24 August 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

It has been an incredibly busy two weeks with Year 6 Camp, more eisteddfod performances and our Book Character Parade.

There is still a lot on the calendar for the next four weeks of term.

Year Six Camp

Our Year 6 students had an incredible week down at Tallebudgera. On the Monday morning we had 2 full buses of excited students ready for the challenges ahead of them. Over the next five days, our students worked through finding out what type of warrior they were, as well as learning to complete tasks and activities that they may not have thought they would be successful at. Our students learnt to share accommodation and take a huge amount of responsibility for themselves and for each other. They were also lucky with the amazing weather.

I would like to congratulate our students on their exemplary behaviour and to thank our staff for giving up their personal time and family time to make sure this camp experience was a success for all. We definitely had 2 full buses of tired students arrive back to school on Friday.

Book Week

Our Book Character Parade has always been a special event at Coomera Springs State School and this year was no exception.

Our hall was once again turned into a sea of characters and colour as we celebrated all things that are about books.

I have shared many articles over the years about the importance of reading with, to, and in front of your children. The literacy development you provide during these times is immeasurable, but it’s also a time to bond with your children.

Born To Read

Our annual whole school reading celebration, BORN TO READ is happening once again. Lock the 18th September into your calendars and get ready to once again celebrate all things reading. We have been very fortunate to secure some great sponsorship and support for this event and we would love to see as many members of our community here to celebrate with us.

How Do You Show Up For Your Kids

Parent Article - By Dr Jodi Richardson

Every now and again a meme pops up on social media from a mum who delights in sharing the joys of her trip to the shops alone. No kids. Just her and her handbag. The caption always reads something along the lines of ‘You know you’re a mum when going to Target alone feels like a holiday’. I always chuckle when I see those, because I can relate. A lot of us can. And not just the mums.

Parenting is incredibly fulfilling and the most important ‘job’ any of us will ever do, but it can also be demanding, frustrating and exhausting.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve arrived home only to be bombarded with requests, questions, stories of what I missed – or all three – before I’ve even taken my key out of the door. I’m not joking. I tried to implement some sort of buffer for myself so I didn’t feel so stretched within the first minute of getting home but it never worked. They’d always be so happy to see me and it didn’t seem fair to not be immediately available, despite the fact that it was quite overwhelming. It’s not as though I was ever gone that long either. I wasn’t even working. I’d only ever been to the supermarket, or Target, lol.

I always found the contrast of time alone and all of the quiet that comes with that, and the – is chaos too harsh? – of walking in the door really difficult to manage, especially because the kids always had stuff absolutely everywhere by the time I got back. I knew they’d always had heaps of fun because the family room always resembled a toy shop. There was never any “Let’s put things away as we’re finished with them” on Dad’s watch!

Whether our kids are little and jump on us the minute they see us or they’re that bit older and don’t necessarily even come to the door when we get home, it’s worth taking time to think about how we want to show up when we see them. It never occurred to me all those years ago that I could better prepare myself for the homecoming. Not once. Sometimes we were just taking each day moment by moment. What I know now is that if we use the time between leaving one place and arriving at another, it can make an astounding difference to how we feel, and to what we bring to our family at the same time.

The Third Space

Dr Adam Fraser calls it the ‘Third Space’. It’s the space between two places or spaces such as between work and home, between being home alone and the kids arriving home after school, or even between going to the supermarket and home. Tuning into the Third Space is also a brilliant practice to incorporate into a work day, say between your desk and a meeting, or a meeting and an interview.

In the Third Space, we can do three things to ensure we show up the way we want to, every time: reflect, rest and reset.

Reflection is time spent looking back over the day and contemplating what you’ve achieved and what went well. It could be that you accomplished something you’re proud of, or ticked off a few things on your list. It could be something big or small you reflect upon. It really doesn’t matter, it’s just about reflecting on a handful of good things about your day.

Rest is downtime. You can spend it how you like! You might have a long commute and decide to rest by listening to music, watching a movie, reading the paper or a book. Your rest time might be brief on some days and longer on others. It doesn’t matter what you do or for how long, it’s just about doing something that recharges your batteries and helps you feel relaxed.

Reset is all about how you’re going to show up. How do you want to feel and act when you walk through the door to your home?

When Dr Fraser taught people to use the Third Space model as part of a research project, he measured a huge 41 per cent improvement in behaviours in the home, inevitably having a wonderful impact on relationships and the family as a whole.

