The annual School Opinion Survey is

online this year and was forwarded to all

our parents via school messaging and

text. Feedback as a school is vital to

highlight the great things we are doing as

a school or tell us what we can do to

ensure continuous improvement. Please

contact the office if you have difficulties

with the email address.

Prep interviews will

commence term 3.

We look forward to meeting new and existing families

to our school. Please contact the office to arrange an

interview time and collect enrolment packs.

Bring your own device (BYOD) is an initiative I am

anticipating to implement in 2021 for our Year 5 cohort.

During the recent learning from home it became very

apparent that technology is proving to be a valuable

learning tool for our students to ensure they have the

skills to commence high school. I will be seeking

feedback from parents and students in regards to your

thoughts as I believe all decisions should be a

collaborative process. A survey will be sent to

parents/carers as the first process of community and

parent consultation.

Scholastic book club from term 3 onwards will be

online payment only. Crescent Lagoon will no longer

accept cash for items ordered. Unfortunately we no

longer have the staff to support this, in saying that I

encourage all parents to continue purchasing reading

books for your child to enrich their love of reading.

22/06/2020

Welcome to this edition of our newsletter!

Well another term nearly over! Friday 26 June is the last

day of the term and we will recommence on Monday 13

July. I am sure you will all agree it has been interesting

times for the entire school community. A positive from

COVID-19 upon reflection, was how as a school and

community we strengthened in uncertain times to ensure

every student had the opportunity to learn. When I

receive information on what drop offs and pick up times

will look like next term I will inform parents. Parents can

still access teachers through class dojo if you have any

questions or concerns. It has been wonderful to observe

children and how they have gained independence and

confidence throughout the change of routines. School

drop off and pick up will remain the same next term,

however children will be escorted to the gate at 3.00pm

not 2.45pm.

principal@crescentlagoonss.eq.edu.au

crescentlagoonss.eq.edu.au

Bella the Brave fundraiser for children brain cancer

research. Our wonderful Year 5 students as part of their

assessment were task into researching an organisation and

brainstorm ways in which we could support this wonderful

charity. I have included Bella’s story written by her mother.

Also, I was given the opportunity to listen to year 5

representatives when they presented their thoughts on how

we can raise money for the charity they choose. This

Wednesday we will hold a yellow day (Bella’s favourite

colour). Your donation of a gold coin will go towards the

Charlie Teo fundraising charity.

Finally, I would like to wish all students, families and the

entire staff at Crescent lagoon SS a wonderful holiday. Be

safe, and we will see you all in term 3.

Regards

Jackie Sinclair

Principal

Bella’s story

It was just before Bella’s first birthday that we got an inkling

there was something wrong. She was irritable, not eating

much, sleeping poorly and very clingy. Fairly common

issues, right, for a one year old? So it is not a surprise I

guess that the child health nurse I saw and her GP weren’t

overly concerned and initially neither were we. That is until I

went to lift her out of her cot one morning and I noticed she

was shaking. Again, I took her to the GP who again couldn’t

find anything wrong and told me to come back in a couple of

days if she didn’t improve. I wasn’t convinced by this and

decided to take Bella to the hospital. I didn’t get anywhere

there either with the paediatrician giving me the distinct

impression that she thought I was just being a neurotic first-

time mother. I took Bella home but my mother’s tuition was

telling me that this was not nothing. That night Bella began

having trouble sitting up and crawling. She was also

becoming increasingly distressed. I took her back to the

hospital first thing in the morning and insisted, very strongly

I might add, that she be admitted for observation at the very

least. Things moved swiftly from there. Once the

paediatrician on the ward watched Bella’s movements a

head ultrasound was ordered. This showed that Bella had a

cyst in her brain. Bella and I were on a plane to Brisbane

that night with the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service. This was

the last day of our normal life. The 1st of September 2016.

Friday the 2nd of September and the week that followed was

a parent’s worst nightmare. I cannot in words convey the

devastation and depths of despair that we experienced.

Bella had an MRI that morning. She was only supposed to

be gone half an hour. After an hour I was inconsolable. I

knew something was dreadfully wrong. Finally after an hour

and a half the neurosurgeon arrived. He crouched down in

front of us so that he was at eye level. My heart sank. I

knew my instincts were right and I was terrified about what

he was going to say. These words are now forever seared

in my memory. He said “I’m very sorry but the scan showed

us something we weren’t expecting. Bella has a very large

abnormality in her brain.” He told us that this abnormality

affected almost the entire left side of her brain. He told us

that her brain was under an extreme amount of pressure

and was being squashed to the right hand side. He told us

that he needed to take Bella away immediately for surgery

to do a biopsy and to drain some of the fluid to reduce the

amount of pressure. And that was that. As quickly as he

arrived he left, leaving us reeling.

