July 26 2021
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to Term 3. As always, it is a busy time with much happening around the school. It is lovely to see students settling back in to learning routines quickly and focusing on their schoolwork. Sadly though, as I pen this edition, word has just come through that he Gympie Music Muster has been cancelled again for another year. It is a sad reminder of the impact that Covid-19 continues to have on our community.
As mentioned in correspondence to parents, our school has been fortunate in being awarded funding to establish a Homework Centre. This centre will cater for up to 24 students, five days a week, from 3:00pm to 4:30pm daily, with no cost to parents. Students will be provided with their own text books and stationery, and supervised by Mrs Story, Mrs Alford, Mrs Tombs and a teacher. A healthy snack will also be provided to students in attendance. Registrations have come in very quickly from parents, with a couple of positions still available as I write this edition. If you would like to access this service, please return the form sent home with your child, or call in to the office to pick up another. When students access the centre, they must be signed in by staff and require a nominated parent/carer to sign them out on collection. Please ensure contact details are up to date.
Students in Years 4, 5 and 6 will shortly depart on school camp. This year, as reported earlier, we will be heading off to Noosa North Shore for three days, along with Kenilworth State Community College and Kandanga State School. Camp activities will include mountain biking, canoeing, bush navigation, giant swing and laser tag. Teachers attending the camp include Ms Broome, Mrs Story and Mr Benzie.
Centenary celebrations planning continues to gather pace under the tireless efforts of Mrs Dianne Cleary. It looks to be a wonderful celebration for our school and I would like to again thank Dianne for her work in planning our 100 years milestone. Thank you also to Bec Anderson and everyone else involved. If you would like to lend your time or thoughts to assisting us, please feel free to attend the next planning meeting on Friday the 6th of August in the Playgroup room.
Our school tuckshop also opened on Friday, much to the delight of students. The tuckshop will be running every week, with orders placed by Thursday. If you would like to become involved, please contact Rachael Howard. Thank you to George for facilitating this for our school!
With Term Overviews sent out by teachers in Week 1, parents should have also received an invitation to participate in our Parent/Teacher interviews during Week 3. If you have not already made a time to meet with your child’s teacher, I would encourage you to return your form to secure your preferred meeting time. These interviews provide an invaluable opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with his/her teacher and to raise any pertinent issues. If attendance during the allocated times are problematic, please contact your child’s teacher to discuss alternative arrangements.
It gives me much pleasure to announce that Mrs Rachael Howard has been successful with her application to become a permanent cleaner at Amamoor State School. Mrs Howard has been working on a temporary basis for the last few weeks and has done an outstanding job. Congratulations Rachael and we all look forward to working with you.
You may have heard your children recently talking about receiving ‘Fuzzies’ and working to fill their class jar. This new jargon has begun due to the recent implementation of our new Positive Behaviour for Learning system at Amamoor. No longer will we be seeing ‘Good Ones’ or ‘Mega Good Ones.’ Instead, any student noticed for displaying lovely manners, helping others, working hard or being safe are awarded a ‘Fuzzy.’ These are placed daily in the class jar and on each Friday Parade, each class works to fill the school ‘bucket.’ Once this bucket is full, students are rewarded with a whole school award. If, however, any child behaves poorly during this time, they will not be invited to participate. Whole school awards are many and varied and are usually chosen from student requests. They could range from free-dress days, to games on the oval!
Continuing with behaviour, Term 3 has started very well. Attendance is above our target of 93%, students are wearing full school uniform, and manners are improving. Thank you for your assistance in our efforts to make Amamoor State School the best school in the valley.
On Thursday, the 19th of August, students from Years 4, 5 and 6 will be heading to Mary Valley State College to participate in a ‘hands-on’ science fair. During this day, together with Dagun and Kandanga State Schools, students will experience a range of science activities and experiments as part of this year’s ‘Science Week.’ Not missing out, our students from Years Prep to 3 will be heading off to Australia Zoo on a wonderful excursion. More information will be sent out on both of these events shortly.
Two other events scheduled for September are the ‘Colour Run’ on Friday 10 September, and Poetry Day at Mary Valley State College on 15 September. Both of these events involve the whole school, with information about both sent out shortly.
Please note that Friday, 3 September, is a STUDENT FREE DAY. Although teachers will be in attendance at school on this day, they will be participating in professional development activities and unable to provide any supervision for students.
Thank you to all of those who have already completed the Parent/Caregiver Survey. If you have not had a chance to complete the survey yet, please note that the online surveys will remain open until Friday, 30 July 2021. This is your opportunity to provide feedback about what our school does well and how we can improve. To have your say, check your email for an invitation from the Department of Education titled School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2021. Can’t find your invitation? If your family has more than one parent/caregiver, check that they haven’t received the invitation and/or check your junk email folder.
