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.
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.