21 March 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal's Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

This will be the final whole school newsletter for Term 1. It does feel like the term has flown past, and being only 9 weeks we have had to squeeze a lot into it. I do want to say thank you to our community for your support this term, it is always very much appreciated.

P&C Executive

Last week the P&C held their Annual General Meeting. During this meeting a new executive was voted in.

Our P&C is a very busy group in our school, and the work around fundraising, uniform shop and tuckshop are central to our school operations.

This year our P&C has generously donated $25000 dollars towards our learning and resourcing needs. This money is a direct result of the community support behind the fundraising initiatives.

Thank you to our P&C and to all members of our community for this continued support.

Beautification Program

If you have not had a chance to see our new times tables stairs, have a look at this picture.

What a great way for our students to see every day important facts that they need to know. This is only stage 1 of our Beautification Program and we can't wait to keep showing you the rest of our projects as they roll out.

What is Ahead?

With still one week of term to go we still have some events ahead. In this final week we will host our P-2 Easter Bonnet Parade as well as having our school photos on Wednesday and Thursday.

School resumes on Monday 11th April.

I would like to wish all of our families a safe and restful break and trust that you enjoy your time together.

Thought for the Week

Martine Gill

News from Our Deputy Principals

Ready Reader Parent Team

Thank you to those parents that popped their heads into the Library last week for the first meet and greet regarding our 2016 Ready Reader Parent Team. If you were unable to attend but would like to participate in this team please email me your contact details, available times and the grade and name of your child. My email thale22@eq.edu.au

This Wednesday's session will be a chance for the group to go into more detail about the Ready Reader Team focus and what your time in the classroom will look and feel like. We will focus on the skills of guided reading and the questioning techniques associated.

Once again if you are unable to make Wednesday's session or if you were involved last year and would like to continue working with our students and teachers please simple let me know through email and I will add you to our growing list of Ready Readers. You don't need to attend the sessions to join the group.

Easter Bonnet Parade: Prep – Year 2

The Easter Bonnet Parade is a tradition Coomera Springs students partake in each year. Next Tuesday 22nd March at 9:00am in our school hall our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students will parade their Easter Bonnet creations to the crowd. Parents and Carers please feel free to come along and join in the celebration of Easter. Who knows Easter Bunny may even make an appearance...

Unfortunately 3 of our Prep teachers will be out on professional development next Monday and Tuesday which is a little disappointing as they have worked hard with the students during the build up to this special event, but unfortunately we as a school had no say in the timing of the professional development.

Maths Mentals

Week 6 was a real challenge for our year levels, congratulations went out to our Year 6 team, who finished the week with an average of 19.1. The team really mastered their 3 X tables. I hope the stairs have been helpful.

The focus for each Year level this week is:

Parents remember to use your walk or drive to school each day to discuss the weekly focus.

Beginner Strings Workshop at UCSC 2016

On Tuesday 15th March, Coomera Springs Beginner Strings students visited Upper Coomera State College for a workshop in the Performing Arts Complex. The workshop included students from UCSC, Coomera Springs, Coomera Rivers, Coomera, Highland Reserve, Pimpama and Woongoolba State Schools. This day was an exciting and memorable experience as students learnt new techniques and songs under the direction of the Instrumental Music teachers from these schools. The day concluded with a concert for parents and carers. The many parents in attendance was appreciated by both students and teachers involved.

Thanks go to Mrs Raffin and Mrs Favaloro and the teachers, parents and students involved for making this event a success

School Photos

At long last, the day has arrived! Our school photos will take place next week on Wednesday 23rd of March and Thursday 24th of March. Please look at the timetable (below) closely for your child's allocated time. All students are required to be in full formal uniform. Also, if you have a child that is in a leadership position (including Student Representative Council), please ensure they are here on time for their photos on Thursday morning.

