8 March 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

We are well and truly humming along into the second half of term, the weather is taking a cooler change and our students are in full swing with their learning.

Mrs Gill Is Leaving Coomera Springs

Hopefully you all received my email sent out the previous week with my news that I am finishing up as the principal of Coomera Springs State School at the end of Term 1. I am making the move further down the coast to Clover Hill State School, and my family and I will be relocating to the coast during this time.

It has been a privilege to have been the principal of Coomera Springs for just over 7 years, and to have grown the school to its current place. I am definitely walking in each day with mixed emotions and I know that when it is time to close my office door for the last time it will be a sad goodbye.

School Improvement For 2019

Each year, schools are required to develop a school improvement plan to give clear direction to what we are focussing on for the year. We use a variety of information and data to determine what our priorities will be.

I have attached the Annual Improvement Plan for 2019 to this newsletter for your reference. You will see that we are continuing on with our focus on Reading and Writing. This year we are also taking on a big focus with Numeracy. In assisting our students with their learning we will continue to sharpen our approach to goal setting and having student goals shared with parents and providing feedback to our students for improvement.

Mothering Your Daughter – Parent Article

by Sharon Witt

The bond between mother and daughter is truly unique and has far reaching effects on the development and socialisation of girls throughout their lifetime.

Increasing the emotional connection between mothers and daughters can foster mutual support. Here are some ideas to help you be an effective mother for your daughter.

Know your impact

Mothers are a powerful influence. The way a mother acts in front of her daughter largely influences her daughter’s behaviour. When a mother can model how to feel pride, take pleasure in her accomplishments, feel a sense of competence and hold a positive self-image, she is empowering her daughter in infinite ways.

Be okay with saying no.

Saying no benefits both of you. Daughters, like sons, feel safer with boundaries. Boundaries are essential to keeping her safe emotionally and physically. Daughters will often push the boundaries and pester their mothers to give in to them. When you stand firm you teach your daughter that firmness is a strength worth adopting. Your firmness gives her permission to say no when they are put under pressure to conform by peers and in their early relationships.

Tune in

Seize the opportunity to take in the full presence of your daughter when you can. Notice what she is like. Notice her and openly endorse her likes, dislikes and opinions. You do not need to agree with them, but you can validate them, which demonstrates respect and gives her permission to be her own person.

Invite assertion

Do not stop girls from becoming angry but coach them on the skills she needs to work through strong emotions effectively. She must have the opportunity to sit in the experience of those emotions, learn to cope with them and navigate her way through them.

Show her that it’s okay to express a full range of emotions. Emotions are an incredibly powerful tool, and we need to teach daughters that when they feel angry or upset, it’s a signal that something is important and that it should be expressed.

Be confident

Have confidence in your mothering abilities. Your mother’s instinct will tell you how to parent your daughter well and how to raise her so that she becomes herself. This intuition will guide you in setting limits and knowing if, and when, she needs help. Regardless of what girls may tell their mothers, they want them to be central in their lives.

Expand her definition of beauty

Mothers need to be a part of the beauty conversation with daughters. Don’t leave it to the media or popular culture to be educating her on what beauty is. Model and teach her that beauty comes from the inside. It is a quality that glows out. The more you are able to do that for yourself, the greater she is going to be able to do it for herself.

Help her find her passion

Encourage her to try a variety of activities so that she can discover her passions in early to mid-adolescence. Some girls take longer than others to find their passions. Think of these girls as hummingbirds – they are driven by curiosity. Once a girl finds her passion, she is able to use that as her motivator to develop her skills.

Fracture the good girl image

Allow your daughter to make mistakes, it is one of the best ways to build her confidence. Avoiding failure only sets up a vicious cycle that says “you must be perfect”. Give her the permission to struggle so that she can let the hard times make her stronger, and understand that she can get through challenges that occur to her. This is a valuable lesson that kids learn from their same gender parent.

Gender identity is on a continuum – girls grow up to be women and women were once girls. Some argue that adult women struggle with the same things as younger girls, just in a different context. This may afford great empathy or it may be a great interference to problem solving if mothers are still working it out for themselves.

Kind Regards

Martine Gill
Principal

Online Awareness

There has been news coverage in the past few days surrounding a disturbing online challenge, the Momo Challenge that has targeted teens and tweens in a number of countries around the world. With this increased news coverage we have had number of instances of Coomera Springs Students talking and speculating about the challenge. To date, we are not aware of any students who are participating in challenges, just those showing a curiosity and discussing what they have heard and have speculated over in relation to a topic that has been splashed across various news outlets. With that being said, it appears that some students are filling in some blanks and misinforming their peers about the Momo Challenge, its purpose, its processes and the images associated with the Momo Challenge.