In a recent presentation I heard Dr Fraser deliver, he told a story of a dad whose kids would make themselves scarce whenever they heard him come home. He was always like a tornado ripping through the house and they didn’t want anything to do with him. When he found out, he was understandably devastated. He made a change and put the Third Space model into practice and turned things around.

It’s so easy to let the events of the day affect our time with our family, but they don’t have to. Our relationships with our kids and our partners play an important role in our kids’ development, happiness and mental health. Let’s do what we can to show up for them as our best possible selves. They deserve it, and we do too.

Kind Regards
Martine Gill
Principal

Year 6 Camp

Our Year 6 students had a wonderful time during their school camp to Tallebudgera Beach School. Over the course of the 5 days they participated in a number of teambuilding and healthy living activities, including:

• Surf Awareness
• Burleigh Mountain Walk
• Sustainable practise to protect the environment
• Indigenous perspectives
• Beach Challenges
• Tobogganing
• Canoeing

Our students rose to the challenges set before them throughout the week and we look forward to seeing them bring their new skills, resilience and increased self-confidence back to the Coomera Springs Community.

1:1 Student iPad Program Parent Information Session 6th September

Join us on Thursday 6th September at 4pm in the school hall for the 2018-2019 1:1 Student iPad Program Parent Information Session. During this session you will learn about how our program will look in 2019, the specifications of devices accepted into the program and the associated processes related to the program. Before you do anything toward 1:1 in any year level at CSSS, come to this session to find out more. All your questions will be answered on the 6th September @ 4pm in the school hall.

Born to Read – 18th September

Born to Read is Coming!!!!! Mark your calendar and get ready to celebrate READING!!!!!

Coomera Springs State School, is organising a massive ‘Born to Read’ afternoon to promote the importance of reading and celebrate those who love to read. The afternoon will be held on Tuesday 18th September 2018, beginning in classes at 2:15pm at Coomera Springs State School. It is set to be the biggest celebration of reading at Coomera Springs yet.

During the afternoon go into the draw for amazing raffle prizes, jump on the jumping castle, read with GCCC Library and be entertained by the main stage and Rebel FM. We are also opening our classrooms from 2:15pm to enable our whole community to immerse themselves in the teaching of reading.

Make sure you don’t miss the fun, mark the date in your calendar now and prepare to have a blast. It is set to be an awesome afternoon, we look forward to seeing you there.

Our School leaders pounded the pavement this week to visit some local businesses that are sponsoring and supporting Born to Read. It was such a great experience for our Leaders to represent our school in the wider community and pass on their thanks to our sponsors and supporters.

We would like to thank UC Physio for the continued sponsorship of Born to Read.

Coomera Springs welcomes L J Hooker Coomera to Coomera Springs State School and thank them for their sponsorship of Born to Read.

UC Dental, thank you for your generous donation of books for the Born to Read Chillax Zone and donating some excellent items for our Born to Read raffles.

Is your business interested in being involved with BORN TO READ?

We are delighted to offer you the opportunity to choose how you would like to be part of our celebrations. There are a number of ways you can select to become part of the event. You may choose to:

• Enjoy the stalls and activities as a general member of the public
• Be a financial sponsor (be included in our physical promotion and social media promotion campaign)
• Set up a stall at the event
• Hold a demonstration on the main stage
• Have your business contribute items to our raffle.

If you are interested in offering sponsorship, contributing to our raffles and/or setting up a stall please email bmorr133@eq.edu.au or contact the school office to speak to Deputy Principal Ben Morris.

Coomera Springs State School Reading Competition

Year 6 into Year 7 UCSC Enrolment Information Evening – 24th October

Year 6 into Year 7 UCSC Transition Day – 3rd December

Library News

Dear Parents and Carers,

Issue 6 for Book Club will be handed out today. Closing date will be Wednesday 30th August. Please order and pay online. Do not send money to school.

This will be the last one for the year as we will be having our Book Fair in 4th term.

Thank you for all your support. We have purchased lots of new books with the bonuses.

Happy Reading,
Sue Marriott

PE Department News

Gala Sports Day - Tuesday 4th September – Years 4, 5, 6

This term students will play; soccer, touch football and tee ball against Park Lake SS and Highland Reserve SS.

The venues for this term are:

• Soccer - Brockman Park, Pitcairn Way, Pacific Pines.
• Touch Football - Coomera Sports Park, Beattie Road, Coomera,
• Tee Ball - Flooded Gum Park, Macauley Parade, Pacific Pines.

Students will need to wear: their school sports uniform, hat, sunscreen and running shoes – NO Football boots.