Year Four Shine Program

Next week Monday 21st March our Year Four students travel to Metricon Stadium for their Shine Day. Mr Dickinson has been working closely with the Gold Coast Suns to have them play an important part in our Year Four curriculum each year. The Gold Coast SUNS as part of their work in the Community are contributing to schools and assisting students throughout the Gold Coast region. The SUNS have worked closely with AFL Queensland to assist the continual growth of AFL in schools through existing activities like Auskick, school football and sport education. On top of this the Club is now proud to have developed their own stand-alone programs to encourage students towards living a healthy and active lifestyle, grow awareness of beach safety and how to play AFL.

What makes the SHINE program unique is that it is the first of its kind delivered in a three-way partnership consisting of the GC SUNS players and staff, City of Gold Coast Lifeguards and the AFL Queensland Game Development team. This innovative program is made possible by the generous support of the Queensland Government. The program has been running at Coomera Springs during the last four weeks and we wish our Year Four students a wonderful time when they get to practice their skills at Metricon Stadium on Monday.

NAPLAN 2016

Thank you to the parents that have already begun to ask questions about the 2016 NAPLAN testing process.

The dates for this year's NAPLAN tests are the 10th, 11th and 12th of May. Whilst we acknowledge the way some media outlets portray the build up to NAPLAN, we can confidently say that all of our Year 3 and 5 students are in the process of being well-prepared for their tests and that our students will continue to be supported during the lead up to the testing dates. The results from NAPLAN allow us to critically reflect on what we as a school are doing well and how we can further improve our teaching practices. If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact deputy principals Mr Gegic (Year 3) or Mr Hartley (Year 5).

Taylor Haley/ Elvis Gegić/Dave Hartley

News from our Head of Special Education Services

Dear Parents/Carers,

My name is Sandra Button and I will be acting Head of Special Education Services for two weeks while Mrs Lisa Partridge is on leave. This is my first term at Coomera Springs State School and I am one of the Special Education teachers that provide support to students, teachers and parents. I am very excited to be a part of this fantastic school and wonderful community.

I have been teaching for over 20 years in a range of educational roles including classroom teacher, Reading Recovery teacher and currently a Special Education teacher. I have also worked in various settings including Sydney, London, Labrador and Southport State School.

One of the fantastic areas of Coomera Springs State School for our Special Education Program is Activity Zone. Activity Zone is always supervised and is open at 1st and 2nd breaks every day of the week. There is a huge range of activities on offer at Activity Zone. Activities include board games, painting and craft, IPads, construction, home corner and a book corner.

One of the newest activities this term is bowling. The kids are enjoying knocking over the pins and are setting goals to gain strikes and beat the staff. Activity Zone is a place where students enjoy socialising, playing, having fun with their peers as well as opportunities to make new friends.

Sandra Button

News from our Guidance Officer

Managing Difficult Moments

Praise and other kinds of acknowledgement are motivating, and are often needed to help children (and adults) change their behaviour. Psychological research has shown that following up on a person's good behaviour with something positive makes it more likely that the behaviour will happen again, but is this enough?

The following suggestions will also contribute to a calmer household:

Pick the battles

• Especially as children get older the battlefield can, if not monitored, become `out of control' – As children grow and assert their independence they, at times, push the boundaries. Friends and technology become a focus rather than family; safety can be ignored; messiness and mood changes can create disharmony in the family. Picking and choosing which battle to tackle is an art to acquire. Here is a tip - Focus on the most important issue at any one time rather than a plethora of problems. If children / adolescents perceive that nothing they do is right then often they give up listening.

Remember: Safety is a priority not to be negotiated.

Be clear in your expectations

• Is what you have asked your child/ adolescent to do clear enough? Saying 'I want you to pick up the clothes off the floor in your room' is clearer and achievable than 'your mess is annoying me'.

