School Newsletter 2023, Term 2, Week 2
Acknowledgment of Country
This newsletter comes to you from Jinibara Land. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout 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.
Kilcoy State School Vision & Values
Our school vision:
"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
Principal's News: Belinda Nash
Dear Parents and Carers
Facilities update: For the past month and the next few months, you may notice quite a bit of work happening at school during the week, and sometimes on weekends. To maintain the upkeep of the school and provide a safe and appealing learning environment, we have several works happening. E Block is being painted (Royston St side) and getting new ramp and stairs, F Block is getting new stairs and new paint on the Ethel St side. D Block will be having external repairs and paint as well.
The council is completing footpath works near the crossing and we would appreciate you following their safety rules carefully. The works (approximately 40m) will create disturbances at pick up and drop off times so please be patient as they work to make our school safer to access.
The Administration building now has a new internal door separating the Community entry point (oval side) and the staff/student entry (hall side). This provides important privacy needs and noise reduction for meetings occurring in the offices. Parents and Carers - when you need to access the Admin building, please do so from the oval side only. Please remind your children that students access the Admin building from the hall side at the internal window. This will help prevent people using the office as a thoroughfare.
A repeat reminder: Students are not allowed at school before 8.15am. Do not drop them at school before this time. There is no supervision before this time, and it is not safe. Parents needing supervision for their children before this time must make alternative arrangements such as before school care or locate another suitable carer.
Parent Workshop - Reading: On Monday 24/4 Mrs Somerville (1/2C) and Mrs Pendergast (Prep B) ran a Reading workshop for parents in our Resource Centre. Thank you to the parents who were able to attend. We are hoping to run more of these workshops to help parents understand how they can help their child at home. The learning process is best when what happens at school is mirrored at home.
Annual Improvement Plan: Focus area: Attendance.
This is a 'must read' section for all parents and carers.
Attendance: Our current overall school attendance rate is 90.3% however our goal is 95%.
Attendance is the first part of the learning puzzle. We simply cannot teach students if they are not here at school. A lack of attendance also creates a range of difficulties from a learning, teaching continuity and assessment perspective.
Your child must attend school every day unless they are unwell. Absences can cause children to experience a level of anxiety when they return, as they become aware that the class has moved on, learning information they have missed. Learning is incremental and follows an important and carefully planned developmental progression. It becomes quite difficult for a teacher to catch several different students up on different sets of information and also continue trying to progress through their units of learning. While our teachers will always do everything they can, there is only so much we can reasonably expect.
It is for these and other reasons that students are required to attend on all school days. This includes starting school on time by being at school by 8.40am. Parents - we ask that you make sure your child is at school on time each day so they don't miss important learning at the start of the day. If you need help achieving this, please contact the school for support by calling 5422 3333 and asking for a call back. Under Queensland law, a child must attend school unless there is a reasonable excuse.
Recently, we have also seen an increase in children having a day off for their birthday or to go shopping and this is not considered a reasonable excuse. We would love to celebrate with your child on their birthday and this can be an enjoyable part of children developing friendships at school. Parents and Carers are advised that routine health appointments should be made outside school hours.
If your child will be absent, please make sure you call the absence line on (07) 5422 3366 to let us know why they are away so that it can be recorded accurately.
Attendance rates for each year level are seen below.
Prep: 88.45% Year 1: 90.86% Year 2: 91.59% Year 3: 90.36%
Year 4: 92.27% Year 5: 92.95% Year 6: 89.85%
This fortnight, Year 5 students have had the best attendance rate at 92.95%.
Community engagement & collaboration:
The school, and the P&C, also have put several grant applications in and we are anxiously waiting to see if we have been successful. Thank you to the P&C for their dedication to improving our school. Their support has provided our Year 6 students with Senior Shirts, financial and physical support for Under 8s day, a generous financial contribution to the school budget each term, free community sausage sizzles and ongoing support to run our tuckshop amongst many other things. All that takes a lot of member support so please (please!) offer to help them. If you can't help in person, please consider donating to the P&C so they can achieve their goals for our children. Every single cent they make goes towards making school a better place for your child.
Thank you to our wonderful Parent Readers who are changing books for children and listening to them read. This is a very valuable service and we really appreciate it. Thank you also to the group of parents and carers who donated their time to help at out Interhouse Cross Country event on Friday. The more helpers we have, the more able we are to put on these events.
ANZAC Day Service: It was rewarding to see so many students and parents turn up for the ANZAC Day march. Our school was well represented and I was proud to walk alongside them as we paid our respects to those who fought for our freedom.
