25 January 2018

Newsletter Articles

UPCOMING EVENTS

January/February 2018

PAYMENTS DUE

PRINCIPAL’S NEWS

Welcome Back to School

It is exciting to return to school to see the 726 students refreshed, full of enthusiasm and ready for a wonderful year of learning. We make a special welcome to our new students and especially our Preparatory students in 2018.

Welcome to new staff including: Mrs Jade Reddy (Prep R), Mrs Naomi Harvey (2H), Troy Hawthorne (3H), Ms Mira Ponti (LOTE teacher), Mrs Linda Hamilton, (Internal Relief Teacher), Mrs Gayleen Jackson (ICT Support Teacher -Thursday), Mrs Susan Chiappa (Student Support Services Teacher) and Mr Brett Cornford (ICT Technical Officer). Welcome back to school to Mrs Kerri-Anne Butler (3K) who has been on leave.

In 2018 there are some new teaching teams including: Mrs Briony McIntrye will work with Rosanna Napier who will teach music each Wednesday. Mrs Nelma Wright will work with Mrs Marilyn Sheldon who will work each Wednesday. Mrs Elaine Dooley will work with Mrs Liz Abbey who will work each Monday. Mrs Youitt, Master Teacher, will work Monday to Wednesday and her role is to support literacy and writing school priorities.

Thankyou to the parents who have been diligent to prepare students with the book list requirements and to those who have already paid the Student Resource Scheme.

Australia Day Holiday

Parents and carers are advised that Friday 26 January 2018 is a public holiday for Australia Day and school is closed on this day.

2018 School Priorities

The Explicit Improvement Agenda at Aspley State School is improved:

• writing through a using an enhanced vocabulary;
• science through science specialist lessons;
• student attendance through Every Day Counts!

Home Reading and Vocabulary Development

Regular reading and vocabulary is a renewed focus at Aspley State School in 2018. I ask that each child be reading regularly and using their Home Reading Journals to record their reading.

At Aspley State School we have a continued focus on ensuring all our students are literate. A student’s bank of vocabulary is the strongest predictor of future reading success. Teachers will continue to explicitly teach vocabulary encountered in all learning areas.

ToonSchool

Students from years 1-6 are invited to participate in a ToonSchool cartooning workshop with renowned artist Jeff Taylor. The workshops will be held at Aspley State School on a day from 29th January -1st February 2018. The workshop will provide students the opportunity to engage in self-reflection and develop self-confidence, social skills, and use a growth mindset to set to achieve personal goals.

Jeff Taylor (Joffa) uses cartooning as an effective way to facilitate student conversations and develop positive self-esteem through the fun of cartooning. These workshops are highly successful in providing students with strategies to improve their resilience, while enhancing individual skills and confidence.

Swimming

Learning to swim and having strong skills and knowledge of water or beach safety is an important life saving skill. Aspley State School has a strong commitment to provide quality swimming instruction to students.

Students from Aspley State School are provided the opportunity to participate in a series of swimming lessons each year. Through the swimming program, students will develop skills and confidence at their own level. Whether you child is a beginning swimmer, or participates in club or squad swimming, there are important benefits for them to participate in swimming instruction at school.

During Term 1, 2018 swimming lessons will be held for students in years 1, 2 and 3. In term 4, 2018 swimming lessons will be held for students in the Preparatory year and in Years 4, 5 and 6.

In 2018 swimming lessons will be provided by Swim Solutions and their highly regarded staff. Students will be able to access eight swimming lessons and a water fun day. We believe that offering eight consecutive lessons will provide better outcomes for the students, as opposed to the previous program where students swam for 4 weeks in terms one and four.

Swimming is supplementary to the Health and Physical Education Curriculum. Being an extra curricula activity, there is an associated fee of $55.00 per student for the swimming program in Years 1-6 and $90 for students in the Preparatory Year. The increased cost of swimming instruction for the Preparatory students support the risk assessment for young children and requires additional instructors. A higher ratio of adults enables staff to effectively manage the needs of the younger students who may be non-swimmers.

The class teacher will prepare their students for the lesson and accompany them to swimming. The class teacher will remain with them as the supervising teacher. Lesson instruction will be provided by the skilled staff from Swim Solutions. The class teacher / staff will supervise the children to change back into their school uniforms.

