QPARENTS APP

We are pleased to announce Rochedale South State School has now launched digital consent forms for excursions via QParents.

Parents can also enter student/s absences, current and future on the app. This is very helpful for the office staff and negates a text message for an Unexplained Absence. Parents are loving the app as they can pay their school fees, see what has been paid and now grant consent for excursions. 

You can also make another person a Delegated Viewer to view everything on the app. DON'T FORGET to attached your child to your app. We have a small amount of parents that have yet to add their child by their EQID to the app.

Every parent has been sent an invitation this year but if you would like another invitation sent please email the office on admin@rochedalesouthss.eq.edu.au.

TERM 2 2023

Welcome back to Term Two to all our families. I trust everyone enjoyed a happy and safe holiday period. Our students have returned refreshed and ready to learn – which is wonderful to see.

This newsletter, I want to focus on how we partner together as parents and school to achieve positive outcomes for every learner. As a school leader, I have 538 children in my care every day, as well as over 60 teaching and non-teaching staff. The health, safety and wellbeing of every child and every staff member is at the centre of our decision making and forms the baseline for quality teaching and learning to occur.

As parents and carers, your focus is rightly directed toward your own children attending our school. This is absolutely necessary, and your children need you to be advocates for them in their learning journey.

What this does mean however, is that at times a decision from the school may not align with a parent’s view of what is most appropriate to support their individual child. In part, this is often a result of confidentiality restricting the school team from being able to share the information that has been carefully and deliberately considered before a decision is made.

So how do we navigate this partnership together successfully, when a school decision may feel unclear, or not aligned with the solution being sought by a parent or carer?

Trust.

When a parent or carer comes to the school with a concern, we trust that they are the experts about their own child. We trust that families are advocating for their child’s best interests and we trust that families will follow recommended actions from the school to best support their child’s learning and development. Similarly, we ask families to trust that every school-based decision considers the needs of all children and staff, to achieve positive outcomes for all. We ask families to trust that decisions are not made as knee-jerk reactions, but are based on reliable evidence. And we ask families to trust that we have a talented team of teachers and leaders at this school who continue to go above and beyond to empower our students to achieve excellence.

Trust relies on a proven track record, and as a fairly new principal to this school, I recognise that this takes time to develop with our community. Trusting blindly is certainly not what I am asking families to do, and there are departmental mechanisms in place that allow families to go beyond the school where they are not satisfied with a response and where school level actions have been exhausted. Rather, this discussion is intended to open doors to conversations with parents, where we can build mutual trust together. Will these conversations be uncomfortable at times? Possibly. Will these conversations result in the outcome a parent is seeking? Not always. However, the school does not shy away from feedback and will always seek out the best possible solutions with consideration of the big picture and the individuals within it.

Parents can also become members of our P and C, where I regularly share information about, and seek parent input into, school systems and decisions. I also regularly share the high quality outcomes resulting from these actions.

Stacey Wood
Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Week one and two of Term Two started with a hubub, and I’d like to thank our students, staff and community for supporting our school community in commemorating the 2023 ANZAC services.  Starting our term with community has seen our students settle into learning and into our next set of topics for Term Two.

The Student Council is in full flight with funding their next actions in supporting their community. Our students are buzzing from interschool sport successes, and musical preparations, the school is coming together to celebrate student learning and achievement through our fortnightly school assemblies - parents are welcome in Weeks 3/5/7 and 9.  Although there are three broken weeks, it is now time to see routine become the calming force in our schools life and student learning. 

Part of the routine for teachers, parents and students is setting ourselves up for success each morning.  This is usually done by having a familiar routine.  In wanting to set the culture for our day we are asking parents to support students in setting up their day by seeing our students arrive between 8.30-9.00am each morning. 

ANZAC Day and Springwood ANZAC Day March

Can I extend a sincere thank you, for the participation and attendance at our ceremony this morning.  Our students were respectful, engaged and attentive to the sombre occasion.  There has yet to be a service that hasn’t evoked a great sense of pride and hope for our next generation.  Led again by Mrs Cooper, and accompanied by Mrs Antonellie and Ms Sealy, the stirring performance of our Vivo Vept our students and community enthralled. Thank you for setting the tone of respect and seeing the ANZAC spirit passed down to our students in such a fine way.

Especially can I thank Miss Mills for sharing your experience in such a strong way, your stories resonated with our students and families.  Also, can I thank the student wreath layers, Chappy Cassie and all staff who had a hand in setting up and making today a success. It was an emotional ceremony, as we observed our students take pride and connect to the meaning of ANZAC Day.