You may not be aware but on ANZAC Day, the RSL president, Mr Shane Williams, and Dr Stewart presented cheques to our school leaders, kindly donating money to our school. We thank them for their generous contribution. The Kilcoy community is a kind and generous community at heart, and we are so proud to be part of it.
Kind regards, Mrs Nash.
Deputy Principal's News: Lisa Webster
The final week of Term 2 has provided students and staff with multiple opportunities to celebrate our wonderful school community.
Curriculum Teaching and Learning - Staff have been busy writing reports, planning curriculum for Term 3 and moderating student assessment and folios of student work. The staff at Kilcoy State School are committed to ensuring all students have access to the curriculum.
Under 8s Day was held last Friday. Whilst the students were busy making craft activities, flying foam planes, sitting in emergency vehicles, viewing surf life saving equipment and getting their faces painted, the overall feeling of the day was a very calm one. Students, adults and community members were content and happy. Thank you to the P- 2 teachers and support staff for ensuring a happy celebration of U8s students. Thank you also to the children of Mount Kilcoy State School, NCC Early Learners, Kindy and Play to Learn for joining our Early Year Celebrations.
Our 2 days of Athletics Carnival resulted in a win for Mackenzie House, but the real winner was the school community. The students ran and jumped their hearts out! They congratulated and supported each other. The staff, lead by Mrs Smith, worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth athletics carnival. Congratulations to our school and community.
Mrs Webster - Deputy Principal.
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)
Recently, our PBL Team met to take the next step and unpack the collection of data gathered from students, staff and the community on what they value for our school. This information was used to develop the following vision statement for Kilcoy State School.
"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."
Kilcoy State School students are explicitly taught and expected to demonstrate positive behaviours that reflect a commitment to our school vision. To support and promote this belief, our Positive Behaviour for Learning lessons explicitly teach the skills required for developing emotional regulation and social relationships. These skills enhance engagement in learning.
-The Kilcoy State School PBL Team
Have your say on road and footpath safety in Kilcoy and the Somerset Region.
Somerset Regional Council want to know where better footpaths and crossings are needed to make it safer and easier to walk around Kilcoy. Complete the survey to let Council know what’s needed, so that kids can get safely to school and other places they need to go around Kilcoy.
Use the link below to complete the survey.
https://survey.websurveycreator.com/s.aspx?s=5a5293c4-ccb0-4420-ab1b-533981e93528
STLaN Update
A very big thank you to Marie Torrillo Tia – Zach's mum, and Mr & Mrs Ceasar Florez – Zion’s parents in Year 1/2B for giving up their time to assist teachers in Prep, Year 1, Year 2, and/or parents of students.
Kind regards, Mrs Karen Burton, STLaN.
Sports News
Congratulations to Mackenzie House on taking home the Interhouse Cross Country trophy! 
Thank you to Mrs Smith and the team of helpers for putting on a wonderful community event. It was so good to see lots of parents and carers in attendance, cheering on their children.
Auskick Our students participated in an AFL Promotional Clinics during the school day on Wednesday. If you would like your child to participate in the 6 week Auskick program at school during lunch, please view the flyer below. Cost is $80. The program starts on 10th May.
Article: Making friends
Recently, we have had requests to provide information on how parents and carers might help their children learn how to make friends. This process involves several key skills and strategies and we have collated some tips below that can help:
Teach social skills: Children need to learn basic social skills like making eye contact, smiling, and introducing themselves to others. Encourage your child to practise these skills in everyday situations.
Role-play: Role-playing is an excellent way to teach children how to interact with others. You can act out different social scenarios with your child and demonstrate appropriate behaviour.
Encourage sharing and cooperation: Teach children the importance of sharing and cooperating with others. Encourage them to take turns, share their toys, and help others.
Foster positive self-esteem: Children who have positive self-esteem are more likely to be successful in making friends. Encourage your child to explore their interests and strengths and to feel good about themselves.
Help children understand differences: Teach your child that everyone is unique and that differences should be celebrated. Encourage them to be accepting of others and to look for common interests.
Model social skills: Children learn by example, so it's essential to model the social skills you want your child to develop. Show them how to make friends by being friendly, kind, and respectful to others.
Encourage extracurricular activities: Extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art classes can provide opportunities for children to make friends with others who share their interests.
Overall, it's important to be patient and supportive as your child learns to make friends. By providing guidance and opportunities for practise, you can help them develop the social skills they need to form meaningful relationships with others.
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If you have any suggestions for content, please forward them to admin@kilcoyss.eq.edu.au
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