TERM 2 2024

Jingeri everyone!

I trust families have enjoyed their April school break and students have returned refreshed and ready for learning!

Thank you everyone for your understanding and patience while our school infrastructure improvements are underway. These works are important long term safety measures in the maintenance of school buildings and, once completed, will allow our school to be considered for other capital works projects in the future.

In the first week of Term 2 I had the privilege of stepping out as a peer reviewer with the Education Improvement Branch to support the review of another Queensland State School. School reviews occur on a four year cycle for every school, and the review team is comprised of internal reviewers, peer reviewers (trained principals from other schools) and external reviewers who do not work for the department.  Our own school will be reviewed later this year, and it is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate what is working well, to reflect on how we got here, and to plan for our next steps. Review reports inform the school strategic planning which outlines the focus areas for the next four years. During my time as a peer reviewer I had the opportunity to see how other schools approach the delivery of Equity and Excellence for all students to reach their full potential – this is both a validating experiencing and a great way to broaden my own perspectives as a school leader.

I want to take a moment to highlight our school choir, led by our incomparable Music teacher Jo Cooper, and thank them and their families for contributing their time and voices to the community ANZAC Parade. It is a credit to Ms Cooper that we are continued to be invited back to this event.

It is timely at the start of Term 2 to remind all families of the importance of attending school every day. Where school attendance has dropped below 85% for students, families can expect that a member of the school team will be reaching out to find ways to support improved attendance. Just one day absent each week can add up to missing 8 school weeks of learning – almost a full term! After five years of this pattern, a full school year of learning will have been missed. If your family are facing school attendance challenges, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our school team for support.

Stacey Wood
Principal

As we commence Term 2, I extend a warm welcome to all parents and guardians of Rochedale South State School students. It is with great excitement that we embark on another term filled with enriching experiences and valuable opportunities for our students to learn and grow.

In addition to welcoming back all parents and guardians, I would like to extend a special warm welcome to new staff members Mr. Andylee Wang (4W) and Mrs. Louise Schuster (3P). We are delighted to have you join our school community and look forward to getting to know you both. Your presence enriches our school community, and we are excited about the contributions you will bring to our learning environment. Welcome aboard!

This term, we are thrilled to kickstart our calendar of events with the Athletics Carnival, where our athletes will showcase their skills and sportsmanship, and our Year 6 students eagerly anticipate their upcoming camp, a memorable adventure filled with team-building activities and outdoor learning opportunities. As we approach the midpoint of the year, we also look forward to providing comprehensive End of Semester Reporting, offering valuable insights into your child's academic progress and achievements. Furthermore, we are excited to invite parents to engage in informative and interactive parent evenings with Switch4Schools, where you will have the opportunity to explore and utilise the resources aimed at supporting your child's social and emotional development. Together, let us embrace the opportunities ahead and continue to work collaboratively in nurturing the growth and success of our students.

Transforming Mathematics Pedagogy: A Journey of Collaboration

Rochedale South State School is thrilled to announce our exciting partnership with global education thought leaders, Joanne McEachen and Rob Profitt White, as we embark on a mission to revolutionize mathematics pedagogy.

This term, our school has welcomed visiting schools, Highland Reserve and Oxenford State Schools, as we engage in deep inquiry to explore the question: What does best practice in mathematics instruction look like? Through collaborative discussions, classroom observations, and sharing of ideas, we are gaining valuable insights into innovative approaches to teaching and learning mathematics.

All of our focus is centred on enhancing student thinking, and building opportunites to discuss and defend their mathematics thinking.  As we enhance the opportunities to explain their thinking and relate it to real world problems, we are seeing their engagement already improve across our school.  See how you go below: 

Our partnership with Joanne McEachen and Rob Profitt White has provided us with a unique opportunity to lead our learners in deep and rigorous mathematics instruction. By leveraging their expertise and global perspective, we are enhancing our pedagogical practices to ensure that every student receives a high-quality mathematics education.

As we continue on this journey of exploration and discovery, we are excited to share our findings with schools across the globe. In the coming months, we look forward to partnering with schools in New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America, fostering a community of educators dedicated to advancing mathematics education worldwide.

Together, we are committed to empowering our students to become confident and proficient mathematicians, equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in an ever-changing world.

If your interested in finding ways to engage your child in interesting and thought provoking questions see below:

https://stevewyborney.com/?s=tiled+area+questions 

ANZAC DAY 2024

As we gather in reflection on this solemn occasion of ANZAC Day, I want to take a moment to express my sincerest apologies for my absence from this special event in our yearly school life. ANZAC Day holds profound significance for our nation as we honor the bravery and sacrifice of those who have served and continue to serve in the defense of our freedoms.

