18 August 2017

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Hard to imagine we are over the half way mark of Term 3. How quickly the year is flying by.

NAPLAN Test Results

In May this year NAPLAN was administered to all students in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 throughout the country. The official 2017 NAPLAN results have come through and individual reports have been sent home with all participating students.

NAPLAN individual student reports provide information about what students know and have achieved in the areas of reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. They also provide information on how students have performed in relation to other students in the same year group, and against the national average (over one million students participate in NAPLAN tests each year) and the national minimum standards.

Please take the opportunity to review and reflect on your child/children’s results in this year’s NAPLAN test. It is a point in time test and, as such, is useful when used in conjunction with other available assessment measures to determine student abilities and development in the five strands of reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy.

Overall our school performance in all strands was extremely pleasing and affirms that the programs and initiatives we have implemented within the school are definitely coming into fruition. Our results are certainly worth celebrating. We are extremely proud of all our students and we are fortunate to have amazing staff who see the value of consistent, whole of school programs, where explicit teaching is the main game.

Prep Enrolments

If you have a child that is eligible for Prep in 2018 and have not yet enrolled please contact our office immediately to ensure a placement in our school as our Prep classes are Filling Fast. Eligibility for Prep requires your child to be five years of age by 30 June in the year they intend to commence Prep. Early entry to Prep is only available if a child meets certain criteria (such as having previously been enrolled in an equivalent program interstate or overseas, or if the child will turn five years between 1 and 31 July and is considered by the principal as being ready for education). If you are aware of families that have Prep aged children for 2018 can you pass this information onto them. We do not want any families disappointed.

Uniforms for 2018

Please remember that in 2018 all our new Prep students will start the year in the new school uniform. This is a logical place to start and will also help identify our new Preps more easily. As we still have large amounts of our current uniform in stock it is the expectation that those uniforms will be sold first to Years 1 to 6 and when stock is depleted in that size, the new uniforms will be purchased. We anticipate this process to take approximately 18 months to 2 years before all students are in the new uniform.

Safety of Students

I certainly appreciate that at times it can be difficult to organise drop off and pick up times for your children but it appears that we are getting more and more children arriving at school way too early in the mornings and are being collected well after 3.30pm of an afternoon. We do have the YMCA before and after school service available to parents and for the safety and well-being of our students I encourage parents who are struggling to coordinate drop off and pick up times that align with the school’s policy to please utilise this service.

Cyber Safety

Protecting our children and ourselves in this social network world is becoming more difficult and horror stories appear daily in the news. A couple of suggestions to help reduce this threat are educating our children around the dangers of posting any photos, ensure that your child’s computer is in a “public place” in your house (not in their bedrooms) and having them leave their mobiles on the kitchen table when they go to bed at night or even before. These are just a couple of suggestions that may assist to limit the invasion of these new technologies into home time. Age restrictions for Social Media Platforms are in place for very good reasons. I have attached information regarding these ages and encourage parents to ensure they are followed for the safety of our students.

Construction Sites

I understand that the two construction sites operating in our school zone are causing some disruptions and issues. I have contacted both companies and asked that they please be mindful and considerate of our families when working on their sites.

Communicating with Students

It is important to remember that it is inappropriate and will not be tolerated for a parent/carer to approach another student to try and resolve a situation or condemn a behaviour choice. If you have any concerns please don’t hesitate to talk to your child’s class teacher or make an appointment to speak to either myself or one of the Deputy Principals. I appreciate your support and diligence in this matter.

Dogs on School Grounds

As most of the community is aware, I am very much an animal lover and dogs are my absolute favourite. Unfortunately not everyone has had positive experiences with dogs, therefore creating a genuine uncertainty and fear within some of our children and community members. With this in mind I ask that all dogs please remain outside the school gates and are on leashes at all times. I appreciate your support in this matter.