If students do not participate in the swimming program, they will attend another class at this time to continue with their learning.

Aspley State School Parents and Citizens Association

All parents / carers are invited to join and attend the Aspley State School Parents and Citizens Association. The next meeting will be held in the school library on Tuesday 6 February 2018 at 7.00 pm.

The P & C Association is a vibrant parent group who supports the school priorities and enriches the opportunities for all students at the school. In 2017 the P & C Association assisted to improve the school through: substantial drainage works to mitigate water flow within the school; development of a plan for a new early year’s playground; renewal of the tuckshop and uniform shop operations; purchase of new furniture / fittings for two classrooms; and have supported working bees at the school to paint classrooms and outdoor areas and more.

Eye Open Social Media

An important date claimer for parents / carers is the forth coming Community Coffee Evening to be held at 6.30 pm on Wednesday 21 February 2018. If you attend only one event all year, this should be the one! This session will provide parents valuable skills to assist both students and themselves to engage safely with social media in an ever changing landscape.

The school has also made available sessions for students in years 3-4 and years 5-6 through accessing funding from the Australian Government.

Visiting School

All parents or visitors that attend the school site are required to sign in at the school office. If you are volunteering at the school or attending a school function it is a requirement for parents / carers and visitors which supports student safety and Workplace Health and Wellbeing.

School Payments

The beginning of the school year can be a financially challenging time for families. If making school payments are challenging, please contact the Business Manager, Ms Amanda Troy bsm@aspleyss.eq.edu.au

Parents are able to make a negotiated payment plan that supports your child / children not miss any of the great educational opportunities provided to them at Aspley State School.

Leann Griffith-Baker
Principal

DEPUTY PRINCIPALS NEWS

Welcome to our new and returning families. The students settled into their new classrooms very well and actively engaged with learning tasks. The readiness and enthusiasm shown by our prep students is a credit to all of our families. Well done!!

Today I went to prep and was amazed at all the creative activities they were engaged in. There is lots of fun and learning occurring at Aspley! Let’s see what’s been happening…….

Prep R could not find the green sheep from their classroom. They searched the whole school and finally found him asleep in the classroom cupboard. That “tricky green sheep”.

Prep M were exploring their reading and writing. They were concentrating very hard!

Prep J were practising finding letter sounds in their names. They are very clever and can listen well!

Prep C enjoyed learning outside. They were drawing with chalk and learning how to balance on a very small, wobbly line!

Prep S enjoyed practising their drawing and writing. Very creative!

Congratulations to all our Preps on a very positive start to the year. What great learners!

Aspley Reading Club (for students in Years 1-3)

Aspley Reading Club has been active at this school since 2014. There are two elements of this intervention program:- (1) Students enrolled can attend the reading support sessions in the library on specified Tuesdays and Wednesdays where they read with a Year 5 mentor or

(2) Students can enrol and use the Sunshine Classics Online digital resource. Both these options will incur a co contribution of $10.00 for the year.

Eligible students will receive an invitation in the next few weeks. Further information regarding start dates will follow shortly.

Students who were in this program last year can continue to use the resources until early February but they will lose all access when the system is rolled over and new usernames and passwords are set for 2018.

This year we are including a component of writing into the program for the students who attend the Club on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

More information will follow in the next newsletter.

HOME READING

At Aspley State School we have a continued focus on ensuring all our students are literate.

A student’s bank of vocabulary is the strongest predictor of future reading success and our teachers will continue to explicitly teach vocabulary encountered in learning areas. Vocabulary development is a little like the “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” proposal, as a rich oral language vocabulary assists decoding these words on text reading and through reading; your child is exposed to more advanced book language vocabulary that can in turn extend his/her oral language development.

In 2018, we have a renewed emphasis on home reading as a strategy to strengthen students’ book/text and word knowledge through building reading mileage. Research shows the more students read, the better readers they become.

We would like to formally acknowledge the very important role parents and caregivers play in ensuring students have ample reading practice by introducing a new home reading journal. The student resource scheme in Year 1-3 includes the purchase of an age-appropriate Home Reading Journal.

Students in Prep will purchase a Home Reading Journal through the school and students in Year 4-6 are required to keep a log of their reading as part of nightly homework.

We trust you will take time to read with your child and help foster a life-long love of books and reading and that the journal will serve as a fond reminder of your child’s reading journey.