Things went from bad to worse after that. Bella didn’t wake

up after that surgery and no one could explain why. She

was transferred to PICU – an acronym for Paediatric

Intensive Care Unit so that she could be closely monitored.

It is a dreadful place to be and it is place we now know well.

I was cuddling Bella the next morning when her

neurosurgeon came into review her. At that stage everyone

was still using the word ‘abnormality’ when talking to us. No

one had mentioned the word cancer. I asked him point

blank what he thought the abnormality was and to his credit

he answered me frankly. He told me that he thought that

Bella had a malignant brain tumour and an aggressive one

at that. When he left I hugged Bella and cried and cried and

cried.

Bella had further surgery that afternoon to drain more fluid

and thankfully she woke up. We noticed very quickly though

that she was not moving her right arm or her right leg. Again

no one could explain why. We now understand that Bella

suffered a stroke at some point during the biopsy causing

the paralysis.

The next couple of days was a waiting game. Everything

seemed to be on hold until the results of the biopsy came

through. Our new reality began sinking in and the initial

devastation gave way to feelings of optimism and hope.

Bella came out of PICU and seemed to be improving. Surely

the biopsy would come back and it wouldn’t be that bad.

Surely this was something that could be fixed. Surely

everything would be okay. We were sadly very wrong.

On Monday, three days after her biopsy, we were told that

the results were back and that Bella’s tumour was an

anaplastic ependymoma. Anaplastic ependymoma is a

grade 3 malignant brain cancer. There are 3 grades of

ependymoma, from grade 1 through to 3. Anaplastic

ependymoma is a grade 3. It is the worst form of

ependymoma and has the worst prognosis. It is the third

most common type of brain cancer in children. Bella’s

neurosurgeon told us that Bella would need surgery but that

he didn’t think that he would be able to remove all of the

tumour. He couldn’t tell us what her prognosis was.

We were again left devastated, our hope shattered into a

million pieces. But time was not on our side to think too

much about things. Bella’s condition deteriorated quite

quickly over the next 24 hours and she began having

seizures. On Wednesday morning, 5 days after her MRI

scan, she had a seizure that lasted longer than an hour and

resulted in a MET call. A MET call, which we have now

endured several times, is an awful experience. An alarm

sounds from the room which sends staff from the ward,

PICU and emergency literally running into the room. There

were about 30 doctors in the room that morning along with a

resuscitation trolley. It took an hour and a half to stabilise

Bella and stop the seizure. She was taken to PICU and

booked for surgery that afternoon.

We were an absolute mess by this point but things were

about to get worse. After a very long, awful wait Dr

Redmond, her neurosurgeon, came to see us. Bella had

pulled through surgery but barely. The surgery had to be

abandoned due to extensive blood loss. The entire volume

of blood in Bella’s body was transfused three times over

before she was stabilised. In order to save her life Dr

Redmond packed her brain with gauze effectively, left out

her skull bone, sewed her up and she was placed in an

induced coma. Bella had further surgery two days later to

remove the packing in her brain and to put her skull bone

back in. On Sunday the 11th September Bella woke up. It

was the most amazing moment. Her first words were Mama,

Daddy and happy. We were overjoyed but Bella was not in

great shape.

Shortly after she spoke those words she went mute. It was

only after Bella went mute that we were told this was a

common side effect from the surgery that she had had and

that it could be permanent. On top of this she was paralysed

down her right side, could not swallow, sit up and was blind

to her right side.

Dr Redmond had only been able to remove approximately

75% of Bella’s tumour. Because of this and because of the

malignant nature of the tumour we were advised by her

oncologist to do chemotherapy. The aim of the

chemotherapy was to reduce the blood flow to the tumour

and enable a second look surgery to try to remove it.

Without a gross total resection, which is when the tumour is

completely removed, Bella’s prognosis was slim.

Because of the blood brain barrier, chemotherapy drugs

provide a limited benefit in brain cancer treatment. Bella’s

particular tumour is also known to be resistant to

chemotherapy. But this was the only treatment option we

were given. Neither Dan or I knew much about

chemotherapy but we certainly didn’t expect to be given

pamphlets of each drug they wanted to give to Bella

detailing pages of side effects. Literally pages, with side

effects including infertility, hearing loss, leukemia and

secondary cancers just to name a few.

