12 May 2016

Newsletter Articles

UPCOMING EVENTS

May 2016

PAYMENTS DUE

PRINCIPAL’S NEWS

NAPLAN

This week students in years 3 and 5 completed the NAPLAN Assessments. The students were confident to participate and were not daunted by this task. I thank the parents and teachers who have been supportive to make NAPLAN an important but not overwhelming event for our students. Parents will receive a written report later in the year to show how their child has achieved within the assessments of: language conventions; writing; reading; and numeracy.

Seven Steps to Writing

Aspley State School has an explicit improvement agenda to improve the writing skills of students as evidenced in writing across all key learning areas. Teachers will guide students to review their writing and using The Seven Steps of Writing strategies which include: plan for success, sizzling starts, tightening tension, dynamic dialogue, show don’t tell, ban the boring bits and exciting endings. Parents are encourage to talk to their children about their writing and discuss these aspects of great writing. Teachers have participated in professional development in the Seven Steps of Writing and are currently providing feedback to their peers to support quality instruction for students.

ICT for learning

This week I was a special guest of year 4P and 4R as I was given a gold class ticket to the premier of their latest iMovie production promoting Aspley State School to prospective families. Students planned and created a persuasive iMovie where they influenced new families to make Aspley State School their school of choice. The students highlighted their favourite aspects of the school which included great friends, fun teachers, a heated swimming pool, high student achievement, student leadership, crews, gala sports, instrumental music and a large hall for school functions.

The iMovie required students to photograph or video aspects of the school, and use iMovie software to make a multimedia presentation of 1 minute. Students were critical of the images, message subtexts and the effects such as music, voice overs and the overall messages portrayed. Students viewed a number of iMovie and critiqued them to allow the producer constructive feedback for the improvement of their work. Persuasive writing is a genre of writing aimed to influence the audience and portray a particular view. Students in year 4 are clearly developing strong skills to engage with an audience, influence others and use suites of powerful technologies to communicate.

Junior Band Blitz

On Wednesday 8 June Aspley State School will host Junior Band Blitz where we welcome over 200 students from other schools to participate in workshops to increase the skills of your junior band members. The day will conclude in a concert for parents at 4.00 pm -4.45 pm. I thank Mrs Jabs for her leadership of this exciting musical event.

Stay Healthy

With cold and flu season looming it is timely to remind children of the need to be vigilant to wash their hands regularly. Find out how you can help to protect yourself from flu, e-coli, measles and other diseases.

Germs are everywhere. We collect them, inhale them and share them, all day and every day. The flu, e-coli, measles and numerous debilitating diseases spread quickly through contact with surfaces and people - and it’s our hands doing the dirty work.

Parents are asked to teach children how to wash their hands well. Please remind children of the importance of effectively washing hands:

• if their hands are dirty
• Before they eat
• after they have been to the toilet
• if they cough or sneeze.

Washing hands is the most successful method of infection control. So stay healthy and keep Aspley State School students healthy by washing your hands regularly!

National Sorry Day

The Noonga Reconciliation Group has invited representatives from Aspley State School to attend a Sorry Day Ceremony at Kalinga Park on Thursday 26 May 2016 at 10.00 am to 12.00 noon. Parents from the school have volunteered to attend this day of remembrance and celebration with their children. As Principal I will attend this event with the school leaders. Our students will host an activity where participants can write a message on flagging to denote their cultural awareness and respect for the indigenous people of Australia.

Assembly and Community Coffee

A whole school assembly is held each Monday. Once per month we invite parents / carers to attend Community Coffee after the assembly. The next community coffee is on Monday 6 June following assembly and our Student Support Services Team will discuss catering for the needs of a diverse learner.

Commendations for school staff

A great school has great staff! I am proud to receive so many commendations for our school staff. I thank parents who communicate their respect, value and support of the great work our teachers and ancillary staff do each day. Thank you.

Cyber Safety for children

Using the internet is a valuable learning and communication tool for young people. As parents it is a new realm of parenting and we could all use some tips to keep our children safe!

The Office of Children’s eSafety Commissioner has useful and current information about keeping our children safe on-line. I urge parents to take some time to view some tips to help make parenting easier and adopt some strategies which will make family life more fun and safe. Peruse the website for:

• Chatterbox and learn about: selfies and someone else, tots teens and in-betweens and trolling, tagging and bagging; the internet’s underbelly and screen time and down time.
• eSafety for parents: learn about parental controls.
• eSafety and cyberbullying, and
• eSafety and inappropriate content.

