6 May 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Reporting for Term 2

I hope that many of you were able to take advantage of our recent Parent Teacher Interviews. These opportunities are very important moments for you to find out in greater detail how your child is developing academically, socially and emotionally within the school environment.

Term 2 is also a reporting term. This means that report cards will be sent home via email in the final week of term.

What do we need from you for this to be successful? Your correct email address. Please ensure that you have updated or provided your correct details to the office.

Mother’s Day

Thank you to our P&C for holding the Mother’s Day Stall this week. It’s always exciting to see the smiles on our little people’s faces when they have selected that special gift.

We would also like to wish all of the mothers in Coomera Springs a very happy Mother’s Day. We hope you all get spoilt and some great breakfasts made for you.

Carpark Issues

Once again I remind our parent community that the staff carpark is out of bounds to parent parking. Our students who travel to school on bikes, scooters, skateboards must exit the school grounds from this area, therefore, this area is out of bounds to before and after school parking as a safety means.

NAPLAN 2016

As you know, the annual National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy

(NAPLAN) tests will be held from 10 to 12 May 2016.

Now that the Australian Curriculum is being implemented in each state and territory, we’ve aligned NAPLAN to the Australian Curriculum: English and the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. As such, NAPLAN should have less impact on your child’s day-to-day learning, as the best preparation for NAPLAN is for students to continue learning what they do every day in the classroom.

NAPLAN is an important tool for parents, educators and the public to see how Australia’s children are meeting essential literacy and numeracy standards. It’s a point-in-time snapshot assessment of students’ achievements in these important areas. It certainly doesn’t replace the important tests that are regularly held in classrooms around the country. It simply complements existing tests and adds a valuable national dimension.

In August–September you’ll receive your child’s NAPLAN results. If you have any concerns, you should speak to your child’s teacher, as they know your child’s learning best.

Some students may feel anxious about NAPLAN, but it’s up to the adults in children’s lives to help keep NAPLAN in context. It’s a test that is only taken four times in a child’s schooling life – over three days; there are four tests that take around one hour each. NAPLAN tests what students should already know from their everyday learning, and there are no prizes or repercussions for doing well or not so well in the tests.

NAPLAN doesn’t test everything that happens in a classroom – it isn’t intended to – but it does look at the critically important areas of literacy and numeracy – skills that your child will take with them to their adult life.

For more information about NAPLAN, including fact sheets, FAQs and examples of tests, please visit;

Martine Gill

News from Our Deputy Principals

We’re taking it in our Stride on Friday, 20 May 2016

Well it’s that time of the year again when our school seriously starts talking about walking!

Not only is walking a wonderful way to get you where you want to be, but it also gets your health – and your child’s health on the right track too. So that’s why this year Coomera Springs is once again participating in National Walk Safely to School Day on Friday 20 May 2016.

Walk safely to School Day asks that we all consider our transport habits and try to incorporate more walking as part of a healthy, active way to get around. And although walking all the way to school isn’t realistic for many of us, it’s quite easy to figure out how you can build a walk into your family’s daily routine.

You can teach your child the healthy habits of walking more by:

• Walking with them the whole way to school
• If they get the bus, walk past your usual stop and get on at the next stop
• If you have to drive, park the car a few blocks away from school and walk the rest of the way.

Regular exercise like walking with your child not only helps them (And you!) beat chronic problems like obesity, heart disease, behavioural and mental health issues and diabetes. It also gives you a great opportunity to teach your child safe ways to behave around roads and traffic.

Remember, Active Kids are Healthy Kids, so please join us on Walk Safely to School Day on Friday 20 May 2016.

We have organised two alternative routes to School so please see below for the maps and keep an eye out for the posters around the school. We aim to leave each starting point at 8:15am.

Year Six Camp

It’s nearly here! Our Tallebudgera Beach School Camp will take place from 23rd – 27th May.

Our students and teachers are pumped for a week of physical activity, good eating and early nights! The theme of the camp is ‘A Hero’s Journey’ and our students will develop team and confidence-building skills. Last year’s camp was a huge success and we expect this one to be no different. Thank you to our families who have invested in this experience for their child – these events are ones that will be remembered for years to come. Also a big thank you to our school staff who will accompany our students and spend the week away from their families and loved ones.

