19 February 2019

Newsletter Articles

Date Claimers

Principals Report

Maleny State School Focus 2019:

Our primary focus this year is WRITING – with a specific focus on Grammar.

This year we will continue to focus on writing utilising the skills of our literacy coach Brent Heiniger to assist teachers and students. All students will have an individual writing grammar/punctuation goal set by their teachers and we encourage parents to talk to teachers to find out how they can assist their children to improve their writing skills.

Leaders Induction Ceremony

Congratulations to all of our year six students who received leadership badges last week. I look forward to an exciting year ahead with the assistance of our year 6 leaders. All year six students received a senior’s badge, as we see, and expect all of our senior students to act as role models for our younger students. A big thank you to our local Federal Member Mr Andrew Wallace, State Member Mr Andrew Powell, Maleny State High School Principal Deb Stewart and Deputy Principal David O’Shea who assisted along with P&C President Merrick Ilett to present students with their badges.

It was also great to have past student Dylan one of the Maleny State High School Captains at our presentation and to address students with an inspiring speech on Leadership. A big thank you to Mrs Heiniger, Mr Corkin, Mrs Back and Mrs Rapley for all their organisation and efforts to ensure this was a successful event.

Attendance

Research clearly identifies the relationship that in general, the higher the attendance rate of students, the higher will be their academic achievement. Our goal attendance for students is 95% for the year. All students achieving an attendance rate of 95% or above will receive a special attendance certificate each Term. Each week on assembly we celebrate classes that have high attendance rates and winning weekly classes are displayed on our Star Attendance wall in the office. Five random students that have achieved 100% attendance for the week are drawn out on parade and awarded a tuckshop voucher each week.

Next P&C AGM Meeting Wednesday 13 March – We Need You!

Thank you to the 15 parents that attended the first P&C meeting of the year last Wednesday. We looked at the 2019 School’s Annual Improvement Plan, parent concerns around the future proposed service station across form the school, enhancements to 2020 Welcome Banquet, upcoming fundraising events, eating times for students, funding sources for a Year 1 to 3 playground and a number of other points of interest. New parents are welcome and encouraged to attend as each year we have parents that leave us as their children move on to High School. This year is no different, we will certainly miss some of our long serving members that no longer have children at our school. We would love to see many more faces come along to our meetings to ensure that our P&C is truly representative of our whole school parent body.

Absentee Line SMS

If your child is absent from school for any reason please call the absentee line before 9:00am. Once all rolls are marked and absentee line calls are processed, an SMS message will be sent to parents advising that your child is absent (unexplained) and asking you to respond to the SMS or to call us immediately to explain the absence. This is a safety measure and a mandatory practice of all schools. Thank you for you cooperation. If parents don’t use the absentee line this can be a huge job and ties up staff unnecessarily.

Parent Teacher Interviews (Yrs 1-6)

This week we encourage all parents to take up the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher and inform the teacher about your child and how they learn best (e.g. what they are good at, interests, motivators, special needs or considerations, medical issues, social abilities, academic challenges, behaviour). Teachers will be able to briefly communicate how your child is settling in and inform you if there are any early concerns noted. A second interview will be held late in Term 2 where teachers will do the majority of talking giving parents more detailed and explicit information around how your child is progressing academically, behaviourally and socially at school. You will also receive your child’s Semester One report around this time.

Note: Parents are welcome to meet with their child’s teacher at any stage throughout the year, please ensure you make an appointment beforehand with the teacher to enable this to be a productive meeting.

Email: Ensure you have your teacher’s email address to further facilitate parent / teacher communication and ensure they have yours.

Swimming Carnival Success

It was great to see so many students participating in last Wednesday’s swimming carnival and parent support on the day was very impressive on such a hot day. I congratulate students on their behaviour for the day which was excellent. A huge thank you to our PE Teacher Mr Shane Turner on his organisational skills along with all staff that assisted before, during and after. If your child is interested in furthering their swimming skills or looking for a fun club to be in, look no further than the Maleny Swimming Club. Also, a big Thank-you to all parents who volunteered as officials on the day. Congratulations to those talented swimmers who have made it to the District Trials this week.

School Volunteers and RE volunteers

Last Wednesday we held a number of meetings for those wishing to volunteer within the school. Jodie Kyte ran an induction program for all adults wishing to volunteer within the school discussing the role of volunteers, the Code of Conduct, Asbestos Awareness and Student Protection. A big thank you to all parents and community members in attendance. If you missed it you are still welcome to assist and volunteer in classes. Please see your child’s teacher or Miss Kyte. All volunteers are required to undertake professional learning and awareness of school processes. If you missed the face to face sessions hardcopies of this information is available for you to access. Paula Heiniger our Deputy Principal also conducted an induction program for all of our religious instruction teachers.

