Newsletter 2022 Term 1 Week 5
From the Principal's Desk
Well, the crazy start to the year continues! With such high volumes of rain falling on our region, many of our local schools have had to close due to flooding and road closures. Thank you to everyone for heeding safety messages and limiting road usage during this period. As situations have the potential to change quite rapidly, please ensure your primary and emergency contact details are up to date with the school office.
As you are probably aware, many Covid-19 restrictions will be eased from 4 March. Later in the newsletter you will find an outline of what these changes represent regarding schooling for your child. If you still have any questions regarding these changes, please call the School Office.
During these first weeks of the school year, we have ensured that a keen focus has been placed on routines, behavioural expectations and settling back in to school life. Teachers have discussed the importance of personal safety and how to react to certain situations. As a whole school safety measure, we have also conducted a 'Lock Down' drill and a 'Fire Evacuation' drill. Both of these exercises were carried out in a calm and timely manner, with our youngest members following instructions very well.
Any students aged between 10 and 12 years interested in trying out for district sports selection were handed application forms recently. If you are happy for your child to attend district trials, please complete the forms and return them to the school office as soon as possible.
Although it has been quite a disrupted start to the academic year, it is pleasing to visit each classroom and observe students actively engage in quality learning. Teachers are working overtime to ensure that any work missed in the first two weeks of the year is covered adequately so that your child/children are not missing out on important curriculum concepts. To support these efforts, please ensure your child/children arrive on time and ready for learning.
You may have noticed that food packaging is coming home in lunch boxes now. We have implemented this change to ensure that all parents/carers are aware of what exactly their child/children are eating at school. Obviously, we continue to encourage each child to eat their healthy foods first, prior to having any 'red' (non-healthy) foods. Please ensure you pack healthy options for your child/children and limit the amount of 'red' foods. Thank you.
Thursday afternoons are quite different this year. While the 4/5/6 class is learning Japanese, our Prep/1 students are having fun in the kitchen/garden programme. Mr Cottom (George) has been very busy over the holidays planning for this, with children tending the gardens, writing recipes and safely helping to prepare food. Meanwhile, the 2/3 class has been having lots of fun with Mr Boyd and Mrs Hughes with the Coding and Robotics programme. Each class will have the opportunity to do coding, robotics and kitchen/garden programmes this year.
Daily PE is held every day at 9:40am, with a healthy fruit break afterwards. Students in years 2 - 6 have also been participating in Literacy Rotations across the school, focusing on Spelling, Reading and Creative Writing. Please take the time to read a couple of these creative writing samples later in the Newsletter.
I am also pleased to announce that Instrumental Music has commenced at Amamoor State School for students in Years 4, 5 and 6. We have had a fantastic uptake of this initiative, with many students keen to participate. Teachers from Brisbane visited last week to meet with the students and to loan out instruments. For a minimal cost, students now have the opportunity to have weekly lessons and take their instrument home each week to practise. Chappy Cailtin, a keen musician herself, is also providing support with the programme.
Remember, if you child is ill, or showing any Covid symptoms, please keep them at home and inform the school office. If your child falls ill at school, they will be isolated in the first aid room and parents called. On collection, you will be provided with a Rapid Antigen Test so that you can test your child once home. Please advise the School Office of the result.
Thank you again for your support in this ever-changing start to the year.
Sincerely,
Tony Benzie
P & C News
Wow, we’re already halfway through term 1, the year is certainly flying by.
Thank you to those of you who participated in our online survey to see people’s preference for P&C meeting day and time. The results came in with 70% of those who voted preferring to meet on Monday and the preferred times 3:15 (62%) or 3:30 (37%). With this in mind the AGM / general meeting will be held Monday 7th March at 3:30pm in the Playgroup room. Due to covid still hanging around and people being unable to physically attend the meeting you are being given the option of attending the meeting virtually. To attend the AGM on the 7 March you will need to fill in a membership form and email it back no later than Monday 7 10am so that I can send you a meeting link. Membership forms are available in the office or if you let us know one can be emailed out to you.
Nominations for the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Uniform Coordinator and Tuck shop Coordinator are open from now until the AGM where all positions will be vacated, and the voting of 2022 committee will commence. A brief summary of the Executive positions is:
Roles and Responsibilities of Executive Committee
The following describes the key functions of the Officers of the Association:
· The President provides leadership and is the accountable officer of the Association. Their role is to act as a representative of the Association, encourage communication between the Association, School administration and the community and encourage participation in the Association. The President will be the Chair of meetings and conduct them in an efficient and timely fashion, being familiar with the rules, constitution and other documents governing Association operations. The President is an official member of the school council for the school, if one exists.
· The Vice-President provides essential support for the President and possibly other members of the Executive Committee. They will Chair those meetings from which the President is absent and carry out any duties that have been delegated by the President. They should also be familiar with the rules, constitution and other documents governing Association operations.
· The Secretary collates the agenda papers for each meeting, (including subcommittee reports) and assists the President in preparing an agenda for each meeting. They prepare and present minutes of the Association’s meetings, record and deal with correspondence in/out as directed and generally organise, record and maintain information pertaining to the activities of the Association.
· The Treasurer has the overall responsibility for the financial management of the Association, including all subcommittee accounts. In their role they must comply with the Accounting Manual in all respects. They prepare an annual budget and annual operational plan for the Association in consultation with other members of the Association’s Executive Committee. It is the Treasurer's responsibility to keep accurate accounts of receipts and expenditure.