Donation of Reading Books

If you have reading books which your child has outgrown, we appreciate that you consider donating them to the school to assist us in building up our bank of books. Thank you.

QParents Online Parent Portal

The QParents web and mobile application provides an easier way for you to interact with our school. Parents will have secure, online access to their child’s student information, anytime, anywhere, through a smartphone, tablet or computer.

Q Parents allows parents to connect instantly with our school to access and manage their child’s student information, including:

• Attendance and absence details, as well as the ability to notify the school of an absence
• Academic report cards (June and December)
• Viewing unpaid invoice details, payment history, and making payments online
• Viewing and updating personal student details, including medical conditions and address
• Enrolment details

Q Parents will assist both staff and parents in sharing and responding to information in an efficient and effective way. It won’t replace the traditional ways you communicate with our school, but it will provide another way to communicate with us!

Next week Parents of Prep students will receive a letter containing your students EQ id number and an email with a unique invitation code. Once these have been received you will be able to sign up to the Q Parents online portal.

For more information please visit the website below.

Community Coffee Evening – Open Eyes Social Media

Parents / carers, teachers and students are invited to attend an informative Community Coffee Evening on Wednesday 21st February 2018 at 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm. At this information night Open Eyes Social Media will give parents, children ranging from Year 3 – Year 6, and teachers a clear understanding of why they need to protect themselves and what tools are available to help create more secure accounts and use of these sites.

Presenter Tricia Munn will provide the opportunity to learn and network whilst contributing to a fabulous movement towards building a more social media safe and cyber-harassment aware society.

The presentation will start at a very basic level to ensure that the fear of the unknown is taken care of first and that the “cyber-lingo” throughout the presentation will be understood. It will also inform about the devices that children have access to and how they can be monitored better and set to avoid inappropriate material and unwanted attention.

Open Eyes Social Media has a safety vision to bridge the gap between children’s love of social networking and their parents understanding of the potential implications of them being unmonitored. They aim to assist parents to feel empowered to guide their child in adopting protective behaviors and children to see social networking with their safety in mind.

Road Safety

Horn Road - Pick-up/ Drop-off Zone

The Horn Road Drop off and Pick up zone is a Brisbane City Council controlled area. As such, anyone using this area is bound by Council rules and regulations with parking. To ensure the safety of our students at all times in this area we would appreciate your cooperation with the procedures we have in place.

• Cars do not enter the carpark prior to the 3pm bell song. Students are released from class at 3pm and depending on where their classroom is located some of them do not get to the carpark till a few minutes later. Our recommendation is that parents wait until after 3:10pm for pick-up.
• There are 4 dedicated bays for pick-ups. NO cars are to be parked in these spaces prior to 3pm. It is a 2 minute drop off and pick up area and the driver must remain in the car and only get out to ensure children are seat-belted appropriately.
• If you are parked in a marked bay for longer than the signed 2 minutes and your child is not there, you will be asked to move on and you must exit the carpark as directed. You will then need to make your way back to the entrance area from Horn Road.
• Most importantly, if someone else is picking your child up, they will need to be informed of the procedure. The last thing you want is for them to be fined or for the student to become distressed due to the change in arrangements.
• Brisbane City Council officers and the Queensland Police Service inspect this area and traffic infringements may be issued to people not adhering to the signed directions.

FYI: Brisbane City Council - Common parking offences

“Stopping in a signed no stopping zone”, 167 of Part 12 of the Regulation: $121.00

Keep your child safe - Be a good Role Model

Your primary aged child is still developing an understanding of danger and safety. While they are often keen to do things for themselves, an adult must always be responsible for your child in the traffic environment, role modelling good road safety practices.

Your child is a vulnerable road user. They are still developing the skills that help them to judge the direction of sound and the speed and distance of vehicles. Your child is physically small, making it harder for drivers to see them. They may be easily distracted and tend to only be able to focus on one thing at a time. This means that they find it difficult to deal with sudden changes in the traffic environment.

It is vital for everyone to park safely, even if you have to walk further to the school gate. This is a good time to model positive road safety behavior and physical activity for your child.

Drop your child off and pick them up on the school side of the road. Calling out to them from across the road is dangerous – they may run to you without checking for traffic. This will help keep all children as safe as possible during the busiest times of the school day.

