8 February 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Welcome to the first school newsletter for the 2019 year. I welcome all of our new and returning families to Coomera Springs State School and I trust that your children are buzzing along with excitement and all of the learning that is occurring.

This year we have welcomed in excess of 900 students back into classes, and honestly, for the large number we have here, it was a smooth and seamless process.

As we must each year, we submit our enrolment numbers on both Days 4 and 8; it is these numbers that determine the staffing allocation for our school. I do put in a lot of work in estimating this process to minimise change and disruption. From our numbers at the time of writing my article, we will be retaining our 37 classroom teacher model, however, we will need to make some shuffles across some classes to address the numbers. This change will be communicated with the families impacted and moves made during Week 3.

Parent Information Sessions

We will once again be inviting parents in to meet the classroom teachers and hear about what you can expect for your child ahead in the 2019 school year. It is a great time to hear about possible excursions and the all-important routines of the classroom. Your child’s teacher will email you with the date and time of these sessions and we hope to see you there. Being and staying connected to your child’s learning is paramount in their success, so I strongly encourage you to make contact with the teachers and keep your lines of communication open.

Emergency Management Plan

Every school in Education Queensland operates with an Emergency Management Plan and each term, as a precaution, as well as for practice, we have both a fire drill and lockdown. These are held at different times, including lunch breaks which ensures that all of our students know what to do, where to go and how to remain safe. Should there ever be an actual emergency we would communicate this with the community.

2019 School Leaders Induction

Congratulations to all of our school leaders for 2019. We will be formally inducting our 2019 school leaders at a special assembly to be held on Wednesday 20th February at 9.15am. We welcome all parents to come along to this special event. Our students undertook a rigorous process during Term 4 and we are currently finalising School Council Representatives for this year.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

At Coomera Springs we are a Positive Behaviour for Learning school (PBL), which means that we work to focus on the best behaviours for learning in our students. We acknowledge this character in our students and continue to reinforce the expectations.

We are currently updating the School’s Responsible Behaviour Plan and I will share this with our community when it is ready. You can still find the existing plan on our school’s website.

Unearthing Kids’ Strength for Happiness and Success

Parent Article - By Professor Lea Waters

Personality strengths—our character—plays a big role in helping us build our talents. Think about anyone who has built a talent and imagine if it could have been done without character. Imagine Einstein without curiosity, The Beatles without creativity, Mother Teresa without compassion and Neil Armstrong without bravery.

Yet for decades, scientists were blind to character strength. We focused on talent, often on physical strength and skills. In fact, when I first ask young children what they think a strength is, they almost always point to their biceps or talk about being able to lift something heavy.

Once you get familiar with the language of strengths and a framework for seeing them, you’ll see character strengths easily in your child. In fact, you may find your child calls on their character strengths more often than on talent to meet life’s challenges.

Three Key Elements of a Strength

You’ve probably seen a child joylessly perform at a piano recital. She may hit all the right keys, but there’s no energy or enthusiasm. It’s as if she doesn’t want to be there. On the flip side, we’ve seen the child onstage who’s clearly motivated and energised and who fearlessly flails through every mistake—of which there are many.

Personality strengths—our character—play a big role in helping us build our talents. Think about anyone who has built a talent and imagine if it could have been done without character.

It turns out that three elements come together to form a strength. For purposes of strength-based parenting, we need to keep our eye on all three:

1. Performance (being good at something)
   Watch for when your child shows above-age levels of achievement, rapid learning, and a repeated pattern of success.
2. Energy (feeling good doing it)
   Strengths are self-reinforcing. The more we use them, the more we get from them. They fill us with vigour. You’ll notice your child has abundant energy when using a strength.
3. High use (choosing to do it)
   Finally, look for: what your child chooses to do in his/her spare time, how often they engage in a particular activity, and how they speak about that activity.

For true strengths, these three elements form a beautiful feedback loop. Great performance provides the child with a shot of high energy, so the child naturally chooses to do more. In turn, high use—also known as effort or practice—improves performance levels. So, for example, if you notice that your child is energised when they play the piano, and you provide enjoyable opportunities for them to play, if they are mining a true strength they will likely practice more, which improves their performance, which then energizes them… and so the loop continues.