If you require any further information as to what the positions may entail, then you can find that on the P&C Qld Info Place website.
On the 27 March the Year 6 parents will be volunteering their time and cooking up some snags at Bunnings Gympie. The funds raised at this Sausage Sizzle will be going towards activities for the Year 6 students to help them with their leadership/senior roles and to celebrate their journey at Amamoor State School at the end of the year.
Looking forward to seeing you at the AGM / general meeting on the 7 March 3:30pm.
Application for P&C Membership for 2022
Amamoor State School P&C Association
Please complete and return to the P&C Secretary (in person or by email: amamoorsspandc@outlook.com )
Name:
Address:
Email address:
Home phone:
Mobile phone:
I am:
ð a parent of a student attending the school
ð a staff member of the school
ð an adult interested in the school’s welfare.
If you are an adult interested in the school’s welfare, please provide:
· Current Blue Card number: ___________________________
If applicable, please provide details of your children who are students at Amamoor State School:
Name:_____________________________________ Class:____________________
I am:
ð applying for new membership
ð a returning member.
I apply for membership of the Amamoor State School Parents and Citizens’ Association and I undertake to:
a) promote the interests of and facilitate the development and further improvement of the School and the good order and management of the School; and
b) comply with the constitution of the P&C Association, including the P&C Association Code of Conduct as specified in Schedule 2 of the constitution, and any valid resolutions passed by the Association.
Signature:................................................................................................................................
Date:.........................................................................................................................................
P&C Secretary Use Date received: …....../…......./……........ Date accepted: …....../…......./……........ Secretary’s signature: ............................................................... Entered in P&C Register. ¨
Chappy's Corner
It continues to be so nice to chat with all our wonderful families. I am so excited for what 2022 holds and for all the exciting things that are planned for our school.
My role here at school is to provide social, emotional, educational, and spiritual support to students, staff and families. This means that if you or your child is struggling, especially in the current climate, you can call the school to make an appointment to see me, or let the school know that you would like your child to see me. I love chatting with people and getting to know them, so if you see me around the school, please come and say hi and have a chat. Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you need me for anything, or would like to have a chat.
I hope you have a great week,
Chappy Caitlin
Library News
4/5/6 Class
What's happening in the classroom...Science
The Year 3-4 cohort are currently exploring the question - what makes something living? They have participated in a field walk and are designing an investigation to determine if a seed is alive.
The Year 5-6 cohort are exploring how animals adapt to their environment both physically and behaviourally. The photos below show them experimenting using coloured matchsticks to investigate how the adaptation of camouflage can be used by both predators and prey to improve their chances of survival in the environment.
2/3 Class
With this year having a rather unusual start, and everyone being COVID safe, many of you haven’t had the opportunity to visit the room. So, this week, I thought I’d share a few photos from around the room. We are very fortunate to have such a large, bright learning space.
Keep safe with all the rain.
Kind regards,
Sarah Hughes
Prep/1 Class
Writer's Club
Some of our senior students have been doing some outstanding writing in English. Below are a few samples!
The Storm
Whoosh! My sail moved as if it was a tiger trying to break free of its cage. Salty, polluted water sprayed my poor new canvas, white only a second ago and now a muddy brown. My boat rocked around like a rocking horse. My heart beating fast, like a bomb about to explode. Was this it for me?
Calypso, Year 6
BOOM! CRACK! This storm is hectic, I thought to myself while my ragged torn sails flipped and flapped vigorously in the cold salty wind. Panic filled my body, my boat was rocking like a washing machine. I was climbing the mast when SNAP! The mast snapped in half and I fell with it. Fear and panic rose in side of me. I’m stuck, I can’t get out! Is this the end of me?
Savanah, Year 6
I’m in a dark forest, so lonely. I wait as the trees shake through the breeze. Wolves howl to the moon, crying. Fish seem to swim around in circles in the lonely pond. Gracie Yr 5
Back to School 2022 - COVID UPDATE
BACK TO SCHOOL - We welcome back all students on site from 7 February. If your child is sick or feeling unwell, please keep them at home. Students can receive priority access to rapid antigen tests (RATs) at Queensland Health testing clinics if they are showing symptoms. Visit a testing clinic near you.
In addition to the COVID safe measures currently in our school, the following will also be in place from 7 February to 4 March 2022:
• all students in Years 3 to 6 will be provided with masks and strongly encouraged to wear them when physical distancing is not possible
• limiting visitors on site, with exceptions for parents and carers of students experiencing vulnerability and of students attending Prep or Year 1
• excursions, assemblies and large gatherings have been suspended
• limits have been placed on external contractors, face-to-face staff meetings and professional development, and parent–teacher interviews
• priority access to RATs for staff and students at Queensland Health testing clinics who have symptoms
• RATs available at school for students and staff who develop symptoms while on site.
We will email parents and carers with further information as the situation develops.
To find out more about the Back to school plan, visit https://qed.qld.gov.au/covid19
Latest Covid_19 Announcements...
From 6pm Friday 4 March 2022:
- Masks will no longer be required indoors, except in hospitals, residential aged care, disability accommodation, prisons, public transport, taxis and rideshare, airports and on planes.
- Masks will no longer be required in schools, including for staff, students and visitors.
- Masks will still be recommended whenever you can’t social distance.
- There will be no limit on the number of visitors you can have in your home at one time.
- Venues and events will no longer have capacity limits.