As young people often do not have the maturity or judgement to cope with confronting content online, it’s important to guide and instil critical reasoning skills, so they are aware that not everything they see or receive online is real and be able to make informed decisions regarding information they read, view or hear. We aim to help ensure they are prepared for what they may encounter online and know what to do if they do encounter inappropriate or confronting material.

Early this coming week Coomera Springs staff will be discussing online safety relevant to the Momo Challenge with classes in Years 4 to 6. If you do not wish your child to be part of this discussion, please email the classroom teacher directly and they will ensure your child is not involved. Our intention is not to frighten students, rather, to inform them of the facts and provide them strategies to be safe. Educating our students not only gives them the appropriate strategies to respond to online dangers, it also acts to stop rumours and inaccurate speculation that can develop when children are provided with only snippets of information that results in fear.

At Coomera Springs, staff already provide targeted education relative to ICTs in order to enable our student to be positive online citizens and engage with ICTs in a safe and meaningful manner. This discussion will contextualise many previous learning points and assist students to remain in control and continue making great choices.

Teachers in Years 4 to 6 will discuss the below main points:

• Discuss online challenges and the ‘tools’ the individuals use to get people to participate (curiosity, blackmail, cyber bullying, threats of harm to loved ones)
• What are the facts about the Momo Challenge?
• Discuss online safety with platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Youtube.
• Encourage students to communicate with their parents and ‘safe adults’.
• Encourage critical reasoning when online.
• What does age appropriate mean? Why is age appropriate content important for your wellbeing?

Please find information attached and below which provides further information regarding the Momo Challenge. We encourage you to use the information below to discuss the matter with your children and reinforce safe online behaviours.

Is the Momo Challenge a Hoax on Social Media

By Smart Social

Similar to the Blue Whale Challenge, the Momo Challenge is a dangerous viral social media trend with teens and tweens. The challenge encourages students to contact an unknown person called “Momo” via WhatsApp.

Is the Momo Challenge a Hoax?

There are claims that the Momo Challenge is a hoax. However, the Tide Pod Challenge and Blue Whale Challenge were said to be hoaxes as well, until real students harmed themselves (or died by suicide) while participating. Students will sometimes believe these anonymous challenges and take part in the games. Please take a moment to learn about this type of challenge and dialog with your students about it.

Why is it important to highlight and provide truth to a trend people think could be a hoax?

• Your kids may believe popular trends, even if they are intended by the creator to be a hoax
• In our experience, social media challenges (like the Blue Whale Challenge) can start off as a hoax but then gain attention online (which gets many students taking the challenge seriously)
• Learning about viral social media challenges before your children can help you keep them safe (and prevent them from trying the challenge with their friends)

What is the Momo Challenge?

• Throughout the Momo challenge, students are sent violent and graphic images and texts. If students want to stop the challenge “Momo” threatens to leak their personal information
• Then, the stranger asks students to share photos and videos of themselves completing certain tasks
• At first the tasks are small. For example: face a fear, wake up at weird hours throughout the night
• The tasks escalate until the final task which encourages students to kill themselves
• Images associated with “Momo” are based off of Japanese doll artists Linkfactory but the artists are in no way involved with the Momo challenge
• WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook are the primary networks for the challenge

Why should parents care about the Momo Challenge?

• If your student is participating in this challenge they are in danger
• Students who partake in the Momo Challenge are actively communicating with strangers who intend to encourage self-harm
• The Momo Challenge is not specific to one country, it is global
• Law enforcement officials are investigating the suicide of a 12 year old student in Argentina whose death they believe is associated with the Momo Challenge
• The Momo Challenge can feel real for students and may push them to harm themselves
• Students are exposed to violent and graphic images throughout the challenge
• Some students have reported that it’s easy to come across “Momo” on Facebook and YouTube and that it’s easy to connect with the character on WhatsApp

What can parents do about the Momo Challenge?

• Consider talking about the Momo Challenge with your students and ask them if they have heard about it
• Discuss the dangers of the challenge and remind them that “Momo” is not a fictional character but rather a real person with negative intentions
• Teach your children to never communicate with strangers on social media and to never share personal information online
• Remind your children that they can always talk to you about anything that makes them feel uncomfortable on social media
• Learn about viral social media challenges before your children so that you can help keep them safe
• Encourage your children to only use social media as a tool to improve their digital footprint and have fun with friends (in a safe way)

Toll-free support lines to call

• Lifeline - www.lifeline.org.au 13 11 14
• Kids help line - www.kidshelpline.com.au 1800 55 1800
• Headspace
• Office of the eSafety Commissioner - https://www.esafety.gov.au/

Thank you for working in partnership with CSSS to keep your children safe online and being positive digital citizens.