Keeping this triad in mind will help you avoid pushing your child into an area that seems like a strength just because your child is good at it. It will also help you differentiate between whether your child is bingeing on an activity in an escapist way or expressing a true strength. For example, parents have asked me, “My kid is great at computer games and wants to play all the time. Is that a sign of a strength?” I reply, “Observe their energy levels at the end. Are they drained and cranky? Or energised and full of life? Are you seeing the full triad?” Computer games can tap into a child’s strategic and problem-solving skills or stimulate creativity (in some games, you invent whole new worlds). Or they might just be about filling time. So look for all three signs. When you see your child do something well, with energy, and do that activity repeatedly—you’ll know you’ve unearthed a strength.

Kind Regards
Martine Gill
Principal

Student Leadership Induction

Over the past fortnight our Year 4 to 6 classes have completed the election process to elect their Student Council Representatives. I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to all students who were brave enough to ‘throw their hat in the ring’. Regardless of the outcome of the voting, their desire to lead and represent others is a testament to their commitment to our school community and being the best version of themselves. I would also like to extend my congratulations to all successful candidates.

We will acknowledge their achievement along with the 2019 Sports Captains, Performing Arts Captains and our School Captains formally on the Wednesday 20th February 2019 at 9:15am in the Hall for the Student Leadership Badge Ceremony.

Ben Morris
Deputy Principal

Year 6 Senior Shirts

This fortnight our Year 6 cohort are voting and deciding upon the design of the 2019 Year 6 Senior Shirt. Once the design is finalised, students will trying on samples and will place orders. Please return the order form to the classroom teachers by or before the date outlined on the form to ensure the order gets to the supplier in a timely fashion. Orders forms will be sent home in the near future.

iPad Tips n Hints

As we have a considerable number of family owned devices travelling to and from school each day we thought it may be helpful to offer some hints and tips with the device safety, security and operation.
 

• Have your child keep their device in their school bag or carry case when they are travelling to and from school.
• Schedule a specific day or time for your child to clean their device- Cleaning guidelines: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204172

• Remind your child that they are not to utilise Facetime or imessage while at school. If they are required to contact you they must go to the office and speak to the office ladies.

Enhance Your Digital Identity

While we always do our best to look good when we leave the house, it is also important to make sure you are enhancing your Digital Identity.

Camps in 2019

As in previous years, our Year 6 students will be participating in a 5 day/ 4 night camp to The Beach School at Tallebudgera. This camp focuses on personal growth and challenges through the lens of the qualities of various styles of champions.

2019 sees the resurgence of a Year 5 camp. This year our Year 5’s will spend 3 days/2 nights at the Currumbin Valley Farm School.

More specific details will be sent home as we approach the camps, however please find the dates for the camps below and start factoring these into your family budget.

Year 6 Beach School Camp- June 17th -21st 2019.
Year 5 Currumbin Valley Farm Camp- July 15th -17th and 17th -19th July 2019.

Pets on Campus

A gentle reminder that for Health and Safety reasons, pets are not permitted on campus. Signs communicating this can be found at each entrance to the school. Please refrain from requesting permission to bring animals on campus as refusal may offend some people.

Pimpama State Secondary College – 2020 Academy Program Information Night & Principal’s Tour

PE Department News

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.

Students are encouraged to bring a named water bottle to school every day to ensure they stay hydrated.

School Cross Country Carnival – Wednesday 27th March

Our annual Cross Country Carnival will be held on Wednesday 27th March.

Students can come to school dressed in their house colours –

Ballun (Blue), Kaban (Green), Tharagum (Yellow) and Tugai (Red)

If you are unsure which house your child is in, please contact your classroom teacher. Families and friends are invited to come along and cheer! Don’t forget to bring your chairs.

Prep – Year 3 students will be running between 9:00am - 10:30am
Years 4 - 6 will be running between 11:15am – 12:45pm.

These times are approximate.

