24 August 2018

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

2019 Enrolments

As we start to plan for the 2019 school year I am asking all parents who will be leaving us at the end of the year to advise the school administration. Your support is invaluable as we are already planning and predicted enrolments are essential. Our Prep enrolments are filling fast! If you have a CHILD STARTING Prep next year or know someone who does, please enrol now! This is critical as we plan for 2019. We know that our reputation as having one of the best Prep Programs in the area makes us popular, but we would appreciate you spreading the word and helping us maintain our strong student enrolment.

We recently had a group of pre-prep student join us from the Southport Child Care Centre and they had a very exciting and enjoyable time. They shared this with their families and our school. This is why we are the preferred option for many families when considering where to send their child to school.

Book Week 2018

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life” — Walt Disney

Book Week was first celebrated by The Children’s Book Council of Australia in 1946, as a way of bringing words, images and stories into the hearts and minds of Australian children, enriching our nation and nurturing a literate, educated and creative society. Here at Musgrave Hill State School, we continue this tradition with our annual Book Week parade which was held on Wednesday of this week. It was great to see so many of our students and teachers immersing themselves in the festivities and dressing up as their favourite book character. I think it gets bigger and better each year.

Drop Off and Pick Up Zone

Can I ask all people utilising the pick-up zone in the afternoons that you clearly display your name signs on your car visors until you reach the end of the pick-up zone so each staff member on duty can see the name. Please let us know if you require a new name sign as we are more than happy to provide this to you as it makes the process so much more efficient and effective. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Cyber Safety and Managing the Digital Landscape

As mentioned in my previous newsletter the Year 5 and 6 students attended a very informative Cyber Safety session with Senior Constable Tracey Clouston. Some of the important messages that came out of the session I thought would be important to share with you.

“Your children are probably safer sitting and waiting for you in the school carpark than they are sitting in front of you in the lounge room on a digital device”

That one sentence really resonated with me and many of my staff – unless we assist our children to navigate the vagaries of the digital world as parents and people working with children, we are constantly going to have issues with cyber-safety, including cyber-bullying. When our older students were asked what they could do if something started to go wrong, NOT ONE thought to say “I’ll just turn off the device and take myself out of the situation”.

Some Tips to help us navigate:

• Make your own family media use plan. Media should work for you and within your family values and parenting style. When used thoughtfully and appropriately, media can enhance daily life. But when used inappropriately or without thought, media can displace many important activities such as face-to-face interaction, family-time, outdoor-play, exercise, unplugged downtime and sleep.
• Treat media as you would any other environment in your child's life. The same parenting guidelines apply in both real and virtual environments. Set limits; kids need and expect them. Know your children's friends, both online and off. Know what platforms, software, and apps your children are using, what sites they are visiting on the web, and what they are doing online.
• Set limits and encourage playtime. Media use, like all other activities, should have reasonable limits. Unstructured and offline play stimulates creativity. Make unplugged playtime a daily priority, especially for very young children.
• Screen time shouldn't always be alone time.  Co-view, co-play and co-engage with your children when they are using screens as it encourages social interactions, bonding, and learning. Play a video game with your kids. It's a good way to demonstrate good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette. Watch a show with them; you will have the opportunity to introduce and share your own life experiences and perspectives—and guidance. Don't just monitor them online—interact with them, so you can understand what they are doing and be a part of it.
• Be a good role model. Teach and model kindness and good manners online. Because children are great mimics, limit your own media use. In fact, you'll be more available for and connected with your children if you're interacting, hugging and playing with them rather than simply staring at a screen.

School Opinion Survey

The survey closed today and I just wanted to thank all those parents who took the time to express their opinions. This information helps guide the future direction of our school.

Julie-Anne McGuinness – Principal

ASSEMBLY AWARDS

20th August 2018

13th August 2018

TUCKSHOP NEWS

We have some exciting new menu items to introduce:

Tuesday Meal Deal Option

Chicken caesar salad $4.00 on its own or $6.00 with an ice block and water. Fresh chicken breast, fresh lettuce, boiled egg, grated cheese and homemade croutons with caesar salad dressing on the side.

Thursday Day Meal Deal Option

Schools out butter chicken and rice (halal approved) $4.00 on its own or $6.00 with an ice block and water.

Everyday Item

Chicken caesar salad wrap $4.50 - fresh chicken, ham, lettuce, grated cheese with caesar dressing. This comes fresh not toasted.

Lost Property

There seems to be a lot of items in our lost property bin located in front of the tuckshop, these include lunch bags, drink bottles and various containers. Would you please come and check if any of these items belong to your child/children as they will be getting thrown out at the end of this term.

Uniform News

We are currently waiting on a delivery of our new school uniforms and hopefully they will be arriving soon. When we receive the stock there will be an announcement at Meet and Greet as well as a notification on QSchools. I appreciate your patience with this matter.

Sally McWilliams - Tuckshop and Uniform Convenor

P&C NEWS

Father’s Day Stall

Our Father’s Day stall is fast approaching. We are running the stall from the tuckshop (on the uniform) side each morning, little lunch and big lunch from Monday 27th August to Thursday 30th August and all gifts will be $5.00 and under. All proceeds will go towards our playground upgrade.

Graduation Dinner

Please note all Year 6 students have been handed their graduation notes for their dinner. Would you kindly complete them and return to either Sally or Rachel at the tuckshop before the end of the term.

P & C Meeting

Our Next P&C Meeting will be Thursday 13th September at 2.00pm in the Staff Room.

Melissa Holland - P&C President

CLASSROOM CAPERS – 1 JADE

Mrs Honeycombe/Mrs Lees – Classroom Teachers

CLASSROOM CAPERS – 4 LIME

Mrs Orr – Classroom Teacher

PREP 2019 CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE

A WORD FROM OUR GUIDANCE OFFICER

Treehouse Parenting Program

Joy Wheeler – Guidance Officer

A WORD FROM OUR CHAPLAIN

Chappy Spare Change Challenge

+++ MARK YOUR CALENDARS +++

This will be happening in Term 4 on weeks 2, 3 and 4. Please save your change to support our school chaplaincy.

Breakfast Club

A big thank you to all the volunteers and supporters who make our Thursday morning breakfast club possible.

Nature Walks

Each week a selection of students go for a nature walk with Ms. W and Chappy Rusty, it is a wonderful way to chat about things such as nature, math and life, reading a book under a tree and practising being still...

It’s a highlight of the week.... For the students and us - Making learning fun!

Shine Bright Day Camp

Chappy Rusty

COMMUNITY NEWS

“This is a service provided when space permits. The school acts solely as a messenger and is not actually recommending any activities advertised”

Phoenix Martial Arts

Classes at Musgrave Hill School on Mondays and Wednesday 3.30 – 4.30pm

Nipper Sign on Dates

UPCOMING EVENTS