School Chaplaincy - Dress Like a Dag Day

This Friday 13 May 2016 is Dress like a Dag Day. This is a fun day where students are invited to wear a costume that is of questionable fashion! Students are reminded their clothing is to be sun safe and modest. Student leaders modelled some examples of bad taste fashion at assembly last Monday.

We ask that Students bring a gold coin donation that will support the Chaplaincy program at Aspley State School.

We are seeking a parent to volunteer to join our Local Chaplaincy Committee. The next meeting is on Friday 3 June at 7.30 am – 8.30 am at the Aspley Coffee Club. Please contact Leann Griffith-Baker, Principal if you would like to join this group.

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S NEWS

Prep In-Catchment Interviews for 2017

Year 1 Fire Education visit

Gala Day Sport – Years 4 – 6

We have now completed two of the three gazetted North District Sport Gala Days for this term – with the final Day to be held on 27 May (weather permitting).

A reminder to all students that participation in these activities requires a range of responsibilities:

• represent the school to the best of your ability, demonstrated in your behaviour
• participate in a fair and kind spirit of sportsmanship, demonstrated by your attitude
• showcase our school positively, demonstrated by your presentation.

Senior Leaders – Round 2

The students confirmed as Senior Leaders during the Round 2 process will be inducted on the Whole School Assembly on Monday 23 May 2016. Further information will be release to these students prior to this time.

Attendance – Every Day Counts!

A reminder as we approach the middle of a long Term 2 that every day counts!

It is not just about making sure that students maximise their attendance by coming to school every day when they are capable of attending – it is also about attending on time.

The start of the school day is 8:30am, with formal instruction commencing by 8:40am.

In the last week (5 school days), students have presented late a total of 74 times. If each of these late arrivals was equivalent to arriving at school 15 minutes late, these students have missed a combined 18.5 hours of teaching time. This is concerning when a whole school week totals 25 hours without lunch breaks.

We understand the complexities of families and the unknowns of Brisbane traffic – however we can all work together more to decrease the number of students arriving late each day and maximise learning for our kids.

In Catchment and Sibling Prep Interviews

In catchment and sibling Prep interviews will be held on Tuesday 17 May. Please make sure that you have filled in and returned your enrolment forms to the school office.

Bookings need to be made for the interviews by Sunday 15 May. Contact school office for details or assistance with this.

Year 1 Fire Service visit

The Year 1’s had a wonderful learning experience with the Fire Safety Department when they came to the school on Friday 6 May. The students learnt all about getting to a safe area in the event of a fire.

This is a very important lesson to revisit with students of all ages. A five minute talk about safe areas in and around your house can save lives!

AST – Walk Safely to School Day

Tuesday 17 May is Walk Safely to School Day. Take up the challenge to walk with your children or a group of families to school on Walk Safely to School Day.

The road safety presentation scheduled for Monday 9 May has been postponed to Monday 30 May. RACQ will be teaching the students some do and don’ts about road safety.

Aspley Reading Club

Aspley Reading Club resumes next week. Remember that we don’t have ARC on 31 and 1 June because of school photos and 21 and 22 June because of sports carnival.

Under 8’s Day

A note went home early this week regarding Under Eight’s Day on the 27 May. This year we are fortunate to have 3 amazing activities for the students from Prep – Year 2. They will learn all about dangerous animals that live in our backyard, get active and challenged through an obstacle course and then show their imaginative nature during barefoot in nature.

A payment of $10.00 must be received by the school no later than Friday 20 May.

MUSIC DEPARTMENT NEWS

Aspley Choral Program

Congratulations to Junior Choir – Albany Creek Uniting Church Performance

The Aspley State School Junior Choir performed at the Albany Creek Uniting Church on Saturday 7th May. Wow, what a first performance for 2016 for this beautiful ensemble! Congratulations to you all, Mrs Macca is very proud indeed of your efforts! Such wonderful singing!!!

A very big thank you to all of the families that supported their children in attending this performance on the weekend and thank you to all of the wonderful parents for your support to make this performance a very special one for our young choristers.

