Term 2 Week 4 -

Principal's Report

Dear Coolum Community,

I hope that you have all been staying dry during this persistent rain! Thank you for your patience and understanding during weather events like the rain that we had this week.

This fortnight I have a few messages to keep you all informed and up-to-date:

Bus Expectations:

Unfortunately throughout the term, we have had reports of students missing the bus or not getting on the bus in a safe and calm manner. This is due to the fact that many students are playing afterschool (sometimes in unsupervised areas on their way to the bus). We have asked all students who catch the bus in the afternoon to head straight down to the bus area to line up and wait for their bus. This way the staff members on duty are able to make sure that students get on the bus and home safely.

Pick-up zone Expectations:

At the end of the school day, many students are collected from the pick-up zone outside the front of our school on School Road. This area is a ‘pick-up and go’ area, not a ‘park and get out’ area. The front of our school is a very busy place so we rely on parents supporting us with this process. If you use this area, can you please make sure that you drive up as far forward as you can, and when your car has stopped, your children will be released from the gate to go to your car. When students just leave and run to cars out of order, the movement of cars is not safe and predictable and becomes an unsafe risk for our students. Students are reminded to stay in the school grounds until they are advised to leave by a staff member. Again, students should be lining up, looking for their car, not playing games in this time.

Medication Procedures:

It is sometimes necessary for a child to have prescribed medication while at school. Medication will only be administered under the following conditions:

▪ only doctor prescribed medication can be administered.

▪ the medication must be sent to school in the original container with pharmacist’s label intact (with Doctor’s name on the label)

▪ the parent will be asked to sign a ‘Consent to Administer Medication Form’ stating time and dosage for medication

▪ no out-of-date medication will be administered

▪ no over the counter medications or natural therapy medications can be given without written Doctor ‘Medication Order Form’. This includes Asthma Puffer Ventolin.

If you child’s medication changes or ceases, this information also needs to be provided to the school office. Parents will be required to come into the office, complete the paperwork to reflect changes and then take any unused medication. The school cannot store medication that is not currently being administered on school site.

In our busy world, communication is key. Please make sure that you direct any questions, queries and conversations regarding medication to our front office team.

Wheelchair Access Support:

Our school, through our P&C applied for a Gambling Community Benefit Fund Grant at the end of last year to support the accessibility needs of some of our students who use wheelchairs. This equipment is sometimes very expensive for families and schools and when we go on excursions and activities outside of school, the ground can become uneven, making access to activities difficult. We were successful with the grant application and Dan Purdie MP came to our school to present us with a cheque for $33,472.01! These funds will be used to purchase an ‘all-terrain’ wheelchair for our students to use. Also, check out the great work Coolum SS is doing around inclusion and making our students in wheelchairs feel supported and part of our community!

https://www.myweeklypreview.com.au/news/sporting-change-at-inclusivity/

Have a great fortnight and look forward to seeing you around the school!

Take care,

Shannyn

Deputy Principal's Report

Term 2 is definitely moving along quickly as we enter week 4.

The focus for the main units in the upper years this term is Speaking and Listening.  Both year levels have these tasks. The students are quickly learning that much of the work in a speech is in the preparation of it and both year levels are diligently working on ‘writing’ their speech before they ‘present’ it.

Year 5 - Students will plan and present a ‘BTN’ report for Year 5 students to share ideas and opinions about the management of Australia’s environment

Year 6 - To create and present a persuasive proposal for a business idea for Barnes Lane to the local council.  This is a great unit where the students offer excellent business ideas for the development of our neighbouring land.

I have spoken to many of the classes over the last fortnight about treating everyone, including peers, respectfully.  Our classrooms should be places where everyone feels safe, respected, and included. We have discussed how sometimes, what we say and act can really affect our friends so be very careful and considerate of everyone’s feelings. It's important to work together as a team, solve problems calmly, and show understanding when someone makes a mistake. By following these simple rules, the class can be a happy and friendly environment where everyone can learn together.

The year 5s have their first UPP (Unleashing Personal Potential) day on Monday. It’s always a great day where we begin looking at developing leadership skills in a fun and interactive way. The UPP day will take place in the Pat Cavanagh Centre (The School Hall).

For the Year 6 parents, a reminder that there is a Parent Information session at Coolum State High School on Monday May 26, 4:30-5:30pm.

Also remember to put the following in your calendar:

Senior Athletics Carnival is planned for Wednesday June 26.

Terry O’Brien

Deputy Principal – Years 5 and 6

Deputy Principal's Report

We have had a couple of really wet weeks, which can be extremely frustrating for our students and staff. On particularly wet days, students have to stay inside their classrooms at breaks due to safety issues. Our Health, Safety and Wellbeing team meet to assess the weather conditions. We look at the oval conditions and also the amount of water on the playgrounds and pathways to determine if it is safe for everybody to move around the school. We love to send our students out to expend some energy, as well as give teachers time to have a break and plan for the next session, however the safety of students and staff is still our number one priority. I am normally the one who has to announce this decision, so at the moment I am probably the most unpopular person in the school.

Thank you for those who had to drive through the flood on school road on Thursday to collect students. It certainly was a patience test. We were able to get all cars through the water without any major incidents. The council have fixed the problem, so hopefully next time the traffic will flow a bit smoother.  

5K News

How fast the year has already flown. It feels like only yesterday that I started this journey with an amazing group of students. They have already shown how much they value each other and their learning by engaging in all manner of extra curriculum interests. As always, our term one was jammed to the rafters with activities. NAPLAN took up a week of our time just after Cyclone Alfred was supposed to arrive. Thankfully we were able to see the cyclone off and move to the highlight of term one, Camp. Our three-day camp took us of to Currimundi Sport and Rec. It was fantastic to witness students becoming involved.

Student of the Week

Dough Raiser

CDC Queensland Bus information

Ride Score

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.