Author Visit – Tuesday 10th of May

Next week our Year Four students will participate in an exciting author visit. Dr Cameron Steltzer, author of The Pie Rats series and other best-selling books will speak to our students about writing, illustrating and imagining.

At Coomera Springs, we believe that our students should be able to access dynamic and inspiring presenters and Dr Cameron Steltzer certainly ticks all of these boxes.

Taylor Haley/ Elvis Gegić/Dave Hartley

News from our Head of Special Education Services

Dear Parents/Carers,

Winning & Losing

Students in Activity Zone have shown an increasing interest in board games this Term.

Playing games with others helps children to learn about rules, fair play, and right and wrong. Children are very sensitive to ideas about fairness and there is often a lot of talk about ‘what is fair’.

Children can find it hard to lose. Learning to lose is a hard lesson and takes much longer than learning to win! Children need to have some practice at winning in order to feel it is safe to lose. However, whatever we do, children will still experience the ups and downs of winning and losing.

Transition to High School

Parents, Carers and Guardians of Years 5 and 6 Students
currently accessing Special Education Programs in Primary Schools,
are invited to an Information Night on
Special Education Programs in local High and Special Schools.

Panel Members:

Leah Rooney - Beenleigh Special School
Ravin Ramasar - Beenleigh State High School SEP
Gita Rambiritich - Ormeau Woods State High SEP
Lynn Buxton - Pimpama Secondary College SEP
Debbie McConkey - Windaroo Valley State High School SEP
Emma Dougherty - PEO: SS- Regional Office

Where And When:

Date: 17 May 2016
Time: 6.00pm till 8.00pm
Place: Mt Warren Park State School Auditorium
Enter through Northern Car Park

Agenda:

Enrolling your child in State High Schools
Enrolling your child at Special Schools
Transition Programs
High School Programs
Preparing your child for High School
Question Time

News from our Guidance Officer

How Screen Time Affects Rest

When little ones don’t get enough shut-eye they can become cranky, tired and moody, and run the risk of developing a host of physical and behavioural problems. And with more children using technology (at younger and younger ages), sleep specialists are seeing a clear link between too much screen time – the use of TV, computers and mobile devices – and poor quality of rest.

The main effect of overusing media devices is that it can decrease the total amount of sleep kids get,” says Dr Sarah Loughran, sleep researcher at the University of Wollongong.

She says excess screen time can hamper sleep in three main ways:

Timing - the use of electronic media can lead to delays in children’s bedtimes, resulting in less time being available for sleep.

• Content - engaging the brain with exciting or provocative information before bed may trigger emotional and hormonal responses (like adrenalin), which can reduce the ability to fall and stay asleep.
• Light emissions - light from electronic devices can disrupt the body’s natural occurring circadian rhythm, increasing alertness and suppressing the release of the hormone melatonin, which is important for regulating our sleep-wake cycle.

Being wise to your child’s screen time consumption can have far-reaching benefits for the whole family, for instance, more sleep! It should only take a few adjustments to your evening routine.

Dr Loughran suggests the following:

• Set a ‘bed time’ for media devices - this should happen one or two hours before kids go to sleep, and applies to adults too so everyone gets into good habits.
• Tweak their bedtime routine - let kids’ wind-down properly in the run-up to bed, replacing screen time with gentle activities like stories, talking or bathing.
• No media devices in the bedroom - kids may kick back at first, but you will soon see the rewards of setting and sticking to this tough rule.
• Replace screen time with exercise during the day - outdoor exercise in bright light is wonderful for sleep and helps balance their ‘virtual’ and real lives.
• Limit food and drinks during screen time, especially at night - electronic devices tend to encourage mindless over-eating and drinking (especially of caffeine), which can stimulate the body and imbalance hormones.

What constitutes ‘too much’ screen time remains to be defined. You might like to read up on the Department of Health guidelines. They recommend that children five to 12 years have no more than two hours of screen-based entertainment per day, and that two-to-five year olds have less than one hour.

News from our IT Department

Dear Parents and Carers,

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Alternatively, if you would like unsubscribe from the newsletter, an unsubscribe is located at the bottom of the email.

