TERM 1 2025

Jingeri families!

For our new Prep families welcome, and for our returning families welcome back, to Rochedale South State School for 2025! I have thoroughly enjoyed spending some of our early weeks down at Prep getting to know our new students. They have all settled in so well to primary school land – parents and caregivers must be feeling very proud!

We had the pleasure of connecting with many families during our annual online Meet the Teacher event – thank you for jumping online to hear about the term and year ahead. At Rochedale South State School we welcome feedback from families so please don’t hesitate to let us know what you think of the online format and whether this is something we should continue with.

As I shared during the online event, this year our school is focused on two key priorities:

• Pedagogies for Student Agency
• Engagement through Belonging

Despite being only three weeks into the school year we have already launched strategies to support each of these initiatives. Some of our teacher-leaders have shared practices with colleagues for developing students to drive their own learning and develop strong connections through belonging. Students are being greeted by name in fun ways every day across the school and our walking school bus has been received well by the community in it’s first week! Students are also building a common language for what being engaged in their learning looks like and this has had positive impacts on students’ self-awareness during learning.

I look forward to meeting with our P & C on Monday 17 February at 7pm, and hope to see some new parent faces come along to check it out. At our first meeting I will be sharing some of our summarised student outcome data for the 2024 school year and share our short- and long-term targets for continued improvement and growth for student achievement, wellbeing and engagement.

As always, we have many exciting events coming up this year, not to mention that it is a musical year and the school is buzzing with excitement for this event.

Looking forward to partnering with families as the year progresses.

Stacey Wood
Principal

Hello Everyone!

Thank you to everyone who has come and said hello and given me a warm welcome back. I have been on maternity leave last year. My daughter Grace is turning One this coming weekend! I cannot believe how fast the last year has gone. I have two stepchildren who are currently starting in Year 6 and Year 4. Adding a One-year old to the mix, definitely keeps life interesting! Last year I had the time to visit child care centres and primary schools in preparation for my daughter’s education. I always wanted to share with everyone the wonderful things we do at RSSS. I feel so proud to be part of a school community who continues to learn and applies evidence based practice in teaching and learning and also be part of a school community who continues to strive to excel. 

Mrs Jen Bampton and myself will be sharing the Deputy role. I will be working Monday to Wednesday and Jen will be working Thursday to Friday. For any urgent matters regarding your child, please contact the office or email both myself and Jen. My email is aharv159@eq.edu.au and Ms Jen Bamptons email is jbamp4@eq.edu.au. One of us will attend to your matter as soon as possible.

We have had a fantastic start to the year, showcasing the school’s highly skilled teaching teams this week at our Meet the Teacher Online event. Thank you to everyone who was able to jump online and be a part of our online community. These events help parents gain a ‘snap-shot’ of their child’s daily routines, whilst also explaining the learning intentions for the main learning areas. Please also have a look at your child’s curriculum newsletter in the next coming weeks and talk to your child about these topics, asking your child questions to show interest. Stick it on the fridge for everyone’s perusal.

Open Classrooms

We will be hosting open classrooms in Week 4 on Thursday 20^th February afternoon at 2:45pm – 3pm for Years 1 -6. This will give parents a chance to see their child’s teacher and for their child to show their parents any learning pieces in the room. This may be as simple as your child showing you their desk and workbooks, or, it might be a specific piece of work they are proud of. Giving students agency and letting them take control, helps them to take ownership of their learning. I have been talking to some Year 2 students about this event, and they are very excited already! Conversations about your child’s specific learning will be formalised and held in the last week of term at Parent Teacher Interviews. Please look out for the booking information for this important event.

Best Beginnings

Our Prep teachers will be hosting an education session for parents in their classrooms from 4pm – 5pm on Thursday 20^th Feb. You should have already received your invitation via SZapp. For any further information, please do not hesitate to contact the school or speak to your classroom teacher directly.

This session explains to you and equips you will practical skills of how to teach the initial stages of reading. Evidence tells us that if parents are involved, then children will be given the best opportunity to become literate learners and build important Literacy foundations for their entire lives! Our teachers will also explain the homework folder in this session.

