21 July 2017

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Welcome back to Term 3, I hope all students had a safe and relaxing holiday and to any parents/caregivers who may have had the opportunity to take holidays with their children, I hope you too enjoyed the break. A special welcome to the families who have joined our school community this week. It has been lovely to see so many happy children settling in well.

Uniforms

The results of the uniform survey have been collated and approved through the P & C. It can now be revealed that the uniform shirt that will eventually become Musgrave Hill’s new attire is-:

With Navy Blue shorts

It is very important to understand that with any change to a uniform, a phasing in of the new and a phasing out of the old is a long process and one that will need patience by all. As we still have large amounts of our current uniform in stock it is the expectation that those uniforms will be sold first and when stock is depleted in a particular size, the new uniforms will be purchased. We anticipate this process to take 18 months to 2 years before all students are in the new uniform. In 2018 all our new Prep students will start the year in the new uniform. This is a logical place to start and will also help identify our new Preps more easily.

I again thank everyone for their input and feedback around this process.

HOMEWORK- Have your say

It is vital that schools have a clear vision and understanding as to why we set homework and what the benefits are for our students. So the question we are constantly asking ourselves - Is it really necessary for children to complete homework? is one that teachers not only hear from parents and students year after year but it is also a topic they debate amongst themselves regularly. There is research that supports the distribution of homework but for every article that supports there are as many that opposes the necessity of homework thus making the debate even harder for educators to respond to effectively.

So here is where we need you to become involved in the debate. Whatever a school’s homework policy is, it is important we consult with the school community. We are currently reviewing our homework policy and we are asking for you to have your say. A survey will be going home in the next couple of weeks asking for your feedback and thoughts.

Having balance in a child’s life is vital. Children on average spend up to 7 hours at school each day and most adults work similar lengths of time at work. We don’t ask adults after a shift at work to come home and work some more yet we are asking our children to continue their day with additional homework. Children of all ages need down time in order to thrive and physical activity and social and family interactions are important.

What Musgrave Hill would like to see as our homework policy is as simple as-:

• 15 to 30 minutes of reading (depending on age) each day. A journal is to be kept of title and author. This is shared with the class teacher regularly.
• Mathletics weekly - task assigned by class teachers
• 10 to 15 minutes daily for physical activity.

We believe this provides the balance in life and learning that children of primary school age require.

Please look out for the survey that will be coming home soon to have your say.

NAIDOC Day

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians.

NAIDOC Week is held in the first full week of July. It is a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements and is an opportunity to recognise the contributions that Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society.

At Musgrave Hill our celebrations were held on Friday 14th July and started with a whole school assembly and then all students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of different cultural activities. It was clear through my classroom visits that all students were thoroughly engaged and enjoying the celebrations

Julie-Anne McGuinness - Principal

WHAT’S HAPPENING …

Musgrave Maths Bee

It’s on again this year! All Year 1 to 6 students will be participating in a Maths Bee Quiz during Week 6. Please take the time to assist students with the suggested Maths Facts that will be sent home in week 3. The top two students will then be chosen to represent each class in the Year Level Championships in week 8 which will be held in the Hall. Good luck to all students involved.

Book Week

During Week 3, we are celebrating Book Week at Musgrave Hill State School. To kick off the celebrations, students have invited their loved ones or a celebrity to attend our Book Week Community Morning on Wednesday 26th July. Classes are opening their doors from 9am and guests are bringing a favourite book to share with the children. Some classes are venturing outside and some will remain in their classrooms during this time. The much anticipated book character parades will take place in the hall on Thursday 27th July, starting with Prep to Year 2 from 9-10am. Those classes from Years 3-5 that have chosen to take part in the parade will do so from 10-11am. We can’t wait to see what amazing book characters the students will dress up as this year!

We are also having a ‘1000 Book Challenge.’ As a community we are aiming to read 1000 books during Book Week. This equates to two books per student. The tally of how many books we have read will be displayed on the school sign throughout Week 3.

ASSEMBLY AWARDS

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Sports Day Orders

Please return sports day orders by Monday 24th July to the tuckshop with form and money. Flexischool orders for Sports Day are open until 9am on Wednesday 26th July. In the case that the event is postponed ALL lunches will be carried over to the new date.