You should always:

• park legally;
• avoid dangerous manoeuvers such as U-turns and three-point turns;
• give way to pedestrians, particularly when entering or exiting driveways;
• avoid using the school car park or driveway;
• avoid parking in the school bus bay; and
• make sure your child uses the Safety Door (rear curb-side door) to get in and out of the car;

Dangerous driving behavior around schools puts children at risk.

Model safe and considerate behavior for your child – they will learn from you.

Sports Department News

Perceptual Motor Program

This term, all Prep and Grade 1 classes will be participating in Perceptual Motor activities. A letter explaining all the details about the program has gone home to parents in the first week of school. Any parents that would like to come along and help during their child’s PE lesson would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Mr Anthony Schmidt aschmi55@eq.edu.au if you can assist

Cross Country

Cross Country will be held on Friday the 23rd of March 2018. Leading up to the cross country will be ‘The Great Race’. Students use this as their cross country training. The Great Race will commence in the mornings of Week 5 and will be held on the school main oval.

Gala Day Preference Letter

In term 2, students in grades 4-6 will represent the school at the districts ‘Gala Days’. Students and parents are requested to read the letter and return this letter to your classroom teachers to indicate your child’s preferences to a sport.

Uniform Request Form

This year, if any students are representing the school for any district sporting event, students must now obtain a ‘Uniform Booking Form’ from Mr Schmidt. Only students with this form can borrow a school sports uniform (eg. singlets, shirts etc) from the uniform shop. The uniform shop will not hand out any uniforms without this Uniform Request Form. A deposit of $20 for each athlete applies. $15 is refunded when the uniform is returned, washed and in good condition.

Music News

ASPLEY MUSIC PROGRAM 2018

Welcome back to continuing young musicians, choralists and musical families and a very warm welcome to our young beginning instrumentalists/choralists to our wonderful Aspley Music Program. Mrs McIntyre, Ms Jabs, Ms Jerram and Mrs Napur hope you all have a magical year of musical learning and development participating in our various music programs here at Aspley.

COMMUNICATION

The avenues used for communication with our musician’s families at Aspley are:

• Aspley State School Newsletter (main avenue for communication).
• Parent Information Letters sent home with students regarding upcoming events throughout the school year.
• One on one communication with Mrs McIntyre, Ms Jerram, Ms Jabs and Mrs Napur via letter/email.
• Music Noticeboard outside the music classroom.

Please ensure that you read the fortnightly school newsletter to keep informed regarding the various music programs here at Aspley State School.

Aspley Choral Program

In 2018, Aspley State School is hoping to continue with its strong traditions in choral training. Mrs McIntyre and Mrs Napur will be conducting the various choral ensembles at Aspley State School which include - Junior Choir (Year 2 and Year 3); Boyz Choir (Year 3 – Year 6) and the Senior Choir (Year 4 – Year 6). Through-out 2018, choirs will be involved in assembly performances, workshops, local performances and music evenings.

All choral ensembles will commence rehearsals in Week 3, 2018 and continue rehearsals on the same day each week throughout the school year (unless notified of a change).

Please take note of rehearsal days and times for the various choral ensembles below:

Students in Years 2 through to Years 6 interested in participating in the Aspley Choral Program will receive a parent information letter during their first choral ensemble rehearsal, outlining the finer details of participating in the Aspley Choral Program.

It is important that children understand that participating in the choral program is a weekly commitment, which they are expected to attend all choral rehearsals. Students who participate in the choral programs will have their lunch outside the music classroom from 1.15pm till 1.30pm before commencing choral rehearsals which will be held in the Music Classroom. Choral rehearsals conclude at 2.00pm, upon which time students’ return to normal classroom routine.

Both Mrs McIntyre and Mrs Napur are highly motivated and keen to see the choral programs work at its highest levels and are looking forward to your child participating in the 2018 Aspley Choral Program.

MUSIC PERFORMANCE UNIFORM

All students participating in Junior Choir, Senior Choir, Boys Choir, Senior String Orchestra, Junior Concert Band, Senior Concert band and Stage Band will receive a letter in upcoming weeks outlining the Aspley Performance Uniform for the 2018 school year. The Aspley Performance Uniform will be available for purchase through the Aspley Shop.