I extend my deepest gratitude to our special guests who joined us for this commemoration:

• Mr. Gary Sargent (Retired Warrant Officer – Springwood Tri-Services RSL Sub-branch)
• Ms. Jodie Mills (Teacher and Retired Corporal)
• Acting Sergeant Ron Crowley (Springwood Police Beat)
• Mr. Peter Gough (Private Retired)

Their presence and contributions enriched our ceremony and reminded us of the importance of remembering and honoring the sacrifices made by our service personnel.

I would also like to acknowledge the special preparations and contributions led by our music teacher, Mrs. Joanne Cooper, and our choir, Vivo Voices. Their dedication and talent added a poignant and reverent atmosphere to our ceremony, enhancing the experience for all in attendance.

Furthermore, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to every member of our school community for their solemn and respectful participation in the ANZAC Day ceremony and subsequent march. Your presence and reflection demonstrate our collective commitment to honoring the memory of those who have served our country.

As we mark this ANZAC Day, let us not only remember the past but also reflect on the values of courage, mateship, and sacrifice that continue to unite us as a nation.

Lest we forget.

Honoring Miss Mills - A Remarkable Service Woman

We are honoured to have staff member Miss Jodie Mills, a returned service woman, among our special guests for this year's ANZAC Day commemoration. Miss Mills' journey in the Australian Defence Force is nothing short of inspiring, and her dedication to serving our country deserves our utmost respect and gratitude.

Miss Mills enlisted in the Australian Reserve Army in 2004, embarking on a journey that would shape her life in profound ways. As a Driver in the Royal Australian Transport Corp, she quickly recognised the allure of the defence force and sought a full-time position in the Australian Regular Army. With her health and fitness background, she found her calling in the Royal Australian Medical Corp, where she served as a Medic for nine years.

Throughout her service, Miss Mills demonstrated exceptional courage and commitment, serving in units across Australia and participating in deployments and exercises in East Timor, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and the Solomon Islands. Her experiences, including her attachment to the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) in Perth, provided her with a deep understanding of the sacrifices made by our service personnel and the importance of camaraderie in the face of adversity.

Beyond her military duties, Miss Mills found fulfillment in working with children, both in schools and on vaccination campaigns in remote regions. It was during these experiences that she began to contemplate a career in education, inspired by the resilience and passion of the children she encountered.

This ANZAC Day holds special significance for Miss Mills as she commemorates the day alongside her new son, Riley. She eagerly anticipates sharing her military stories and memories with Riley as he grows older, ensuring that the legacy of service and sacrifice lives on in the next generation.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Miss Mills for her service to our country and her continued commitment to making a positive impact in our community. Her presence enriches our ANZAC Day commemoration, reminding us of the enduring spirit of our service personnel and the importance of honouring their contributions.

Thank you Miss Mills.

PBL FORTNIGHTLY FOCUS: 

As we continue to foster a supportive and positive learning environment for our students, we are excited to announce that our fortnightly Positive Behavior for Learning (PBL) focus will center around regulation strategies. Teaching our children effective ways to regulate their emotions and behavior is crucial for their social and emotional development, both in and out of the classroom.

To support this focus, we are thrilled to introduce our whole school resource, Switch4Schools, which provides a comprehensive toolbox of regulation strategies for students. This resource will soon be available for parents to access, empowering you to reinforce these strategies at home and further enhance your child's learning journey.

We are also delighted to announce a FREE parent session in a fortnight's time, hosted by the co-founders of Switch4Schools, Phil Slade and Roshelle Weir. This session will provide valuable insights and practical tips on how you can effectively utilise the resources to support your child's emotional regulation and behavior management. See Below for more details and reserve your spot here.

In addition to Switch4Schools, we will be implementing the "High Five" strategy/framework to help our students make the best choices, even when they are experiencing challenging emotions such as anger, sadness, or fear. This framework encourages students to pause, breathe, think, choose, and reflect before acting, empowering them to make positive decisions in any situation.

By equipping our students with these regulation strategies and involving parents in the process, we aim to create a supportive and nurturing environment where every child feels valued and empowered to succeed.

We look forward to partnering with you in this journey towards positive behavior and emotional well-being for all our students.

SWITCH4Schools - Parent Event

* We’re thrilled to share an opportunity from our friends at Rochedale South State School. They’re (OR) Get ready for an exciting evening at our school! We’re

* hosting a free event on Monday, 13 May, from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM at Rochedale South State School. It’s all about helping our young people manage their emotions and boost their success at school and beyond.

Join us for “Switch It Up!”— a fun and informative session by SWITCH4Schools. You’ll meet the experts, Phil Slade and Roshelle Weir, who’ll dive into the science of emotional intelligence and share tips on nurturing wellbeing.

