29 October 2021

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

World Teachers’ Day

Today is World Teachers’ Day and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of our dedicated staff and let them know how much I appreciate them and what a privilege it is to work with them each day. While this day is called Teachers Day, it isn’t just teachers who make up our valuable workforce. It takes many people to run a school and to provide a learning facility which children feel proud of and want to learn in.

I would like to recognise and acknowledge all of our Musgrave Hill staff, because each and every one plays a vital role in our team and helps educate our students. I am humbled and extremely proud of the way our teachers and support staff rise to every challenge, continue their pursuit of excellence, and am honoured to work with them.

Thank you one and all.

Classes for 2022

Very soon we will commence the very complex process of organising next year’s classes. Currently we are working on ‘best guess’ figures and as is the case with all allocations (staffing and classes), final make-up will depend on actual numbers of students and will not be finalised until Day 8 of 2022. We aim to get class formations as accurate as possible by the end of this term to avoid large changes at the beginning of next year.

Soon teachers will be asked to look over their current year level and make recommendations on student combinations and how these impact on learning. The current teachers will then construct next year’s draft of classes considering; friendships, academic ability, social and emotional factors, gender and age balance, and behavioural considerations.

The Admin Team will then look over these drafts before finalising our classes for next year. If there are any educational considerations you would like the school to be aware of when allocating your child’s placement for 2022, please follow the required guidelines outlined in our last newsletter.

Circumstances and staff change so please don’t presume that if you have submitted a consideration before that it is ‘on file’ and will be considered each year. Annual, up-to-date information is always appreciated if you feel it is necessary. Please understand we cannot entertain requests which simply ask for specific teachers (we have yet to determine which year level teachers will be on in 2022) or for particular friends to be in a child’s class.

Important: To help with the class make-up process for next year, please let the school know, through the office, if your child(ren) is not returning to Musgrave Hill next year.

Prep 2022 - Enrolment Reminder

Enrol right now. Don’t wait for tomorrow, next week or next month! The 2022 Prep Year is filling fast. It is now time to crunch numbers and fill the waiting classes for 2022. To avoid disappointment, I strongly urge parents to enrol their eligible children right now. If you are an existing parent of our school, in catchment or with a continuing sibling next year, please finalise any 2022 enrolments immediately.

Day For Daniel

Today the Musgrave Hill students and staff celebrated the annual Day for Daniel. The Daniel Morcombe Foundation created Day for Daniel to help raise the awareness and importance of child safety within schools and their wider community. To support this worthy cause, our school was a sea of red T-shirts which symbolizes the foundations beliefs surrounding the prevention and awareness of child safety.

A Friendly Reminder

Parents please note that our school gates officially open at 8.15am. Could I please ask parents not to drop students at school until after 8.15am as no supervision is provided. Can parents please ensure that students are collected promptly at 2.50pm.

Julie-Anne McGuinness - Principal

ASSEMBLY AWARDS

Friday 15th October

For Term 4 Weeks 1 and 2

FINANCE

A Big Thank You to parents and carers who have paid all of their invoices this year. The BPoint and Qkr! online payment options have been a great success.

Parents who have outstanding invoices, please ensure they are paid by the end of November. If you require a copy of the original invoices, please email the office on admin@musgravehillss.eq.edu.au.

2022 will be the first year we will no longer be taking cash at the front office or Tuckshop.

BPoint and Eftpos will be the acceptable payment methods in the office and Qkr is the payment option for Tuckshop, Uniforms and P&C.

SAVER PLUS

TUCKSHOP NEWS

Keep an eye out for our fortnightly Sushi Orders on the Qkr! App.

The cut off time for ordering morning tea or lunch is 9.00am daily via the Qkr! App. We are still currently abiding by the Covid-19 rules of no cash payments or parents at the counter. All orders are to be placed via the Qkr! App or using a Musgrave Way Award. If there are any changes we will notify you in the Newsletter. If you have any concerns or queries please don’t hesitate to call.

Ham & Cheese Pinwheels

Here is an easy lunch for fussy eaters. This one is a favourite at my house and great for making the night before to take to our Saturday sport games.

Ingredients:

• 2 large tortillas
• 4 lettuce leaves (I like to use cos lettuce for the crunch)
• 10 slices of ham (we use honey leg ham but any will do)
• 8 slices of cheese
• Mayonnaise

Method:

1. Lay out your tortillas on the bench and spread 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise on each tortilla.
2. Next you will layer the ham.
3. On top of the ham place your lettuce.
4. Lastly add the cheese.
5. Roll the tortillas tightly and slice into wheels.
6. You can secure them with a tooth pick to hold their shape.
7. Serve straight away or refrigerate for the next day. If you are going to refrigerate, I don’t slice at this point, I roll them up tightly and wrap with cling film. Then when you slice them in the morning they hold their shape really well.

I hope you enjoy this one. You can change up your flavours by swapping shredded chicken for the ham and using avocado instead of mayonnaise. There are so many combinations so have a go because I promise the kids will absolutely love them.

The Tuckshop will be closed from Friday 3rd December for end of year stock-take and functions, although we will have vegemite, jam and honey sandwiches available in this last week of school.

Uniform News

Please remember all orders must be placed on Qkr! The orders will be delivered to the classrooms no later than 24 hours after the purchase date. If your child has not received their item please contact the Uniform Shop.