New Menu Items

Vegie Pasties $4.00
Hot chicken and gravy roll $4.00
Hot roast beef and gravy roll $4.00

Uniforms

All uniforms are available for purchase by cash, eftpos, Flexischools or laybys

Angela Anderson and Sally McWilliams

P & C NEWS

Fundraising News

Father’s Day Stall

Monday 28th August at 8 am in the Hall until sold out.
Fabulous presents for $5 and under for Dad and Grandad

Fete

Friday 6th October - this is the first Friday in Term 4.

Tickets are available on Flexischools or at the Tuckshop, we are also accepting layby’s for ride tickets. You can purchase unlimited ride tickets for only $25 before the day. On the day they will be $30 or $5 per ride.

We are taking expressions of interest if anyone is interested in holding a craft stall.

We are also looking for donations for our Cent Auction plus any donations for stall prizes - colour hair spray, packets of chips, chocolate bars, small toys, bottles of drink etc.....This doesn't have to be expensive for you even a couple of dollars would help. Many thanks

Tina Quirke
President – Musgrave Hill SS P & C

SPORTS NEWS

SAVE THIS DATE ....

The 2017 Musgrave Hill SS Athletics Carnival will be held Friday 28th July for Prep – Year 6. A program of events will be sent home by the end of the week.

Please note - for grades 4, 5 & 6, the Finals of the 400m and 800m events will be run on Thursday 27th July starting at 1:50pm.

Mrs Halsall – PE Teacher

CLASSROOM CAPERS – 1 GREEN

On Monday, we celebrated the 100th day of school! We played “Race to 100” with buddies on a hundreds board, wrote about what we think our lives will be like when we are 100 years old (and had a good laugh about the pictures of ourselves we aged using an aging app!), and made some pretty snazzy crowns decorated with 10 groups of 10 different decorations. We are officially 100 days smarter…and counting…!

Mrs Malecki – Classroom Teacher

A MESSAGE FROM OUR GUIDANCE OFFICER

How to Build Self Confidence in your Child

Confidence can be a tough thing to build up but here are some handy tips that just might help you out. Not everyone is born with an in built sense of self-confidence. Sometimes it can be hard to develop confidence, whether because of personal experiences that have caused you to lose confidence or if you are suffering from low self-esteem.

There are a couple of handy things you can do to build confidence in your child. Some of these are just little changes to your frame of mind, and others are things you have to work on for a bit longer to get used to them.

Top 5 tips for building self-confidence

1. Look at what they’ve already achieved

Sometimes it can be easy to focus on what you haven’t done. It’s easy to lose confidence if you feel like you haven’t achieved anything. Focusing on stuff you have done, big or small, can help you gain perspective on all your talents and abilities.

Get your child to write down a list of all the things they’re proud of in their life. Think of things they have achieved, whether it’s getting a good mark on an exam or even learning to ride a bike. Keep this list close and add to it when they do something you’re/they’re proud of. When they’re low in confidence, pull this list out and use it to remind them of all the awesome stuff they’ve done.

2. Think of things they're good at

Everyone has strengths and talents, what are your child’s? Recognising what they’re good at and trying to build on those things can be a really valuable way of building confidence in their abilities.

3. Set some goals

Help your child to set some goals and aim to achieve them. By helping them see that they can get stuff done, they’ll prove to themselves what they’re capable of achieving. They don’t have to be big goals; they can even be things like baking a cake or planning a night out for the family. Just little things that can be ticked off a list and help them gain self-confidence in their ability to get stuff done.

4. Talk them up

You’re never going to feel confident if you have a negative commentary running through your mind telling you you’re no good. Think about their self-talk and how that might be affecting their self-confidence.

5. Get a hobby

Try to find something that they’re really passionate about. Do they like playing footy? Like being creative or using their imagination? Think of some of the things they’re really interested in and good at. Chances are, if they’re interested or passionate about a certain activity they’re likely to be good at it as well.

Adapted from ReachOut.com

Joy Wheeler – Guidance Officer

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAPLAIN

A lot of people aren't aware of what the role of a School Chaplain is so I thought I'd share with you some information collected about the role and activites of a Chappy in Queensland State Schools..

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any support to you, your family or student. I am available at MHSS each week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday or please email me on rjour3@eq.edu.au.

All the best!

Chappy Rusty

COMMUNITY NEWS

Gecko Sports at Musgrave Hill State School

UPCOMING EVENTS