3 March 2025

Date Claimers

Timetable for Maleny State School Swimming Program Term 1, 2025

Please Note: Swimming Invoices are now overdue.  If you have not already paid,  please make payment directly.  Should you have any invoice queries please see the School Office.  Thank you to those families that have already paid. 

Principal’s Report

Our Annual Improvement Plan Priorities are:

• Teaching Reading Through the Australian Curriculum V9
• Developing Effective Pedagogies when Implementing the Australian Curriculum V9 Mathematics

Parents Welcome - We Need Your Support this Year

We have so many wonderful, friendly, caring, helpful parents in our school, the more we can have join our P&C the richer our team will become.

It is crucial we have new parents come and join our P&C to ensure we continue the strong community feel within our school and continue to improve the experience of being a student/parent at Maleny State School. It is a great way to support your children’s education while at the same time getting to meet new parents and have fun helping to improve our school each year. Many of our long-term P&C members have moved on as their children are now in High School and we are at the stage that we need new parents to join our P&C.

P&C 2025 Annual General Meeting

P&C AGM Friday 14 March at 1:00 pm, followed by our General Meeting.

Please join us for our 2025 P&C AGM (online or in person) at 1:00pm on Friday 14 March in the Library. Vote in our Executive Officers and have your say!  The online link to this meeting will be sent separately closer to the time.

Young children are welcome (under parent supervision) with refreshments (tea, coffee, nibbles) available. 

We urge parents/caregivers, school staff, volunteers and citizens to become Members to help the P&C choose our Executive Officers and to provide ideas and  suggestions as to how the P&C can best raise funds, support and enhance our school to benefit our children. 

All Executive Positions will be declared vacant and nominations will be accepted.

If you are interested, please see John or Merrick to discuss. Support will be provided to anyone taking on any positions.

Renew or become a new Member today (it only takes 60 seconds online) to help enhance your child’s education and resources at Maleny SS.

Nominations are now open for our Executive Positions:

• President
• Vice Presidents
• Treasurer
• Assistant Treasurer
• Secretary 

Nominations for these positions will remain open and can be submitted to the Secretary, Erin Porter, either by email eport96@eq.edu.au  or in person.

Find a Frog in February

On the evening of Friday 21 February, 12 of our keen Year 6 scientists participated in the Find a Frog program in our lush rainforest. This is the third year Maleny State School has joined the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee and participation has given us a fascinating insight into the biodiversity that our special corner of Maleny has to offer. The students found 19 frogs – 11 Great Barred frogs and 8 Giant Barred frogs which are classed as vulnerable. Year on year, the number of frogs we’ve found has increased which is great news! We also saw a 2 metre long carpet snake cruising through the forest under the moonlight and a Regent Skipper butterfly who had kindly come down from her usual habitat in the canopy for our young botanists to examine. Thank you to Ollie from MRCCC for sharing an informative talk on frogs and his great frog spotting skills! A big thank you to Kate Stassen for organising this event.

Clean Up Our School Day

On Friday, a number of our classes helped to clear the weed Trad (‘Bad Trad’ as the kids nicknamed it) from our school rainforest along the walking path. This will allow the native grasses to grow.

Trad is an environmental weed that:

• forms dense mats that outcompete other plants including natives
• can contribute to flooding by clogging watercourses and drains
• sometimes known as ‘Wandering Dew’

Trad pictured below it is very easy to pull up and remove.

Dogs Prohibited in School Grounds

Thank you to all for complying with this directive, thankfully it has not been an issue in our school this year. Although I love dogs, please keep all of our children safe by not bringing your dog into our school grounds (this includes carrying cute fluffy dogs in your arms or pram).

Be aware that the only exception to this rule is for therapy/guidance dogs where permission has been granted, (we have one therapy dog in our school where this currently applies) or preorganised controlled teaching opportunities.

Have a Magic Week in Maleny.
John 

From the Deputy Principal

Information about NAPLAN

This March, students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 will take part in NAPLAN testing. NAPLAN assesses the skills of all students in reading, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and numeracy. The school’s testing schedule was printed in the previous Familygram.

NAPLAN tests help you to understand how your child is progressing in the fundamental skills of literacy and numeracy. NAPLAN is also an important tool in helping us to identify how our education programs are working and what needs to improve.

