Term 4 Week 8 2022
Principal's Report
Wow! What a year 2022 has turned out to be! From 2 weeks of learning at home, to Covid, to flooding rains not once but 4 times it’s been amazing that we were able to fit so much learning and extra-curricular opportunities in amongst it all.
There has been so many highlights for this year from school camps, student achievements in learning, excursions, STEM activities, musical, dance performances, a plethora of individual and group sporting achievements, Coolum Carnival, Paint the Town Read, Book Week etc etc, it’s had to single any one event out as a highlight.
I was asked recently what’s the best thing that has happened at Coolum SS this year. I reflect on the activities mentioned above and others but it’s not hard to settle on the resilience of our students, staff, P&C and community who despite any challenge in our school year, have been solely focussed on ensuring every child has every opportunity to learn and have experiences that adds value and meaning to their world. It takes a village to raise a child, thank you to our Coolum community for being our village!
Now that the holidays are approaching, it’s time to think about keeping the kids entertained on those long, hot, summer days. There are many activities you can do with your children which are inexpensive and good fun. All of these experiences help children learning about the world around them. Teachers can use these experiences in their teaching to make school relevant to their world. You don’t need to entertain them every moment of every day, but if you plan a couple of special family activities with them, it helps to break the monotony as well as building relationships with them. Have you taken the kids fishing lately or tried rollerblading or bike riding with them? What about yabbying or a picnic by the river, lake or beach? Had a barbeque in the bush recently? Take a picnic lunch to the local gardens and relax under the shady trees. Throw in the frisbee for some fun and games with them. Have you been out on a boat with them? Try canoeing or kayaking or a cruise on a paddle steamer. Or just lie on the banks of a river and watch the boats float by.
You can do some very simple activities with them on those rainy days when you are stuck inside. Consider these ideas: write or email a friend to come over and play; write a shopping list together; draw a map of the neighbourhood, your house or the way to Grandma’s; plant some seedlings; look at photo albums and tell stories about when you were a child; design, make and fly a kite; estimate, compare and count collections of things; visit the local library and borrow a book, or buy a new one to share; teach them to play hopscotch or a board game; ride a bike, throw a ball, kick the footy; cook some biscuits together or make a yummy fruit salad.
Most importantly…..TALK, TALK, TALK with your children.
Have a great holiday and enjoy spending time with your children; they’re very special young people! I look forward to welcoming you all back for the start of the 2023 school year.
Congratulations to our new School Captains for 2023
This week our year 5 students voted for School Captains for 2023. We got down to the last 9 boys and 9 girls and heard their speeches on Monday afternoon. All of the students did an outstanding job and would be worthy School Captains. However, there can only be four. Our 2023 School Captains are:
Sophie Proctor, Tallo Dekens, Aiden Sanders and Millie Byrne.
Next week we will vote for House Captains
School Captains 2023
Anthony Ryan
Principal
News from 2R
Climbing the stairs to success
This year the ROCKSTARs of 2R have been working extremely hard to achieve success in all areas of their lives, whether it is academic, social or personal success. I am extremely proud of how much growth these ROCKSTARs have had this year. Their charisma, energy, tenacity, persistence and perseverance have really blown me out of the water. Let’s see what success the class have had this year:
Rueben: Learning how to use Book Creator on the iPad.
Mia: Completing all my work.
Seb: Learning to spell difficult words.
Koda: Getting on stage and performing.
Jake: Improving my reading.
Milly: Actually doing work.
Eva: Being more confident.
Max: My reading skills
Henry: Learning multiplication.
Lilly: Spending time with my friends.
Zarli: My English assessment and improving my spelling.
Caleb: Playing sport.
Daniel: Finishing all my work.
Maddi: Learning how to use Book Creator on the iPad.
Cruz: I’m able to do a lot of math questions.
Cleo: Improving my reading.
Isaac: Understanding the life stages of animals.
Ben: Getting A’s and B’s in English
Laroka: Having lots of friends to play with.
Lauren: Going up on stage on my own.
Duke: Maths, spelling and making new friends. Its been a good year.
Lana: Creating my toy for George in Science.
2R then and now
Corey Rose
Teacher of 2R
Swimming Carnival
On Wednesday our year 5 and 6 students participated in our annual Swimming Carnival. The carnival is designed around student participation, spirit building and fun. Students had the opportunity to participate in championship or non-championship events in all swimming strokes as well as novelty events.
The joy, laughter and smiles on student faces was contagious as the students danced, sung and swam to the smooth beats of DJ Rozzy Roz.
Congratulations to our age champions
Yr 5 Girls - Sophie 5C
Yr 5 Boys - Ryder 5K and Aiden 5D
Yr 6 Girls - Ploy 6Q
Yr 6 Boys – Archie 6A
Well done to Ninderry who took away the Spirit Award and fantastic work by Cooloola who took out the dance past again this year (Six in a row I believe).
