EMU PARK STATE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

Newsletter No: 18 in 2017

Web Site: www.emuparkss.eq.edu.au Phone: 07-49254333 Fax: 07-49254300

- IMPORTANT DATES -

• Monday 4 December: End of Year Music Concert in Hall (9:45am - 11am) All welcome! • Monday 4 December: Drumbeat Performance at The Men’s Shed (11:45am - 12:45pm) • Tuesday 5 December: Year 6 Graduation in School Hall (6pm - 9pm) • Friday 8 December: Last Day of Term 4 • Monday 15 January 2018: School Office Reopens • Monday 22 January 2018: First Day of Term 1 • Friday 26 January 2018: Australia Day Public Holiday • Wed 28 & Thurs 29 March: 2018 School Photos • Friday 30 March: Good Friday and School Holidays Start • Friday 15 June: Yeppoon Show Holiday

A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL: Hi It is difficult to believe that this is the last newsletter for the year. Students are currently finalising their assessment to inform report cards and start to enjoy the fun and creativity of last week learning. We are right in the middle of constructing 21 class groups for 2018. It is planned that these groups will be finalised by late next week. An email will be sent Friday afternoon, to every parent who receives correspondence with their child’s class, teacher and room. A reminder that any or all of these 3 things can change according to enrolments received over the holidays and the first 2 weeks of school. We say good bye and thankyou to the following staff:-

· Renae Leis · Grace Gannon · Angela Chant · Sarah Tunsted

We welcome:- · Zenna Booth as a class teacher · Kodey Williamson as a class teacher · Rachael Williams as a class teacher

Kate Karner is taking a break from the classroom and will be our Health and Physical Education Teacher. Kim Dell is also taking a break from the classroom and will be working in our LEAP Program. I wish you and your family an enjoyable and safe break. Next year our office will re-open on the 15th January. Wayne A MESSAGE FROM OUR DEPUTY PRINCIPAL: Yesterday we had the pleasure of listening to our up and coming senior leaders as they presented their speeches for School and House captain positions. It was a privilege to watch as each student displayed confidence and pas-sion and showed us that we have a great group of students who are ready to be role models and leaders in our school. Congratulations to all the students who spoke. Well done to the following students who are our School Captains for 2018, School Captains: Carter and Maggie, Vice Captains: Liam and Sharna, Chintoo House Cap-tains: Makayla and Harrison, Wooree House Captains: William and Hayley, and Malbooma House Captains: Noah and Nazz. Last week our Year 5 and 6 students were fortunate and spent the week on camp. By all reports both year levels had a great time and the opportunity to grow socially and emotionally when challenged by some of the camp activi-ties. Camps are only made possible by the generosity and dedication of our teachers who give up their personal and family time to attend these events. A huge thank you to our teachers and the parents who assisted, we are very grateful. As I mentioned in the previous newsletter we are currently undergoing a review of our camp programs to ensure camps remain sustainable in our school. Next year we have a few changes to the camp program.

Congratulations to our November Aussies of the Month.

Camp Plans 2018:

