing local events in the Somerset Region this month!
Thank you for taking the time to engage in your child's school life further by reading this newsletter. We appreciate you staying informed. If you have any newsletter suggestions, please email them to admin@kilcoyss.eq.edu.au.
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