Despite our misgivings, on the 7th October 2016 Bella had

surgery to have a central line put in so she could start

chemotherapy. A central line is a catheter of sorts that was

placed in the right side of Bella’s chest and went up into her

neck and then down to the side of her heart. The central line

is then used to administer chemotherapy, take blood and

give IV fluids.

Bella started high dose chemo the day after her central line

was put in. She was given 5 different drugs over the course

of 2 weeks and then had a 2 week break before starting

again. Bella was in isolation for her treatment which meant

that she wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital room whilst

she was an inpatient. By this time she was crawling and

moving around again so keeping her occupied was

definitely challenging to say the least. She would bang on

the window and try to crawl out the door whenever someone

came in. One of the hardest parts of the chemo though was

seeing the nurses wearing a gown, gloves, a face shield

and glasses when administering the chemo to protect

themselves and then watching the bright yellow liquid being

injected into our daughter. It just felt wrong.

Bella sailed through the first round of chemo, struggled with

the second and was even worse with the third round. She

wouldn’t eat anything but vegemite toast and apple puree.

She vomited and vomited and vomited. She needed to be

given a sedative to help her sleep. Despite this she was still

for the most part cheeky and hard to keep confined in the

room.

After 2 rounds of chemo Bella had a scan which by some

miracle showed the tumour had gone. We were urged by

her oncologist to continue the chemotherapy which we

reluctantly did. We did the third round of chemo and asked

for another scan which again showed no evidence of

tumour. Her oncologist wanted us to go ahead with the

fourth and final round of chemo but we declined. We could

not bring ourselves to put her through it again. Bella’s

weight by now had dropped to under 10kg, she had

received multiple blood transfusions and her immune

system was shot. She needed a break.

Bella finished chemo at the end of December 2016 and we

spent January trying to fatten her up in preparation for her

next surgery in February 2017. Despite the MRI scan

showing no evidence of tumour there was an area that

remained a concern and Bella’s team wanted to make sure

that it was removed. Bella underwent her 5th brain surgery in

early February with the neurosurgeon confirming with us

that he felt confident he had removed everything.

It was a relief to know we had gotten through chemo and

that second-look surgery had achieved a gross total

resection but we then had to deal with the prospect of

putting Bella through radiation. 30 fractions of radiation to

be exact over 6 weeks, Monday to Friday with Bella being

put under a general anaesthetic for each one. Radiation is

generally not recommended for children under the age of 3

because of the detrimental impact to a developing brain. We

were advised though that Bella should have radiation

because of the aggressive nature of her tumour. In addition

to the impact to her neurocognitive abilities and the

endocrine problems she would have as she got older we

were also told that there was a very high possibility that

Bella would end up with radiation induced dementia within a

couple of years which would impact upon her short term

memory. For a little girl that doesn’t have any long term

memories because of her age, this again was a devastating

blow to deal with. We were urged to go ahead with the

radiation despite the risks and despite the fact that even

with the radiation there was about a 50% chance the tumour

would come back again in any event.

We struggled to make a decision. How could we go ahead

with the radiation knowing that it would likely mean our little

girl would no longer be able to remember who she was or

who we were? But on the other hand, how could we refuse

radiation knowing that it was the only treatment option

available to try to keep this insidious disease at bay. We

ended up declining radiation. We just couldn’t do it to Bella.

Given that there was no other treatment that could be

offered, we returned home to Gladstone in May last year

after getting another clear scan.

The elation we felt when we returned home, however, was

short lived. Bella’s next scan in early August showed the

tumour had returned. We had been told all along by her

oncology team that we had one chance at beating this and

that if it came back the prospect of a good outcome for Bella

was not great. After the initial shock of the situation had

worn off, we were quietly confident after discussions with

her oncologist that the tumour could be removed relatively

easily. How wrong we were. Bella’s 6th surgery in

September was aborted as her neurosurgeon thought it

posed an unacceptable risk to her life if he continued. The

tumour was still in there. It was then we felt the weight of the

situation had shifted against us. During an awful

conversation with her oncology team we were told that they

didn’t think that they could cure Bella. They told us they

could offer radiation but this would just be to buy her time.

Go home and make memories they said.

The hardest part of all of this was that Bella was happy and

seemingly looked healthy. It seemed so unfair to put her

through more treatment when she was doing so well. It was

even harder to fathom that this could not be beaten.

So we made the decision to see Dr Charlie Teo in Sydney.