Dreamworld Visit

Coomera Springs State School's Student Council were visited by Dreamworld Australia’s General Manager of Life Sciences, Al Mucci, whose goal was to impart world-changing knowledge to local youth, in the lead up to Clean Up Australia Day and World Wildlife Day, both falling on Sunday 3 March. Our Student Council now have the task of communicating this message to their classmates.

It’s fantastic that these two monumental days fall on the same date, because they go together hand-in-hand. Practicing sustainability in turn protects our wildlife – both land-dwelling species and marine animals, which is the central focus of this year’s World Wildlife Day. As a pledge to be a role-model in sustainability, Dreamworld is committing itself to removing all single-use plastics supplied to guests and staff members. With the theme park industry accounting for one of the largest visitation sectors on the Gold Coast, we want to reduce our carbon footprint.

By late-March, all plastic plates, cutlery, serving dishes and straws will be removed from the park, being replaced by more degradable and eco-friendly items. Plastic products, are having an adverse effect on our world, so hopefully by passing our knowledge onto these students, they will then walk away and share their learnings with others and think twice when it comes to using products made of plastic.

Through the Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation, Dreamworld endeavours to foster education around endangered species and share the important message of conservation to protect and conserve threatened species in the wild. The Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation has contributed more than $3.5 million towards wildlife conservation, supporting important programs and initiatives in Australia and oversees.

TreeTop Challenge

As part of our Student Leadership program, our School, Sports and Performing Arts Captains tested themselves at the Thunderbird Park Tree Top Challenge . Our student leaders showed great resilience today to face their fears and rise up to the challenges they confronted throughout the high ropes courses. It was wonderful to hear the students supporting one another when the going got tough! We were very proud to hear the high praise that was given regarding the high calibre of our students by the Treetop Challenge staff.

Life Education Yr 5/6 – Parent Information Afternoon - 26th March

Healthy Relationships for Year 5/6 Students. If you would like to know what is presented to students during the school sessions, please come along to the Parent Information Afternoon.

26th March, 3.30pm in the Library.

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.

HoSES News

Whole School Support Approach

All students have the ability to learn and be provided with opportunities to demonstrate progress in their learning.

At Coomera Springs State School, we provide a whole school approach when supporting our students with diverse learning needs. Through our Student Support Services (SSS) team, we set high expectations, monitor student progress using school wide data analysis and individual student achievement data to provide students with quality teaching.

Our students have access to a continuum of support with increasing levels of adjustment, student monitoring of learning and behaviour, and support staff involvement. The three levels of support include:

• Differentiated teaching - Class teachers’ respond to identified learning needs of all students. Teachers differentiate instruction in response to school data and day-to-day monitoring.
• Focused teaching for identified students - some students access additional support to assist meeting year level curriculum and behaviour expectations. Key concepts are revised with opportunities to practise skills and additional opportunities to achieve the intended learning and expected behaviour. At CSSS, our STLaNs (Support Teachers of Literacy and Numeracy) work with our class teachers to provide focused teaching opportunities for our students. Some of our focused teaching programs include the Multi Lit Literacy intervention program, which includes Initia Lit, Mini Lit and MacqLit.
• Intensive teaching for a small number of students involves frequent and explicit instruction with individual or small groups to develop mastery of basic concepts, skills and knowledge. A small number of students may be provided with a lower or higher year level curriculum in one or more learning areas. This requires an Individual Curriculum Plan (ICP) and is always done in consultation with parents.

Free Prep Vision Testing

All students in Prep received an envelope containing a consent form for your child to have their vision tested at school on the 29th April. Consent forms need to be returned no later the 27th March.

If your child has not had their vision tested in the last 12 months, we urge you to take up this opportunity.

It is important to have your child’s vision tested regularly.

If you have any concerns or questions related to this program, please do not hesitate in contacting me via email on cmcle38@eq.edu.au or on 55195300.

Hearing Awareness Week

Hearing Awareness Week (3rd March – 9th March) - World Hearing Day was on Sunday 3rd March.

Did you know…One in six Australians is hearing impaired, deaf or has an ear disorder.

If you would like more information on how we support our students with a hearing impairment at Coomera Springs State School, please contact one of our Special Education Program Teachers or myself.

Connie McLean
Head of Special Education Services

PE Department News

South Coast Regional Swimming Results

On Monday 4th March, Sunny, Isaac, Jacob and Lewis competed at the South Coast Regional Swimming Trials. The carnival was held at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre where over 112 Gold Coast schools were represented. All swimmers gave their best effort in the tough competition.