You might hear your child talking about NAPLAN.

When your child comes home from school, they might mention NAPLAN. They might talk about NAPLAN activities they have done in class, including practice tests.

Students don’t need to practise for NAPLAN. But we do want your child to be familiar with:

• the online test environment
• the device they’ll use during the test
• the different kinds of questions, how they use their time and how they check their work.

So, when your child talks about practice tests, they’re talking about resources like the NAPLAN public demonstration site. This site helps students to become familiar with the different kinds of questions they will see in a real NAPLAN test.

Your child’s welfare is the most important thing.

We do these activities to help your child feel safe, confident and capable. They will know what to expect and what they have to do. Students do not need to stress about NAPLAN. It’s just one part of their school program, and we simply encourage students to do the best they can.

NAPLAN is for everyone.

Across the country, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in NAPLAN. The online tests have many features to enhance the test experience for students with and without disability. We also provide adjustments and alternative test formats to allow students with disability to access the tests and show what they know and can do. Talk to our SEP team to learn more.

Have a go at the test yourself and contact us if you need to know more.

See what NAPLAN will be like for your child by visiting the public demonstration site. Find out more by visiting the department’s NAPLAN page for parents and carers.

ACARA’s student privacy notice on the collection of student information for NAPLAN is also available.

If you have any other questions about NAPLAN, please contact myself on 5499 8333.

We are excited that your child gets the chance to show their learning in NAPLAN this year.

Paula Heiniger
Deputy Principal

Dental Van Visit

Dear Parents/Guardians

The Queensland Health School Dental Service is now offering free dental care to all children from Prep to Year 6 at Maleny State School. Appointments will be held at the Dental Van located at Maleny State School.

Services provided include but are not limited to:

• Check up and clean
• X-rays
• Fluoride treatment
• Fillings and dental crowns on baby teeth
• Extractions
• Referrals where needed

If you haven’t already done so, and you would like to arrange an appointment for your child/children please complete the attached consent form (see link below) and drop to the School Office or email to sc-nam-schooldental@health.qld.gov.au.

The clinic will call you to arrange an appointment once paperwork is processed.

Ellke Jones
Oral Health Therapist
Oral Health Service | Sunshine Coast Health

P:  0419 736 942
E:  ellke.jones@health.qld.gov.au
W: http://www.health.qld.gov.au/sunshinecoast 

Contact Details – Do we have your most up to date contact details?

There are times when we may need to contact parents and carers. Do we have your most up to date contact details?  If not, please contact the school on 5499 8333 so we can update our records. These details include parent/carers’ name, address, phone numbers, email address and emergency contact details. Please remember to contact the school if any of these details change.

Students of the Week

PBL (Positive Behaviour Learning)

Be Rule -   Be a Learner
Buzz Phrase – “Learn to Listen, Listen to Learn”

Our new PBL focus for weeks 5 and 6 is a “Be a Learner” rule. “Learn to Listen, Listen to Learn” helps students really focus on their learning as we start to unpack the learning goals for the term.

This means:

• I use whole body listening – posture, eyes, mouth, hands.
• I listen without interrupting.
• I raise my hand if I have a question or don’t understand, but I wait until the person speaking has finished.
• I wait for people who are speaking to stop before I join in.
• I actively listen to what others are saying so I can understand and comment on what they are saying rather than thinking about what I am going to say next.
• I am silent in a group when someone is speaking and my eyes are on the speaker.
• I do not engage in side-conversations when someone is speaking.

PBL Team

Years 4A & 4B

WHAT A GREAT START TO OUR YEAR!

We have had a wonderful time getting to know each other and establishing our routines.  Thank you to all the parents who made it in for our Parent Interviews, it was a pleasure to meet with you and to feel a part of the team to make this year a happy one for your children.

In English we have been investigating a variety of Imaginative texts and sharing our ideas and opinions.  Over the last two weeks we have started focusing on short films where the students are learning to write a film review that incorporates subjective language (opinions), topic specific vocabulary that is commonly used in a review and how to use descriptive and persuasive language features.  We have watched some entertaining short films and are learning to identify and share our opinions on the message being delivered.  We especially enjoyed watching ‘The Box’, as we identified the message that no matter what age you are how important it is to be kind.  We also watched ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan which showed us the importance to take time noticing the little things around us and the importance of being different.  Everyone loved creating their own ‘Lost Things’. 