Gala Sports Day - Tuesday 19th March – Years 4, 5, 6

This term all students in years 4, 5 and 6 will compete against Highland Reserve State School and Park Lake State School in our Interschool Sports Program. Students have chosen to compete in either Touch Football or Soccer. These sports will be held over three venues. More detailed information will be emailed to families in the coming days.

Students will need to wear: their school sports uniform, hat and sunscreen.

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

Aussie Hoops – Beginner Basketball Program

Music Department News

Classroom Music News

Welcome back to another great year of Music everyone! And a special welcome to our new families.

Classroom Music lessons have commenced for all classes, and we are already looking forward to holding the sign-ups for our Performance Groups for 2019 in Week 3. Mr Kieran Lewerissa will be teaching Classroom Music to Years 2, 3, 4 and 5 this year, and he will also teach the Year 4 and Year 5 COE Music Classes (Mr Lewerissa will be at CSSS Monday to Friday). Mrs Alison Murray will teach Classroom Music to Prep, Year 1, Year 6, the Year 6 COE Music class and coordinate the COE and Instrumental Music Programs (Mrs Murray will be at CSSS Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday).

Instrumental Music News

Our Band and Strings students had the opportunity to “touch base” with their Instrumental teachers this week to ensure everyone is prepared for a fantastic year of music making. Timetabled lessons will begin in Week 3. Please return your contracts and SRS payment forms promptly and make the necessary arrangements for payment of your Instrumental Music Levies when you receive your invoice.

This year we welcome a new Band Teacher (Mr Stewart Sloan), who will be teaching at CSSS on Wednesdays. Our Strings Teacher (Miss Stephanie Williams) will be teaching at CSSS on Monday afternoons (Junior Strings) and Thursdays (Intermediate and Senior Strings). Please check your timetables for lesson and rehearsal times – the rehearsal timetable is also on display in the window of the Music Room.

School Musical 2019 – The Amazing Adventures of Superstan!

We are very excited to announce our CSSS School Musical for 2019 – The Amazing Adventures of Superstan! Students in Years 3 to 6 are able to audition for roles in the Musical, which will be held at UCSC Hall on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th of September (two night time performances). If your child in Year 3 – 6 would like to audition, they will need to join the Senior Choir for Term 1, as we will be teaching all the audition songs and dances in choir time. We will be holding Senior Choir sign-ups on Thursday 14th February at Second Break in the Music Room. Musical Auditions will be held towards the end of Term 1, after all interested students have learned the songs and dances as a part of our regular choir rehearsal time (Thursdays at second break). Please note that due to rising costs, we will require all participants in the school musical to pay a MUSICAL PARTICIPATION LEVY of $50 (which will include the cost of the Musical Cast Shirt) – this levy will be due in Term 2.

Music Shirts

Our performing ensembles look amazing in their Music Shirts. If your child will be in Band, Strings, Drumline, Ukulele Band or Choir, now is the time to order your Music Shirt for 2019 – available from the uniform shop for $30. Music Shirts can also be worn to school on Thursdays this year.

P&C News

Our next P&C meeting will be held on Wednesday 13th February, at 3:15pm in the resource centre next to the library.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Sharon Sharp
P&C President

Uniform Shop

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

Tuckshop

Ellie’s Café

We are open;

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7:30am – 3:00pm
Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30am – 2:00pm.

Frankie’s Tuckerbox

The tuckshop is open Monday - Friday and offers a range of healthy choice options.

Orders can be placed at the tuckshop between 8.15am -8.40am or online via FlexiSchools

FLEXISCHOOL THURSDAY's & FRIDAY's

All orders on Thursday and Friday's can now only be placed through Flexischools, no bag orders over the counter will be taken.

Please use separate bags for each break for each student if ordering at the Tuckshop counter. Please clearly mark the student’s name, class and break on each bag.

Lost or forgotten lunches will be replaced with a Jam, Vegemite or Cheese sandwich and a piece of fruit at a cost of $4.00. Payment can be made over the phone by Eftpos or the bill will be sent home with the student.

All counter orders will incur a 20c processing fee.

Phone orders are no longer accepted.

School Terms for 2019

School Directory

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