Term 2 Week 6

Principal's Report

This week is FANFARE week!! This week we celebrate all those students who have been busy practising their instruments and working as teams to show case their talents before the adjudicators to gain valuable feedback on their performances.  We have a fantastic music program here at Coolum State School led by Mrs Mackay, Ms Russell, Mrs Guest and Ms Anderson. Music can benefit your child in many areas – language, maths, concentration and social skills, just to name a few! So whether or not your child learns a musical instrument, try to expose your child to music as much as possible and enjoy the many benefits!

Brain growth

Studies in neuroscience show that music can enhance brain function in children. Musical activities (such as playing an instrument, singing or just listening to music) stimulate the brain, and this brain workout leads to improved brain structure with the formation of new neural connections.

Language skills

Studies also show that young children who participate in music classes have improved speech development and learn to read more easily. Learning music helps to develop the left side of the brain (related to language and reasoning), assists with sound recognition, and teaches rhythm and rhyme. Songs can also help children remember information (just think of the Alphabet song!).

Maths skills

Music can help with the development of maths skills. By listening to musical beats your child can learn basic fractions, pattern-recognition and problem solving. Children who study music also have improved spatial intelligence and ability to form mental pictures of objects – skills that are important for more advanced mathematics.

Memory, attention and concentration

Recent studies have shown that people who are musically trained have better working memory skills, helping them to remember things even while their minds are busy with other matters – important aspects of mental arithmetic and reading comprehension. Learning music also requires significant levels of concentration, training children to focus their attention for sustained periods.

Increased coordination

Just like playing sports, playing and dancing to music helps children develop their motor skills. Making music involves more than the voice or fingers; you also use ears and eyes, as well as large and small muscles, all at the same time. This helps the body and the mind work together.

Achievement and discipline

Learning music teaches children to work towards short-term goals, develop routine and practice self-discipline.  Setting aside regular time for practice develops commitment and patience. Mastering a new piece of music leads to a sense of pride and achievement, and helps children to learn the value of self-discipline.

Social skills

Making music with other people (like in a band or choir) improves children’s social and emotional skills.  They learn to work together as a team and develop their sense of empathy with others. Researchers have found that when children play music together – from simple rhythms to larger group performances – they are better able to tune into other people’s emotions.

The joy of music

Music can give children a way to express themselves, to unleash their creativity, to be inspired and uplifted, to relax, and to relieve stress and tension. Just think about listening to a beautiful piece of classical music, singing along to a favourite song with friends, or dancing to a great song on the radio – music can make your heart sing!

Music for life

With all these benefits, try to expose your child to music as much as possible – listen to music together, sing songs, play rhythm games, go to concerts or make your own instruments together. Your local library, community centre or music society may offer music programs for kids. If your child wants to learn a musical instrument, your options may include a school music program, private music teachers, and group music activities such as choirs, recorder groups and bands.

Anthony Ryan
Principal

Dig Into Reading

This Dig Into Reading article takes a look at systematic synthetic phonics which is a current evidence-based approach to explicitly teaching children to read.

Your child will be explicitly taught to read at school using an approach called systematic synthetic phonics. This approach teaches children how sounds and letters link together to form words that we can read and write. It provides students with a reliable strategy for decoding unknown words and discourages guessing.

What does the term systematic synthetic phonics mean?

• Phonics is the understanding that letters and letter combinations represent speech sounds.
• Systematic means that letters and sounds are taught in a planned order.
• Synthetic refers to the process of synthesising or blending the sounds and letters to decode (read) words, and the segmenting or pulling apart of sounds and letters to encode (spell) words.

Using a systematic synthetic phonics approach, children are taught the letter-sound correspondences that represent all 44 sounds in English, gradually, over time. Students are first taught the most common and consistent letter-sound correspondences (for example: the letter ‘b’ in ‘ball’; the letter ‘v’ in ‘van’) before being taught the less common alternative letter-sound combinations (for example: the many ways we can represent the sound ‘ay’ — bay, break, tail, sleigh and so on).

Your child will practise their word reading skills by using decodable texts. Decodable texts contain only the letter-sound correspondences that your child has already learned. They may also contain some high-frequency words that the teacher has taught simultaneously.

Decodable texts are important for beginning and struggling readers as they provide immediate practise of their new skills in segmenting and blending, and their understanding of letter-sound correspondences, to build automaticity, fluency and confidence.

Once children have read words by blending the sounds together many times, they may remember the word and be able to recognise it immediately by ‘sight’. Over time, children will be able to recognise many words without decoding them.

News from Prep G

In Prep G we have been busy learning about Australian animals including their appearance, habitat, diet and interesting facts.  We also had our parade performance on Friday where we dressed up as our special animal dancing and singing to “Follow the animals”.

Our Mother’s Day Morning was fabulous and everyone enjoyed being pampered in the Prep G classroom!

Here are some of the highlights from our special morning and also some memories from Mother’s Day!:

Ella:  “I baked cookies with my mum.”

Bryce:  “Putting on orange nail polish.”

Amalfi:  “Doing my mums hair.”

Hudson:  “We went to the beach with mummy.”

Elijah:  “Painting my mum’s nails.”

Kara:  “Doing mummy’s make up.”

Sunny:  “Massaging mum.”