I also would like to thank our dedicated families who marched with our school banner again this year, as well as the sterling performance memebrs of our Vivo Voices. The service was cap stoned by our school choir and as the Mayor noted - "the ernest voices of our next generation bring a sense of hope to us all." We look forward to next year where we can once again join together to commemorate. 

Positive Behaviour for Learning

As we continue to journey into creating a positive culture for learning, I have a challenge for you. When a child is often upset it is hard to gain perspective of the good things and can focus on the absolute statements like;  “no one likes to play with me” or “everyone laughed at me”. These are the teachable moments of trying to find one good thing in a moment, situation or day. These conversations build our students and community. They open the door to being positive and drawing out of the absolutist statements we can often cast over situations. Once we have zoomed out it is often easier to find solutions then when we are stuck in the mud.

From a resilience perspective, parents need to coach kids through some of their more challenging moments, which have been increasing in frequency with the added benefit of time together, and review what they may have learned for next time. Avoid solving all their problems for them. You can promote a lasting sense of resilience in your children by:

• Having a positive attitude yourself. Your attitude as a parent impacts on their ability to bounce back from some of the difficulties they face. Make sure you model a ‘you can do it’ attitude for your child when s/he is thrown some of life’s curve balls.
• Look for teachable moments. Many kids’ learning opportunities are disguised as problems. Make the most of these opportunities so that kids can grow and learn from some of the challenges they face.
• Make kids active participants in the family. Active participation in a family develops the self-help, problem-solving and independence skills of kids that are necessary for resilience.
• Build kids’ coping skills. There are plenty of strategies you can pass on to kids to help them cope when life doesn’t go their way, including acceptance, getting away for a while, and normalisation.

Promoting resilience in kids is a not a single event but a continuous process that requires adults to be supportive and empathetic when things don’t go their way. It also requires you as a parent to have an understanding of resilience, so you have faith in yourself, and your child’s ability to cope.  I want to encourage all of our parents, you are doing the toughest job out there, keep up the good work.

Inala Wangarra - Gift of Gallang (gift of healing)

We were privledged today to have Uncle Gavin Tyson host a smoking ceremony.  Uncle Gavin, accompanied by his nephews and grandson, walked and talked us through what this ceremony means and how the ceremony came to be.  

We deeply thank the Gift of Gallang for walking and talking the country with us.  Our knowledge and connection has increased.  Our students at Rochedale South this term are a connecting with the Gift of Gallang program this term, which aims at healing and bringing connection to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.  Here are some pictures of the smoking ceremony held today.

Yours in Education,

Craig Charles
Deputy Principal

 

Taking risks to promote learning

Many experts believe learning to take measured risks is a valuable part of every kid’s physical and emotional development. 

Positive risks offer clear benefits, are socially acceptable, and do not present severe consequences. Some things that could be considered positive risks are:

• Learning a new skill
• Making new friends
• Exploring at a playground or park
• Trying new foods

What might be a positive risk that you and your child can try at home?

The Learning Pit

The learning pit helps demonstrate the importance of working through the different stages, taking a risk and persevering. It describes the place where students are faced with challenging and difficult problems, where mistakes are encouraged, and deep discussion takes place which leads to longer lasting learning. 

What can you try together as a family that may take you into the learning pit?

 

 

 

Under 8s day PLAY – you, me and our communities.

I am excited to announce that the school will be hosting Under 8s day in the last week of term on Tuesday 20^th June from 1135-135pm. The theme of this year’s celebration is “PLAY – you, me and the community.”

So, what an appropriate theme and occasion to celebrate all our curious students in Year 2, Year 1 and Prep. Please pop this date this into your calendar, as all parents and grandparents will be invited. The school will be organising a small fair, alongside play-based activities organised by teachers and the wider school community. The P and C will also be assisting on the day.

Under 8s day will conclude with a Teddy Bears picnic in the Performing Arts Centre at approximately 1pm. We would love you to bring a rug and enjoy some lunch with your child/children. This invite extends out to our C&K community and Early Learning Centres.

Further details and our official invitation will be available shortly! Should you have any resources or play/tinkering materials available to be donated, please contact Alice Harvey on the school office number or by dropping into the office. This is a community event and so I am encouraging our parents to get involved. If you are available to help out on the day for e.g. with face painting on the day, can you please email admin@rochedalesouthss.eq.edu.au

Any assistance would make this a really fun community event that fits the theme PLAY, you me and our communities.

Safety before school is everyone’s responsibility

Due to the sheer number of students and families all entering the school at a similar time, it is imperative that we follow our school safety policy. From time to time, there are incidents that occur around the school in the periods just before school begins and just after it finishes. While we have staff on supervision before and after school, we rely on our students and parents to help us, by remembering the following:

• Parents or guardians are required to supervise Prep students before and after school until 8:55am. This includes on the grass areas.
• School supervision begins at 8:30am. Before and After school care is available for those students who need to be dropped off before this time.

