Term 3 Week 8
Principal's Report
Friday 1 September is a Student Free Day
This Friday is a Student Free Day. This day is used by our staff to reflect on student learning and plan for upcoming lessons and planning. This moderation practice ensures we have consistency in teaching, learning and assessment.
Social Media
Social media services and online chat are great ways to stay in touch and find new friends, but there are also risks. The landscape of social media is evolving. Traditional social media services like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are great ways to stay in touch and keep across the latest news and trends. Private messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat are also increasingly popular. Google Docs is even being used as a chat app by young people. While these applications provide opportunities for positive social interaction, we are all aware of the negative influence they can have also.
While the age restrictions for these apps is 13 years and over we are aware that a very large group of students have profiles on a variety of social media platforms. We are aware of students using social media on weekends and in the evenings that is having impacts on the student behaviour here at school. In particular a large group of students have created a group on Snapchat in which they have been sharing photos and video they have taken during the afternoons and weekends. This behaviour can affect the social and emotional wellbeing of our students. School staff often spending large quantities of time dealing with these issues as a result of these posts that occur outside of school.
At school, during class we provide cybersafety lessons to students to help them understand the repercussions of their actions while on-line and how to stay safe online. Your support in monitoring your child’s on-line activity and access to social media is appreciated. The link below provides advice to students and parents on actions they can take to stay safe on-line. There is also more information on how we deal with these issues at school in the Student Code of Conduct which is available on our school website. Below is an extract of the Student Code of Conduct that focuses on cyberbullying.
https://www.esafety.gov.au/young-people
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is treated at Coolum SS with the same level of seriousness as in-person bullying. The major difference with cyberbullying however, is that unlike in-person bulling, cyberbullying follows students into their community, their homes and their bedrooms, giving them no opportunity to escape the harassment or abuse during the evening, weekends or holidays.
In the first instance, students or parents who wish to make a report about cyberbullying should approach the regular class teacher. It is important for students, parents and staff to know that state school principals have the authority to take disciplinary action to address student behaviours that occur outside of school hours or school grounds. This includes cyberbullying. Parents and students who have concerns about cyberbullying incidents occurring during school holidays should immediately seek assistance through the Office of the e-Safety Commissioner or the Queensland Police Service.
Students enrolled at Coolum SS may face in-school disciplinary action, such as detention or removing of privileges, or more serious consequences such as suspension or exclusion from school for engaging in behaviour that adversely affects, or is likely to adversely affect, other students or the good order and management of the school. This includes behaviour such as cyberbullying which occurs outside of school hours or settings, for example on the weekend or during school holidays. It also applies to inappropriate online behaviour of enrolled students that is directed towards other community members or students from other school sites.
Anthony Ryan
Principal
News from Prep G
Term 3 certainly has been a busy fun packed time with lots of learning as well as events.
We have been learning how to retell a fairytale through our words, by using pictures and writing which Miss Gayel thinks we are doing an amazing job of.
Part of our Fairytale unit has also included making bread when we read The Little Red Hen and acting out all of the fairytales using costumes. In Maths we have enjoyed doing things like answering questions each morning and then analysing the data, some measuring and lots of addition ideas.
STEM and Science has involved things such as making bridges and houses, soaking an egg in vinegar to make it bouncy and predicting whether an egg will crack when we drop it onto different surface types.
Our different events have included Paint the Town Read and Book Week dress ups and we are looking forward to the Father’s Day afternoon and more towards the end of the term as well. Miss Gayel is super proud of us and all the efforts we have made this year!
Gayel Spencer
Teacher of Prep G
Japanese Word of the Week
トイレはどこですか？(toire wa doko desu ka?) : Where is the bathroom?
This is a convenient expression when asking the location of the restrooms in any place, not just in the restaurants.
Brad Yaxley
Japanese Teacher
Coolum AllStarz News
Our amazing Coolum AllStarz Dance Team recently competed at the Eutopia Cheer and Dance Championship at Nissan Arena in Brisbane and did an outstanding job. We couldn’t be more proud of the way the girls conducted themselves, showing wonderful sportsmanship and achieving some fantastic results.
The girls received four gold medals in their Jazz, Hip Hop, Pom and Contemporary routines and the overall Scholastic results were as follows:
- 5th highest score – POM
- 7th highest score – Contemporary
- 8th highest score – Jazz
- 10th highest score – Hip Hop
They received 5th Highest Score Dance Grand Champions (out of all primary, high school and university routines). What a fantastic achievement! Well done, Coolum AllStarz!
The girls will now compete at their final event for the competition season-the AASCF State Championship on the Gold Coast this coming weekend. We wish them all the very best!
Sam Bollard
Team Coach
Coolum's Got Talent
Does your child have a special talent that they'd be willing to showcase on stage at school??? If so, we want to hear from them!!
Our exciting competition, led by Miss Sharise, takes place on Tuesday 12 September. So you have plenty of time to plan and prepare for your act.
If your child has any questions they should see their class teacher or Miss Sharise.
We're looking forward to it already!
Year 6 Bake Sale Fundraiser
As we move towards the end of the school year, the members of Year 6 are fundraising to leave a legacy behind. We are asking every Year 6 class to support their Student Councillors to raise money to go towards a gift for our school.
In week 9, our Year 6 classes will be holding a bake sale.
Each Year 6 class has been allocated a morning to sell baked products to students in a particular year level, plus their Prep Buddies. Their own class will be able to buy any items left at the end of their day’s sale. Year 6 will be bringing in baked treats on the days as listed below.
All items will be sold for $1.
Sale Days
- Monday 4 September: 6G serving to Prep S & Year 1
- Tuesday 5 September: 6N serving to Prep L & Year 2
- Wednesday 6 September: 6D serving to Prep R & Year 3
- Thursday 7 September: 6Q serving to Prep G –& Year 4
- Friday 8 September: 6C serving to Prep C, Prep T & Year 5
If you have any queries, please direct these to your class teacher, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Albrecht or your class Student Council representative.
Thank you for supporting this initiative.
Judith Moore and Myschel Albrecht
Student Council
P&C News
Cleaning Tender for Coolum OSHC
Coolum OSHC is cleaned five nights a week term-time and during school holidays, after 6pm. Insurance and Working with Children blue card mandatory. For further information, please contact: pandc@coolumss.eq.edu.au
Tenders close 31 August 2023.
Denise French
P&C Manager
Other News and Events...
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!
- 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!
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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