4B have also been using a Witness Box to look at different perspectives in stories to help us form opinions on character actions.  We have witnessed some very funny role playing!

In Mathematics we are learning about symmetry, map reading and writing, and following directions using a compass.

In HASS we have started focusing on exploration of the world and the motivation for countries to expand their empires.  Last week we tracked Captain James Cook’s expedition to Tahiti to map the Transit of Venus and then on to New Zealand and finally mapping the East Coast of Australia.  During our research we have talked about the impact of his exploration on the people who lived in those countries before he arrived. 

In Science we have thoroughly enjoyed looking at different types of rocks and how rocks are grouped into three groups; sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. We have even had some children share their rock and crystal collections.  We have also looked at soils and completed some investigations like the squeeze test and shake test.  After completing our observations, we decided our three soil types were: clay loam, loam and sandy loam.

This semester we are also working on Media Arts and students will create a persuasive PowerPoint promoting our school rainforest for prospective parents and new students.  Last week we completed a senses chart of what we noticed on our walk through the rainforest and had to write these observations in a descriptive phrase that could be used in our PowerPoint.  On Friday we started taking photos in small groups of things that would interest others and show how beautiful our Rainforest actually is.  Last Friday was “Clean up Australia Day” and we spent time removing TRAD (a weed) from the path throughout the rainforest walk.  We are learning to distinguish TRAD from a very important native grass.

In 4B, Gwobbie, our class mascot, is having a ball visiting different families and taking part in short movies and photo shoots.  We are enjoying showing our ideas to the rest of the class.

Kind Regards
Lou Walsh & Trish Mackay (4B) , Caroline Hartley (4A)

Innovation Centre News

Book Club

Hi Maleny State School Families

Your child should have received our first Book Club catalogue from their teachers.  These catalogues are distributed once per term and all orders (no matter how small) generate Scholastic Rewards which allow us to order free books and resources for Maleny State School. 

Orders are distributed directly to your child during school.  If you wish to keep your order for a special occasion, then please select the GIFT option when ordering.  You will then be contacted directly once the order arrives and pick-up can be arranged from the office or library without your child being aware!

Please log on to scholastic.com.au/LOOP OR download the LOOP app to place your order. 

(Previously issued Book Club credit vouchers can be used towards payment).

*** ORDERS DUE – FRIDAY 21 MARCH ***
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT NO CASH ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Thanks
Kerri – Book Club Co-ordinator

War on Waste

An Outstanding and Committed Garden Club

I’m so thrilled with the positivity of our new Garden Club members this year.  Everyone worked hard to weed all the garden beds and prepare them for planting our new seedlings.

Our Year 5 girls have been excellent role models for our Year 4’s and have shown great leadership in teaching them how to organise and empty our compost bins in all areas of the school.

The Garden Club members are now planting and mulching the garden beds and they prepared Kale Chips for the 4B class to enjoy for mindfulness.

Our basil is looking amazing, the tomatoes are growing very well and we have even found some blueberries growing on our blueberry bush.

We have had some exciting news on several grants which we will share with you in the next edition of the Familygram when everything has been approved.

I must also mention how impressed I am to see when I am on my duty in the Year 3 area that so many students are bringing NUDE food lunch boxes to school and helping to reduce plastic in our landfill. BRAVO!!!!

Many thanks to all the classes who came down to the school rainforest and cleaned out so much TRAD for Clean Up Australia Day.  A special thank you also to Chappy Chris for helping out the students and giving up her time to clean up our Rainforest.  What a great effort and our native grass can now spread out further and keep the weeds away.  Well done everyone, a truly wonderful school effort!

Kind Regards
Lou Walsh

Chappy News

Random or Planned

Recently it was ‘Random Acts of Kindness Week’.  The school staff were showing and shown kindness by little gifts, encouraging messages and yummy treats.  Some of our teachers received beautiful home-grown bunches of flowers from our students and their families.   Research has proven that showing kindness increases the giver’s social and emotional well-being. It can actually release serotonin, our feel-good chemical.  Research also suggests that an act of kindness can not only impact the giver and the receiver, but it also can have a ripple effect to those around, that is, enhancing their mood also and increasing the likelihood of those onlookers carrying out further kindness themselves. 

