Term 1 Week 8
Principal's Report
P&C AGM
The Parents and Citizens association will hold their AGM on Wednesday 27 March 2024 at 6:00pm 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 thank the current P&C Executive who have supported the school for many years and in particular the last year with so many unprecedented events.
New Drop and Go Zone Disability Parking
I am thankful for the work of the SafeST committee in working with the Department of Transport and Main Roads around the upgrades to the parking and Drop and Go Zone. I want to draw your attention to the 2 disability car parks provided, these spaces are available for holders of a disability parking permit. We have 3 students at the school who use wheelchairs. These disability car park spaces are invaluable to the parents of these students for a smooth drop off and pick up for their children each day. Unfortunately these spaces are often occupied by other individuals who hold the relevant permit that are collecting students who do not have a physical disability. This means the parents of our students in wheelchairs are forced to find alternative parking, often a long walk from the school, causing a significant upheaval to both the child’s and their parents day. So whilst the disability parking is available for use by anyone with the relevant permit, I ask our community to please give consideration to the families in great need prior to occupying these spaces.
Ride to School Day
Coolum State School values active transport to school. Once again, we will be involved in Ride 2 School Day on Friday 22 March. We will meet up at Coles Coolum at 7:45am for an 8:00am departure as we ride to school. Departing from Coles we will follow Margaret Street into Seagull Street, then Cinnamon Avenue and finally arrive at school. The local Coolum Police will escort us on the way.
School Road Upgrade
Over the last few years our Safe School Transport (SafeST) committee have been working with local council and the Department of Transport and Main Roads to consider upgrades to School Road. A particular focus has been on additional car parks and drop off zones. This work also aligns with the Department of Transport and Main Roads design for upgrades to the intersection of Yandina Coolum Road, School Road and South Coolum Road.
Council have secured funding to provide improvements to School Road and the works will occur during the Easter school holidays. The new design provides for 10 cars to the Drop and Go Zone and 43 parking bays in the centre of School Road. Please see below for a copy of the new design.
What you need to be aware of from day 1 next term:
- The current Drop and Go Zone will be closed.
- The Drop and Go Zone will move to between the Administration building and staff car park.
- There will be 43 car park bays in the centre of School Road.
- There will be 2 disability car parks at the front of the school.
- School Road will no longer have parking near the residences.
- The pedestrian crossing between the school and Sparrows Early Learning Centre will remain as will the school crossing supervisors.
I congratulate the SafeST committee for their work on this project. The SafeST committee have already identified future projects to support safe travel to school for our students. If you wish to be a part of this group please keep an eye out for meeting dates in the school newsletter.
Anthony Ryan
Principal
News from Prep C
It has been a busy Term 1 for Prep C! We have learnt a lot about “big school” and all the things we do here. We are learning the sounds that the letters of the alphabet make and how to blend and segment words. We are learning about numbers, shapes and patterns, how objects move, and all about families. We love play time, story time, buddy time and lunch time!
Here is what Prep C has to say about school so far…
Alaia – I like it when it’s lunchtime and we get to have playtime and play with our friends.
Riley – I like doing lots of craft.
Sidney – I love learning and the playground.
Ned – I like hunting for treasure in the playground.
Harper – I like it when we do our groups in the morning.
Sienna – I like learning and when we go out to eat.
Maggie – I love playing with Flora and Poppy.
Adie – I love listening to a story at the end of the day.
Brayden – I love playing with the cars and the Mobilo.
Cody – It’s fun doing drawing because I like drawing and I get to use all the colours.
Quin – I like the playground.
Flora – I love playing with my friends.
Zephie – I love it when we get to play with the toys.
Noah – I love playing at outdoor play with my friends.
Samuel – I love lunchtime.
Willow – I love seeing my teacher in the mornings and playing with my friends.
Poppy – I love counting numbers and doing the sounds and words.
Archer – I love going to Parade and singing the school song.
Finley – I love playing in the playground and indoor play.
Kai – I like doing maths and playing in the playground with Noah.
Brooklyn – I love playing in home corner.
Vaughn – I like playing with the blocks.
Lisa Calder
Teacher of Prep C
News from 2P
A warm welcome to all members of the school community from our class. Can you believe that we are almost at the end of term one? There are only a couple of weeks before the end of term, and a well-earned restful holiday for the hard-working students of 2P.
I have been impressed by the positive attitudes and incredible work ethic of all students in the class. In English lessons throughout the first term, the students have been developing their skills in writing Procedures. Everyone had been determined to create sentences which include wonderful adjectives and thoughtful adverbs. Some have also been including compound sentences in their writings. Many sentences have been outstanding!
“Carefully pierce a hole through the middle of each plastic milk bottle top”, Max.
“Gently roll the sticky blu-tak into a thin strip and attach the marble to the bottom of the CD”, Hayden.
“Quickly gather all of the materials”, Oliver.
“Aim: To make a cool and fun spinning top”, Lakey.
Slow and steady has been the formula for our newly adopted spelling and reading programs. This term, PLD was ‘rolled out’ successfully with both students and teachers developing their skills. The school is still waiting on the ordered shipment of new decodable books and materials for children to use. In the meantime, the library is allowing each student to take home two books every week as home readers.
The class has covered several topics within Mathematics so far this year. The students were assigned the task of collecting data that they then recorded in a series of picture graphs. Everyone did a superb job completing these with accuracy and neatness. Several numeracy concepts have been covered daily, and many are enjoying the daily ‘Speed Maths’ challenges. This competitive bunch are always determined to beat their previous results and each other’s times.
The children have been coming back to class after their Technology lessons ‘fully charged’. They are building objects with Lego such as; cars, tight-rope walkers, a model ice-hockey field, and a model dog park. All participants are very hands-on and continue to improve their ability to work cooperatively within a team.