Congratulations to all of our swimmers!

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

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, with games beginning from 10am.

• Girls Soccer - Brockman Park, Pitcairn Way, Pacific Pines.
• Boys Soccer – Viney Park, Coomera
• Touch Football - Coomera Sports Park, Beattie Road, Coomera,

Students will need to wear: their school sports uniform (normal sports shoes – NO BOOTS), hat and sunscreen.

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

Cross Country Carnival 2019 – Wednesday 27th March

Mrs Sarah Hodder
PE Teacher and Sports Coordinator

Music Department News

Junior Choir Prep – Year 2

The Junior Choir is up and running for all students in prep – year 2. As mentioned previously, if your child missed the lunchtime sign ups, they are more than welcome to see Mr Lewerissa in N Block to add their name to the list.

The Junior Choir will be rehearsing on Thursdays at first break in the M Block Music Room.

NB: Children who were in the Junior Choir last year will need to sign up again if they still want to be included, as the Choir lists do not “roll over” from year to year.

Performance Groups for Years 3 – 6

Our Ukulele Band and Drumline have officially begun! This week we will be beginning to learn our first performance piece for both groups. If your child has missed the sign up for either of these groups, feel free to pop down to Mr Lewerissa in the N Block music room.

Ukulele Band (Wednesday 2nd break) Year 4 – 6 - learn to play popular songs on the ukulele.
Drumline (Tuesday 1st break) Year 5 & 6 – percussion focussed group.

See Mr Lewerissa in N Block to sign up for these groups!

If you have children in Years 3 - 6 encourage them to come along and get involved! Email Mr Lewerissa klewe8@eq.edu.au for more information on any of these performance groups.

School Musical 2019 – The Amazing Adventures Of Superstan!

Our musical auditions will be rolling out over the next couple of weeks during allocated lunch breaks. Students have the opportunity to sign up for a range of different roles in that our chosen musical has to offer. We will be having “Audition Preparation” sessions on Thursdays at Second Break for the next few weeks, to learn the songs and moves for the audition. Parents should have received an information email regarding the Musical this week, so if your child has signed up and you didn’t get an email please let us know!

PS: Our School Musical Cast will also perform as the Senior Choir for our school ANZAC Ceremony in the first week of next term. They will be singing “Our Heroes Today” for the school service.

Instrumental Music News

By now all students have had their first Instrumental Lessons, and should have returned their Instrumental Music paperwork. Please check your timetables for lesson and Band/String Ensemble rehearsal times and remind your children to bring the necessary equipment for their lessons.

Music Shirts

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

P&C News

It’s a new year and a new start to our fundraising for 2019.

Silver Coin Challenge

Our first fundraiser for the term, that is always and a little competitive for our students is the ‘SILVER COIN CHALLENGE’ (previously known as the 5c challenge). Many of you may have heard of this on Facebook or through other schools that have already participated. We would like to take up the challenge too.

It’s very simple, starting Monday 11th March for 2 weeks, we are asking the students to bring in any loose change and donate it to their class jar. At the end of two weeks on Friday 22nd March for a gold coin donation to the class jar, students are able to wear the craziest socks they can find or create for the day.

The money will be collected from each class, tallied up and the class with the most money raised will then celebrate with a Pizza Party on Friday 29th March.

All money raised will be going towards the continued project of air conditioning and the total raised will be shared with the school community through our newsletter.

So – are YOU up for the challenge? Start looking in the car, down the sides of the couch and in the bottom of your bags etc. Ready….Set….Go!!!!

Clubbercise

Don’t forget we have our first Clubbercise being held on Friday 15th March, we would love to see as many of our parents there and participating in this evening of fun and movement. There are limited child minding spots available.

Our next meeting is being held on Wednesday 13th March at 3:15pm in the resource centre next to the library. It would be great to see new faces on our P&C.

Theresa Grima
Acting P&C President

Uniform Shop

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

Tuckshop

Ellie’s Café

Are you passing the time scrolling through your phone as you wait to pick your children up from school each afternoon? Why not take advantage of the buy 4 and get the 5th drink free from Ellie’s Cafe? Drop in and grab your loyalty card from the tuckshop start drinking your way to a free one.

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 www.flexischools.com.au

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 honey 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 30c processing fee.

Phone orders are no longer accepted.

Camp Australia

School Terms for 2019

School Directory

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Further into the sign-up process is the option for you to choose your association with the school (e.g. Staff, Parent, and Student).

Community Notices

UCSC YR 6 into YR 7 2020 Enrolment Information Evening – 18th March

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