Our 2018 Year 6 class missed the opportunity in Year 4 to attend North Keppel Island. We were able to obtain a booking for next year for them so they too can experience this camp. North Keppel is a smaller facility therefore we need to take the year level in two groups, making the camp a two night/three day event. Reducing the number of nights of the camps has also reduced the cost of the camp program for families making the experiences more affordable for families. Teachers are currently busy completing the final report cards for this year. It is important that you share your child’s report with them and celebrate and discuss with them their level of effort and progress in their achieve-ments. Ask them if they are proud of their year’s work. Reports reflect judgements about the quality of student learning, based on evidence collected during the reporting period and their most consistent level of achievement with consideration to more recent evidence. Please remember a “C” is satisfactory and means that your child is achieving year level expectations. Simply put they are learning and performing at the level expected for their year level. Reports will be emailed home at the end of term. Please check that we have your current email address. Today was our last ‘Aussie of the Month’ parade, congratulations to our “Aussie’s”. It is always a pleasure to acknowledge the great students we have here at Emu Park. Our teachers often comment on how difficult it is to choose and that there are not enough months in the year to award all the deserving students. What a great prob-lem to have. We will farewell our Year 6 students officially on Tuesday night with their Graduation Ceremony. This is always a wonderful evening where we get to reflect on the student’s achievements and growth over the seven years they have had at Emu Park. Parents of Year 6 students please remember to RSVP to the office and make your pay-ments for the dinner. We look forward to sharing this event with you and your family. Finally I would like to personally thank all of our families for their support this year. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and safe and enjoyable holiday. I look forward to seeing you all in 2018! Ellen A MESSAGE FROM OUR MASTER TEACHER: Pancake Breakfast is a Hit with the Students at Emu Park: There was plenty of golden syrup flowing last Wednesday morning as our Early Morning Readers celebrated another successful term of reading. We are incredibly proud of this group of children who made the effort to get to their reading groups on time every morning and to the mums, dads, and carers who dragged themselves out of bed to ensure this could happen. As a school, we monitor the improvement made by students in this group by collecting pre and post data on their reading capabilities. We are happy to announce that students who attended most or all of the sessions made significant improvements in their reading. Remember, reading does not stop over the school holidays. Reading is like everything else in life; the more you do it, the better you get at it. Encourage your child to read extensively. Join the Emu Park library, visit Rock-hampton library (I hear it’s great). Ask for audio books, read magazines, there’s plenty of kid’s magazines in the newsagencies and at our major supermarkets. Google funny cats, or National Geographic for Kids and help your child navi-gate the wonderful world of the internet. And finally reading is everywhere, make the most of it over the holidays, make it fun. If you have a reluctant reader hiding away at home, here’s some activities that heavily disguise reading. We call them camouflage reading! Follow the instructions for building Lego, play Monopoly (or games that involve reading from cards), fol-low a recipe, play the number plate game when driving – an animal for each letter, read a map or simply go out for an ice cream and read the menu. Good luck and happy reading from all of us at Emu Park. Parents, kids, camping and back to school: Many of our Emu Park families will be tackling the great outdoors over the Christmas holidays. Why? Because it’s a great Australian tradi-tion, it’s a time for families and friends to come together and