The Junior Choir are looking forward to their upcoming performance at the Music Evening on Wednesday 15th June. We look forward to seeing you there !

MUSIC PERFORMANCE UNIFORM

All students who ordered a Music Performance Uniform through the Aspley Shop are reminded that these items are available for collection. Please see the Aspley Shop if you are still to collect your performance uniform for 2016.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC NEWS

SENIOR CONCERT BAND PERFORMING ON ASSEMBLY

Senior Band will be on Assembly on Monday 16th May at 8.45am. I am asking all members to be at school by 8am that day with their folders and instruments and have a mini-rehearsal prior to the assembly. Parents are more than welcome to come along to hear the band. I am very proud of the mature sound they are making, and their endless enthusiasm.

JUNIOR BAND BLITZ

Junior Band Blitz permission notes are due back with $40 payment by Friday 20th May. All Junior Band members are welcome to attend this event. The one-day workshop is such a valuable experience for our young players. We are very proud to be hosting this event at Aspley SS once again. There will be an additional 250 musicians from 14 different primary schools on site that day! How fabulous!

PRIMARY MUSIC TOUR – 13th – 15th September, 2016

Places on the Fraser Coast Music Tour are now filled. We have 57 Aspley students on this combined tour and I am so excited for these lucky musicians. Thank-you to the Aspley parents who volunteered to attend the tour. I’m sure you will really enjoy the experience! A reminder that final payments of $190.00 are due by Friday 19th August, 2016.

CHANGES TO LESSONS AND ENSEMBLE REHEARSALS

Wednesday 11th May – Woodwind/Brass/Percussion lessons and Senior Concert Band will be cancelled as per Woodwind/Brass/Percussion Timetable.

Thursday 12th May – Senior String Orchestra cancelled, however, lessons will continue as scheduled on the String Timetable.

Thursday 19th May – Senior String Orchestra cancelled, however, lessons will continue as per the String timetable and the amendments below:

• Group A & Group B – 11.25am
• Groups G and H – 11.55am
• Group C & Group F – 12.25pm

NORTHSIDE JUNIOR STRING CAMP

Nominated String Students have now received an invitation to attend the Education Queensland Northside Junior String Camp to be held at Stafford State School from Tuesday 7th June – Thursday 9th June 2016. The cost is $85.00 per student with medical/consent forms due back to the school office by Friday 20th May, 2016.

Christine Jabs
Instrumental Music Teacher

Happy Music Making
The Aspley Music Department

JAPANESE STUDY TOUR

SCHOOL STUDY TOUR 2016

Our school will be hosting a Study Tour this year. A study tour is a group of international students coming to Australia (Aspley SS) to learn English and be immersed in the cultural experience of going to an Australian school and staying with Australian host families. The group of 20 Japanese students aged 14-15 years old, will be arriving on the 21st of August and departing on the 2nd of September. This particular group of students are from a prestigious school in Japan called Ritsumeikan Uji Junior High School, which is located in the Kyoto Prefecture.

An important aspect of Study Tours is in providing “homestay” for the Japanese students. Information about providing “homestay” and the application form follows this message. If anyone is interested in providing “homestay”, please complete the application form and return it to the Administration Office.

I will keep you all up-to-date with any details regarding the Study Tour. Elaine Dooley (6DA) is also an Accredited Officer of Study Tours which is fantastic! She too will be working with me on the Study Tour.

Kind Regards
Rowena Mina (6MV/LOTE Teacher) and Elaine Dooley (6DA)

LIBRARY NEWS

Library Team:

We had quite a number of students who nominated for the library team. The successful applicants were:

Janika Lapworth (Capt 6F), Charlotte Dodd (Capt 6H), Sofi Ham (5F ), Hannah Lipscombe (5O), Saskia Platts (5O), Ella Cooper (4C ), Lily Garnham (4C ), Fabia Horsfall (4M ), Tanya Tibi (4R ), Jaskiran Kaur (4R ), Chentel Buckman (3F ), Isabella Schulz (3F ), Isabelle Lagden (3N ), Mauve Freeman (3N ), Jessie Roland (3F), Milla Barker (2C ), Declan Lewis (2C ), Wendy Wang (2D ), Ashton Street (2D ), Clara Lau (2S ), Liesel Alick (2K ), Amelia Impey (2S ), Isabella Barrow (2C ) , Sathvik Bitra (2S ), Lilah Harrison (2C ). Congratulations all.

