25 May 2018

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Chaplain Week

This week we celebrate the amazing job Chaplains do in our schools. SU QLD chaplains, or 'chappies', provide a variety of support to the school communities. They are in the prevention and support business: helping students find a better way to deal with a range of issues. They provide a listening ear and a caring presence for kids in crisis, and those who just need a friend. They also provide support for staff and parents in school communities.

We are ever so fortunate to have Rusty as our Chaplain. She does an amazing job and we are truly blessed to have someone so passionate and committed to our school. Rusty we celebrate with you this week and thank you for the tireless work you do for all members of our community.

3 Way Interviews

As mentioned in a previous newsletter we have moved the 3 Way Interviews to the end of the term this year. These interviews play an integral and important role within the school and I encourage all parents to ensure they take up the opportunity to meet with both their child and class teacher.

The 3 Way interviews are scheduled for week 10 and in the coming weeks teachers will be sending home information regarding the process and times available. The students take great pride and enjoyment in sharing their achievements with their families. Students, staff and parents working together is a key ingredient to enhancing student outcomes and creating a great place in which to learn. Thank you in advance for supporting our 3 Way Interviews in 2018.

Under 8’s Day

(Some of the information in this article is courtesy of Rochedale SS)

This week, all over Australia, we celebrate the sheer joy of being Under 8. It is well researched that what your child is exposed to from birth to 8 years has an amazing impact on their ability to learn. These Child Development Researchers have labelled the stages of development according to the significant descriptors but also acknowledge that the rate that this can occur is entirely dependent on each individual little person. If you reflect back on your child’s journey see if you can relate to the varying phases listed below. It is important to remember there is no concrete time-frame for the different milestones to occur, rather it is a sequence that is followed, so some children demonstrate characteristics from each phase at different times.

6-12 months – The Scientist – (Trying to work out how the world works
1 Year old – The Impersonator – (An uncanny ability to imitate or copy others, learning by watching, then doing)
2 Years old – The Rogue – (When independent thinking begins, as does the challenging of boundaries!)
3 Years old – The Thinker – (An insatiable thirst for asking questions and seeking answers)
4 Years old – The Dreamer (Imagination explosion, pretend play, play with the natural world, sometime fears and scary dreams)
5 Years old – The Pleaser (Becomes aware that his/her behaviour impacts others – wants to help – harness this!)
6 Years old – The Empathiser (Able to see another’s perspective, emotions and awareness are developing – great time for social skilling)
7 Years old – The Comedian (Loves playing with words, realising language is not always literal, loves being silly)
8 Years old – The Downsizer (A realistic assessment and self-awareness of their own abilities - the brain begins to streamline and become more efficient, compares their abilities to their peers)
9 Years old – The Manipulator (Stretches the truth with greater sophistication – figuring out how others react)

It has now been well researched that we can, by the experiences, conversations, activities provided, have an incredible impact on how well our children cope at each milestone. Children who thrive once they begin their formal education, have caring teachers at school and supportive parents at home. The more we do with our children, the greater the outcome.

Julie-Anne McGuinness – Principal

ASSEMBLY AWARDS

SPORTS TALK

Broadwater Cross Country

Wowsers! What an amazing day Musgrave had at this years’ Broadwater Carnival! Each of our students represented Musgrave extremely well and finished the day with some outstanding results!! I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those students involved and also a huge thankyou to the parents that arrived on time – albeit an early one for a school morning! Your support throughout the day was wonderful to have and I’m sure your children are very appreciative of all that you do for them.

CONGRATULATIONS to Jaya

Charging in finishing 8th and is off to Regionals!!

We wish you the very best!!

12yrs Representatives – Shannae, Keira, Anabell, Kwaleigh, Hesed & Lachlan

11yrs Representatives – Addie, Jaya, Stevie, Jayden, Matthew & Logan

10yrs Representatives – Imogen, Gina, Sakura, Jayden, Sonny & Chad

CUA School Fundraiser!

I am so very excited to announce that as of last Friday 5pm, our Musgrave Hill community had managed to raise a staggering $11,021.07 … with cash money yet to be tallied! I cannot thank Sally from the Tuckshop enough for the phenomenal amount of time and effort she has put in, PLUS, each and every one of you that managed to jump online, create a student profile or door knock to collectively raise such a substantial amount of money – all will go straight back into our school.

