Term 1 Week 8

Principal's Report

Thank you all for a fantastic term 1. I will be taking the last 2 weeks of term off on personal leave. Mr Dan Stanieg will be the Acting Principal in my absence.

P&C AGM

The Parents and Citizens association will hold their AGM on Wednesday 22 March at 6:30pm in the Uniform Shop. The Coolum community is extremely supportive of our school and the P&C is a great way to be involved. Come along or attend by Zoom to see and hear of the wonderful things our P&C do each day to support our students and the school. We would like to thanks the current P&C Executive who have supported the school for many years and in particular the last year with so many unprecedented events. A special thanks to Rebecca Eller who has had three children at Coolum SS. She will attend her last P&C meeting after being heavily involved as a member and as secretary since starting in 2014. Thank you Rebecca, I’m sure the high school will benefit from your experience and enthusiasm.

Ride2School Day

Coolum State School values active transport to school. Once again, we will be involved in Ride2School Day on Friday 24 March. We will meet at Coles Coolum at 7:45am for an 8:00am departure ride to school together. The local Coolum Police will escort us on the way.

Anthony Ryan
Principal

News from 3D

The students of 3D were very excited to learn about Harmony Day which will be celebrated on 21 March 2023.

The students have learnt Harmony Day is about including, respecting and appreciating the stories, traditions and cultures of all people who call Australia home. They especially loved the slogan ‘Everyone is welcome. Everyone belongs’.

We had fun making an art piece that represented that slogan. I asked the students what Harmony Day meant to them; these were their responses:

Lacey – Harmony Day is about cultural diversity and celebrating all cultures.

Ollie – Harmony Day is about respecting all people’s beliefs and including people no matter what skin colour they have.

Keegan – Harmony Day is about celebrating people coming together and world happiness.

Lilly – Harmony Day is when you respect people no matter what they look like or do. We treat everyone the same.

Finley – Harmony Day is about including everyone.

Airlee – Harmony Day is when everyone works together and wears the colour orange.

Talon – Harmony Day is about acknowledging all the people from different countries who live in Australia and we respect their beliefs.

Marli – Harmony Day is when people should be kind to everyone and it doesn’t matter what they look like.

Dalton – Harmony Day is celebrating that everybody belongs. We are all happy together.

Georgia – Harmony Day is not worrying about other people’s skin colours or about their appearances. Everybody is welcome in Australia.

Jacob – Harmony Day is about respecting all people and including them.

Aisha – Harmony Day is a day where everybody works together and celebrates peace.

Cleo – Harmony Day is about wearing orange and including everyone.

Masha – Harmony Day is about respecting other people and wear orange clothes.

Seb – Harmony Day is about respecting everyone’s beliefs and cultures. Including everyone and working as a team not matter what skin colour they have. We wear orange.

Nate H – Harmony Day is respecting other people’s beliefs and it is okay to have different skin colours.

Rueben – Harmony Day brings people together and everyone is nice to each other.

Cathy Dellow
Teacher of 3D

News from 3S

3S has had a busy start to the year.  The class have been working on persuasive texts throughout the term for English, and are currently doing NAPLAN.  The students have learned about celebrations and commemorations for HASS, and even performed at parade to showcase celebration dances from around the world.  They have been really interested to better understand celebrations such a Chinese New Year, Diwali and Songkran, to name a few.  Here are some of the things they have learned and would like to share with you:

Diwali is my favourite celebration because it is a festival of lights and you get to eat sweets and watch fireworks.  AJ

I learned that for the Spanish New Year’s Eve people race to eat 12 grapes for good luck.  Rafe

Songkran is a Thai festival.  You can wet all your friends and wash the town clean.  Hamish

Songkran is my favourite celebration that we learnt about this term. It sounds like fun having a water fight with your friends. Zack

I learned that ANZAC Day is important for many reasons and is on April 25^th.  Axel

Lost Sock Memorial Day on May 9^th, is a day when we take all the single socks and throw them away.  Atreyu

I learned that UFO Day is on June 6^th and is a real celebration.  Zoe

No Interruptions Day is celebrated on the December 30^th.  Remy

Spanish New Year people race to eat 12 grapes and the grapes represent good luck for each month.  Reeve

I think parents would love No Interruptions Day because you can’t interrupt people.  Addison

New Year is celebrated in different ways all around the world. Chinese New Year is my favourite New Year celebration because they get to celebrate for more days.  Zaida