News from our Music Department

Music News

FANFARE FESTIVAL

Two of our Instrumental Ensembles will be travelling to William Duncan State School in Week 6 to perform at the State Schools Fanfare Music Festival. This will be an exciting opportunity for our students to perform in front of an audience and to watch other schools perform as well. Parents and friends are welcome to come along and watch – entry is free.

Tuesday 17 May

String Ensemble (Yrs 4 – 6) 9:00am

Wednesday 18 May

Senior Band (Yrs 5 – 6) 11:30am

News from our PE Department

Jump Rope for Heart is HERE

It’s that time again; Jump Rope for Heart is at Coomera Springs State School. Click on the following link to register your child and begin fundraising for prizes and this great cause today!

Tim Gall/Sarah Hodder

News from our Classrooms

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

ANZAC DAY 2016

A very big thank you to our students, staff, P&C and parents for attending the Coomera ANZAC march, everyone involved represented the school with pride and embodied the spirit of ANZAC beautifully.

Prep

Grade 2

Year 2 explored the Coomera Spring to observe and discuss living species in the water and to find out where water comes from in the community.

Grade 3

In Year 3 Science We Are Learning To:

Investigate the size comparisons of the sun, moon and Earth.

We were honoured to have Xavier Gustavson read an ANZAC day story to the students. This was a great opportunity for students to ask questions and gain more understanding of the significance of ANZAC day.

Grade 5

News from our P&C President

Mother’s Day Raffle and Ladies Night Out

The P& C are overwhelmed with the amount of support we are getting from our parents for our Ladies Night Out and Mother’s Day Raffle. We will announce the total raised at the event on the night as well as in the next newsletter. We will keep you up to date with all our fundraising for the air conditioning for the school.

We have just over 35 confirmed stalls for the event and early bird price is still $10 with 2 tickets to Outback Spectacular up for grabs. We look forward to seeing you all there.

Chocolate Drive

Please keep an eye out in your emails for information about the upcoming chocolate drive. It is a drive we havent done for a while so are looking forward to it.

P & C Executive Bio

We wanted to introduce you to the P & C Executive so you can get to know them.

This week we are starting with our Treasurer: Tareena Pomeroy.

Tareena has 2 daughters at Coomera Springs State School and has been involved with the P & C since last year when she was the Secretary. Tareena has a background in banking and finance so the role of Treasurer is perfect for her. She spends her weekends with her daughters and husband.

Tareena is also the person who is contacting local businesses and sponsors for our fete and events.

She can be contacted on cssstreasurer@gmail.com

Good bye for now

Our next P&C meeting will be held on Wednesday 11th May at 6pm in the staffroom, next to the Resource Centre. We would love to see you there. If you have any questions or would like to assist the P&C in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me at pandcpresident@coomeraspringsss.eq.edu.au

Sharon Sharp
P&C President

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 2 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

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

General Physiotherapy
Clinical Pilates
Osteoporosis
KIDS Physiotherapy
MASS & CAETI
Aquatic Physiotherapy
Aqua Bump
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 5561 8111 (fax 55618344)

AND…

Very exciting news!!! We now have a psychologist!!!

"Sarah Gurrin is a fully registered and teacher working here on the Gold Coast. She specialises in IQ testing, Specific Learning Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders. She works both in schools and in private rooms to provide early intervention services, testing, diagnostic reports, classroom observations, assistance with funding applications and individual learning programs, feedback to parents, teachers and aides and other professionals to help provide a comprehensive service that will benefit the child. Medicare and Private Health Fund rebates are available on most services. She uses the most up to date assessment tools including the new WISC-V on iPad. She has a passion for helping children reach their potential, having worked with children for over 15 years she have a broad range of experience and expertise. Sarah is able to come to your child’s school or is available at UC Physio on a Thursday. If you would like to make an appointment please call Sarah from East Coast Assessment Services on: 0413957968”

Please welcome Sarah who will be providing psychological services to children with Autism and Developmental Disabilities at UC Physio on Thursdays. She specialises in assessment, early intervention, diagnosis and therapy. Bookings can be taken at UC Physio 55 618 111.

Gold Coast Health Oral Health (Dental) Services

Please note the Dental Van is no longer at Coomera Springs. To find your nearest van please call 1300 300 850 and to arrange an appointment for your child call:

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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