Friday afternoons have been one of the weekly highlights since swimming lessons started at the Coolum Public Pool. Everyone loves these sessions and they are all working to improve their swimming strokes and water safety awareness.
Each & every student is working tirelessly to complete work to the best of their abilities across all learning areas. I am proud of their efforts as well as their excellent standards of behaviour. Keep ‘reaching for the stars’ you amazing children of 2P.
Bruce Powell
Teacher of 2P
Sport News
Congratulations to the many students who have attended a Noosa District trial already this term. The following students have been selected in a Noosa District or Regional team:
Swimming
Charlie (6Q)
Alice (6Q) Regional Team
Netball
Daye (6G)
Touch Football
Maya (6Q) Regional Team
Zeb (6N)
Basketball
Harry (6E)
U11 Rugby League
Tom (5B)
Cooper (5K)
Seb (5T)
Braxton (6D)
Mason (5B)
Fletcher (5B)
AFL
Louie (4O)
Ben (5K)
Jeremy (6D) Regional Team
Isaac (6G) Regional Team
Maya (6Q) Regional Team
Ben Moody
PE Teacher
Snowsport Championships
The Interschools Snowsport Championships is a series of snowsport competitions where students compete for their school as part of a team or as an individual in any of our nine discipline events.
Who Can Enter
School students from all ability levels are encouraged to enter, with an emphasis on fun and participation in the initial Regional Championships. As the competitions move into the State and Australian Championships, the level of competition and the degree of difficulty increases. It is advised that all competitors must be able to execute link turns and ride a chairlift/T-bar confidently, prior to competing in Regional Level events.
How and when do schools enter?
Online entries open in May and are completed by the school’s sport coordinator Mr Moody.
School Clean Up Day
Last week we asked students at our school to make an extra effort and gather up the rubbish around the school grounds. We definitely noticed there was less rubbish to be picked up than last year. We think this is because of the wonderful job the daily pick-up team are doing around school, keep it up! 6G collected the most litter. They even found a red wheelie bin that had been thrown into the nature reserve behind school.
When the school council and environmental team sorted what had been collected, we noticed that the things we found were mostly plastic wrappers and very few recyclables. There were some milk bottles and juice bombs that could have gone into the containers for change bins, don’t worry, we put them in for you. Amongst the plastic waste, there were straw wrappers, jelly cups, chip packets and lolly wrappers. There were even some balls that and had gotten lost in the gardens!
How can we make this even better for next year? You could bring a keep cup to use at the café and it would be great if everyone could work towards plastic free lunches.
Please remember if you see rubbish you need to pick it up. If you don’t who will? We don’t want the crows to get it or for it to end up in our oceans!
Thank you to everyone who was involved.
Asher and Neve
Environmental Team Leaders
Japanese Word of the Week
kimoi (キモい) = gross!
Kimoi is the shortened version kimochi warui which means “ The feeling is disgusting”. As we in Australia tend to shorten words so do they in Japan.
Brad Yaxley
Japanese Teacher
Story Dogs News
Coolum State School is very excited to be welcoming back our Story Dogs volunteers for 2024 to help our students with their reading. ‘Polley’ & Gail, ‘Raffa’ & Ev and ‘Rhett’ & Mel will be visiting every week to help our Year 2 classes with their reading.
The Story Dogs program partners with classroom teachers to help students with their reading.
Our 3 teams will each help the same 4 – 5 students each week. The students will come out of their classroom and sit one-on-one with these beautiful dogs and read to them. Polley, Raffa and Rhett love to listen and will not mind if the students make a few mistakes, they just want to have a fun time so that books and reading become a joyful experience.
Polley, Raffa and Rhett and their wonderful owners are now in their 3rd year of helping Coolum State School students and are super excited about starting back in 2024.
If you are interested in volunteering in this rewarding program, or you (or your business) would like to sponsor one of our wonderful dog teams, please contact Mel Jones on Melj@storydogs.org.au or visit www.storydogs.org.au.
Welcome back ‘Polley’ & Gail, ‘Raffa’ & Ev and ‘Rhett’ & Mel!
Student of the Week
P&C News
Come along to our brilliant family fun event, here at school on Sunday 17 March! It's going to be a great day with so much to entertain the whole family.
RideScore Active Schools
Do you live close to school?
- Does your child have a bike or scooter?
- Would you like your child to get an active, healthy and fun start to the day?
- Would you like a system that tells you automatically when they have arrived or left school?
If you answered YES to these questions, then RideScore is for you!
We are one of 11 Sunshine Coast schools that are enjoying RideScore Active Schools Program funded by councils Transport Levy.
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 will be open to students who are able to ride a bicycle or scooter to school.
Participating students receive a personal sensor (beacon) to attach to their bicycle or scooter. The school bicycle storage facility has a Bluetooth reader that detects the signal from the beacon and sends a notification to the nominated contact to inform them that the student has arrived at/or departed the school.
Each trip is recorded by the RideScore app, providing incentives when the students reach their milestones. Earn great prizes:
- 20 Trips – Mystery prize
- 70 Trips – Movie ticket
- 120 Trips – Bli Bli Aqua Park voucher
Activities will be planned throughout the school year to promote and encourage riding and scooting, including fun events and bicycle skills classes for all year 4 students.
This program was developed in 2022 with a Federal grant funding from the Move it AUS program, with the support of Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and Stockland.
How do I register?
Step 1 - Download the app (search ‘RideScore’), complete your registration details
Step 2 – Receive your sign on bag (posted within 1 week) that will include:
- Your child’s beacon & instructions on how to pair and fit
- A scorecard (your app will also keep a live score)
Step 3 – Start riding and scooting!
Visit the RideScore website for more information, great resources and safety tips.
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.
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 .
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.
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