Term 3 Week 2 2022
Principal's Report
Welcome back to a jam-packed Term 3. I trust you all had a wonderful midyear break with your children. During the break I was able to celebrate my second anniversary of being the Principal of the best school in the world (I’m certainly not biased😊). During the holiday I took time to reflect on the past 2 years and the wonderful accomplishments of our students and staff. The report from our school review that occurred towards the end of last term arrived in the last week of school. I was able to sit, read and reflect on what was in it and the whole school community should feel justifiably proud of what it contains. The report discusses many aspects of our school, below are some of the highlighted findings.
- The school is characterised by caring relationships between staff, students, parents and the community.
- A clear priority that focuses on the development of a locally relevant, high quality curriculum is being enacted across the school.
- Students are placed at the centre of decision-making across the school.
- Staff are united in their approach to develop transdisciplinary units that are locally relevant and prioritise student engagement.
- Middle leaders and year level leaders convey that they appreciate the way the leadership team supports their leadership development through coaching, mentoring and Professional Development opportunities.
- Staff members take an active shared responsibility for student learning, success and connection within the school community.
- School leaders take an active interest in the professional growth of all staff members as educators.
- The school and Parents and Citizens’ Association (P&C) have developed an extensive range of purposeful partnerships across the school community.
In this newsletter you will see an infographic of the report and an executive summary can be found on our school's website. There are so many wonderful observations noted in the document. This report will aid us as we develop the school's new strategic four-year plan. As we progress through the term please look for opportunities to provide feedback to us on the plan as we develop it.
School Opinion Survey
The annual suite of School Opinion Surveys will be conducted 18 July to 12 August 2022. All families, school staff and year 5&6 students will be invited to participate. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have your say about what our school does well, and how we can improve. The Department of Education will commence sending email invitations to participants in the first week of term 3.
Keep an eye out for yours!
Anthony Ryan
Principal
ICAS
Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 students will have the opportunity to participate in ICAS English and/or ICAS Mathematics. ICAS is a voluntary participation assessment and the data from this assessment is not used by Coolum State School.
When we have the number of students participating; dates and times will be set. The test window for English is from 15 August – 19 August and for Mathematics 29 August - 2 September.
What is ICAS?
ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee and Digital Technologies.
Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals.
Learn more about ICAS here. (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas)
How to participate in ICAS
If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:
- read about ICAS subjects and prices (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas)
- read the terms and conditions : (https://www.icasassessments.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Finalised-Parents-Ts-and-Cs-2022v03-1.pdf)
- go to Parent Portal https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps)
- enter our school’s access code – CKU078
- enter your child’s details, select the tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to payment.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions.
Danny Stanieg
Deputy Principal
News from 3S
This term year 3 have a new HASS unit about Australian States and Territories. 3S began the unit with a discussion about the diverse characteristics of Australia, our personal connections to it and what it means to us. The students really took their time to consider this and many felt a strong connection through their family and friendships but, also through their love of the land and sea.
Next, we composed a list of general fact questions about Australia and spent time researching the answers on Ipads. We are pleased to share our discoveries with you. Please enjoy reading through them and see how many facts you already knew or, perhaps didn’t know…
The largest lake in Australia is Lake Eyre. Sophia
Australia’s short tailed hopping mouse is extinct. Lottie
Three native Australian animals are koalas, brown tree snakes and the tiger quoll. Laken
The Toyota is Australia’s most common car. Ajaya
The Capertee Valley is the largest Canyon in Australia. Taya
The Australian goanna can grow to 3m. Macey
The largest mammal in Australia is the red kangaroo. Liam
Australia’s highest peak is Mt Kosciuszko. Jacob
Cane toads originate from Hawaii. Sylvie
The most commonly found tree in Australia is the gum tree. Edward
The golden wattle is Australia’s floral emblem. Arlo
Willem Janszoon, the Dutch navigator, was the first European to explore Australia. Jordy
Australia’s largest single river is the Murray River. Jordan
Eucalyptus is Australia’s tallest tree. Sam
Australia’s most visited place is Sydney. Harry
Australia’s most popular sports include soccer, dancing, basketball, AFL, tennis, cricket, NRL and netball. Gracie
The flightless cassowary is Australia’s largest bird. Tess
Australia has 6 states and 2 territories. Ollie
Kylie Sampson
Teacher of 3S
Book Fair 2022
Come along to our Book Fair and pick up some amazing books! We will be in the Activities Hall from Monday 25 July for the whole week. Join us each day from 8:00am – 8:30am and 2:30pm – 3:15pm.
All proceeds go towards supporting our school resources and library. Cash and eftpos sales available. We hope to see you there.