Students will need to bring: two water bottles, packed lunch and morning tea – NO TUCKSHOP facilities are available.

They may also bring a towel to sit on while they are eating or resting.

If your child’s contact details or medical condition has changed since term two, please contact your child’s teacher ASAP.

Broadwater District Athletics

This week some of our talented students competed at the Broadwater District Athletics Trials. The competition was held over two days at the Gold Coast City Athletics Centre, Griffith University. We are very proud of our students achieving the following results:

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone that qualified to compete. We wish them good luck at the upcoming South Coast Schools Athletics Competition - 11th & 12th September.

Mrs Hodder
PE Teacher and Sports Coordinator

Music Department News

Reminder – Music COE Class (Year 4, 2019) Parent Information Session

We will be holding a Parent Information Session for parents of our current Year 3 students who are interested in applying to be a part of our Music Centre of Excellence (COE) class for Year 4 and beyond.

The Parent Information Session will be held in the Music Room 3.30-4pm on Tuesday 28th August. If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like further information about applying for the Music COE please email Mrs Alison Murray amurr51@eq.edu.au

Queensland Symphony Orchestra Excursion (Year 4 & 5 COE Students)

Our Year 4 and 5 Music COE students received a permission note this week, for an exciting excursion to Brisbane on Wednesday 12th September (to watch an orchestra performance of “Babar the Little Elephant”). This is an ideal opportunity to see a professional orchestra performance which links with the COE curriculum.

Please ensure permission notes are returned by FRIDAY 31ST AUGUST.

Term 3 Eisteddfod Performances

Congratulations to all of our Music Performing Groups for their great results at the Beenleigh and Gold Coast Eisteddfods. Thanks to our Music Teachers, Mrs Murray, Mr Lewerissa, Miss Williams, Mrs Russell, Miss Roberts and Mrs Eckford for their help with our choir rehearsals and our wonderful accompanists Mrs Eo and Mrs Nicholson.

The table below is a summary of our great results this year – well done everyone!

Alison Murray
Music Coordinator

P&C News

P&C Meeting

Our next P&C meeting will be held on Wednesday 12th September, at 3:15pm in the resource centre next to the library.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Father’s Day Stall - 29th & 30th August

Great gifts available from 50c to $10.

See below for class timetable.

Teddy Bear Drive

We are on the lookout for any used (or new) teddy bears or stuffed toys that you no longer want. We will be using them for one of our stalls at our fete. Please drop off your stuffed toys to the uniform shop.

Cent Auction Baskets

We are asking our school community to please dig deep and donate to the basket which is allocated to the grades below. The basket packs are as follows:

Prep – Family Pack – (anything that can be used by everyone)
Year 1 – Girls Pack – (anything for girls - hair, makeup, girls games etc)
Year 2 – Dad Pack (dad items - aftershave, tools etc)
Year 3 – Boys Pack (anything for boys - lego, colouring in etc)
Year 4 – Entertainment Pack (games, movies, Snack food for a night in with the family)
Year 5 – Mum Pack (things mum would love to have, chocolates, candles etc)
Year 6 – Pet Pack (food, toys etc)

Any donation big or small will be greatly appreciated.

Sharon Sharp
P&C President

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 8.15am – 9.00am.

Tuckshop

Ellie’s Café

We are open from 7.30am until 3:00pm.

Frankie’s Tuckerbox Menu

The tuckshop is open Monday - Friday and offers a range of healthy choice options. Please refer to our Tuckshop Menu for more information.

School Terms for 2018

School Directory

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Community Notices

Gold Coast Health Oral Health (Dental) Services

The Mobile Dental Clinic will be servicing Coomera Springs State School from the 7th June until the 4th October. Please refer to the attached Oral Health Service Provision Schedule for further details.

To arrange an appointment for your child, telephone The Oral Health Client Service Centre on

Number: 1300 300 850
Monday – Friday 8.00 am – 4.30 pm (Excluding Public Holidays)

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.

For children to be eligible for free public oral health services they must:

• Be Queensland residents or attend a Queensland school; and,
• Be eligible for Medicare*; and,
• Meet at least one of the following criteria:
  - be aged four years or older and have not completed Year 10; or,
  - be eligible for the Medicare Child Dental Benefits Schedule; or,
  - hold, or be listed as a dependent on, a valid Centrelink concession card

* Eligibility for Medicare includes holders of green or blue Medicare cards but excludes yellow Medicare cards which are issued to visitors from countries with reciprocal health card agreements.

Further information on public funded oral health services can be accessed via URL:

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