SWPBL (School Wide Positive Behaviour Learning)

Our school is a Positive Behaviour Learning School. This means we teach our children what our rules and routines expectations are and reward them for meeting or exceeding these expectations. The more we can catch children doing the right thing and praise them for it the more likely we will see that behaviour repeated. Now that’s a win / win for all. Try it at home. Ensure you praise behaviours you wish to see (explicitly name them, e.g. I love the way you are talking to your sister.) many more times (4 to 1) than using corrective statements (that at times also need to be used). Try keeping count of these for a day to see how you are going. It is quite a challenge. But it works.

Drop Off / Pick up Zone

To ease traffic congestion I ask that parents using the 2 parking bay zone outside the Prep building (just before the crossing) DO NOT LEAVE their car. This will allow a quick turnaround in this area and benefit all. Parents leaving their car do cause frustration for other parents wishing to use this area.

It is important if your children are being picked up from this area they are:

1. There on time otherwise you will need to do a lap of the block and return.
2. Sit or stand next to the fence and not on the walkway.
3. Are alert and watching for parent’s car.

Tuckshop – Join a special group of Maleny Volunteers

Please consider joining possibly the happiest group in the school at the tuckshop. We desperately need new people to come forward. Even if you can only spend the first hour after drop off we have the ideal job for you. Please see Gunnar at the tuckshop or give the office a call if you can assist. Your children will love you for it.

Have a Great Week. John

From the Deputy Principal

Please help us show a good example to our students

The safety of our students is important and we remind our students to cross the road at the crossing and ride their bikes/scooters on the footpaths. We would love it if our parents are also able to be good role models and model these behaviours, we want to keep you safe as well!

After school playground safety

No students should be playing on ovals or playground equipment after school. Teachers are unavailable to do playground duties after school to prevent accidents occurring and to keep our children safe. We also ask that parents assist us in ensuring that children are not playing on the equipment or the ovals after school.

Individual Writing Goals

Research shows us that one of the largest impacts on student improvement is being able to set individual learning goals and track progress. This year across the school from Prep through to year 6 students will be setting individual writing goals, either around Punctuation or Grammar. Punctuation is the marks, such as full stops, commas, and brackets, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and help us to clarify meaning. Proficient writers can use these to great effect to enhance their writing so the reader is captivated. Grammar is the way in which words are put together to form proper sentences.

Students from year 1 up will use either a punctuation or grammar ladder to determine what their goal will be and will record their goal on their ‘My Learning Goal’ sheet, these sheets will be glued in their writing exercise books. Prep use a Punctuation Strip. Ask your child about their writing goal!

Religious Instruction Program will begin in Week 5: The following snippet is from the RI co-ordinator

If you do not want your child to participate in Religious Instruction lessons please put this request in writing and drop off at the Office.

Reading and Writing Workshop for Parents of students in Prep/Year 1:

Last week I held a workshop for parents of students in prep and year 1 on helping your child with Reading and Writing at home. A number of participants who attended the workshop enquired about having a copy of the powerpoint to refer back to. Please click on the link below to access this information.

Paula Heiniger – Deputy Principal

P & C News

The P&C meeting to open the year this week was well attended and it was great to welcome new members. There was some focused discussion on funding avenues - vital discussion as we have committed $65,000 in spending for the school in 2019, the bulk of which ($35K) is for new computers. Additional amounts have been budgeted for LED TVs ($9 K), playground equipment ($9K), additional Teacher Aide hours ($6K) and Year 6 camp ($5K). You can see from this list children at all year levels will benefit from the P&C financial commitment to the school, and your support in raising these funds is greatly appreciated.

I had the pleasure of attending the Year 6 Leadership Parade this year and was impressed by the commitment of the students to lead by example in their final year. Congratulations to the Captains of Music, Sport, House and School and to members of the Student Council and best wishes to students in their final year at MSS.

Parents may be aware of the proposed fuel station and food outlets immediately outside the school. The P&C has previously shared safety concerns regarding this proposed development with State and Local governments, and continues to express those concerns. Parents and members of the school community who share those concerns are encouraged to visit the community-based site No-Fuel-Opposite-Our-School-EVER on Facebook for more information.