Ensure the expected behaviour is realistic and achievable

 Sometimes we ask children to do things that are too difficult for them to do without help eg. expecting a child to be in charge of young siblings is not realistic nor safe

Monitor your own behavior

• Are you managing your own emotions when you are requesting your child to do the same (yelling at a child because of their angry outburst is actually reinforcing that yelling and loss of control is ok)
• Do you say one thing and do another (eg. getting annoyed about mess when you are messy)

Catch Your Child/ Adolescents Being Good

• Keep a record of the behaviours you are pleased with and share the positive observations with your child

Have reward strategies up your sleeve for those `hard to change` behaviours

• Ask your child about what they like. If they suggest the reward, it will be more motivating.
• Make sure the reward is realistic for you to give (and preferably not costing money)
• If the child becomes bored by use of the same reward, use a menu of items to create variety. When your child meets his/her behaviour expectation, he/she selects one reward from the menu.
• A mystery reward is also very motivating for most children.
• If a child wants to earn a big reward (e.g. computer game, movie, etc.), you could use a token system. Each day he/she could earn tokens that can be exchanged later for a bigger reward.
• Emphasise social rewards and privileges over material rewards. Material rewards (e.g. toys, money, etc.) are expensive and often don't work. Many children enjoy having time to spend with their parents or carers. Rewards involving time and activities with parents or carers (no matter what age), can be reinforcing and promote good relationships at the same time

Follow through with consequence

• Is it fair and related to the misdemeanor
• Does your child understand why they are given the consequence
• Will there be opportunity for your child to learn from their mistakes eg. parent /child discussion about the problem at hand, problem solving with your child around better choices, and if necessary, role playing of appropriate behaviour

Homework for the week ahead:

Double the amount of praise you give your child for his/ her good efforts in the coming week, and monitor its success. Keep a track of negative responses you use in conversations with your child.

(You may need to expand your own vocabulary so you have a variety of positive comments ready to encourage your child).

If you have reached this line then, well done for taking such an interest in reading these strategies. Good luck with your implementation.

Adapted from: www.kidsmatter.edu.au

News from our IT Department

Get Microsoft Office 2016 free of charge

Did you know your child can get Microsoft Office 2016 free of charge, just for being a student at Coomera Springs State School? All you need is your child's school email address to sign in.

To help prepare your child for success this academic year, the Department of Education and Training has teamed up with Microsoft to provide free Office 2016 to every Queensland state school student. With Office 2016, your child will have access to the latest version of Word for writing, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations, OneNote for organisation and notetaking, and much more.

You can install a complete version of the latest Microsoft Office on up to five compatible PCs and Macs, five tablets and five smartphones. Your Office subscription lasts for as long as your child is a state school student.

Ask your child to follow these simple steps to get Office:

• For PC and Mac, visit portal.office.com, login using your school email address, click through to install and follow the onscreen process.
• For tablets and smartphones, download from your app store (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and sign in with your school email address.

Visit www.education.qld.gov.au/office2016 for instructions on how to download and install Office 2016 to your personal home computers.

News from our PE Department

Parents, sporting enthusiasts and Google experts……have a go at our Sports Quiz question of the week!

SPORTS QUIZ QUESTION 1:

Who won the last 20/20 cricket world cup????

Healthy fact:

Drinking water is the best way to quench your thirst…

Even better, it doesn't come with all the sugar and energy (kilojoules) found in fruit juice drinks, soft drinks, sports drinks and flavored mineral waters.

Drinking water instead of sweetened drinks also prevents dental problems, while the fluoride found in tap water can help strengthen teeth and bones.

CSSS sporting achievements:

1. Braydan A, Jake G, Neve V, Gabrielle L, Maisie W, Asher W and Katie M recently competed in the Broadwater swimming carnival. Coomera Springs came 2nd overall out of primary schools in the Broadwater district. All swimmers competed well, with Braydan, Jake and Neve making into the Broadwater district swimming team. Great Effort by All!!!
2. Congratulations to Neve V who gained selection for the South Coast Swimming team. She will now compete at the State Championship in Brisbane.
3. On Tuesday the 1st of March the year 4 to 6 Coomera Springs students went to the Coomera Sports fields to play Soccer against Park Lake SS and Highland Reserve SS. Congratulations to boys for being the boys Champion soccer school for the day. All students gave their best effort and represented the school very well. Awesome job!!!