Finally, congratulations to Peregian who finished in first place. The last time Peregian won the swimming carnival was 2005!
Thanks to all staff who were involved in making this a special day for our students.
Ben Moody
PE Teacher
Coolum's Got Talent!
Yesterday at Coolum’s Got Talent, we were treated to a variety of acts from our students. All sorts of dances, singing, rock bands and comedy featured for 2022. Our first video entrant of skateboard tricks showed us what is possible if you practice, practice, practice. It was a difficult job for our judges to score each act but they were able to then decide our winners.
1st Place: Lomano and Jake (Year 4) who rocked the PCC with their rendition of ACDC, Highway to Hell
2nd Place: Anika and Zoe (Year 5) who danced to Legends Never Die, showing off their strength and technique
3rd Place: Marley, Ruby and Claudia (Year 6) who danced to Survivor, showing strength, poise and beautiful costumes.
We congratulate all the contestants and commend them on bravely performing in front of such a large audience.
Start practicing now for our 2023 Coolum’s Got Talent!
Sharise Russell
Music Teacher
Mural Painting
During this school year our wonderful School Councillors have been plotting and planning together to come up with a way to brighten our school environment. One area that they felt needed the most improvement has been our senior toilet block and we have been very lucky to have three artists come to our aide.
Owen Cavanagh and Josh Harris worked together with our students to create a two stage plan of attack to bring some colour to this area. This week stage one has taken place. Owen and Josh took the students’ ideas and a blank wall and began the transformation. On Thursday the councillors got their painting smocks on and joined them. Plenty of onlookers admired their work and after a few hours the our new artwork was complete.
We would like to offer a huge thank you to Owen and Josh for making this happen. Without their gift of time and skill this would not have been possible. Our councillors were thrilled to be invited to help and see the first stage of the improvements come to life. We are very lucky as there will be a stage two where our third artist, Billie Baxter is also contributing her skill and time. Two further pieces of art are yet to be revealed. Watch this space and Facebook for more news.
Judith Moore and Myschel Albrect
Student Council
STEM News
What’s on the menu?’
This semester, Year 3 students have been learning about food and fibre production technologies and investigating the advantages of modern food production and preservation methods.
Recently we had our food preparation day in the Activities Hall which saw students working in pairs using some of these modern food preparation methods to prepare a healthy snack of their own design.
We had around $800 worth of fresh Australian grown produce as well as our own lettuce, parsley and mint that we grew in our very own ‘Green Thumb Garden’ to use to make our dishes come to life.
Some of the fantastic creations were grape snakes and fruit skewers, fruit infused yoghurts, salami, tomato and cheese savoury crackers and some bunny faces made from rice cakes, carrot sticks and capsicum. I was amazed by the wide range of savoury dishes and fruit treats that were created.
Thank you to all the staff who assisted to make this event possible and a special thanks to Lisa Marsh and her student helpers, we couldn’t have done it without you!
Congratulations to all students on an amazing day!
Andrew Grummitt
STEM Teacher
Music and Performing Arts news
Last Wednesday was a very special day for some of our senior music and performing arts students. After a fabulous Q&A session with some High School Students (who were all ex-Coolum State School Music Leaders) about life in High School, we jumped on the bus and headed off on a very memorable trip - as Lily (one of our current Music Leaders) explains ...
Spit Spot, worth it or what!!
Last Wednesday 50 students from Year 5 and 6 were whisked away to QPAC in Brisbane for an extraordinary, on-point performance of Mary Poppins. Thank you to the practically perfect teachers for taking us on this miraculous adventure. Filled with not only lights, theatre and action; it also had laughter, cheering, and even the odd tear-jerking moment. It was just the spoonful of sugar that we needed to get through a busy Term 4.
Last Friday, our year 6 Vocal Rock singers attended a full-day workshop with the fabulous Ms Bradshaw - Coolum High’s Vocal teacher. During the day, the singers had a little taste of what it was like to participate in the high school’s vocal program, ably assisted by 3 current high school vocalists. They learnt several new vocal warm up exercises, how to take care of their vocal cords and how to use the muscles that control your voice quality. They also learnt an entire song, in 2-part harmony, & performed it for a very appreciative audience back here at the primary school to complete the workshop - all of this in one day!! Wow!! Well done Yr 6 singers & thank you to Ms Bradshaw & Coolum High!! 🎤👏😃👏🎶
Roz Mackay
Music Teacher
Tuckshop News
Tuckshop will be closed for all of week 10. Thank you to all our students and staff who have enjoyed their tuckshop morning teas and lunches throughout 2022.
Come along to our wonderful festive evening of Christmas Carols on Monday 5 December from 4.30pm to 8.00pm. Please see flyer below for more details.
Don't miss out on the great raffle prizes available!
Denise French
P&C Manager
Student of the Week
Other News and Information
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.
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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