Finally, thanks to those families and staff who were able to attend the P&C Welcome Banquet last week. It was a great opportunity to meet other parents and teachers, and for the kids to run amok on the oval and play equipment. Thanks to staff for your time in attending and helping with the event, to parents who brought a plate, and to the parent volunteers for cooking up a storm.

Merrick Ilett
P&C President

Chappy News – Playing

Just recently I have been thinking about how little time I spend playing with my children and enjoying their company. There are so many commitments and pressures that the average family deals with on a daily basis that so often the simple and wonderful things are forgotten. I realised again over the weekend just how important it is to keep connecting with my children and playing with them. It can look as simple as having a wrestle with them, or playing a board game or even more powerfully…just hugging them for a long time and letting them know you are available for them. I had a very intense wrestling match with my son which I know is one of his favourite things to do with me. And then the longest hug on my bed with my daughter made her feel so loved and appreciated. Every child is different but find that “thing” to do with your child and experience the blessing it not only brings them, but yourself also. Slowing down and prioritising what really matters is the best investment we can make as parents. Have a great week.

Upcoming Events…

1. Volunteers needed for Wednesday morning Breakfast Club. From 8-9am at the Tuckshop. Please see Chappy for more information.
2. Mentors Needed. If you have a spare hour a week and love spending one on one time with a child this might be the thing for you. Please see me for more details.
3. MALENY’S MILKIN’ IT FOR CHARITY on the 2nd March at the Dairies. Tickets are going fast, so if you want to have a fantastic afternoon of fun, food and entertainment please see Becky or call Misty Bland to book your tickets.

For more details download the flyer below:

Chappy Becky

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.

Innovation Centre

The 2019 year has started well in the Innovation Centre. Lots of beginning of the year duties are filling our days.

New titles

We have recently placed a new selection of titles on our shelves for borrowing. One series, popular for lower to middle primary is the Tiny Timmy Series by Tim Cahill. Check out one of the books in the series via the link below.

Book Covering

One such duty is the covering of new books. We have a number of books in our collection, both new and donated, that need covering. If you have some spare time and can volunteer your services come into the Innovation Centre and we can help you get started covering some of our collection.

Adrian Greig and Mrs Shelley

PBL (Positive Behaviour Learning)

What is Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)?

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) is a whole-school approach to creating a safe and supportive environment that has a strong evidence-base and is used in many Queensland State Schools. It uses preventative, teaching and reinforcement-based strategies to achieve meaningful and durable behaviour outcomes.

What a great start to the year with teachers working with their students to establish classroom rules around our four school rules – Be a Learner, Be Safe, Be Responsible and Be Respectful. With rules displayed prominently in classrooms and around the school, expectations are consistently reinforced throughout the year to promote student engagement and academic achievement.

Students displaying positive behaviours are rewarded with 4 Be cards which are traded for stamps on individual tracking sheets each term. These encourage students to try their best so that they can make it into the Be Clubs. At the end of the term, students participate in rewards according to the club they are in. This term’s rewards day is Wednesday 3rd April.

This Fortnights Rule is Be Responsible and our BUZZ Phrase is Make Good Choices and examples of this include:

• I try my best
• I am honest
• I am responsible for my behaviour
• I follow the 4 Be’s
• I am a positive role model
• I take responsibility for solving my own problems

Hope you have a fantastic week.

PBL Team

Prep A & B

Zero the Hero

What a lot of counting fun we’ve been having at Prep. Each day we count and record, how many days we have attended Prep. Last week, everyone was excited to receive a visit from “Zero the Hero,” on day 10 of our prep year. (He will visit every time a number ends in zero). Zero the Hero arrived with a letter, a badge to wear and an exciting activity for us each to make. Everyone enjoyed making a colourful number paper chain. We are looking forward to day 20 when he visits again.

What are you thinking?

We are exploring how changes in facial features communicate emotion in artworks. We will be observing portraits by a range of artists and use these ideas to develop our own portfolio of portraits. Have a look at some of our charcoal self-portraits.

My Family history

After viewing a slideshow and discussing “What do families look like?” the prep students painted a picture and described their personal family.

My favourite Story Bag

The preppies are each having a turn to bring in a favourite story and share it with their class. A big thank-you to Jo (William’s Mum) who kindly painted a bag for each class.

Mandy Bauer (Prep A) & Lindy Hicks (Prep B)

Year 1A & 1B

Float Your Boat

Our classes have been looking at different types of materials and their properties. In the coming weeks, students will be making their own boats during school time. Please have a chat to your children about what would make a boat float - does it need a flat base, does it need to be made from waterproof materials, should it be heavy or light???? We will keep you updated on the progress of the boat making.

