School Newsletter 2023, Term 3, Week 6
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
Thank you to the parents and carers who recently took time to participate in the School Opinion Survey. The data from this survey helps us to determine areas for our school to celebrate, and areas to work on developing.
Book Week is commencing in Week 7, with our annual Character Dress-up parade happening on Tuesday 22/8/23 at 9.30am. Students are invited to come dressed at a character from their favourite book. It's a bit of a secret but we often find that simple homemade costumes are the best - no need to buy anything new! :)
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Enrol for Prep 2024 now! If your child is eligible to attend Prep in 2024, now is the time to enrol them! Parents are requested to book an interview on 5422 3333 as soon as possible. Knowing our 2024 Preppies as early as possible allows us to make the most effective staffing arrangements to support your child individual needs.
Enrolment packs can be collected from the office, by calling 5422 3333 and requesting one, or emailing admin@kilcoyss.eq.edu.au. Enrolment forms can also be downloaded from our school website by clicking here.
Prep is the first year of school and provides the foundation for your child's education. It is compulsory for Queensland children to undertake Prep prior to Year 1. Prep is a full-time program and children must be age 5 by 30 June in the year they enrol. If you are unsure, you can use the online calculator to see when your child can start Prep. Simply select your child's month and year of birth.
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Prep Parents - Don't forget that the Prep Bunyip hunting excursion leaves tomorrow! We can't wait to hear what they manage to find in this exciting and engaging excursion. The learning that comes from this event is always impressive. We are grateful to have teachers who prioritise embedding these exciting opportunities into their planning.
Planning for the 2024 year and beyond has commenced and over the remainder of the year, staff will collaborate to develop a clear plan of action, aligned to our school priorities. As we did in late 2022, in Term 4, we will invite parents to join this process and add further recommendations and feedback. We believe that the development of an Annual Implementation Plan that is driven by the entire school community is important.
Important safety notices: Recently we have had a number of students arriving at school far too early. This presents an unacceptable risk to their safety as supervision is not available. Ideally, students will not arrive at school until at least 8.30am. Supervision is provided from 8.15am for the early arriving bus students who may not have a choice. No students are allowed on site before 8.15am. Parents and carers are responsible for making sure their children are not on the school grounds before 8.15am. In addition to this, all students and their parents must leave the school site before 3.15pm, unless attending an appointment.
On Monday 21/8, staff from Kilcoy State High School will be attending our school to meet our Year 5/6 students. This session is part of our new extension of our transition to high school program.
Father's Day Stall: In Week 8, our amazing P&C Association will again be supporting students by coordinating our annual Father's and Special Friends Day Stall. Students will have the opportunity to visit with their class and purchase a small gift for that special person in their lives. More information will be sent home soon.
Attendance: Recently, our current attendance rate has increased to 89.4% however our goal is still 95%.
We are really pleased to see this increase in attendance, and urge you to present a positive mindset to your children to encourage them to view school in an enjoyable way.
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.
Kind regards, Mrs Nash.
Deputy Principal's News: Lisa Webster
Curriculum
How exciting has the past fortnight been watching the Matildas? I became intrigued in the Matildas when they played Canada. 'Wouldn't it be great if they won?' And they did and 2.4 million Aussies tuned in to watch them do it. The Matildas were in the final 16 teams of the FIFA World cup. What an achievement for our 'Tillys'. Their next match was against Denmark. Football, as it is referred to in Europe, is the most popular sport on this continent. It would be a challenge to defeat Denmark. But our Tillys came out and performed their best. They played without their captain, Sam Kerr, and they won. What a delight. The media and Football Australia were enthralled, as was the rest of the nation. Not only were the Matildas winning, they were having fun and taking the whole nation for the ride. More people watched the Matildas than the State of Origin or AFL/NRL Grand Final games. This is new for Australia. They were breaking records in many ways. Their next challenge - France. The odds were against them. France would not go down easily. France dominated for the first half. Australia defended and didn't let France score. After ninety minutes of playing, the score was still 0 - 0. I had to ring the restaurant and delay my dinner booking for my son's birthday. How long would this game go for? Another 30 minutes of play ensued. Still 0 - 0. How tight can this get? Then, the disciplined and determined Matildas went to a penalty shoot-out. A gruelling Goal for Goal, miss for miss followed, until Courtney Vine kicked the winning goal.
