Weir State School Newsletter

Term 3 Week 1

Principal's Pen

PRINCIPAL'S FOREWORD – Welcome back after the mid-year break, we are ‘ready and raring to go’ for term 3. The staff of Weir State School welcome the ‘Weir’ community to a term full of excitement, learning and high expectations. Our school will continue to build upon term 2's success with much planned to enhance student learning and a wider school environment. Our school term has begun yet again with new students joining our great school and I would like to welcome them and their families. Welcome, welcome back and have a great term at our school, your school…..wonderful Weir.

PARENT/CARER CONTACTS UPDATE - As we enter the new term I would like to ask all parents to notify our school admin of any changes of address or phone numbers to ensure we have the most up to date contacts is case of parent contact need or emergencies. Updating your contacts is extremely important as we need parent / carer contact immediately if required.

SCHOOL BEHAVIOUR EXPECTATIONS – As our school term begins I would like to take the opportunity to encourage parents to reinforce our 4 key areas of focus. : 1. No being physical with other students (Keep hands and feet to self) 2. No swearing (Use kind and positive language). 3. Do as instructed the first time (listen carefully to your teachers) 4. Ask a teacher for help (remember…..asking for help is not dobbing ) . These four key areas of focus lead our triangle of student expectation which is: Be Respectful – Be Responsible – Be Safe. I would like to personally thank all students and teachers for their continued efforts and all parents for their fantastic support when needed. Weir is certainly a GREAT school.

NAIDOC EVENT – Congratulations to our students, staff and the wider community for an outstanding NAIDOC event on the final Thursday of Term 2. The smoking ceremony, opening events and cultural activities all made up for a great day and again showed what a great community we have when we all get together for our key annual events. Well done to our entire community for being part of our great event and enjoying the celebration of our schools indigenous culture.

SCHOOL APP – Our school APP is an important part of parent contact and the uptake of the communication device has been wonderful. We are now over the 500 members strong and we would love to see all of our families with the APP on their phone. Remember the APP is free from the ISTORE so if you haven’t got it on your phone yet please consider adding our APP.

JEWELLERY – Last term we’ve had a few students wearing earrings, necklaces and bangles to school. Please remember Weir State School has a clear student jewellery policy and some of the jewellery worn does not meet the guidelines within the policy. Students are permitted to wear stud or sleeper earrings. Bangles, necklaces or dangling earrings are not permitted at school. This policy is to comply with dress standards however it is more importantly tied to student safety.

SCHOOL PARKING – We have had a safe start to the term however I have noticed some parents picking up and dropping off in the school bus zones and loading zones. Could I please ask for the safety of all students that parents do not continue parking in these zones. Thanks for your support regarding student safety.

MOBILE PHONES - At Weir State School we understand that mobile phones fill a need for some families, especially in relation to the occasional issues that arise with before or after school safety and communication. There are a number of issues associated with mobile phones at school. These include security, interruptions to class programs, inappropriate use or overuse. Due to these issues, we prefer that students do not bring mobile phones to school.

STRONG MIND AND CARING HEART- The notion of a ‘Strong Mind’ and ‘Caring Heart’ is often mentioned and reinforced with our students. ‘Strong Mind’ refers to the student making wise decisions based on what they know is right and wrong. This also means not succumbing to peer pressure. This is where the notion ‘strong’ is reinforced because at times you have to show strength in your decision and stick to it. This can be difficult, especially if your friends don’t agree. An example might be when a group of students knowingly decide to break a school rule, such as playing and running with sticks. It will take a ‘Strong Mind’ for a student to confront their friends and remind them that they are breaking a school rule and that what they are doing is unsafe. This is also where the notion of ‘Caring Heart’ comes into play. We emphasise that we are all part of the Weir State School learning community, and as a community we all have the responsibility to ensure that every one of us at school is feeling happy and safe. In the above example, it requires a ‘Strong Mind’ to confront friends about breaking a school rule and it requires a ‘Caring Heart’ to also be worried that they might injure themselves or others with the sticks.

‘Strong Mind’ and ‘Caring Heart’ are very powerful and important values for all of us to have. Imagine if everyone used a ‘Strong Mind’ and ‘Caring Heart’ at all times; what a happy and safe world we would have!

THIS WEEKS PROVERB –“Actions speak louder than words”

Have a great week and GO the COWBOYS

Mr B – Acting Principal

Life Education

Life Education permission notes were sent home on Monday. Forms have been attached below, should you require another copy.

Life Education Notes - Prep

Download

Life Education Notes Year 1 - Year 6

Download

School Opinion Survey

School Opinion Survey opens 29th July – 23 August 2019

Dear Parents and Carers,

School Opinion Surveys are undertaken each year by the Department of Education and Training. Surveys canvass the views of parents/caregivers, students, and school staff from every state school on what our schools do well and how they can improve.

The survey is conducted in Semester 2 so that most respondents have had sufficient experience of the school to provide considered opinions, and so that all parents/caregivers have had the opportunity to experience school-based reporting. This also gives sufficient time for schools to respond to the survey results during the current school year.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous, with all information being treated confidentially and stored securely by the department in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld).