Liam:  “Painting mums nails.”

Dorathy:  “We got our mum a picnic rug.”

Luna:  “I liked doing mummy’s make up.”

Poppy:  “Cooking a biscuit and painting my nans nails.”

Otis:  “Massaging my mum.”

Alfie:  “Making the cookies.”

Zelda:  “I did my mums nail polish aqua and purple.”

Charlotte:  “Making a crown.”

Ameliah:  “Massaging my mummy.”

Jaxson:  “Make a cookie with Nanny.”

Patrick:  “She let me have two cookies (my nanny).”

Tommy:  ‘Making and eating the cookies.”

Efrosyni:  “Me and mum watched a love heart movies.”

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2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge

We are delighted to invite all Coolum State School students to join in the 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC).

The PRC is a way to encourage students to develop a love of reading for life. Students are encouraged to select a range of fiction and non-fiction books suited to their reading ability and record books read during the reading period, from 7 May to 23 August. Attached is copy of the reader record form to tally books read throughout the challenge. You are welcome to return more than one tally sheet if your child is able to read more than the required number of books to complete the challenge. 

To complete the challenge:

• Prep to Year 2 must read or experience at least 20 books
• Years 3 and 4 must read at least 20 books
• Years 5 to 9 must read at least 15 books.

Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim for the 2024 challenge is to encourage students to make time to read. Last year saw more than 110,000 children from around the state participate.

Every student who completes the challenge, and returns the completed record reader form, will receive a Certificate of Achievement.

To make it extra fun, we have some special Coolum State School prizes. There will be a prize for:

• the class that reads the most books
• the top individual reader from each year level
• the top reader of the whole school.

As a treat this year, all students can earn five spirit points for their house team with every sheet that is signed and handed in.   

If your child wishes to participate in the PRC, please return the completed record reader form to your class teacher by 26 August 2024.

Terms and Conditions: https://readingchallenge.education.qld.gov.au/how-to-register/terms-and-conditions

Happy reading!

Susan Gers
PRC Coordinator

Japanese Word of the Week

Omakase de (お任せで) – Used to order chef’s recommendation (often for sushi)

If you’re a passionate sushi enthusiast, you probably already know the meaning of omakase.

When you tell a chef omakase de, you’re letting them know that you’re placing the meal in their hands. Especially for travellers’ with adventurous palates, this is the best way to experience a meal at traditional sushi restaurant.

However, the phrase is not only used at sushi restaurants, and can often be used at other types of establishments as well.

Brad Yaxley
Japanese Teacher

Interschool Chess Tournament

Last Monday, Sunshine Coast Grammar School hosted this years Individual Age Championship Chess Tournament. 297 students came together to battle to be a chess champion.  One thing is certain, chess is not an easy game. Chess has been played since 1600 A.D. and it requires clear thinking, patience and plenty of resilience. If you win, it’s a wonderful feeling but if you lose, like other sports, it’s tough.

Our team was made up of students in the under 8, under 10 and under 12 categories and each student faced 7 individual games of chess. Their behaviour was exemplary and even when faced with a loss they pulled themselves back up, took a deep breath and tried again. They should all be very proud of themselves. It was a fun day and as Ryan said, “I can’t wait till next year!”

If you would like play chess in school you can join us for a game in the LOTE room on Tuesdays at second break

P&C News

RECOGNISING OUR P&C VOLUNTEERS

This week we would like to publicly thank our Tuckshop volunteers, our P&C Executive and everyone who volunteers with our P&C for the tireless work they do - they are truly amazing.

We acknowledge and appreciate your dedicated service and contribution to building a strong, sustainable and successful P&C to support Coolum State School community and give every child every chance in education and life.

BOOK CLUB 

Look out for the latest issue in your child's bag. Order deadline is 5 June.

Student of the Week

Plastic Free Tuesday Champions

Thank you everyone for getting on board with our challenge to rid our school’s lunch boxes of plastic. Last Tuesday 848 lunchboxes were checked.

• 67% had no single use plastic in them at all!
• 23% only contained one or two pieces of plastic wrapping or single use plastics.
• Which means only 10% of our lunchboxes contained lots of plastic.

Well-done Coolum, that’s a great start! Who are our inaugural class champions you ask?

• Our Junior Champions are the fabulous Prep R
• Our Senior Champions are the dedicated 3D

It was very close with only a couple of points separating our winners from other classes

So, what next?  We would like you to keep working on reducing plastic in your lunchboxes and maintaining the excellent start your class has made. Next term we will have two ‘Plastic Free Tuesdays’. Then, in term four, our Environmental Teams goal is to have every Tuesday as a ‘Plastic Free Challenge Day’.

If you have any ideas that might help others to reduce the need for plastic packaging in their lunchboxes, please share them with us. Maybe you have a fabulous recipe of items that don’t need wrapping at all, send them into school care of the Environmental Team.

And remember, if you want to use foil you can. It can be recycled but the piece of foil needs to be the size of a small ball before it can go in the recycling bin. Keep your pieces together and roll them into a ball until it is big enough.

Together we can make a difference.

RideScore Active Schools

Register Now

Do you live close to school?

1. Does your child have a bike or scooter?
2. Would you like your child to get an active, healthy and fun start to the day?
3. 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.