Amazing Student Achievements

A big congratulations to Flynn E and Andrew C who proudly represented our school at the MLTAQ Languages Speech Competition at Griffith University on Sunday 13th August. We here at Musgrave Hill are very proud of their efforts.

To add to this already amazing achievement by the boys, Flynn E was named equal 1st in his Grade 6 division which was a phenomenal result against some very tough competition. A big thankyou to Mrs Chi our Chinese Teacher for all the extra work and support she provided to both students.

Julie-Anne McGuinness - Principal

WHAT’S HAPPENING …

Science Factory Incursions

ASSEMBLY AWARDS

SOUTHPORT STATE HIGH INDEPENDENT PUBLIC SCHOOL – YEAR 6 TRANSITION TO HIGH SCHOOL

Over the last few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of talking with students from Year 6 specifically discussing moving from primary school to high school. While we understand the anxiety that students have, our aim is to provide a smooth transition for both students and parents.

During Week 8 of this term (Monday 28th – Thursday 31st) we will be holding enrolment interviews. The purpose of these interviews is to welcome students and parents into our school community and discuss some important aspects of high school life to settle the nerves before transition.

We also discussed our Orientation Week. Orientation week is a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience high school life. In our experience it is an excellent event that gives students a real ‘taste’ of high school life. We find that many students arrive to Orientation week feeling a little nervous – but leave bursting with excitement for Year 7 to begin. Orientation will occur in week 9, term 4 (Monday 27th November to Wednesday 29th November). Only students who have received an enrolment interview will be eligible to attend the 3 day orientation event at the end of term 4.

If you are wanting an enrolment interview please contact Aleisha Ennis aenni12@eq.edu.au to organise an enrolment interview.

Cath Downing - Head of Junior Secondary
S.S.H.I.P.S.

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Make your life easier and order your child’s birthday cupcakes for the class for $1 each, they will be freshly cooked and decorated. We will require 2 days notice please.

Uniforms

If you have lost a jacket or a hat please come and see if it is at the Tuckshop.

Angela Anderson and Sally McWilliams

P & C NEWS

Fundraising

Please remember that supporting our fundraising is supporting your child’s school.

P & C Meetings are held every second Wednesday of the month at 5pm in the staff room.

Father’s Day

Don’t forget the Father’s Day stall will be on Monday 28th August 8am in the hall, until sold out. There are great presents for $5 under; we also have cards from 50c.

Fete News

We are looking for stall holders for the fete, sites are only $15, so if you have any handicrafts you wish to sell or if you know anyone who may be interested please come and see Ange or Sally in the tuckshop.

We have sent out forms so you can purchase your fete tickets at the tuckshop or on Flexischools, tickets are $25 for unlimited rides or they will be $30 on the day or $5 per ride. There will be other side show alley stalls as well which will incur their own costs.

Tina Quirke
President – Musgrave Hill SS P & C

MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICE

If you have received an invoice via email, it will be for an excursion/incursion. Sometimes the invoice will arrive prior to the excursion note going home. Excursion notes are printed and given to each student involved in the excursion, the note will supply full details of the excursion. The invoices for the excursion are created automatically and emailed via our accounting software.

Please check you have all the information before deciding to send your child and making payment. Each child is offered the opportunity to go on excursions/incursions. If the invoice is unpaid or you do not wish for your child to attend then a credit note is created and emailed, this will clear your child’s account.

DATE CLAIMER!!!

Prep 2018 Information Session

Thursday 24th August 9.30am – 10.30am (Morning Tea provided)

RSVP your interest in attending the above mentioned Prep Information Session by either phone or email.

Phone: 07 55313919 Email: admin@musghillss.eq.edu.au

ARTS NEWS

Firstly, I’d like to thank our Musgrave Hill community for the wonderful turn out at last term’s Art Auction night! The evening was an absolute success. The total raised on the evening was $3476 – This is a fantastic outcome! We have already purchased a set of ‘Basel masks’, which the Year 5 students will be wearing during their mime pieces.