Respondents are strongly encouraged to provide their opinions so the survey results are representative of the opinions at each school.

Survey results are used to assess and investigate how well schools are going, and to identify areas for improvement. There are 35 questions, which ask you to think back over the school year and indicate the extent to which you agreed with the statements. The survey includes questions about communication, well-being, students learning needs and programs. Your responses can shape better learning environments.

Please be advised that a letter of invite will be forwarded home to parent/caregivers next week in preparation. The survey is designed to help our school identify what we do well and how we can improve.

Online surveys can only be completed where there is access to the internet and access to the survey is achieved via the two access codes listed on your letter. The Resource Centre at the school has computer and internet facilities available for parents/caregivers who do not have ready access to the internet at home.

Parents/Caregivers – link https://survey.qed.qld.gov.au/invite/84.aspx

The online survey will open Monday 29th July and close Friday 23rd August 2017.

Yours sincerely

Judd Burgess

A/Principal

Earn and Learn

A huge thank you to everyone who supported our school and sent in the Woolworths Earn & Learn stickers last term. We had a merry band of students who worked hard during their lunch times to stick the stickers on the sticker sheet, and we received a total of just over 48,000 stickers! These points will be used to buy new teaching resources for our classrooms.

Student of the Week

Prep	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	Year 6
PB: Luceileah	1B: Jessi	2B: Lacey	3B: Sonny	4B: Daihanna	5B: Sara	6B: Emily
PR: Maxwell	1R: Malakai	2R: Vivian	3R: Ishy	4R: Akarsha	5R: Ian	6R: Markus
PY: Jyle	1Y: Mackenzie	2Y: Wees	3Y: Denzel	4Y: Emily	5Y: Kyle	6Y: Jolene
PG: Sarah	1G: Tyler	2G: Jacob	3G: Calais	4G: Amelia-May	5G: Fabien	5/6M: Ethan
		2S: Justice	3S: Logan

Inclusion Award: 3G - Joel

The Arts

Junior

2Y: Koah

Senior

4R: Aiden

Junior

2Y: Harper

Senior

4B: Zofia

News from The Arts

Choral Camp

In the last week of Term 2, 13 of our Senior Choir students had the privilege to attend the prestigious Choral Camp. This year the 100 strong Choir was directed by Dr Debra Shearer-Dirie. On the last day they performed a concert for their families showcasing the wonderful songs they had learnt during the camp.

The Camp was a great success with our students doing a fantastic job. Mrs Wilson was so proud of their efforts and behaviour for the whole camp! Thank you to Mr Burgess who went out of his way on the last day of school to come and watch the students perform in the culminating concert.

What an amazing opportunity it was for our Senior Choir students!!

School Flags

After our old flags were damaged we were finally able to take delivery of new one's. They have been kindly donated by our local Federal Member for Herbert, Phillip Thompson.

Pictured are our new Flag attendants. These students have learned some of the protocol's of flag flying and will be responsible for making sure they are proudly on display each day.

Tuckshop Volunteers

Got some spare time? Want to meet new people? Bored of sitting at home now the kids are at school? There is a solution that doesn’t cost you a penny, you don’t need experience for and will only cost you a few hours of your time. Why not come volunteer at the Tuckshop.

You can do as little or as much as you like all we need (as a minimum) is about 2 hours of your time and in return you will have a morning out, some conversation, a bit of chaos at treat time and some laughs not to mention as much coffee or tea as you like and occasionally even a sweet or two for morning tea.

So if you are interested just stop by the Tuckshop one day and we would be happy to have a chat.

Thanks

Krystle and Amanda

Position Vacant

SCHOOL CROSSING SUPERVISOR

Weir State School

We are seeking interested persons for a casual position, approximately 1 & half hours per day, on a rotating roster, school days only.

Approved applicants will be required to undergo a medical assessment and pass a blue card application.

Pay rate starts at $30.00 per hour.

Please call 07 47587505 for an application package.

Book Fair

Date: 29/07/2019 Time: All Day Venue: Weir State School Library

Book Fair is back! It will be held in the Library from 29 July to 2 August.

Purchases can be made before school and after school and at lunchtimes.

All funds raised go back into buying resources for our Library.

If you'd like to volunteer to help with our Book Fair please pop in and speak to the staff in the Library.

PlayConnect PlayGroup

PlayConnect Playgroup is starting up on the 16th July, 2019.

PlayConnect Playgroups are for families of children aged 0-6 years with developmental delays or Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) and a great way for families to connect with others.

Please see attached flyer for details.

f you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service. For more information, visit: www.relayservice.gov.au

KIRWAN STATE HIGH SCHOOL YEAR 6 INTO 7 - INFORMATION NIGHT

Parents/Caregivers and students interested in enrolling in Year 7 at Kirwan State High School in 2020 are invited to attend an Information Night on Tuesday 30th July at 6:00pm in the school Performing Arts Block.

If you have any questions please contact Geraldine Glazier on 4773 8123.

Register your interest through our Facebook event.https://www.facebook.com/events/376931592928628/