We are now taking orders for Prep 2022 Students. These orders are to be collected at the Transition Day on the 1st December.

The Uniform Shop will close for 2021 on 1st December 9:00am. This allows us to do our final stocktake for our Auditors. Please keep an eye on the newsletter to find out when we are opening in 2022.

P&C News

Thank you to everyone that participated in the Colour Run. We raised $3,000.00 for our school which was an amazing effort. Due to Covid this was our major fundraiser for the year and you all did a great job.

If you would like to join the P&C or have any ideas on fundraising for next year please come along to our next meeting which will be held on Thursday 11th November at 2:00pm. please sign in at the office and the lovely ladies will direct you where to go. I look forward to seeing you there and hearing about your great ideas.

Run Club Badges

We are currently waiting on an order for more badges to arrive and should see these soon. I have a list of children that are waiting on 100km badges, so they won’t miss out.

Sally McWilliams - Tuckshop and Uniform Convenor

CLASSROOM CAPERS – 6 EMERALD

In 6 Emerald this term, we have been exploring the Seven Wonders of the World.

We have explored The Hanging Gardens of Babylon which is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World using Minecraft: Education Edition.

We then examined each of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World using an Augmented Reality app on our iPads (Quiver 3D).

We then tried our hands at multimodal artworks using illustration, watercolour and photographs featuring famous landmarks.

Finally, students developed Powerpoint presentations to persuade the class that they MUST visit their selected Wonder of the World. We utilised the Presenter Coach function within Powerpoint to practise our speeches, focussing on pacing, pitch variation, repetitive language and avoiding reading information straight from our slides before delivering them in front of the class.

The 21st Century skills that we have been applying this year will prepare us for high school and beyond.

Mr Driscoll - Class Teacher

KINDYLINQ

KindyLinQ had their very first excursion on the bus. Our KindyLinQers were super excited. First, we visited Southport Child Care Centre. The families were invited to explore the kindergarten classroom. Next our families enjoyed meeting Kevin and Carl the resident guinea pigs as well as the tickle bees and worms in the worm garden. They watered the plants and played in the outside area.

Enrolling in an approved kindergarten program before starting school will help build a child’s confidence, strengthen their independence, establish daily routines, communicate with peers, learn ways to problem solve and regulate their emotions. We finished our day with morning tea at Mitchell Park on the Broadwater.

If you would like more information about KindyLinQ please call 5644 5555.

A WORD FROM OUR GUIDANCE OFFICER

7 Simple Parenting Strategies That Work

If you’re a parent, then you are likely interested in finding ways to interact with your children that create a strong relationship, foster positive behaviour, and helps you respond to behavioural problems.

Take a look at any bookstore and the shelves will be full of advice. But figuring out which strategies are actually effective can be a challenge. The American Psychological Association was asked about the best research-based parenting strategies that showed effectiveness in improving behaviour, strengthening the bond between parents and children, and helping parents react to behavioural problems that arise.

The following seven empirically tested parenting strategies were the result.

1. Praise. Studies have shown that the behaviour that gets attention is the behaviour that you’ll get more of. Attention to undesired behaviour — often in the form of reprimands or punishment — will increase undesired behaviour. At the same time, specific, labelled praise of desired behaviours increase that behaviour. Parents should not offer praise indiscriminately. Instead, parents should give specific feedback on exactly what the child did that the parent liked.
2. Ignore Minor Misbehaviour. If a misbehaviour is minor and not dangerous, ignore it. Ignoring when a toddler throws food on the floor or a pre-teen slams a door, while responding with attention when they ask nicely or express their feelings teaches the child that good behaviour is a reliable way to get attention.
3. Understand Child Development. Understanding developmental milestones can help a parent attend to and praise steps towards that milestone. Knowing a four-year old wants to please friends, will make you more likely to praise their positive behaviour with friends. At the same time, understanding that young teens typically have concerns about body image, looks and clothes might make it easier to ignore all that extra time spent in front of the mirror.
4. Do Time-Outs Right Along With Quality Time-In. Brief and immediate time-outs have been shown to work best, particularly when paired with parents who are also modelling positive behaviours and praising good behaviour. Keeping calm — often a real challenge at the moment a misbehaviour is occurring! — and praising compliance makes time-outs more effective.
5. Focus on Prevention of Misbehaviour. Paying attention to when a child gets tired or hungry can prevent a large portion of meltdowns. Planning ahead and anticipating potential problems and teaching a child ways to cope with problems when they arise can even eliminate the need to use time-out.
6. Take Care of Yourself First. Children are negatively affected by parental stress, with 86 percent of children reporting that parental stress bothers them. It can seem nearly impossible when you’re busy with the demands of parenting, work and life, but it is essential to take time to exercise, maintain hobbies and connect with friends and partners.
7. Take Time and Do Nothing. Spend time with your child (experts recommend 1 hour a week per child) doing nothing but being with them, acting interested in them, and expressing positive thoughts and feelings to them. Avoid teaching, inquiring, correcting or offering alternative perspectives.

Adapted from: www.generationnext.com.au - Dr Ramesh ManochaIf, 2012

Taking care of yourself, finding the positives and enjoying time with your children will help strengthen your relationships with your children. It is important to remember to reach out for help from your community and from professionals when you need it.

Happy Parenting!

Tamara Napper – Guidance Officer

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”

Tutoring and Coaching Academy

UPCOMING EVENTS