For Chinese New Year there is lion and dragon dancing.  People wear red and the festival goes for 15 days.  Amelie

I learned that people celebrate UFO Day to spot UFOs.  Elijah

Chinese New Year is great for kids.  If you are a child, people give you red envelopes full of money.  Also, there are red lanterns.  Memphis

On Lost Sock Memorial Day, the 9th May, we have to get rid of all the odd single socks and all hope of finding it’s buddy.  Laroka

I really like Chinese New Year because I think it is interesting that it goes on for 15 days and they hang red lanterns.  Aria

ANZAC Day is celebrated on April 25^th.  We commemorate it with marches.  Sam

I really like Songkran because you can have water fights and drench your friends.  Harley

For Chinese New Year people decorate with red dragons.  Samuel

Diwali is on October for 5 days. I learned that people decorate their homes with clay lanterns.  Chandra

For Songkran, Thais celebrate the change of season by washing everything with a water fight.  Leila

Chinese New Year people wear red and children are gifted money.  Libbity

For Chinese New Year they watch fireworks and this is the year of the rabbit.  Koda

We have also included a small selection of some of the art we have done to showcase the celebrations discussed in class.  We hope you enjoy them.

Kylie Sampson and Megan Tucker
Teachers of 3S

Clean Up for Australia Day at Coolum State School

Sunday March 5 was Clean Up for Australia Day and we at Coolum State School wanted to do our bit.  Our Sustainability Team got on board to support the project with the help of our Student Council. On Friday March 3 they supported a competition to encourage all the classes in school to do a thorough clean up. Each class was paired with another and they ventured forth into the school grounds. They scoured the gardens, ovals and behind buildings to uncover even the smallest piece of plastic that could harm the environment. If it doesn’t grow in the garden, it doesn’t belong there, was the brief given, and the students rose to the challenge. 6C and Prep R came in second but our ‘Litter Bugs’ winners were 4S and 3J, congratulations.

A huge thank you to everyone involved.

This event helped to remind students to pick up litter whenever and wherever they see it, if it is safe to do so. We hope they will continue with this mindset throughout the year.  We also want to give a shout out to parents. Thank you for minimising the amount of litter in lunchboxes, it is great to see many students using containers that can be reused.

For the Earth to thrive, pick up five.

Judith Moore 
of behalf of the Environmental team

Japanese Word of the Week

すみません(sumimasen) : Excuse me

This useful phrase can be used as both an apology and as thanks, as well as to address a stranger or unfamiliar person. Its nuance is quite similar to the English equivalent “excuse me.”

Brad Yaxley
Japanese Teacher

Enzo needs your help for his ‘Pawsome Idea’

Enzo loves animals, but not all animals are as lucky as each other. Some end up in rescue centres like the wonderful RSPCA centre near Noosa. Enzo, a proud student of 6D, recently had his birthday. He didn’t want any gifts for himself. What he wanted is to help his animal friends and he asked his classmates if they would help him to do that. They asked the Student Council, and now we are asking our school community to get on board and help the animals at the refuge.

What we have decided to do is ask for pet products from our school community and donate them to the RSPCA.

If you would like to get involved, please drop off your donation to 6D on Wednesday 29 March, Cross Country day. We cannot accept money or perishable items but the RSPCA have advised that any of the following items would be appreciated.

Judith Moore and Myschel Albrecht
Head of Student Council

P&C Annual General Meeting

The Coolum State School P&C Association AGM will be held on Wednesday 22 March 2023 at 6.30pm in the P&C Centre. We also welcome your attendance on Zoom, from the comfort of your own home - notify your online attendance by emailing: pandc@coolumss.eq.edu.au by noon March 22 and we'll send you the link. 

Look out for our info tent on all things P&C, outside Parade on Friday 17 March. 

Denise French
P&C Manager

Other News and Events...

Job vacancies

We are looking for School Crossing Supervisors and cleaners. Please see below for details of how to apply for these positions:

Cleaners wanted

Casual relief cleaners required. If you'd like to join our wonderful school community on a casual basis and help keep our learning environment, clean, safe and inviting please see Rebecca in the office or email bsm@coolumss.eq.edu.au for details. Experience and blue card preferred but not essential.

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 and submit reasons for absences.

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!

1. Do you live close to school?
2. Do your children have a bike or scooter?
3. 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!

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