七夕（たなばた）
Tanabata, otherwise known as the Star Festival, is a Japanese tradition in which people write their wishes on small, colourful strips of paper called (tanzaku) and hang them on the branches of a small decorative bamboo tree. It’s celebrated all over Japan, usually on the seventh day of the seventh month (July 7) - although some regions observe Tanabata on August 7, depending on how they decided to interpret the old lunar calendar.
The Origin of Tanabata
The history of Tanabata goes back over 2,000 years, and is based on an old Chinese tale. There once was a weaver princess named Orihime, the daughter of the Sky King, and a cow herder prince named Hikoboshi. They lived peacefully and industriously beside the “heavenly river” of the Milky Way. After the two met each other and fell in love, they began neglecting their work: Orihime ceased weaving cloth, and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to wander all around the skies. This angered the king, so as punishment he separated the two lovers across the Milky Way.
Eventually, the king relented somewhat and allowed Orihime and Hikoboshi to see each other once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month. The legend stresses that Orihime and Hikoboshi cannot meet if the weather is rainy, so it’s customary to pray for good weather on this day.
Find out more here https://www.tripsavvy.com/japanese-tanabata-festival-1550123
https://www.bokksu.com/blogs/news/tanabata-japans-star-festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOahFPV-xxQ
Brad Yaxley
Japanese Teacher
Prep 2023 Open Day
Do you have a child enrolling with us for 2023? Our Prep Enrolment Packs are now available! Please pop in to the Administration Office to collect your pack.
Save the date – Our Prep Open Day is on Sunday 7 August from 8.30am – 10.00am. Please come along with your Prep child to take a look around our wonderful school and explore the campus with your family. We look forward to meeting you and answering any questions that you may have.
School Musical
Our students are really busy rehearsing for our performance of The Wizard of Oz later on this year, it is looking so good! Tickets will be on sale in the coming weeks, watch this space so you don't miss out!!
P&C News
P&C Meeting for July: The next monthly meeting will be on Wednesday July 27 at 6.30pm in the P&C room. You are welcome to attend from the comfort of your home via Zoom. Phone 5471 9371 or email pandc@coolumss.eq.edu.au to register for a Zoom link. All welcome!!
Denise French
P&C Manager
Reporting your child's absence
if your child is absent from school it is important that you notify us as soon as possible. To report your child’s absence please either complete the short form available on the website at https://coolumss.eq.edu.au/our-school/absences or telephone us on 5471 9300.
Absences may be reported both on the webform and on the telephone in advance for planned absences.
We thank you for your assistance.
Other News
QParents
Did you know that the QParents portal is available for Coolum State School? QParents enables schools to offer parents secure access to information about their child. Parents can communicate directly with the school and update their child’s address and medical conditions, submit reasons for absences and make online payments for school invoices.
QParents is available to all families and not just our new families! If you would like to receive your unique invitation code and child's EQ ID please email us info@coolumss.eq.edu.au to request this.
Contact details
Have you changed your mobile number recently? Have you moved house?
It's important that we hold up to date contact details for you and your nominated emergency contacts. If you would like to update your details please pop in to the Administration Office or email us at info@coolumss.eq.edu.au .
RideScore Active Schools
REGISTER NOW!
- Do you live close to school?
- Do your children have a bike or scooter?
- Would you like peace of mind knowing your children have safely arrived at school?
If you answered YES to these questions, then RideScore is for you!
We are one of nine Sunshine Coast schools that have been invited to trial the RideScore Active Schools Program in 2022.
What is RideScore?
RideScore is an incentive-based program delivered by Sunshine Coast Council and We Ride Australia to increase active travel to and from school. The program is open to all students who ride a bike or scooter to school, as these can easily be fitted with beacons.
Participating students will receive a personal sensor (beacon) to attach to their bike or scooter. The school bike storage facility will be fitted with a Bluetooth reader that detects the signal from the beacon and sends a notification to the nominated contact that the student has arrived at or departed the school gate. Please note that the beacon is not a tracking device, it only records school arrivals and departures.
Data is collected by the online platform, enabling incentives to be offered at certain milestones.
Activities will also be planned throughout the school year to promote and encourage active travel, including cycling education classes for all Year 4 students.
How do I register?
Step 1 - Download the RideScore App (Search for ‘RideScore’ in the App Store or on Google Play)
Step 2 – Receive your sign on bag (will be distributed via the classrooms) that includes:
- Your child’s beacon & instructions on how to pair and fit
- Bike Lock
- Scorecard
- Road Safety Information
Step 3 – Start riding or scooting
Step 4 – Visit the RideScore website for great resources and safety tips
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