Come this Friday (25th May) all money will have been returned to Sally in the tuckshop and prizes should have been nominated by students. Some points to note …

• Friday 25th May – ALL money returned to tuckshop
• Friday 25th May – Students should have nominated their preferred prize (online or on the back of brochure and returned to tuckshop)
• Once money has been collated, winner of the hover board will be announced (this should be sometime in week 7)
• Prizes will be sent to our school by the end of week 8
• Prizes will be distributed amongst students by week 9 or 10

Athletics Carnival

Save the date!!

Friday 27th July

Musgrave’s Annual Athletics Carnival will be held in week 2 of NEXT term. For the students in Grade 4-6, 400m and 800m events will be run Thursday 26th July from 2pm.

Please also note – students in years 4-6 will commence athletics trials THIS term in weeks 9, 10 and 11 for individual events for carnival day.

Katie Halsall – P.E. Teacher

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Please remember all Tuckshop orders are to be placed online using the flexischools program. The cut off time is 9.15am every morning. Their web address is located below, if you have any queries please come and see me in the tuckshop at any time. On our tuckshop menu we have a great money saver called ‘healthy habits meal deal’ this is available on a Monday only but will feed your child for 5 days for only $20. Please go online to check it out. As winter is fast approaching we will be introducing some winter warmers to our menu.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our lovely staff at the YMCA (Before and After School Care) who have generously sponsored our sushi. The new items are as follows;

Uniform news

We are still running our ‘green and gold sale’, while stocks last, so please come on up and grab a bargain.

Sally McWilliams - Tuckshop and Uniform Convenor

MUSGRAVE HILL SS – P & C BUILDING FUND

Our project for 2018-2019 is to install new playgrounds for the school.

We are asking each family for a voluntary contribution of between $50 to $100 to assist us in replacing our playground equipment, this would be a tax deductible donation.

Payment can be made at the tuckshop via cash, EFTPOS, credit card or through Flexischools.

Payment can also be made directly into the bank account, details are as follows:

Reference should be your child’s last name, initial and class.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Elearning

I have repeated this article in the Newsletter from Term 1 for parents new to the BYOx Scheme here at school.

This year we have added the Microsoft Program apps as part of our core list of apps for iPads. They can be downloaded the same way as other apps.

Once they have been downloaded the first app you open will require you to sign in. To access the apps for free, students must sign in using their school username and school password. The sign in is the new part of the process and students need to log in using their school email address. Follow the link to the Information sheet that explains how to do this. Please email class teachers if students do not know their log in details.

Please note that the apps can be downloaded onto multiple devices, including computers. More information can be found here about how to do this.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school should you require more information.

Annette Vlaanderen
eLearning Coordinator
avlaa2@eq.edu.au

PREP 2019

Coffee, Questions and School Tour

A WORD FROM OUR GUIDANCE OFFICER

The Trouble with Gaming!

From time to time we hear on the media that violent video games do not cause violent or anti-social behaviour. Yet our instincts as parents tell us that this cannot be true. Well once again, your instincts are correct.

Evidence is abundant that violent video games have a significant impact on children’s level of empathy for others. This lack of regard for other people’s pain and discomfort then causes anti-social behaviour to increase, and decreases protective bystander behaviour, because children are having hours of practice at not caring about others. We see it in real life in the community around us every day. (Dr Warburton , a Senior Lecturer in developmental psychology and Deputy Director of the Children and Families Research Centre at Macquarie University.)

School communities throughout the state are working hard to increase pro-social behaviour and increase empathy and strong bystander behaviour. We cannot compete with a solid diet of violent video games. Children are gaming up to 5 hours per day; sometimes their parents are too. How we live becomes a part of who we are. Our wiring changes. Children’s brain structure changes. Think carefully about what is shaping your child’s brain. Minecraft is the most popular game of our day; Angry Birds is a favourite with younger children. Minecraft is also the game that children have most difficulty leaving. You have probably noticed that.

Dr Warburton suggests that we monitor our children’s screen time diet, in the same way that we monitor our children’s nutritional diet. Be mindful of the quantity, the quality of content, and the age appropriateness of the content. We are what we eat, but now we are also what we play. Guard your child’s gaming as if his or her wellbeing depends upon it…. because it does.

There is no amount of violent gaming that is known to be safe in your child’s screen time diet.

Courtesy of: Jenny Douge, Guidance Officer. Macgregor State School

Joy Wheeler – Guidance Officer

UPCOMING EVENTS