Finally, a reminder that the 2021 Census is coming up shortly. Every five years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics counts every person and household in Australia and examines the economic, social and cultural make-up of our country. Census night is Tuesday, 10 August. This year you can complete your Census as soon as you receive your instructions, if you know who will be home on Census night. This is different to past years when you had to fill in your form on Census night. You can fill in your form online, on paper or with help from us.
If you should need to get in touch with me for any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school office, or via email on principal@amamoorss.eq.edu.au.
Kind regards,
Tony Benzie
Principal
Prep/1 News...
100 Days of School 2021!
We have been counting the number of days we have been at school this year, and on Thursday, the 22nd July we made our 100 days! We made glasses in the shape of 100, wrote and drew about our favourite things about school and what we are good at. We counted to 100 and completed some dot to dots that went all the way up to 100! We’ve had a very busy day talking about the number 100, even though there was a little bit of confusion about being at school for 100 days and the school turning 100 later on this year. Some children think we deserve a holiday now!
Kind Regards,
Sally Meredith
2/3 News...
4/5/6 News...
Alexia Broome
We have had a busy first few weeks back at school for Term 3. All 10, 11 and 12 year old students had a chance to compete in sprints, long distance, long jump, high jump, shot put and discus. We have had eleven students who met the qualifying standard to progress to district athletics, which is a fantastic result for a small school, and we wish them all the best of luck in the upcoming trials.
On a related note, we are continuing with out morning physical activity each day. On damp mornings, a spare pair of shoes comes in very handy to stop mud or wet grass from tracking in to the classroom and on to our carpet.
All grade levels are busy getting as much work completed as possible in our English, Maths & Science units before we head off to camp next week. We are looking forward to sharing photos and reports of our adventures upon our return.
YEAR 6 ICE BLOCK FUNDRAISER
Year 6 students will be selling ice blocks each Tuesday afternoon from 2:50pm, out the front of the school. Ice blocks are $1, and profits go to the Year 6 Graduation.
Students of the Week...
Congratulations to Svjetlana, Tijana and Ava!
Library News...
From the Arts Department...
Drama lessons have started this semester and all classes have been enjoying playing drama games developing skills including team work and confidence building. The lower school have been learning to use their bodies and facial expressions when making freeze frames while the upper school students have started a unit on melodrama. Here's a few photos of the kids in action!
Miss Lisa
What's happening at the P&C?
Winter has been letting us know that it’s not quite ready to leave us these past few days with a few chilly nights. Hopefully those yummy pies from the pie drive are helping to keep the winter blues away.
Some exciting news…. Tuckshop is back. Thank you to George Cottom for stepping forward to become our Tuckshop Coordinator. Starting this Friday with a limited menu which will expand throughout the term. Anyone who would like to volunteer their time and help George in the Tuckshop please contact him.
Unfortunately, due to wet weather at the end of last term Lapathon had to be postponed. Term 3 is looking to be jam packed with activities already so we may have to push the Lapathon back to early Term 4.
While we had been given the opportunity to put up tents out at the Muster from Saturday 21 August through to Thursday 26 August, unfortunately, the event has again been cancelled due to Covid-19. Thank you to all of the people who put their hands up to volunteer. Hopefully, 2022 will see everything back to normal!
The Centenary is shaping up to be a fun and interesting day where we will celebrate the school’s longevity. Please mark the calendar so you to can join the days celebration. If you would like to come along to the next 100 year meeting it’s being held on Friday 6 August 3:15pm in the Playgroup room.
Running Club
Tuesdays 8:00am – 8:30am
Cross-country training continues in Term 3 for all interested students from Years 2-6, meeting at the big tree near the school oval. As the track can be damp and muddy, running in casual clothes and sneakers is recommended. Bring school uniform and dry shoes to change into. Breakfast club is available afterwards.
Tuckshop
Uniform Shop
As we are now well and truly in the winter season, a reminder that our uniform policy is blue jumpers and tracksuit pants. These are available for purchase from the uniform shop, either in person on Monday’s and Wednesday’s, via the Qkr app, or order forms which are in the office and can be placed in the black letter box outside the uniform shop.
We also have lots of second-hand uniforms which are available for a gold coin donation. If you have any questions about uniforms please do not hesitate to see me on Mondays or Wednesdays at school or send me a message on 0415 822 599.
Uniform shop opening days Mondays and Wednesdays.
Chappy Caitlin
Uniform Co-ordinator
Hearing Screening at School
Hear and Say Hearing Screening will take place on Thursday, 7 October 2021 at Amamoor State School. The cost to participate in this program is $22 per child. If you are interested in accessing this program, please complete the online application form accessed by the link provided in the above letter. Invoices will be issued later in the term.
Playgroup
Our Playgroup will continue operating this term on Tuesday morning, from 9 – 11am.
Bring your little one along for a morning full of fun!
We hope to see you there.