Expect some tasty snacks, great conversations, and practical advice. Send us an email or click HERE to RSVP and be part of shaping a positive future for our students.

See you there!

Queensland Engagement and Wellbeing Survey

In Term 2 Week 4, students in Years 4-6 will be asked to take part in the Queensland Engagement and Wellbeing (QEW) Survey.

We know that wellbeing and engagement are important parts of your child’s life at school. The QEW Survey is designed to measure how students view their wellbeing and engagement across different topics. The information we get from the survey helps us better understand and support our students.

An information letter will be sent out to parents and carers closer to the time. If you have any questions, please contact the school. More information, including FAQs, can be found on the Education website: (https://qed.qld.gov.au/publications/reports/statistics/schooling/students/queensland-engagement-wellbeing-survey).

Yours in Education,

Craig Charles
Deputy Principal

Enrol now for Prep 2025

Enrolment meetings for Prep 2025 will commence from later this term. If you have a child in your family who was born from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, please visit the school website and complete all necessary enrolment forms. Please also encourage and family and friends you have intending to enrol to complete the process now. Contact the school office if you have any questions.

Curriculum Newsletters

Curriculum newsletters sent out by the class teacher are an important tool of communication between the school and families. Curriculum newsletters give an overview of what your child is learning in class and across specialist lessons. Look out for your curriculum newsletter from your child’s teacher in the coming weeks to build conversations with your child.

Inquiry Learning

‘Stay curious, ask questions, stay open minded, slow your thinking down, keep wondering …’

Kath Murdoch

One of our school focuses for this year is deepening our understanding of Inquiry Learning. Teachers are encouraging students to ask questions about their learning and take risks to learn new things. Three of our staff members will be attending a two-day professional development opportunity later this term to bring back information to share with their teaching teams. We will continue to teach our students to be ‘Creative, resilient, curious learners empowered to excel’.

Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) Building a national picture of child health for PREP Students

From May 2024, our school, along with thousands of others across the country, will participate in the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

The AEDC is a teacher-completed census (similar to a questionnaire) which provides a comprehensive picture of how children have developed by the time they start their first year of full-time school (Prep). 

The AEDC is an Australian Government Initiative and is completed nationally every three years.

Children don’t miss any class time while the AEDC is completed, and parents/carers don’t need to supply schools with any new information.

The data collected through the AEDC is used by schools, communities and governments to better understand children and families’ needs, and identify the services, resources and support they need.

AEDC data is reported at a school, community, state/territory and national level. AEDC results for individual children are not reported and the AEDC is not used as an individual diagnostic tool.

Participation in the AEDC is voluntary, however the AEDC relies on all schools with children in their first year of full-time school participating in the collection. Parents/carers don’t need to take any action unless they choose not to include their children in the census.

To find out more about the AEDC and how it is being used to help children and families visit: www.aedc.gov.au

Jennifer Bampton
Deputy Principal Prep-2 

Dear Parents

District Cross Country 

Well done to all of our 10-12yr Rochedale South students who competed in the Logan District Cross Country Carnival at DG Stolz Sports Fields on Tuesday 30th April. 16 of our students competed in races across the morning and put in an incredible effort to finish in respectable places in their age groups. A big congratulations to Isabella Ruhle who came 3rd in the 11yr Girls 3km race. Isabella has now qualified to represent Logan District at the Met East Regional Cross Country Carnival in May and we wish her all the very best in this representative event. Congratulations to other notable finishers  - Valentino (12th), Olivia (15th), Devere (17th), Marley (17th) and to all of our students who ran with great effort on the day and showed excellent commitment by attending our morning training sessions before school in the week leading up to the carnival. A big thank you to Mrs Podmore who was our Team Manager for the morning and marshalled our students to their races, and to all of our awesome Rochedale South parents who were in attendance cheering on our students as they crossed the finish line. 

Marcus Stilianos
HPE Teacher 

CHAPPY CHAT

Term 2 is pack full of goodness!  There are so many good things crammed in the term might just burst...make sure you keep up to date with all school communication so you don't miss out on anything.

 

Triple P Parenting Appointments

Our school has offered the group Triple P Parenting Course in the past, and will do so again later in the year.  In the meantime, if you would like support with a particular parenting challenge I'm offering 30-minute tailored parenting support appointments on a Monday morning.  We started this week, and it was encouraging to see parents walk away feeling positive about the important role they are doing in raising healthy independent adults (that is the aim right!?). If you would like to reserve a session please email me cassie.love@suchaplaincy.org.au

Important date change..

Chappy Week is now Week 7, 27 May to 1 June.  Please update your fridge magnets!