Swimming

In the last week of this term, Years 1 and 2 will be participating in swimming lessons. This will be across four days, Monday to Thursday, 31^st March – 1^st April. The cost will be approximately $40, as P and C will be subsidising a $20 amount for each student due to fundraising events. Information about swimming will be sent out shortly.

Easter Bonnet Parade

To celebrate the last day of term and all things Easter, the bonnet parade will be held in the PAC at 9:15am. Bonnets/hats are to be made at home. This is a fun and relaxed event, and we invite all parents and carers from Prep to Year 2 to help us celebrate!

Separation (anxiety) and stategies 

It is quite normal for children at some point in their lives, particular in their younger years, to develop some level of separation anxiety. If you are concerned, please speak to your teacher or one of the Deputies. Here are some general tips to support school drop offs:

• Organise a consistent time in the morning for drop offs, if possible, try and not get to school too early.
• Role play and have a consistent message that you tell your child when you say goodbye, remind them who is picking them up in the afternoon. A quick goodbye is the way to go.
• There are some picture story books that can help you with talking about these normal feelings. One that I like is called, The Invisible String,’ written by Patrice Karst. It is also narrated on YouTube. Please always watch videos before you show them to your child to ensure they are appropriate, and do not have any inappropriate pop ups or add-on images.
• Dr Golly a paediatrician in Melbourne who you may have heard about, has a practical strategy that can help some children, I have attached the clip and information here. https://honey.nine.com.au/parenting/separation-anxiety-back-to-school-hack-for-parents-dr-golly-love-heart-idea/37e12471-ed7c-4ff6-85d6-ffd1adcdc5bc
• Talk to your child about these normal feelings, and ensure that you attend to their feelings and listen to what they have to say. Starting the year in a new class can take time for all students to find their groove, so make sure you give them that chance.

Should your child have ongoing separation anxiety, please speak to a professional. This may be your GP, or your child’s GP might refer you to someone such as an Occupational Therapist. For children younger than 5, a child health nurse can also be an excellent professional to talk to. Our school has strategies and procedures in place to support students, so please talk to your Deputy or classroom teacher if you have ongoing concerns.

                                                              

Welcome back to the 2025 school year everyone! This year Carla Williams and Jennifer Bampton will be sharing the Head of Department – Curriculum role. Our jobs are to work with the teachers to ensure we are creating the school’s vision of Creative, resilient, curious learners empowered to excel through the implementation of the Australian Curriculum in our classrooms.

NAPLAN – Years 3 & 5

NAPLAN 2025 will take place from 12 – 24 March 2025.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake.

Online NAPLAN tests provide precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment. 

Students sit assessments in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

Students are not expected to study for NAPLAN. You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is a part of their school program and reminding them to simply do their best. Some explanation of NAPLAN is useful to help students understand and be comfortable with the format of the tests; however, it is not necessary for parents/carers to do this. Teachers will ensure students are familiar with the types of questions in the tests and will provide appropriate support and guidance. 

All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper.

For information regarding adjustments for students with disabilities or withdrawal, please contact the school office.

Source:  https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers

Information has been shared with parents of Year 3 and 5 students via SZApp. Ensure you keep up to date with all the NAPLAN news on SZApp.

 Curriculum Newsletters

Curriculum newsletters are a great way to be involved in your child’s learning as a family.  Curriculum newsletters cover the work in the classroom each term. Look out for them!

Jennifer Bampton                                                                Carla Williams   Heads of Department – Curriculum

Welcome back to all of our families and especially to our new families, we hope the new year is going well. Lots going on in finance at the moment. Resource scheme invoices have been emailed, as have Year 6 camp invoices. For students in Years 1,2, 4 and 6 swimming invoices will also be coming out soon, please keep an eye out for them. Swimming has been kindly subsidised this year by our fantastic P and C to help keep costs down, we thank them very much for their support of our students.

Student Resource Scheme Invoices (SRS)

Invoices were emailed out to all families that we had signed agreement forms for. If you have not yet received an invoice for the Student Resource Scheme, please let us know. Some have been hiding in people’s Junk folders, so have a look there if you believe you should have received one by now. SRS forms are available in the office if you don’t think you have signed one as yet. The due date for all SRS, Consumables Student Resource Scheme (CSRS) is Thursday 20 February.