The Captains have put together a tentative timetable for our team and we have already had a few of our team volunteering their time. Our first meeting will be Tuesday 10 May 2016 at First Break.

Upcoming Events:

Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair will be delivered on Thursday 19 May, so we hope to have it set up by that afternoon for Parent viewing. Lucky Door vouchers will go in the next Newsletter. So print yours out and bring it along to go in the draw. There will also be competitions for students to win vouchers. Classes will receive wish lists next week. The library Team also have some fun ideas to promote the Book Fair. (Remember this is a great opportunity to get current books and tuck them away for special gifts, birthdays, etc.)

Teacher-Librarian Network Meeting.

Aspley will be hosting the next district Teacher-Librarians meeting on 26 May from 1.30 to 4pm. Team members will be on hand to’ Meet and greet’ Teacher-Librarians coming to the meeting.

LEGO. We are hoping to have some LEGO Lunchtime activities for students, if we can get some LEGO. If anyone has bits and pieces of LEGO that they NO LONGER WANT, and would like to donate them to the library, could you bring them into the library or drop them at the office please.

ICAS NEWS

Parents of most students participating in the ICAS competitions this year were emailed yesterday with the timetable, venue and some tips and suggestions for participating in the competitions. That information is duplicated here. Please check the dates and times for your child’s participation. Unfortunately we are unable to offer make-up tests.

P & C NEWS - UPCOMING EVENTS

Thank you to everyone who supported the Mothers’ Day stall, hope you all loved your gifts that your children picked for you.

Congratulations to Amber Shorey and Jane-Elizabeth Harris for organising a great shopping experience for the children. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped on the day and also prior to the day wrapping and organising all the gifts.

The Disco is fast approaching next Friday 20 May 6pm - 8pm for the whole school. DJ Mark from ‘Dancemasters Downunder’ is returning again with his amazing laser light show and dancer.

Children must be under adult supervision. No drop off allowed!

Only enrolled Aspley State School students can attend and younger siblings????

Older Siblings that have left the school won't be able to enter the hall but are welcome to come along and wait with parents outside or can volunteer to help on the stalls????

Entry is $5 per child, pay at the door on the night or on Flexischools by Wednesday 18 May

Food will be available from 5.30pm
Sausage Sizzle
Pumpkin Soup with Bread Roll
Cold Drinks
Coffee Van
Lolly Shop

If anyone can spare 1/2 hour to help out on the night either serving food or even to help pack up please email Cindy Hill at cinhill1@gmail.com .

Look forward to seeing you all next Friday.

SPARROWS SOCCER PROGRAM NEWS

Help wanted!

Thanks to all the new faces who’ve volunteered assistance with Sparrows Soccer training recently.

More ongoing helpers are both needed and welcomed.

If you have a child participating in the Sparrows Soccer Program please consider lending a hand from 7:30am-8:15am Thursdays on the school oval. Bring your runners and enthusiasm.

To express interest, please contact Kym Farrow, Classroom Teacher on kafar0@eq.edu.au

Socks for sale

Aspley football socks are available at the Uniform Shop for $10. Ideal for Gala Day soccer and football. Also great for Sparrows training (optional) and school representation at Eagles Cup/other tournaments.

Uniform Shop is open Monday & Wednesday, 8:30am-10:30am.

For Sparrows information:

Kym Farrow, Class 6F teacher & Sparrows Coordinator, kafar0@eq.edu.au | 07 3863 9111

Carolynne Hassall, parent & Sparrows communication/administration support, carolynne.h@dhconsulting.com.au | 0404 883 462

ASPLEY SHOP/ TUCKSHOP NEWS

A BIG THANKYOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS

FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF OUR CHILDREN

Aspley Shop

Pre ordered winter uniforms available for collection.

Variety of sizes available in the Microfibre Track Pants, Polar Fleece and Microfibre Jackets.

Tuckshop

Nutrition- Keeping messages positive...

Keep an eye out for our news.........UPDATES ** OBSERVATIONS **EDUCATION

Thankyou
Karyn

COMMUNITY NEWS

ASPLEY EAST KINDY