26 November 2021

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

The End is in Sight

The end of the school year is fast approaching and the school has a very ‘busy’ feel to it as students and teachers finish off the year’s programs. Many students are already talking about their holiday break and the Year 6’s are sharing their nervous excitement as they prepare to move into high school and a new phase of their educational journey. I would like to remind all students that school rules and expectations are in place right up until the final day of school.

The strength of a school relies on the partnerships we build with our families and the wider community. We are fortunate here to have built strong, productive and positive partnerships with our families and the wider community. It would be unrealistic to believe we are always going to see eye to eye with every situation that occurs but your ongoing support of myself and our school is certainly appreciated.

As this will be our last newsletter for 2021, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Parents/Carers. Each year you put your faith and trust into our school and it is certainly something we don’t take for granted. We are extremely humbled that you entrust us with your greatest gift. Your children.

We say Goodbye to 3 Amazing Teachers

The close of this school year brings with it the end of an era for three of our longest serving teachers here at Musgrave Hill. Annette Vlaanderen decided at the start of 2021 that for her it was time for a country change. She requested and was successful in attaining a transfer to Roma. She is very excited to take on this new challenge and Roma State College is extremely fortunate to have someone of Annette’s experience, skill and knowledge as a part of their teaching staff.

From time to time within our education system, some teachers who have not requested a transfer, are moved to other schools through the “Required Transfer Process”. Jane Brownrigg and Melissa Newman were two teachers on this year’s list. Jane is heading to Biggera Waters State School and Mel to Gainsborough State School.

All three of the above-mentioned teachers have been a part of the Musgrave family for so long it is hard to fathom the place without them. Their contribution to our school can never be underestimated and I know them moving on in 2022 will be felt by us all. We wish them all the best at their new schools and we know their legacy will live on here at “The Hill”. On behalf of us all - Thank you.

Students leaving Musgrave Hill State School

If your circumstances have changed and your child is no longer going to attend Musgrave in 2022, can you please let us know ASAP. We need accurate and up to date information to ensure we enter 2022 with the number of teachers appropriate for our predicted enrolment. Please do not rely on your child to tell the class teacher, ring or email the office as soon as you are aware if your child/ren will not be returning in 2022.

Christmas Concert

This year we will be holding our Christmas Concert on Friday 3rd December. To ensure we still adhere to our COVID safety plan we are running two different time slots for our concert. Prep and Year 1 Parents are invited to attend our 12.30pm to 1.15pm concert. Our Year 2 to Year 5 parents are invited to attend the 2.00pm to 2.45pm concert. It is imperative that only parents of the year mentioned attend the times stipulated above. Our teachers and students are extremely excited about performing. See you there.

Uniforms for 2022

Can you please ensure as you are buying uniforms for 2022, that you make sure your children have all black shoes. This will be a focus next year to ensure all shoes are completely black. No white and no coloured laces. They are easily accessible through a number of retail stores.

Return Date for 2022

Please note that the school year will start on the Monday 24th January 2022. I wish you all a safe and relaxing holiday.

Julie-Anne McGuinness - Principal

WHAT’S HAPPENING

2022 School Leaders

Congratulations to our Musgrave Hill 2022 student leaders! There has been a rigorous process for the candidates to receive a leadership position. Firstly, was a written application in which the students wrote why they would be a good leader for our school community, how they demonstrate our four school values and listed all the extra-curricular activities they have participated in.

Teacher feedback was provided by candidate’s current teachers and specialist teachers. The students were then scored in a variety of categories including academic effort, behaviour, attendance, demonstration of our four school values and their leadership capabilities.

Next, all candidates were interviewed by Mr Bird and Ms Hall. After this, shortlisted students presented speeches to their peers and teachers. They received a score based on their speech, and then after the speeches the school community had the opportunity to vote. The student leaders listed below are the candidates who scored the highest once all five components had been added together.