See the attached flyer for Chappy Week activities:

Tuesday: Eco Day hosted by the Eco Rangers - earth hour, nude food lunch boxes and fun lunctime activities

Thursday: Free Dress Day $2, Staff V Students sporting match at second break

Friday: Lego and Eco Build competition

Saturday: Dads and Kids Campout!

All information about Chappy Week will be coming home via szapp and Facebook, stay tuned for more details, including online Campout registration forms.

Waste Free Wednesday

The Eco Rangers have initiated an action to save our school from litter and plastic waste.  Waste Free Wednesday is EVERY WEDNESDAY!!  Please make an effort to support this initiative by packing lunches free of plastic wrap and litter items by using reusable containers and packs, fresh food items - fruit and veg often come in their own natural skin wrap!, and no packets. We look forward to seeing more waste free lunch boxes!

Congratulations to the Wright Family who were the winners of the Lego Backpack after our last Chappy Free Dress Day competition.

I love meeting you, the parents of our creative and curious learners.  Please drop into the Chappy Room, opposite the uniform shop, and say hi.  I'm here for our whole school community and caring for you is my priority.  Have a wonderful Term 2.

Blessings,

Cassie Love
School Chaplain: cassie.love@suchaplaincy.org.au  

0434 789 465 (direct work line)

Dear Parents and Guardians

The Executive Committee held a meeting last week to discuss fundraising and changes that we can share with everyone once they are finalised.

As many of you would have seen and heard via previous communications RSSS Tuckshop is still open and offering a limited menu while operating out of the PAC kitchen. Orders can placed on Flexischools or by parents over the counter. Due to safety of students and appliance constrictions we are unable to have the students making over the counter sales. We would love for our school community to continue their support of our school Tuckshop while we are having the roof replaced on the old building. Thank you to everyone who is still utilising the Tuckshop while maintenance is underway.

Heading into Term 2 we have a few P&C events to share with everyone.

We will be holding a Mother's Day Raffle with tickets ($2 each or 3 tickets for $5) being sold on Flexischools as of later this week and also at the Mother's Day Stall. The raffle will be drawn on Thursday 9^th May by our amazing administration staff and winners will be notified to collect.

If you have any new items at home you think will be a great regift that you don't see yourself using, we are graciously accepting donations for the Mother's Day Raffle. They can be dropped into Administration staff. Thank you in advance.

Speaking of Mother's Day, our Mother's Day Stall for students to purchase from will be on Wednesday 8^th and Thursday 9^th of May. We have a supply of gifts for Mum, Nan, generic gifts and will also have some Dad and Grandad items available on the days.

Last but not least the Pie Drive will start late May and this year we will put it all on FlexiSchools to streamline ordering. As many of you will remember last year we had a couple of delivery hiccups that we hope to avoid this year with previous knowledge under our belt.

We are seeing a great show of support at our monthly meetings and we hope to see it grow with more parents and community members coming to get information about our school, education and activities first hand. Remember it is not compulsory to attend every meeting but please feel free to pop in occasionally. I know it can be hard to arrange sitters which is why you are welcome to bring your children along to the meetings. We just ask that you bring something to keep them occupied. We try to keep our meetings to just one hour long.

Our next P&C Meeting will be held Monday 20^th May 2024 7pm.

RSSS P&C

UNIFORM SHOP

Uniform Shop hours:  8:30 - 9:15 Monday ONLY.

Our full range of stock is available to order online through FLEXISCHOOLS (through SZapp). Once you have placed your order it will be delivered to your child's classroom. Please allow 2 days for delivery to the classroom.

TUCKSHOP

Trading Hours 8.40-2.30

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday (Closed MONDAY)

Children will come to the Tuckshop window and hand in their orders in two ways:
1. An already written bag.
2. We will write their tuckshop order onto a bag. Bags are 10 cents.
Please send correct money or as close to if possible. If change is required, it will be given to the student at time of ordering.

Flexischools is still available for online ordering.  Cut off time for placing orders through Flexischools is 8.30am. If you have yet to set up an account
with Flexischools, just visit their website www.flexischools.com.au or go through our SZapp - Tuckshop Orders.

Tuckshop is still operating out of the PAC kitchen with a limited menu and no counter service at breaks, until our tuckshop building is ready. Flexischools is still open for ordering and parents or students can come to the pac kitchen window and order with cash or eftpos.Once we are back to normal, a winter menu will be sent home and birthday packs will be available again.Thank you for your understanding during this time.

Melissa Treacy
Tuckshop and Uniform Convenor

2024 Enrolments are now available online.

Would you like to enrol or have a tour please contact us.             

M: 0437 332 970        P: 3841 6613   

E: ars@ymcabrisbane.org

                  

Important messages from your Coordinator