When I was growing up, I was always taught the golden rule, that is to treat others as you would like to be treated.  Mum often reminded me and my sister of this, and I personally am glad that she did.  It started as a suggestion but became part of my moral code.  Since coming to Maleny State School, I have observed so many students, staff and families treating others with respect, kindness and compassion.  Sometimes these acts have been random, sometimes these acts have been planned.  We like to have our celebration days to honour different people of our school community, such as World Teachers Day, Teacher Aide Day, etc.  These are planned weeks in advance and have many special gifts and messages for the receivers. However, walking around the school, I have also observed lots of students carrying out random acts of kindness, students saying kind words to each other, students using social inclusion skills, students offering to assist teachers, etc. 

Whether random or planned, kindness has benefits for the whole community.  I would like to encourage you to continue to carry out random and/or planned acts of kindness.  Maybe you can start a kindness suggestion box or list as a family activity.  It might be a discussion for the dinner table, that is, how did you show kindness to someone today? Let’s continue to teach our children the benefits and rewards of kindness.

Chappy’s quote for the week “So in everything you do, do to others what you would have them do to you” - Jesus

Chappy Chris

P & C News

P&C 2025 Annual General Meeting @ 1.00pm in the Library, followed by our General Meeting.

Mewar Café (Tuckshop)

Opening Hours

Mewar Café will be open Tuesday, Thursday & Friday:

• 8:30am to 12:00pm (first meal break only)

My School Connect

Orders can be made on the online ordering system My School Connect.

• Online orders close at 8:30am each morning.
• Snacks, drinks and frozen items can be purchased over the counter.

When ordering, please ensure that you see the GREEN THUMB screen and receive an order confirmation email.  This notes that your order has been successfully submitted and will be sent to our service.

Several times each week, we still have upset children turning up at the final bell for 1st Break looking for their 'missing' orders.  We need all the preparation time from 8:30am to 11:00am (when the first bell for 1st Break rings) to have every order ready for collection.  It is not possible to prepare fresh or cooked meals during 1^st Break.

Please ensure there are sufficient credits in your child's account so that they can purchase items from our Counter Menu in the event that their online order was not successfully completed or that they have forgotten to bring their lunch to school.  We don't want to see any child go hungry!

Our current menu is available on the P&C website. 

Thank you for your support and any casual or recurrent volunteering will make a big difference to our committed Team!

Volunteers - If you can help please contact Mewar Café

For instructions, support and to learn more, visit Mewar Café.

Feedback is welcome to improve our service and menu items.  You are welcome to visit the Mewar Café to talk to one of our team or send an email to:  tuckshop@malenyss.eq.edu.au

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop's regular hours are Friday mornings between 8.30am and 9.00am. Payment options are EFTPOS or cash at the uniform shop only. Alternatively, orders can be placed online via the link below by 5pm Wednesday for Friday pickup or class delivery.

If you have one hour per month that you may be able to help us out in the Uniform Shop please contact the office on 5499 8333.  Open from 8:30-9:00am on Fridays, bring along a friend and be part of our happy team.

From the Office

Payments

Payments can be made by any of the following methods.

1. Directly into our bank account noting the invoice number, initial and surname of the student for whom you are paying. Our Bank account details are:
   BSB: 064-462    Account Number: 10080359
2. Credit card using the bPoint reference number that is located on the bottom left-hand side of your invoice. Credit card payments can also be made in person at the office.
3. Cash and cheque can be made by placing the cheque/correct change in a payment envelope and depositing it into the drop-safe in the office. Please ensure that the envelope is sealed so the cash does not fall out.  Please write the student’s name, class, amount enclosed and what the payment is for, clearly on the envelope. 

Office Hours are 8.00am to 4.00pm on Monday to Friday

Community News

Please see the link below to the Maleny Sports and Rec Maleny Events Calendar

You can keep updated with Maleny Community News and the Maleny Local Shopper at the  NEW link: 

P&C’s Qld - Click through to view their most recent editions of Parent Talk -