I’m proud to announce our 2022 Student Leaders –

Tamara Hall – Deputy Principal

Creative Arts Experience

Top Blokes

Over the past 10 weeks, a selection of year 4 and 5 boys have been involved in the Top Blokes program run here at Musgrave. Over the course of the program, chosen participants completed 8 workshops on social issues that may impact young boy’s health including:

• Healthy Masculinity
• Healthy Minds
• Healthy Relationships
• Screen Time
• Peer Pressure and Risk Taking
• Humanising Teachers
• Anger Management
• Leadership and Teamwork

The relationships and bonds that were created between the mentors, Ben, Zee, Dayne and our boys were invaluable. From timid beginnings to confident young men willing to get involved and be heard; the transformations have been wonderful to watch unfold. The nature of these changes varied amongst our boys; from building confidence to speak up and put your thoughts forward, to a feeling of mateship created between the student and mentor, to massive gains in terms of self-reflection on choices made and reactions given to varied situations. The enthusiasm of and the connections the presenters have made with our boys and the conversations it has generated amongst them will be memories the boys hold on to.

Congratulations Edin H, Jacob A, Michael L, Tariq H, Knox S, Lewis B, Lucas P, Leo O, Van B, Lucas T, Jack W and Eli C.

ASSEMBLY AWARDS

Friday 12th November

Friday 19th November

For Term 4 Weeks 6 and 7

FINANCE

STUDENT RESOURCE SCHEME - 2022

Cost - $150.00

If you have previously opted in to the SRS your participation is assumed for the remainder of your child's enrolment, unless you inform the school otherwise by completing a new participation agreement form.

If you choose not to participate in our SRS scheme, please collect a booklist from the office.

The SRS Invoices for 2022 will be emailed in early December,

Please pay by the end of February. If you are paying in instalments please pay the first instalment by the end of February, the second instalment at the beginning of term 2 and the final payment at the beginning of term 3.

Your child will receive their book pack once the Student Resource Scheme has been paid in full, or the first payment is received or a payment plan is in place – eg. Centrelink.

The best payment option is the BPOINT link at the bottom of the invoice because the payment can be made in full or in parts.

If your student has a credit on their account, that credit will be applied to their 2022 SRS invoice.

The office will be closed for all payments after 3rd December 2021 for end of year financial closure procedures.

Janette Connolly – Business Manager

TUCKSHOP NEWS

The cut off time for ordering 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.

The Tuckshop will close on Friday 3rd December for end of year stock take and functions.

As we are getting closer to Christmas I thought I would share one of my favourite Xmas treats. We give these out to neighbours and family, they are so delicious. I hope you enjoy making them, sharing them and of course eating them.

Christmas Cookie Bars

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup castor sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Christmas M&M’s
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ⅓ cup Christmas sprinkles

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer with a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and castor sugar. Mix in the eggs and vanilla until combined.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
4. Fold in about ¾ of the M&Ms, chocolate chips, and sprinkles.
5. Press the dough into the prepared baking dish. Top with the remaining M&M’s, chocolate chips, and sprinkles, pressing them down slightly into the top of the dough.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are light brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars and serving.

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 and let us know.

We are currently waiting on a delivery of stock, unfortunately we have no Size 6 Polos in stock at the moment but once the delivery arrives I will do my best to get them to you.

Uniform Shop will close for 2021 on 1st December at 9:00am. This allows us to do our final stocktake.

Uniform Shop Opening Times 2022

The uniform shop will be open on the following dates and times. We will be located at the front of the school next to After School Care. Please follow the signs.

Monday 17th January - 7:00am-12:00pm
Tuesday 18th January – 12:00pm-5:00pm
Wednesday 19th January – 7:00am-12:00pm
Thursday 20th January – 12:00pm-5:00pm

We will be taking EFTPOS and cash payments. You will also be able to purchase on the Qkr! App from the 1st January 2022 and pick up your items on any of the days listed above. Please note we have no winter jackets in stock at present and will be placing an order for them in January and should receive the stock no later than April-May 2022.