The Aspley Performance Uniform is worn by all performing ensembles at Aspley State School (excluding Beginner String students). Performing students are required to wear the following Aspley Performance Uniform – Long Black Dress Pants, Long Sleeved White Dress Shirt, Black Socks and Black Shoes.

Continuing String/ Woodwind/Brass/Percussion and Choral students should have the necessary uniform requirements.

CLASSROOM MUSIC NEWS

Mrs McIntyre and Mrs Napur have both very much enjoyed being back in the music classroom with students from Aspley during this past week, singing & making music- welcome back everyone!!

We welcome back to the Aspley Music Teaching Team Mrs Rosanna Napur who will be teaching our wonderful Aspley students every Wednesday whilst Mrs McIntyre continues her one day a week leave to spend with her young son. Mrs Napier is very excited to be returning to Aspley to teach our young students and to conduct the Aspley Boys Choral ensemble.

A reminder to parents and caregivers to please ensure that your child/ren brings the following necessary equipment to the music classroom for their weekly music lesson to ensure a successful learning experience:

Year 1 – My Mini Music Book Level 1
Year 2 – My Mini Music Book Level 2
Year 3 – My Mini Music Book Level 3, Black Belt Recorder Student Book 1 (Yellow), Recorder, Pencil Case
Year 4 – My Mini Music Book Level 4, Recorder Magic Book 1 (Yellow), Recorder, Pencil Case
Year 5 – My Mini Music Book Level 5, Black Belt Recorder Student Book 2 (Red) PLUS Recorder Magic Book 1 (Yellow), Recorder, Pencil Case
Year 6 – My Mini Music Book Level 7, Recorder Magic Book 1 (Yellow) PLUS Recorder Magic Book 2 (Red), Recorder, Pencil Case

All students My Mini Music Workbooks will be kept in the music room in readiness for their weekly classroom music lesson.

Thank you for supporting your child’s music education.

CURRENT AND UPCOMING MUSICAL EVENTS - TERM ONE 2018

Please take note of the 2018 Ensemble Rehearsal Schedule. Please note the commencement date of these ensemble rehearsals for 2018 (please note rehearsal schedules will remain the same, unless otherwise notified):

Please take note of upcoming musical events for Term One below:

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC NEWS

Instrumental Music lessons will commence in Week 2 of 2018 with our beginner instrumental music students participating in the Jumpstart programs. Our beginners will be involved in an intensive program, achieving very exciting results, focusing on notation, good technique and ensures students have a good understanding of caring for their instrument. During this time, we need every beginner to remember their instrument and be working hard at home to get the most from this celebrated program.

Woodwind/Brass/Percussion students will have their Jumpstart lessons with Ms Jabs on Monday 29th January and Wednesday 31st of January. Jumpstart lessons for our beginner String students will be held on Thursday 1st February with Ms Jerram. All beginner students will receive a timetable outlining Jumpstart lessons times. Please ensure that students bring necessary equipment to these lessons for a positive start to their involvement in our wonderful instrumental music programs and arrive at the instrumental music studio room (near the gym) on time to commence their Jumpstart lessons. A reminder that required items were outlined for all students in the Aspley Music Program Handbook.

Continuing Instrumental Music Students will commence their regular weekly lessons and ensembles in Week 3 of Term 1. All students and families will receive instrumental music timetables soon.

Our Instrumental Music Teachers are Ms Christine Jabs (Woodwind/Brass/Percussion – Monday & Wednesday) and Ms Amanda Jerram (Strings – Thursday). Please remember that our Instrumental Music Teachers not only teach at Aspley, but are also working at other Education Queensland schools including Aspley East, Craigslea and McDowell Primary/High Schools throughout every school week.

All questions regarding the instrumental music program are to be directed to our Music Coordinator, Mrs McIntyre and if necessary, emails/questions will be forwarded on to the appropriate Instrumental Music Teacher.

Happy Music Making
The Aspley Music Department

Library News

Welcome back, I hope everyone had a wonderful break.

This term we have a new teacher in the library, Mrs Hamilton, as well as myself, Miss Francis.

We have been busy organising, browsing cards and borrower lists ready for everyone to start borrowing again. Mrs Hamilton has also put together a display of Japanese artefacts in the display cabinet for everyone to see.