REMINDERS:

1. The Cross country is fast approaching on Thursday the 17th of March. Can't wait to see everyone dressed up in their house colours.

• Ballun (Blue),
• Kaban (Green),
• Tharagum (yellow) and
• Tugai (red).

Just a reminder the bottom car park will be closed from 10:45am to 1:00pm, as children will be running through this as part of the cross country.

2. 'Running and fitness club' will be held on Thursday mornings from 8:00 to 8:35am and is open to all students from grade 4 to6. The sessions will be run by Mr Fletcher and Mr Gall. The sessions will include training for upcoming events (17th March - cross country), fitness circuits, team challenges and of course – games!

3. I hope all students are enjoying and are appropriately using all the sports equipment that had been put out into classrooms.

Tim Gall/Sarah Hodder

GC2018 Commonwealth Day Event

The second Monday in March is Commonwealth day. This year Commonwealth day was a very special occasion for me and two of our school leaders - Madeline Y and Aliya C.

On Monday March 14th, we were invited to the Commonwealth Games GC2018 Commonwealth Day celebration at the Gold Coast Arts Centre. Coomera Springs State School joined 112 other Gold Coast schools who are involved in the GC2018 Schools Connect program.

We enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea and mingled with other school students and teachers. We were privileged to have our photograph taken with His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Deputy Mayor and our local councillor, Donna Gates.

We also enjoyed a performance by the Yugumbeh junior choir who were accompanied by some digeridoo players. The final song of their performance was the Australian National Anthem sung in Yugumbeh. 'It was beautiful to listen to!' – Aliya.

Madeline added – 'We were inspired by the Commonwealth Games journey of Rowan Crothers, a para-swimmer. He brought along his gold medal that he won at the 2014 Glasgow games and he is on track to bring home more gold medals for Australia at GC2018'.

Along with enjoying a lovely afternoon, Madeline, Aliya and I learned a few Commonwealth Games Facts;

• GC2018 Commonwealth Games will be held on the Gold Coast from April 4-15th 2018.
• There are 71 nations and territories that make up the Commonwealth, that's a combined population of approx. 2,328,000,000 people.
• There are 18 sports and 7 para-sports being contested at the GC2018 games.
• The theme for this year's Commonwealth day is An Inclusive Commonwealth.

Mrs Hodder

News from our Music Department

Music News

EXTRA CURRICULAR GROUPS

Just a reminder of music extra-curricular groups available…Below is a list of groups and who can attend each one. All of our groups are meeting in the Music Block.

Monday 1st Break: Drumline – Year 5 and Year 6
Thursday 1st Break: Junior Choir – Prep to Year 2
Thursday 2nd Break: Senior Choir – Year 3 to Year 6

Gabby Raffin

News from our Librarian

From the IZONE

A very BIG Thank you to all the wonderful families who donated books to our school library for the Schools Love a Book Day. We are in the process of getting the books ready for borrowing as we speak. There are so many lovely and exciting new books to read.

Please come and visit the library and see our display.

Happy Reading,
Sue Marriott

News from our Classrooms

We love to show you what is going on around our school and in our classrooms.

Grade 1

Grade 3

WALT

Collect data using the sorting and counting method.

Grade 6

Each week the Grade 3's and 6's take turns reading and explaining/exploring the weekly comprehension focus

Superhero Day

News from our P&C President

Frankie's Tuckerbox

From Term 2, we are introducing Flexi Friday. No cash/eftpos orders will be accepted over the counter. If you do not have access to the internet and wish to order, please come to Frankie's and use our facilities available to place your order.

Frankie's is open every day from 7:30am – 2:00pm. Have you seen the menu options available? Watermelon cups are a favourite with the students and the Staff are raving about the Chicken Caesar Salad. Please find our new Tuckerbox menu on the School website and Facebook.