• When students Year 1-6 students arrive, they need to go directly to the undercover and stay there until bell time. All other areas of the school, including buildings are out of bounds.

• We encourage students to read a book, journal, talk to their friends, finish off homework. The wellbeing hub currently located in the year 5/6 area is available prior to school
• We encourage our students to be active, however, we have a ‘walking only before school rule’ so that access to classrooms, the office and undercover area is accessible and safe to all students.
• Pick up from stop drop and go is supervised by a staff member between 3pm and 3:30pm. Students cannot hop into a car until you drive up to the gate. This may take a few minutes, while you are waiting for the car in front.
• Our school crossing supervisor provides an additional measure for safe transition between school and home. Please make them feel welcome and respected, supporting them with the requirement to only cross within the crossing lines.

 Prep 2024

We are now taking enrolments for Prep 2024. If you have a younger child who is school age: Children must be 5 year of age by 30 June 2024 to be eligible to enrol. https://www.qld.gov.au/education/earlychildhood/prep/enrolments

Our school is zoned, so please check out your local school, using the following link. https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/maps/edmap/

Please note: siblings, out of home care students are accepted at Rochedale South State School, despite living out of our zone. 

Prep conversations will be held on Mondays and Thursday and will take place later this term finishing at the end of Term 3. These conversations are a way for the school to get to know you and your child. These conversations are a lovely way to find out about your child’s strengths and ways in which the school can support your child in developing “school ready skills.”

Transition day will be held on Thursday October 12 9am – 11am. This day requires parents and children to attend. Further info will be available closer to the date.

Any information regarding enrolment packs can be found on our school website or by ringing the school office.

Year 2 Lone Pines Excursion

Please don’t forget that money is due now for our Year 2 excursion. This is a wonderful excursion. Should you require an extension, we are allowing payments to be finalised on Wednesday 3^rd May. Please contact the office if you require any further information.

The excursion will be held all day on Thursday 11^th May.

Alice Harvey
Deputy Principal Prep-2 

BUILDING RESILIENCE- We invite you to our next Partnering with Parents Tea and Talk.

Every child and student is capable of successful learning.

Inclusive education means that children and students from all backgrounds, of all identities and all abilities are able to access and participate in education and achieve success.

It is our shared responsibility to ensure all learners are supported to access all elements of curriculum and learning.

Improvement in inclusion is focussed on:

• creating a community where everyone can connect, participate and learn
• enabling all children and students to access and participate in their education and expect that they will achieve successful outcomes
• evaluating and interpreting data to challenge assumptions and support inclusive practices. Equity and Excellence: realising the potential of every student

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Mr Asmus, our new Guidance Officer. Mr A works at Rochedale South State School Wednesday’s and every second Monday.

Guidance officers are here to help, providing counselling and advice on educational, career, mental health and wellbeing issues for students.

This Guidance Officer Week we celebrate 75 years of guidance support in Queensland state school communities. School staff play a vital role in noticing the early signs of students' stress or struggles. If you think a student may benefit from support, get in touch with your guidance officer.

Celebrating Guidance Officer Week.

It’s Guidance Officer Week from 24 April to 5 May

Our students interviewed Mr A this week and shared an insightful video across the school in celebration of the work Mr A and Guidance Officers do. Thank you, Mr A, for the support you provide for our community.

REACH OUT has many exceptional supports for students, parents, teachers and community members. 

Understanding school refusal

School refusal is a complex issue that impacts a growing number of students and their families around Australia. It can be a challenging experience for everyone involved, including educators.

To help you support students and families who might be struggling with school refusal, we’ve put together a range of informative and practical resources.

Get started with this article to understand more about what exactly school refusal is, including its underlying causes, signs and impacts. https://schools.au.reachout.com/articles/part-1-understanding-school-refusal

What can I do now?

• If you’re concerned about a student’s attendance and wellbeing, try these practical strategies for dealing with school refusal.
• Flesh out your knowledge of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
• Increase your students’ knowledge of mental health issues with our mental health classroom resources.

SPELD- assisting students all over Australia. Learning to read and cracking the code is a learning journey. SPELD have so many resources that can be accessed to support your child with reading. Reading at home with your child even if it 10 minutes a night makes a huge difference in their literacy skills. Try this link:

https://www.speld.org.au/decodable-readers

Autism- Parent webinars

 Supporting girls with autism: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/parent-webinar-supporting-girls-with-autism-tickets-603007962047

 Using Video Modelling: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/parent-webinar-using-video-modelling-tickets-602992004317

 Interest-based learning: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/parent-webinar-interest-based-learning-tickets-603004451547

 Supporting school connectedness: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/parent-webinar-supporting-school-connectedness-tickets-603012405337

 Preparing for meetings: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/parent-webinar-preparing-for-meetings-tickets-603058633607

 Setting up effective communication: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/parent-webinar-setting-up-effective-communication-tickets-603029095257

 Developing Social Narratives: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/parent-webinar-developing-social-narratives-tickets-603060158167

Thank you.