Invoices for Instrumental and Strings students have also been sent out to those we have forms for. If your student is participating in a music program this year and you have not yet returned your form, please drop it in to the office ASAP as instruments will start to be handed out in the coming weeks.

Passwords for student online programs used both in the classroom and at home, will be issued by class teachers. Please put this in a safe place to refer to any time. Passwords will be issued only to students who have commenced payments of their SRS.

Payment Plans

We realise that the start of the year can cause some financial hardship to families, so payment plans are available to help make this a bit less stressful. Payment plan applications, as well as Centrelink Deduction Authority forms are available for anyone wishing to make payments this way. Please call the office and we will send one to you, or you can download them from our school website to fill in and return.

Casual Cleaners wanted

We are looking to increase our pool of casual cleaners we can call on if our regular cleaners are away. If you or any one you know has cleaning experience or is interested to learn on the job and is able to work from 5am to 8am of a morning and/or 2pm till 6pm of an afternoon, please email your resume to me at BSM@rochedalesouthss.eq.edu.au including your availabilities, experience and references for consideration.

Wendy Grocott
Business Manager

What is Safer Internet Day?

Safer Internet is a global day of action bringing communities, schools, organisations and families from more than 180 countries together to raise awareness of online safety issues and work toward a safer internet.

The eSafety Commissioner leads the day in Australia and we’re calling on all Australians to help make the internet a safe and positive place. 

Why is Safer Internet Day important?

Whether you’re working, learning, playing or scrolling – the internet is a huge part of life. It opens a world of opportunities, but also comes with risks, especially for young people and other at-risk groups.

What steps can I take to be safe online?

• Have online safety conversations.
• Learn about online risks.
• Report harmful content.
• Practice respect and kindness online.
• Share online safety resources.

Join us in making the internet a safer, more positive place – one conversation, one click and one day at a time.   

Esports Update

 Esports has kicked off 2025 with a Minecraft Free Play Event. The event has proven to be extremely popular with between 70 to 100 students from years 2 to 6 showing up each Monday and Tuesday second break to participate. We are seeing lots of collaborative play as students host a world, to create, explore and survive, together with their friends.

For more information on this topic please visit www.esafety.gov.au

Elisa Weston
Technologies Teacher P-6, eSafety Champion

Dear Parents and Guardians

We hope you and your children have all had a smooth start to 2025. The P&C hope all children have settled in to their classes and are meeting new friends.

RSSS P&C Team are excited to begin our events for the year and we will be sending details our early next week for our FunRun that partners with our school Cross Country. Events planned this year will continue to raise funds for our school and our first initiative is to lower the cost of swimming lessons for every child. 

Our first P&C Meeting will be held in the Administration building on Monday 17th 

February at 7pm. We would love to see new faces and also welcome members back from 2024. Bring your ideas and suggestions for fundraising and events. 

While the monthly meetings are an invaluable way to get information on what’s happening both fun and education wise within the school in advance, attending the meetings every month or ever is not all that the P&C are about. We are continuing to build our committee of meeting attendees and our volunteer base to have a strong presence in the school, at events and in the community. 

Thank you to our new parents who already have their names down to help us out with events but we can never have too many. 

If you would like to attend the meeting please come along and see what its about as its usually just one hour long and we provide refreshments. Children are also welcome we just ask that parents and carers bring something to keep them busy.

 

Thank you 

RSSS P&C Team

Enrolments are now available online.

Would you like to enrol or have a tour please contact us.              E: ars@ymcabrisbane.org

M: 0437 332 970        P: 3841 6613                      

Important messages from your Coordinator

Enrolments

The enrolment process is now exclusively online via QK Enrol, and bookings can be made via the My Family Lounge App. Below you can find some details that will help with the online process.

New parents or anyone who needs to register for use of QK Enrol or My Family Lounge can access registration through this website below:

https://www.ymcachildcare.com.au/rochedale-south.html

Existing parents can log onto this website below:

https://www.qkenhanced.com.au/webui/Account/Logon

The YMCA Rochedale South OSHC Team