Borrowing

Class Borrowing Days:

Prep:
Monday – Prep R, Prep C, Prep J
Wednesday – Prep M
Thursday – Prep S

Year 1:
Wednesday – 1B, 1N
Thursday – 1T, 1H, 1M

Please remember to bring your library bag on your class borrowing day. It will help protect our books and keep them organised at home.

Year 2 Classes will be borrowing with their class teachers for both recreational reading and Home Readers.

Year 3 to 6 students, may borrow before school, at both Morning Break and Afternoon Break and after school, or at other times with their class as arranged by their teacher.

For Year Prep to Year 2 the loan period is one week, for Year 3 to 6 students the loan period is for 2 weeks. Year 3 to 6 Students can renew their book for a further loan period of 2 weeks.

When the book becomes overdue we issue a note to the class teacher, if the book is not returned we then send an email to the parents asking them to help find and return the book.

Coles Sport for Schools

The school is registering for this campaign which commences 7 February. When you shop at Coles you can collect the vouchers then return them to school. We will collate them and submit them for our reward in sports gear. If you or family and friends are Coles shoppers please help us collect as many vouchers as possible.

Hope Francis (Teacher-Librarian)

Camp Australia News

P&C News

P&C News 25 January 2018

WELCOME to our new families and staff to our school community. It truly has been a whirlwind start to the new year and the notes are coming home fast and furiously.

Thank you to all the families who were able to attend our Tim Tam & Tissues morning tea on Monday. It was lovely to meet new and catch up with existing families, and to share what makes Aspley a great school community.

On display at the morning tea was a summary of the P&C’s achievements in the past few years; as well as our “TO-DO” list for 2018 and beyond. As the new year begins, planning is already underway for how we can build our community involvement and help fundraise for those “extras” that really give colour and fullness to our children’s lives but also make amazing memories for their school year. We have some really big ideas and would love input and help – so if you are keen to be a part of our Aspley Spirit Events and Fundraising Committee, or our Building & Maintenance Committee – we’d love to hear from you. One particular area we’d love to focus on this year is our grants applications – so if you have any experience in this area (or just keen to give it a go), please contact AspleyPC@gmail.com

CONTACTING US:

You may have noticed that there are a few email addresses around – and wondering which is the best to use? The main email is PandC@aspleyss.eq.edu.au – correspondence to this email will go to ALL the executives (President, VP, Treasurer, and Secretary) and is the best email if you’d like to raise a concern or not sure who the best person is to ask a question.

AspleyPC@gmail.com is the main email for the secretary. It was set up as an easier email address to remember and is also used if you would like to “OPT-IN” to P&C weekly updates (which is a good alternative for people who want to stay up to date, but do not use Facebook).

AspleyEvents@gmail.com is the main email for the Events and Fundraising team. Again, it is an easier email address to remember if you’d like to volunteer or ask about specifics for any P&C events.

Our Facebook page is managed by volunteers and often posts are “scheduled” which means we may not be on-line when a notice appears. You are welcome to privately message the page directly, but please note it may be up to 12 hours before an admin person can respond. Of course, many members of our helpful community usually respond to public comments seeking information. You do not need a Facebook account to see our posts on Facebook.

Our President, Brenden McClennan is also happy to take your phone calls if there are matters of urgency or issues you would prefer to discuss in person. He can be contacted on 0412 405 462.

Uniforms.AspleySS@gmail.com is the email address for any enquiries regarding uniforms and other resources available from the Uniform Shop.

Tuckshop.AspleySS@gmail.com is the email address for the Tuckshop.

All flyers will be available on the school website, under DOCUMENTS, so we encourage you to do a weekly check-in to stay up-to-date on all the happenings.

NOTICES:

UNIFORM SHOP:

• The uniform shop returns to normal trading hours from Week 2 – Mondays 8 to 9.45am; and Thursdays 3 to 3.45pm.
• Thank you to all our helpers in the very busy weeks leading up to the school year and to all our families for your patience.
• A 2nd-hand sale will be held in Week 3 – see below for more info.

