School Newsletter 2023, Term 4, 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
Thank you to Mrs Webster, Mrs Corby, Mrs Vella and Mr Ras for attending and supporting our Year 5/6 students on camp last week. The students reported having the most amazing time and the management of the camp location spoke very highly of our students' manners and behaviour. I'd also like to thank our students for representing themselves, and our school, with pride.
This week is the last day of swimming lessons for our P-2 cohort (18/10). By all reports, the students have done very well and we look forward to seeing their increased confidence in our upcoming swimming carnival later in the term. This means that our Year 3-6 cohort start their swimming lessons on Thursday 19/10.
Last week, I attended the 'Strategic Planning for 2024' session, accompanied by staff representatives: Mrs Webster, Mrs Lockrey and Mrs Racchi. Our team heard messages from the leadership of the Department of Education, and commenced building a strategic plan for Kilcoy State School using the feedback we have recently gathered from our Teachers, Teacher Aides and our P&C. In the coming weeks, we will gather feedback from our students and offer an additional opportunity for parents and carers to contribute. By working together, the voices of all parties should be evident in our 2024 Annual Improvement Plan for Kilcoy State School. We commit to providing Equity and Excellence for every student at our school, working in close partnerships with families and community.
Attendance: Our current attendance rate is 89.3% however our goal is 95%.
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.
Community engagement & collaboration:
This week, we will hold our next Pre-Prep session (18/10 at 9-10am). All 2024 Prep students with submitted enrolments are asked to attend. We also have a day booked for the remaining enrolment interviews on 1/11/23. If your interview is not booked yet, please do so as soon as possible by calling the office on 5422 3333.
On Friday the 27th of October, we will recognise 'Day for Daniel' on the same day as our 'Go Red for Respect' theme. Students will be asked to wear red clothing that day, to raise awareness of the importance of both concepts.
Quick reminders:
- Our next parade will be held on the 26th of October at 2.20pm in the hall.
- Would all parents please return your child's clean Rep shirt, used in the recent Gala days?
- Date Claimer: The Kilcoy Christmas Carnival will be held on Saturday the 2nd of December.
Kind regards, Mrs Nash.
Deputy Principal's News: Lisa Webster
Curriculum - This is a very busy term and one of our curriculum foci in Health and Physical Education is swimming. Thank you to parents/carers and staff for ensuring these swimming lessons run so smoothly.
Our year 3/4 students have been or are preparing for their excursion to the IGA. At Kilcoy State School we want our students to be as engaged in and connected to their learning as possible. Other year levels have excursions planned for this term.
Camps - it was my pleasure to attend 5/6 Camp with the students and teachers. The students attending this camp were an amazing group of students. The positive feedback we received from multiple people was a pleasure. Please let your child know that we were very proud to take the students on camp. If you have any feedback from the camp - cost, experience, activities - we'd love to hear from you in writing. Please either email the school, your classroom teacher or me and we can use this information for our future planning of camps.
Mrs Webster - Deputy Principal.
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)
The PBL Team
On Friday 27th of October, we are planning to 'Go RED for RESPECT' in recognition of our commitment to learning about, and showing, respect.
We ask all students and staff to wear red on 27/10/23. Please bring a gold coin donation and help us raise funds for the "Daniel Morcombe Foundation".
In Term 4, our Positive Behaviour for Learning lessons are centred around our STAR value of Respect. Raising the profile of this concept helps to cement the idea and generate conversations with students about how and why we might benefit from being respectful, and being respected.
-The Kilcoy State School PBL Team
Australia’s largest child safety education and awareness day: DAY FOR DANIEL
Friday 27 October, 2023
Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morcombe. We ask all Australians on this very special day to Wear Red, Educate and Donate.
Parents, carers, and educators are encouraged to start a conversation with children and young people about personal safety. Schools and early learning centres conduct child safety education activities. Businesses and community come together to raise awareness of child safety issues. We are developing a new video resource that will be available for Day for Daniel education.
Day for Daniel is the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s biggest fundraiser each year. Your support through fundraising helps us to continue developing free resources and programs for parents, carers, and educators to teach children how to stay safe. Funds also contribute to supporting young victims of crime.
STLaN and Inclusion Support
While senior students were away at camp this week, eleven Year 5/ 6 students remained at school and participated in ‘Non-Camper activities. Each day, students engaged in team building tasks which included games, making pizza, craft, photography and scavenger hunts. The students documented their daily activities in their Camp Diary and to get the most out of their experiences, reflected on their three days of working together.
A very big thank you to all the staff, teachers and teacher aides, who were involved in the Non-Camper activities to make the students’ time at school productive and enjoyable.
During the school camp program, the students participated in a “talking behind each others back” activity. Each student had paper stuck to their backs and were given the task to write positive comments on their peer’s backs. These papers were handed back to the students at the end of their camp program so they could read and reflect on what their peers thought of them. This activity is designed to teach students to foster and strengthen a positive mindset about themselves.
There are several benefits of teaching positivity to children through positive attitude activities such as: improved psychological and physical well-being, reduced rates of depression, reduced levels of pain and distress, better resistance to illnesses, improved cardiovascular health and better coping skills during times of hardship or stress (Mental Health Center Kids, 2023).
We encourage parents to help their children work on positive mindsets, as just like a muscle, you can strengthen and build your mindset with the right exercises and activities.
Please see https://positivepsychology.com/positive-mindset/ for more information and an interesting read on building a positive mindset.
From Mrs Karen Burton and Mrs Harriet McCarron
P&C Association
Community Events
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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