Year 4 North Keppel Island Environmental Education Centre

Term 4 Week 2 2 Nights/3 days Approx. $200-$220

Year 5 Boyne Island Environmental Education Centre

Term 4 Week 7 2nights/3 days Approx. $200-$220

Year 6 North Keppel Island Environmental Education Centre

Term 4 Week 9 2 nights/3 days Approx. $200-$200

Pancake Breakfast Celebration

bond. And there’s no better way to bond than when the batteries to your child’s device goes flat, ten minutes into a three hour car trip, or your tent is blowing across the deserted sand dunes like a run-away beach umbrella, or your sleeping bag is filling with rainwater and a couple of disgruntled cane toads. This is the stuff of memories. But, as we know too well, all good things must come to an end and, just as you were enjoying the late night re runs of your favourite Netflix series, and an occasional 10 am sleep-in, it will be time to head back to school. So, mums, dads and carer’s here’s our top 10 tips to make sure that in 7 weeks’ time you and your children are school ready. Get back into your sleep routine: To help eradicate those stressful school mornings, set up a regular bedtime and morning time routine to help prepare your child for school. Begin your usual school sleep routine about a week or so before school starts. Take all screens out of your child’s bedroom so that they are not watching re runs of Bay Watch at 3am, or texting friends at 2. Shop for school supplies together: Put the booklist in a safe place so it doesn’t get lost. Get your child excited about starting a new year, shop for supplies together. Allow them to pick out their own backpack, lunchbox, etc. Re-establish school routines: Have your child practice getting back into the rhythm of their daily school routine. You can do this by having them wake up at the same time every day and eat around the same time they would at school. Start this about a week or so before school starts. Set up a homework station: Sit down with your child and together designate a time and place where they can do their homework each day. This can be somewhere quiet, or even in the kitchen while you prepare dinner. Make an after-school game plan if both parents are working: Make a plan for where your child will go after school. Depending upon the age of your child, figure out if they will go to a neighbor’s house or an afterschool program. This will help eliminate any confusion during the first few weeks. Turn off the TV and video games: Ease your child into the learning process by turning off the electrics and en-couraging them to read or play. Review school material and information: Read any information sent home from the school. Familiarise your-self with important dates etc. Get organized: The best way to prepare for back to school time is to be organised. Make sure school has your email address so we can forward you important information. If you don’t have an email, make sure the school knows so we can send out paper copies. Designate a spot in your house for homework, permission slips, and any other school-related papers. Get your child’s yearly checkup: If you suspect your child has hearing or sight difficulties make an appointment to see a specialist before school starts. Eat Healthy: Get your child ready for brain breaks by putting away the junk food and bringing out the fruit and vegetable snacks. Kellie A MESSAGE FROM OUR HEAD OF LEAP: Chaplaincy Service: Our school Chaplain, Cherril Sell be taking long service leave in Term 1, 2018. The Scrip-ture Union is working with us to find a suitable person to fulfil this role during the first term of the 2018 school year. Currently, they have not been able to secure a chaplain for our school. We take this opportunity to thank Cherril for her work with our young people, families and the school staff during 2017. If your child is currently ac-cessing the Chaplaincy service, Cherril will make contact and we will seek new permissions and consent in early Term One. If you wish to speak to Cherril she will be in our school Tuesday and Wednesday of the last week of term. We anticipate Cherril Sell will return to the Chaplaincy role in Term 2. Transition from Kindy to Prep at Emu Park: We take this opportunity to thank the local kindergartens for be-ing supportive partners in helping us to transition the Kindy Kids to Emu Park State Primary School. We have done some fabulous work together with our teams to give the kids a leap into school life. We will take good care of your babies when they are Preppies in 2018! Families will receive further information about starting Prep in an email, so new families and families of Preppies in 2018 keep an eye out in your inbox. Acknowledgement of the work of LEAP: The end of the year marks another successful year for us and we take this opportunity to reflect on the school year and plan forward to the next. I thank the team around me, which helps to enrich the lives of young learners through quality teaching and with a gift of building relationships and inspiring our kids to want to learn and do better. The work of our team in the area of whole being has been powerful with the introduction of Drumbeat and part-nering with agencies to assist with work in social and emotional development. LEAP staff also have the responsi-bility of working closely with teaching staff to provide additional ideas and resource expertise. The Student Ad-vancement Forum (SAF) has built a strong platform within our school for supporting young people and making decisions as a team. Please take the opportunity to ensure your children have healthy ears, appropriate hearing and levels of sight by following up on hearing and vision testing. Details are included in this newsletter in an attachment below.

Thanks for taking the time to read our LEAP News and celebrate the many and varied opportunities your children have here at Emu Park throughout 2017. We are proud of what we do! We look forward to a restful break to recharge and look forward to the first school day in 2018 which falls on Monday 22nd January. See you then! Claire A MESSAGE FROM OUR MUSIC TEACHER: School Instruments and Senior Choir, Band and Strin g Ensemble Music Shirts This Monday after the Music Concert Mr Coonan and I will be collecting all school instruments and music shirts from the Senior Choir, String Ensembles and Band. Could students also pack a spare school shirt to change back into on Monday so that they can return their music shirt. Thank you very much. 2018 Instrumental Music Program • If you put in an application for your child to learn an instrument with our program next year, you will re-

ceive an email next week with the instrument your student has been offered. Early next year, you will receive further details and your child will start their lessons.

• If your child is in Year 4 or 5 and has been learning an instrument with us this year, have you let us know if they will be continuing next year?

Sarah DSR GENERAL NOTICES: • The Year 6 Graduation will take place on Tuesday 5th December from 6pm - 9pm in our School Hall.

RSVP and Payment is due by today. Each graduate is able to bring up to four adult guests. Cost per person is $10.00 for each attendees, including the graduating student. This is an alcohol free event and finger food will be provided by our P&C. The ceremony will begin around 7pm and students will be presented with their Graduation Certificates and Bursaries will also be presented to successful stu-dents. Attendees are invited to enjoy a disco after the presentations. We look forward to celebrating this milestone with our Year 6 students.