This term, we will be having an intra-school Theatre Sports competition. Theatre sports (the likes of Whose Line is it Anyway, Thank God You’re here) are a vital part of the acting process, because students learn how to think on the spot (problem solving), how to think creatively, how to use their bodies, facial expressions and voices, and how to work creatively as part of a team. The teams will consist of students from 6 Gold, 6 Onyx, as well as a very enthusiastic teacher team. The competition will be held at second break each Wednesday from 1:15pm in weeks 6 - 9. Students are welcome to come and watch. There will be lots of witty improvisation and laughter.

Lastly, the students are enjoying the renovated facilities of the Art/Music room. If you haven’t had a look, you are very welcome to come down and take a quick tour (outside class times). The new linoleum flooring means I won’t cry anymore every time paint is spilled!

Kerry Doolan – Arts Teacher

CLASSROOM CAPERS – 4/5 MAROON

In 4/5 Maroon we have been learning about traditional stories. We have read traditional stories from different countries in Asia. Such stories include ‘The tiger, the rabbit and Chung-Ho’ a Korean traditional story and the ‘Wishing Fish’ a Chinese traditional story. We have investigated what traditional stories are and why these stories have been passed down. We will be using the information we have gathered throughout this English unit to write and publish our own traditional stories.

A WORD FROM OUR GUIDANCE OFFICER

TEACHING TOLERANCE

The dictionary defines tolerance as `showing respect for the rights or opinions or practices of others`. In short it is about accepting people for who they are and treating others the way you would like to be treated. Today, more than ever, our children interact with people of differing ethnicities, religions, and cultures, and ability levels. Classrooms are increasingly diverse, and reflect the communities where families live and work. Having tolerance not only improves our relationships with people but it also opens up more opportunities in education, business, and many other aspects of life.

Teaching Tolerance

Live it: Children develop their own values, in great part, by mirroring the values and attitudes of those they care about. Parents' attitudes about respecting others are often so much a part of them that they rarely even think about it. Parents who demonstrate tolerance and respect in their everyday lives give out a powerful message – I accept and respect your uniqueness. As a result, their kids learn to appreciate differences in others as well as themselves, as well as acknowledge and respect differences within their own family.

Talk about tolerance and respect:

When media or life experiences present opportunities regarding tolerance or lack thereof, talk to your child about the values you would like them to exhibit. Answer kids' questions about differences honestly and respectfully. This teaches that it is acceptable to notice and discuss differences as long as it is done with respect. Point out and talk about unfair stereotypes that may be portrayed in media.

Remember that tolerance does not mean tolerating unacceptable behavior. It means that everyone deserves to be treated with respect — and in turn should treat others with respect as well.

Provide opportunities:

Give them opportunities to play and work with others of diverse backgrounds. Children learn firsthand that everyone has something to contribute and we really aren’t that different in our thinking and living.

Select books, toys, music, art, and videos carefully. Keep in mind the powerful effect that the media and pop culture have on shaping attitudes.

Build self-esteem:

Help your children feel good about themselves. Kids who feel badly about themselves often treat others badly. Kids with strong self-esteem value and respect themselves and are more likely to treat others with respect, too. Help your child to feel accepted, respected, and valued.

Learn about traditions:

Learn together about holiday and religious celebrations that are not part of your own tradition.

Honour your family's traditions and teach them to your kids — and to someone outside the family who wants to learn about the diversity you have to offer.

When parents encourage a tolerant attitude in their children, and talk about their values, and model the behavior they would like to see by treating others well, kids will follow in their footsteps.

If we all could take on board that:

‘EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT
EVERYBODY IS SPECIAL
EVERYBODY IS IMPORTANT’

The world would be a better place.

Adapted from Kids Health - http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/tolerance

Joy Wheeler – Guidance Officer

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAPLAIN

Role of a School Chaplain - Part 3

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 activities 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.

SU Qld – Kid’s Fun Day Camp

Chappy Rusty

UPCOMING EVENTS