I know you are asking what does this have to do with curriculum at Kilcoy State School? Well, if you ask me, the answer is everything! When the Matildas won, they supported the losing team. The Matildas played like they had nothing to lose. The Matildas enjoyed every part of their journey. They smiled, even when the times were tough! The Matildas were disciplined and determined and supported each other. They worked as a team, they faced challenges with an open mind and these are the reasons our nation got behind them. Not just because they were winning.
At Kilcoy State School we ask our students to be open-minded, work together and support each other. In the same way, we ask our parents/carers to support their child by working with the school. When we are open-minded and work together, great things are possible.
Mrs Webster - Deputy Principal.
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)
The PBL Team
Last week and this week, we recognise the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. Students are being provided with explicitly taught lessons to increase their understanding of strategies to prevent bullying from happening in school, and their role in this. We are spreading the message from the NDA's 2023 theme of 'growing connections'. This theme supports research findings that strong school community connections and social skills are protective factors in the prevention of bullying and help enable positive, help-seeking behaviours in students.
-The Kilcoy State School PBL Team
District Athletics Carnival
On the 27th and 28th of July selected students competed at the District Athletics Carnival at Beerwah. Against tough competition students gave it their all in their nominated events. Congratulations to you all!
Day 1 Results
- Jack - 3rd Shot Put
- Sonny - 3rd 200m
- Charlee - 2nd High Jump
Day 2 Results
- Quinton - 2nd 80m
- Sonny - 3rd 80m
- Sonny, Emmett, Fletcher and Quinton - 3rd in the 9 Years Boys Relay.
Best of luck to Charlee who will compete in High Jump at the Regional Carnival. Big thank you to the parents/carers for your support and for being the best cheer squad and thanks also to Mrs Smith, Mrs Kraut, Chappy Pete and Mrs Bassingthwaighte for helping keep track of all the kids and your hard work at the field events.
Speed Soccer Gala Day
It was a sensational day and you should all be very proud of your efforts playing against Woodford, Mt Kilcoy and Delaneys Creek . We would like to especially thanks Mrs Smith, Mr Hunt, Mrs Bond and all of the fantastic parents for helping and supporting us throughout the day. In the finals Kilcoy won against Mt Kilcoy in the junior division and two Kilcoy teams battled it out in the senior division. Congratulations to both of our winning teams.
It's Speech Pathology week!
Next week is Speech Pathology Week!
Did you know…
1.2 million Australians have a communication disability.
1 in 7 Australian’s will have communication difficulties at some stage of their life.
In 2021, 22.9% of Australian children started primary school at risk or vulnerable in the developmental areas of communication, and 17.4% for language.
The theme of the week’s celebrations is ‘Communicating for Life’. Speech pathologists (or ‘Speech Language Pathologists’ in schools), provide support for people of all ages to interact with others and participate in the life they want. SLPs are trained through a university degree to assist people with a wide variety of communication and/or swallowing difficulties.
Click here for a quick video to learn a little about being a speechie in schools!
Here is some information on Developmental Language Disorder, which can be a lifelong disability. Did you know there are, on average, 2 children per classroom with DLD?
We thank our Speechie (Mrs Sally Thomas) and our teachers for their tireless support of the kids in our school who communicate or learn a bit differently. The time spent learning how our students communicate best and supporting them to develop their skills truly helps the students to participate in their chosen futures!
School Student Broadband Initiative
To boost educational opportunities and narrow the digital divide, families without home internet are encouraged to apply for the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI).
Access to internet at home can support children to build their digital skills and participate in a world that is more reliant on digital technology. The Australian Government is supporting the National Broadband Network (NBN) to implement the SSBI to provide free home internet for one year for up to 30,000 unconnected families across Australia with school aged students.
To be eligible for SSBI, a family must:
- Have a child living at home that is enrolled in a Queensland state school in 2023.
- Not have an active internet service at home. Having a mobile internet service does not affect eligibility.
- Be referred by a nominating organisation such as the Department of Education (the department).
- Agree their child has access to a device and has the digital skills to use the internet safely or will be supervised.
- Live in a premises that can access the NBN via a standard connection – this will be checked by NBN.
The department is pleased to support the nomination of families for the SSBI. If you would like to apply for the SSBI please contact the school via email to admin@kilcoyss.eq.edu.au, or drop in to collect an application (online or paper form) and further information about the initiative.
Applications must be submitted by 8 September 2023.
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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