This was against the advice from Lady Cilento hospital, from

those that are supposed to have Bella’s best interests at

heart. Dr Teo saw the scans and was confident he could

remove the tumour but warned us that if we went ahead

Bella might not make it through the surgery. We agonised

over this decision for a couple of weeks – time we didn’t

really have because the tumour was growing very quickly.

But ultimately we decided we needed to go ahead with the

surgery and give Bella the best chance of being able to beat

this beast again. On the 23rd of October for nearly 6 hours

Bella underwent her 7th surgery under the hand of Dr Teo. It

felt like an eternity. When the call came through on my

phone I was terrified about answering it. But it was fantastic

news. Dr Teo had been able to remove the tumour and

Bella was through the surgery. I couldn’t wait to give her a

cuddle. Bella bounced back from the surgery so well it was

unbelievable. She was moved out of ICU the day after her

surgery and was up and about, walking and talking. Again

though it was a situation of 2 steps forward 1 step back as

Bella became unresponsive the following day, two days

after her surgery. She began seizing with her heart rate

bouncing between 200 beats per minute down to 50. It took

an hour to stabilise her. This was the second MET call we

had endured and it was no less frightening. A CT scan

showed increased pressure in her brain so Bella was taken

away for emergency surgery to put in a shunt, her 8th brain

surgery in 13 months. And in true Bella style, was again

back to her usual self the next morning.

Since her last operation with Dr Teo in October last year

Bella has had clear scans. Earlier this year she had a full

functional and cognitive assessment completed where she

tested within the normal range for her age, an amazing feat

given she is missing more than a quarter of her brain and is

blind to her right side in both eyes. She is a delightful little

girl who loves cuddles, laughing, jumping on the trampoline

and anything to do with water. Bella will have 3 monthly

scans indefinitely as the nature of her cancer means there is

a high rate of further reoccurrence. But we will cross that

bridge if we come to it. In the meantime we feel it is

important to tell others about the incidence of childhood

brain cancer. We knew nothing about it before Bella was

diagnosed. We now know that brain cancer kills more

children than any other disease. Until an announcement

earlier in the year by the Federal Government, brain cancer

received very little in the way of funding for research

projects. Without research, new treatment options won’t be

discovered. The mainstay of treatment remains

chemotherapy and radiotherapy, despite these treatments

causing significant long-term side effects. These treatments

are not designed to be used on children. But there is

nothing else. The current survival statistics for brain cancer

are abysmal. Only 2 out of every 10 people will be alive 5

years after their diagnosis. This needs to change and it

needs to change soon. Not only for Bella but for the children

I have met on this journey who are also fighting for their

lives.

So that’s why I created Bella the Brave. All money raised is

donated to help fund research into brain cancer and goes to

the Charlie Teo Foundation. Like Bella the Brave the Charlie

Teo Foundation was only established in October last year

but still managed to raise $4M up to the end of the financial

year. In future the foundation hopes to raise $10M a year.

The way in which the foundation operates is completely

different to other charities and predominantly relies on

volunteers to perform its business activities so that it can

minimise its expenses. I am one of those volunteers as the

foundation’s legal counsel. This model has allowed the

Foundation to limit its expenses to 15% last financial year.

The ultimate aim is to have expenses limited to 10%. To

give you an idea of how different the Charlie Teo

Foundation is from other charities, in 2017 the Cure Brain

Cancer Foundation (Charlie’s former charity I might add)

spent more than 80% of revenue received on expenses.

The Charlie Teo Foundation wants to do things differently,

and this is not just limited to its business model. It will fund

research differently and will be seeking out and handpicking

talented brain cancer researchers to help to try to find a

cure for brain cancer.

Year 5 students fundraising initiative.

Dear Mrs Sinclair,

Did you know Brain Cancer kills more children than any

other disease? It also kills more people under the age of

forty in Australia than any other cancer. If that’s not enough

the survival rate is only 22%! Would you believe that

approximately 1,700 people are diagnosed with Brain

Cancer and a total of 1,200 die from it every year. After 5E

heard these devastating statistics we knew we had to take

action. One of our classmates is sadly all too familiar with

this horrid disease, having someone close to them

diagnosed with Brain Cancer. We all believe this is a brilliant

idea to help support them as well as others.

In order to take action we have decided this fundraiser is a

MUST and hope you feel the same. Our main idea for the

fundraiser is that we would like to do a free dress day

including a gold coin donation. We will wear yellow because

of a little girl named Bella who has stolen our hearts.