TUCKSHOP:

• The Tuckshop will be available for service first and second breaks, Tuesday to Friday from Week 2.
• There is a NEW cut-off time for ordering via Flexsichools – 7.30am – this is to assist in the operations. Brown Bag orders will only be accepted until 8.30am if there is a volunteer available, otherwise there is a “late service” option available to order via Flexsichools until 9.30am
• We are excited to add new items to the menu (such as Sipahh straws) and the return of much-loved menu items (such as chicken nuggets).
• Jane, our convenor, has been working hard at developing a new 3-week rotating 2nd break menu which includes pizza, pasta, and rice options. Please check out FLEXISCHOOLS for all the new options. Remember, you can order weeks in advance.
• Sushi Friday will be available from Week 2. Reminder that orders for Sushi must be placed by 2pm THURSDAY for the orders to be filled.
• ASPLEY BAKER’S CLUB – looking for members of our community who would love to bake in our air-conditioned Tuckshop on Monday mornings or at another convenient time
• Volunteers are essential to the smooth-running of our Tuckshop. If you can commit a regular time, even once a month, we’d love to hear from you. Tag-team with a friend, or come along to meet some new ones! Please speak with Jane or sign up TUCKSHOP ROSTER

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:

MONDAY 5th FEBRUARY 8-9am: UNIFORM SHOP 2nd HAND SALE (cash only) – donate any uniforms you no longer need to our Uniform Shop by Monday 29 January. Helpers would be appreciated on this day, to help sort the uniforms for our 2nd-hand sale (see the school website for the flyer). If you can assist, please sign up UNIFORM SHOP ROSTER

TUESDAY 6th FEBRUARY 7pm: P&C Meeting for 2018 – join us for the first meeting to discuss our plans for 2018. Please note, this is NOT the AGM – this will be held 27 February 2018 (to be confirmed in the next newsletter).

Feel like you don’t know what’s happening or would like to share a community notice?

OPT-IN to Aspley Spirit Communications (email AspleyPC@gmail.com ) to receive a weekly update on upcoming events and news, or visit the link below (you can view the posts on this page without having a Facebook account.

Fire Ants

New detections of red imported fire ants have been found in Bridgeman Downs.

The fire ants were found by a vigilant Brisbane City Council worker and confirmed as fire ants on 5 January 2018.

Biosecurity Queensland officers have destroyed the nest by direct nest injection with insecticide, and baited the area around the nest with an insect growth regulator to ensure that all ants in the colony are destroyed.

Biosecurity Queensland urges all residents and business operators in Bridgeman Downs, Albany Creek, Carseldine, Aspley, McDowall, Brendale, Brackenridge, Fitzgibbon, Zillmere, Chermside, Chermside West, Stafford Heights, Everton Park, Everton Hills, Bunya and Eatons Hill to check their properties, gardens and work sites, and report any suspect looking ants.

You can identify fire ants by their coppery-brown colour and darker coloured abdomen. While small, 2–6 millimetres in size, their sting is incredibly painful and in rare cases can lead to anaphylactic shock and death.

Fire ant nests look like mounds of loose soil with no visible entry or exit holes.

Here are the top five places you are likely to find fire ants:

When checking nests for fire ants, gently poke the nest with a long stick and observe the ants that come out. Be careful not to get too close, as fire ants are aggressive and will swarm when disturbed.

You can report fire ants in 2 easy steps

1. Take a close-up photo of any suspicious ants or nests.
2. Send us the photo and complete the ‘Yard check report’ online via the link below or call 13 25 23.

Fire ants are one of the worst invasive species to reach Australia’s shores and can ruin our lifestyle, restricting everyday activities such as barbeques, picnics and sporting events.

Australia is the closest any country has come to eradicating fire ants, but we still have a lot of work to do to beat this serious invasive pest. We urge residents to continue to check their yards, local parks and recreational areas for fire ants. With continued public vigilance we aim to eradicate them once and for all.

Art News

Welcome to 2018 once again, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the lovely children of Aspley school and I am passionate about providing an enriching art experience for them in 2018 ! But why is Art important in the holistic development of our precious and impressionable children...

For more information on Aspley State School Art Classes please select the below link

Thanks
Artist Wendy

Sparrows Soccer

Sparrows is a before school soccer program at Aspley State School. Originally started to engage girls in sport, it now includes girls and boys. We are looking forward to another fantastic year at Sparrows Soccer! An expression of interest will be sent out to eligible students in week two. We look forward to a lot of old and new faces on the field playing, having fun and learning new skills. To keep up to date with all the Sparrows news, join our face book page: Sparrows Aspley State School.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Vipers Netball

Northstar Football Club

Rhee Tae Kwon-Do

Young Engineers

Kinetic Kids