• Emu Park’s Got Talent: Mr T would like to say thanks to the sponsors, special guest “The Bannah-man” (aka. Drew Bannah), judges, sound crew and all those involved in the Talent Show. First Prize went to Angus and the PH Crew. Second Prize to Tanisha, Brielle and Amber. Third Prize to Milla. Congratulations to all involved. Well done Mr T on organising such a super popular event. The stu-dent’s loved it!

• The Mobile Dental Clinic will be located at Yeppoon Hospital over the Christmas School Holidays and appointments are available for children aged 4 years up to the end of year 10 with a Medicare Card. In some cases students in years 11 & 12 may also be eligible to receive FREE dental treatment. If you would like to book an appointment please telephone the clinic Mon – Thurs 8am – 2.30pm PH: 0408 771 129. All students attending Emu Park State School will receive a DENTAL CONSENT FORM dur-ing the first week of school in 2018 and appointments booked during Term 1.

From Kim Lee, Dental Therapist. • On the first day of next term (Monday 22 January 2018) we will be hosting a morning tea in our Read-

ing Area for all new parents. Feel free to call in for a cuppa and a biscuit and meet some other parents after settling your child.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR TUCKSHOP CONVENOR: As the year draws to a close I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful volunteers who have helped out in tuckshop this year. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year. Looking forward to seeing you all again in 2018. Heidi TUCKSHOP ROSTER: Monday: Bev Davies, Wednesday: Deb Conway, Thursday: Raelene Hinds & Emily Slotosch. HOT DOG, CHICKEN NUGGETS, PIZZA, SAUSAGE SIZZLE & C HEERIO ROSTER ($2-50 per serve): Friday 8/12 - Chicken Nuggets: Bev Davies. COMMUNITY NOTICES: Piano and Violin lessons: Available for 2018. Beginner to Advanced. Phone Alyssa Black 49397237. Emu Park Golf Club – Junior Golf Program: Starting early February 2018 , Emu Park Golf Club will be con-ducting Junior Golf Clinics with the help of Mr. Doug Gardiner on Saturday mornings. Golf Clubs are available for use by any child requiring clubs. At the end of these clinics a junior golf competition will be arranged on a day suit-able for interested golfers. Any information required or to register names call the club on 49396804.More infor-mation will be supplied early February 2018. Swimming Holiday Booster Blocks: Connolly Aquatics from the Emu Park Swimming Pool will be running two Booster Blocks over the upcoming school holidays – 8th to 12th January and 15th to 19th January. Each 5 lesson block costs just $60 with lessons being scheduled at the same time and with the same teacher each after-noon. We are also taking bookings for Term 1 which starts from 22nd January. Book now to avoid missing out! Phone 4930 2205 or email con.aquatics@bigpond.com. Community Christmas Tree Festival : Yeppoon Town Hall, Friday December 8th 4.00pm to 8.00pm. We invite you to be part of this exciting evening. Sponsored by the Anglican Parish of Keppel, this event provides a showcase for you as, individuals, groups, organisations and businesses to display a tree which reflects your activities and inter-ests. This is a unique opportunity to advertise your business or group to the community while celebrating Christ-mas. Because of space limitations, trees need to be no taller than 122cm (4ft). The hall will be open from 9am on-wards on Friday to check in your tree for which there is no entry fee. The evening includes a BBQ, bar, soft drinks, juice, water, tea & coffee, light meals, desserts, Christmas Fare, entertainment, raffles, and Christmas gifts to buy including puddings, and sweets as well as the wonderful display of trees and Nativities to marvel at. Capture the spirit of the Christmas Season and be part of this joyful evening. Entry to view trees is a gold coin donation for adults and children are free. For further information, please contact Lorraine 4939 2483, or Shirley 4939 2105.

Well done 3/4W on the highest attendance for November with 93.65%.

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EMU PARK

Terry and Shirley Howland

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