Included in this fundraiser Mr Edwards will attempt to run

our goal we set for him 50km. For every $50 we fundraise

he will run 10km. If we achieve our goal of over $250 he will

run a massive 50km in just one day!

Who is Bella you ask? Bella is brave little girl who was

diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer. ( Anaplastic

Ependymoma) in September 2016 at just 13 months of age.

Since her diagnosis Bella has had a total of 8 brain

surgeries. We are all thankful especially her family for

Doctor Charlie Teo who removed the tumour successfully.

He was the only doctor who would perform the surgery even

though it was highly likely the operation would not be

successful. Bella is now a happy, healthy and normal kid but

that could change at any moment.

With so many children and families battling this horrendous

disease every day we really hope you support us and allow

us permission to conduct this fundraiser for brain cancer

research.

Yours Sincerely, 5E

Dates to Remember

2020 Term 2

June

Fri 26th Term 2 Finishes

2020 Term 3

July

Mon 13th Term 3 Commences

Tues 14th 11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Wed15th – Thurs 23rd

Life Education

Tues 21st 9-11am Step into Prep in the Hall

11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Tues 28th 9-11am Step into Prep in the Hall

11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Fri 31st Report Cards Emailed to Parents

August

Tues 4th 9-11am Step into Prep in the Hall

11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Tues 11th 9-11am Step into Prep in the Hall

11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Thurs 14th Rockhampton Show Holiday

Tues 18th 9-11am Step into Prep in the Hall

11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Tues 25th 9-11am Step into Prep in the Hall

11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Fri 28th Premier’s Reading Challenge concludes

September

Tues 1st 9-11am Step into Prep in the Hall

11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Fri 4th Pupil Free Day

Tues 8th 9-11am Step into Prep in the Hall

11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Tues 15th 11.15-1.15pm Playgroup in the Hall

Fri 18th Term 3 Finishes

Head of Department (Curriculum) Update

Reporting Semester One

Following up from the last newsletter, just a reminder that

Semester One reports will be provided to parents/carers in

Week 3 of next term.

Face to Face Reporting will not be formally offered in Term

Three, however, Classroom Teachers are available by

phone to discuss any aspect of a learner’s achievement and

performance.

Life Education Van

We are very excited to be welcoming back the Life

Education program to Cresso in Week 1 & 2 of Term 3 (15-

23 July 2020). The visit is fully sponsored by The Smith

Family, Communities for Children and as such is provided at

no cost to students.

To comply with COVID 19 requirements the Life Ed van will

not be attending this year. The program will be held in the

Resource Centre and students will attend in their class

groups. Each Class will attend one session over the course

of the visit. There will be sufficient time between classes for

the necessary cleaning requirements.

Teachers have aligned their Health Curriculum units for

Semester 2 with the sessions provided by Life Education

and as such it is an expectation that all students attend.

Should you wish your child to be withdrawn from this

program, please contact the classroom teacher to discuss

your concerns.

Parents and Carers can find videos, easy to read

information and other helpful resources around this program

at www.lifeeducation.rog.au/parents/

Premiers Reading Challenge

Don’t forget to keep reading over the school holiday period!

Miss Lynn

Head of Department (Curriculum)

P&C News

Tuckshop closed Friday for stocktake. Thursday instead of

Hotdogs we will do Chicken Chips.

Go to Cresso P&C events on Facebook to check out

“Showbag Fundraiser”

Commonwealth School Banking commencing Term 3.

From Mrs Layt ….

It’s the end of the term so it must be

assessment time. All Year 2 to 6

students will be assessed on their

drumming this week on their pieces

from

https://www.kaboompercussion.com/

Meanwhile the Preps and Year 1’s are concentrating on their ta’s and ti-ti’s Thank you to the string students who serenaded classes this week and last week. It was lovely to hear them perform and their audiences [the classes who had music on Mondays] enjoyed them as well. It’s close to holiday time and I am rather relieved. I am taking the first 2 weeks off on long service leave – because I’m old! Mrs Bain will be taking music lessons – she is a music teacher so I know the students will be in great hands.

from

Mrs Layt

Double

parking

A driver must

not stop a

vehicle

between the

centre of the road and another vehicle that is parked at the

side of a road, this includes vehicles parked in marked

angle parking bays. This rule helps to prevent children from

crossing between vehicles where there is a high risk of a

collision occuring.

Yellow lines

A driver must not stop a vehicle at the side of a road marked

with a continuous yellow line. Usually these lines are placed

in areas where safety is paramount, such as near marked

crossings, on road corners or to ensure safe visiblity for

vehicles entering or exiting a property.