Sally McWilliams - Tuckshop and Uniform Convenor

CLASSROOM CAPERS – 5 TEAL

On Monday, the 22nd of November, the Year Fives went to the Eureka Gold Rush excursion for their HASS unit. We learned about the miners in the 1850’s, the different cultures and how hard life was on the goldfields. We learned how the miners had very little supplies and money, and how they lived in very poor conditions.

Some of the different activities we did were role plays, panning for gold, looking for bushrangers, using maps (orienteering) and searching for alluvial gold.

Before we even arrived in the town we passed a trooper. He told us there was a bushranger on the loose and to be careful. We weren’t careful enough and one of our classmates was robbed!

We were able to experience the taste of freshly baked damper and golden syrup. We bought a miners licence, just like they had to in the 1850’s, and rushed to find gold. Similar to miners in the 1850’s some were more successful than others. We were able to exchange our ‘gold’ for ‘money’ to then spend on goods.

This was definitely worthwhile because we learnt a lot, experienced life in the 1850’s gold period and enjoyed ourselves.

By Anna, Sophia and Grace B – 5 Teal

CLASSROOM CAPERS – 5 RUBY

Fizz Investigation

This term in science we have been learning about states of matter and part of that investigation was experimenting with everyday gases. In our experiment on fizz we followed the procedure for a ‘Fair Test’ and how changing one thing ‘a variable’ affects another. We used the acronym ‘Cows Moo Softly’ of changing one variable, measuring another variable and keeping all other variables the same to enable a fair test. We recorded our results and displayed them in a bar graph.

Cows Moo Softly

Investigation Question

If we increase the amount of citric acid (C) then the amount of fizz will also be increased (M) because the liquid water, solid bicarbonate soda and solid citric acid will keep reacting when the citric acid is continually added and keep producing a gas or fizz.

Mr Waugh – Classroom Teacher

A WORD FROM OUR GUIDANCE OFFICER

We are fast approaching the end of the school year and time for summer holidays! Holidays can be fun but they can also be tricky to navigate for many families, the disruption to routines can be a challenge and activities can prove expensive.

Organising activities can give you and your child something to look forward to and a sense of routine amongst the holiday down time. Try to plan some inexpensive trips and take time to connect with friends and family.

• Plan inexpensive things to do (free if possible) – take the kids to the park and have a picnic.

• Head out for a swim at the beach, creek or local pools.

• Go exploring, there are beautiful places amongst the hinterland or beaches to explore, even lots of local parks to take the time to spend some quality time relaxing in.

• Get creative! Spending time with your kids baking, painting, drawing, writing stories or plays or reading books is great for their development as well as fun entertainment.

Remember just doing things with your kids will be fun and memories last forever.

Every school holidays the Gold Coast City Council lists a range of low cost or free activities, keep your eye out for the active and healthy publication for a range of workshops around the Gold Coast parks and libraries.

If you find the holidays a particularly difficult time, reach out to your supports or phone for help.

• 13 HEALTH —call 13 43 25 84 and ask to speak with a child health nurse about your or your child’s health. Registered nurses are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the cost of a local call. 13 HEALTH is not an emergency line. For help in emergency situations, contact Triple Zero (000).

• Parentline —call 1300 30 1300 for advice and counselling about any issue that affects you as a parent. The service is available from 8am to 10pm, 7 days a week for the cost of a local call (mobile phone charges apply).

• MensLine Australia —call 1300 789 978 if you’re a man and have family or relationship concerns. The helpline is available 24 hours a day.

• Lifeline —call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hours a day) if you are experiencing a personal crisis.

Enjoy your school holiday break, take time to connect with your child and make memories as a family. We look forward to seeing you back next year, refreshed and recharged.

Tamara Napper – Guidance Officer

A WORD FROM OUR CHAPLAIN

Thanks to everyone for another great year! Your support in the Chappy Spare Change Challenge was incredible. Enjoy my newsletter and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, a Happy New Year and a relaxing, fun & safe break. See you Term 1!!

River Camp

GETTING TO KNOW OUR COUNTRY’S CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Dreaming

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 at Musgrave Hill SS

UPCOMING EVENTS