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is open every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - 8.15am – 9.00am. We are only able to accept eftpos and credit card payments over the counter and Flexischools orders are preferred.

Please see flexischools.com.au for further information or to register.

Community Notices

Schoolkid Bonus Announcement

Helps with education costs and is automatically paid in January and July.

Schoolkid Bonus is being phased out. The final instalment will be paid in July 2016.

Term 1 Parent to-do List:

• pay school resources fee in instalments
• find out if there is any camps/excursions to pay for this year
• what extra cost do we have to cater for extra curriculums such as sport, music instrument hire, art supplies etc.?
• join the Saver Plus you read about in the school newsletter to save for education cost, as no more school kids bonus after June 2016!!!

Upper Coomera Physio NOW OPEN

We are excited to announce the opening of our new Aqua Bump Classes please see attached flyer. If you would like to discuss the classes please feel free to call us on 55618111

Some of the extensive range of services available to you at UC Physio includes:

General Physiotherapy
Clinical Pilates
Osteoporosis
KIDS Physiotherapy
MASS & CAETI
Aquatic Physiotherapy
AND…

Speech Pathologist -

Now Practising at UC Physio kids therapy room– Monday, Tuesday and fortnightly Saturdays

She has extensive experience dealing with speech issues in the pre-school and school aged populations.

Self-referral or medical referrals can be accepted through UC Physio ph: 55618111 (fax 55618344)

SPECIAL OFFER – OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY HANDWRITING SCREENING

• Find out why your child has been struggling with hand writing in Term 1!
• Assessment carried out by an experienced occupational therapist to identify hand writing difficulties and provide recommendations
• Special offer for the Easter school break
• Valid until Friday 8th April, 2016
• $125 instead of $150
• LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE please call UC Physio 5561 8111

Gold Coast Health Oral Health (Dental) Services

Gold Coast Oral Health Services are offering free dental check-ups to children in year 6 at Coomera Springs S.S.

This service will be provided on site by Drover 023. Hours of operation for this clinic are Monday –Friday 8.00am – 4.15 pm

To arrange an appointment for your child telephone:

The Oral Health Client Service Centre
1300 300 850
Monday – Friday 8.00 am – 4.30 pm
Excluding Public Holidays

***PLEASE NOTE: If you are trying to book an appointment and experiencing some difficulties, feel free to come to the van to make the appointment, however, if we are busy with a patient, your details will be taken and contact made as soon as possible.

Child Dental Benefit Schedule Vouchers are accepted. When your child's $1000 cap is reached, there will be no out-of-pocket expenses provided your child meets *eligibility criteria.

* Eligibility – All Queensland resident children aged four years or older who have not completed year 10 of secondary school.

Junction Café

Junction Café is located in Coomera Square shopping centre. We are open for breakfast, lunch and Thursday night for dinner.

Open from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm 7 days
Thursday from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm

Plenty of room for mums to come in with pushchairs and enjoy a coffee while the kids plays at their own little table.

We are looking at hosting small cooking demonstrations on a week day morning with our Chef utilising pantry staples with a few simple chef twists. Afterwards there will be a Q&A with the Chef over a coffee or tea for those that are interested please phone 5580 0060.

Our menu has the good ol' classics for breakfast with some added favourites, like, overnight oats, omelettes, lifestyle choice and the iconic hash stack. This runs all day

Lunch has a street food vibe, which has bagel burgers, soft shell tacos, street wings, Thai salad, BLT and a lot of mouth-watering favourites to offer.

We also offer fresh made to order sandwiches, wraps, Devonshire teas, toasted sandwiches and a few gluten free alternatives, to name a few.

Our Devonshire teas and ham, cheese, tomato toasted sandwiches are on a permanent special at $5.00.

We are a Pay it Forward café. So what does this mean? We collectively pool tips and donations, which are topped up from sales. This is given back to the community by way of tokens. These can be exchanged for a meal or drink for those that are finding it a little tuff.

We also host morning tea and scones for residents of the local aged care facilities with the Pay it Forward programme.

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