Yours in Education

Brigette Cannons
Head of Inclusion

DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY 

Well done to eleven of our 10-12yr Rochedale South students who represented our school at the Logan District Cross Country Carnival on Thursday 27th April at Redeemer's DG Stolz Sporting Fields. Our students showed excellent commitment in the lead up to the event by attending morning training sessions before school in the weeks prior, and on the day all of our students ran with excellent effort and enthusiasm. Well done to Isabella, Elizaveta, Devere, Archie, Johnathon, Ethan, Kobi, Charlie, Miller, Chad and Brayan, we are so proud of you. A big congratulations and special mention to Miller Hicks who finished 4th in the 12yr Boys events, and to Isabella Ruhle who finished 10th in the 10yr Girls race. Both of these students have now qualified to represent Logan District at the next level, the Met East Regional Cross Country Carnival coming up later this term. Also, special mentions to Chad (12th), Elizaveta (15th), Archie (16th), Devere (23rd) and Kobi (23rd) who all finished in great places in their races. A big thank you to our amazing Teacher Aide, Ms Podmore, who was our Team Manager for the morning, marshalling our students to their races, pinning race numbers and taking photos. Thank you also to all of our wonderful parents who came along for the morning and helped out with the course orientation and cheering on our students in their races. 

Marcus Stilianos
HPE Teacher 

To All our Parents and Guardians 

Welcome back to term 2, we hope you had a lovely break and enjoyed your holiday.  We have a few announcements that were made at the easter Bonnet Parade at the end of last term that we would like to share with you all. 

The Class who won the Pizza Party was Prep B with a total raised was $1175.00. Congratulations Prep B. You will be enjoying your Pizza Party in the next few weeks. 

The Champion Fundraiser of the school was Orlando C of Prep B with a total money raised being $435.00, that is a massive effort Orlando, thank you. 

We are still waiting for the Mini Back Packs to arrive as they are on backorder, but they are on their way. There are 3 students still waiting, thank you for your patience. 

Our Easter Raffle made a grand total of $1276.00 and that was thanks to all of you who bought tickets and supported our P&C and our School. Thank you again to the families who donated prizes for the raffles, it couldn’t have been the great success it was without you all. 

Special thank you to Wendy Budd for selling ticket in the Prep and Grade 1 areas before and after school and John Malakos for selling tickets in the Tuckshop area before school each day and after school. Without volunteers we cannot function fully and hold events, so thank you very much for your time. 

List of our Easter Raffle Winners: 

1^st Prize - Trent 

2^nd Prize - Alina - Tuckshop  

2^nd Prize – N Davis 

3^rd Prize - Sandler 4G 

3^rd Prize - Hunter 2W 

4^th Prize - William PW 

5^th Prize - Patrick PM 

6^th Prize - Shelly - Staff

7^th Prize - Boyd B 

Our Mother’s Day Raffle will kick off Tuesday 2^nd May with forms being sent home with students Tuesday. Tickets will be $2 each or 3 for $5 but an added perk will be that we will have a Square so we can do in person electronic transactions for tickets as well as at the Tuckshop in the mornings and after school. 

We will also have the Mother’s Day Stall for students to visit on Thursday 11^th May and Friday 12^th May in the PAC with gift prices between $1-10. A form will be sent home with students for the Mother’s Day Stall the Monday of the Stall. 

We are in need of Volunteers for the Mother’s Day Stall, so if you have a little bit of time on either of those days can you please send us a message on our NEW P&C page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092329924493 or Search: Rochedale South State School Parents and Citizens. 

Last but not least, we have our next P&C meeting coming up on Monday 22 May at 7pm in the Admin Tearoom (opposite end of the building where the office is). Everyone is welcome and we would love to see new faces as always.  We are rebuilding our P&C pretty much from scratch as the past few years damaged us with lack of Community being able to come together for meetings, events and community involvement.  We are changing that one meeting at a time this year.  Come and join us for a coffee and share your ideas. If you would like to come please drop us a message or comment on the P&C Facebook page or my number is on the page if you want to call or sms. 

Thank you for all your support so far this year, there is more fun to come so keep watching this space and our P&C Facebook page. 

Kind regards  

Rochedale South State School P&C