Changes Over Time

During HASS, the Grade 1’s have been looking at ‘Changes Over Time’. We have been discussing how we use photos to show the passing of time as well as to remember events that happened in the past. The students are in the process of making individual photo time lines. An email will be sent home soon to ask you to send in a photo of your child as a baby. Fun times ahead!

Thanks again for a wonderful start to the year – we are now in full swing with learning, routines and responsibilities.

Jo Dykes and Jenny Jenkinson

Year 2A & 2B

Welcome to another busy and productive year to all students in Year 2. We have been busy preparing ourselves for the term ahead and have had lots of fun introducing a wide range of fantastic poems which we are reading, analysing and preparing to adapt to create our own versions. We are busy with numbers in math, as well as the months and seasons of the year. In Science we are preparing to create our own lunchboxes so please remember to start bringing in any resources that you need to complete this. Swimming has been great in this weather and we look forward to it each Tuesday. Students are also reminded to bring in a Library bag ready for use on Fridays. Homework Folders are also required each day so notes and other items can be taken home safely. Home readers can be changed when required.

Thank you for a great start to 2019 and we look forward to sharing many learning activities throughout the year.

Libby Ferguson, Sarsha Anthony, Hayley Chamberlain

Year 2/3C

Welcome to another school year. We have had a settled start to the year and students are adjusting well to their new class, teacher and classroom. Over the past few weeks, we have begun to establish our new routines gradually and form new friendships. Thank you to all who were able to attend the Parent Meet and Greet Session. It has been a pleasure to meet many parents and families of students for this year.

As the schooling year begins, the students have already shown a great interest in our current science units and are keen for more science experiments in our school’s science lab. Students are adapting well to new routines and styles of learning experiences within the classroom, as we gradually increase the various programs that will run throughout each week. I hope you have seen the fantastic self-portraits adorning the entrance to our classroom, we are still adding some final touches to our display. I look forward to a great new school year with a fabulous bunch of students.

Kerry Lees

Students of the Week: Week 1

Highest Class Attendance for Week 1

Congratulations PB & 1B

Students of the Week: Week 2

Highest Class Attendance for Week 2

Congratulations 1A & 3A

1-2-3 MAGIC Parenting Course: Understanding our own and our children’s Behaviour.

Upcoming course

We would like to invite parents to attend an upcoming series of three workshops designed to help parents with behaviour management strategies. Deb Price, who is currently working as Engagement and Well-being Teacher across Hinterland Schools and Guidance Officer at Buderim Mountain State School will be sharing the 1-2-3 MAGIC Programme with parents. The workshops will include information on:

• Understanding and dealing with difficult behaviour eg. arguing, fighting, tantrums
• Encouraging good behaviour eg. going to bed, doing homework, eating
• Strengthening your relationship with your child through the use of praise, active listening and shared fun.

The three sessions will be held at Maleny State School in the meeting room within school Innovation Centre on:

• Thursday 28th February,
• Thursday 7th March; and
• Thursday 14th March

Each session will run 9:00am-12pm. Morning Tea to be supplied.

Participants will receive a workbook linked to the program at no cost.

Please note that the sessions are for all parents, regardless of whether your child attends Maleny State School or not. Arrangements will need to be made for the care of any non-school age child(ren).

Should you wish to attend please contact Maleny State School by emailing or phoning the school office on (07) 5499 8333 or drop in personally to let office staff know you would like to attend.

Friends and family are welcomed.

For more details download the flyer below:

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 - Friday.

Uniform Shop

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 8:30-9:30am on Fridays, bring along a friend and be part of our happy team

The Uniform Shop's regular hours are Friday mornings between 8.30am and 9.30am. Payment options are EFTPOS, cash or cheque at the uniform shop only. Alternatively, orders can be placed online at the website below by 5pm Wednesday for Friday pickup or class delivery.

Community News

New Under 12's girl team
New Under 10's girls team

Come and try as were looking to recruit new players from ages 6 to 12

When: Tuesday's 3.45-4.45
Where: Maleny Showgrounds
Ages 6-12

Contact Bree in advance on 0467 011 041

Choose how to add this event to your calendar:

Apple Calendar iPhone, iPad, Mac - Download .ics file

Outlook Desktop Outlook - Download .ics file

Android Calendar Android devices - Download .ics file

Other Calendar Google Calendar, Yahoo, etc. - Download .ics file

Download Event