TERM 2 2025

Jingeri families!

Following the interruptions to work and school caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, I hope that everyone in our community has been able to regain some normalcy. The power and communication outages across the region were certainly impactful for many, while the weather kept us at home for a few days there. If you have suffered personal financial hardship due to this event, you may be eligible for additional supports.

https://www.qld.gov.au/community/disasters-emergencies/disasters/money-finance/eligibility-apply/tc-alfred-march-2025

As our families will be aware, our school fared extremely well. Thank you to Mr Floyd Hill who has worked tirelessly to clear away the storm debris.  I can also assure the community that our trees are assessed by an arborist each year, to ensure that they are healthy and safe.

Thank you to everyone who came along to support the live radio broadcast from our school - what a fun family event! When speaking with the broadcasters afterwards, they expressed how confident and respectful Rochedale South State School students are. They were particularly impressed with our student weather reporters and said that they have not had such young students reading the weather before – great job! Thanks to Chappy Cassie for organising such a great morning.

Following our P and C Annual General Meeting on Monday, I am very excited to announce our 2025 executive team:

Carolyn Wyszynski - President
Lucien West - Vice President
Bec Brennan-Treasurer

New members are always welcome to join the P and C – contact the office if you’d like to know more about how you can partner with us.

This year our school priorities focus on giving students more voice – and I am excited to share that I have been working with student leaders to interview their peers in what we call a student led review. The information from these surveys will help the student leaders and I make decisions about how the school is run, so that students can have an authentic influence over their own education. Watch this space!

The end of Term 1 is always a great celebration with our Cross Country in Week 9 and Easter Bonnet Parade in Week 10. This year, the Easter Raffle will raise funds to support our school musical – make sure you buy some tickets and support the incredible work of our teachers and students. We also come back from the holidays and commemorate ANZAC Day with a school service in week 1. Our choir, led by the incomparable Ms Jo Cooper, are also invited annually to perform the National Anthem at the Springwood Community ANZAC Service. Our students always represent the school so well, and it is an honour to continue to be invited. Keep an eye out for emails that will provide details for these events.

With the holidays coming up soon, I wish everyone a safe and relaxing break from school. For myself and my children, we will be travelling to Alice Springs for Parrtjima – A Festival in Light, as well as a visit to Uluru! I’m looking forward to hearing from students about their holiday adventures when we return.

Stacey Wood
Principal

Hello Everyone!

The excitement and engagement our P-2 students have shown for their learning this term has been amazing! Such incredible learning across this space. 

It was great to welcome our families into classes earlier this term to be able to see this learning happening. Parents met again in our Parent-teacher interviews to discuss your child one-on-one with their teacher. Please take the time after your parent meeting to celebrate your child’s achievements. Putting in the time, energy and showing genuine interest is highly beneficial and tells your child you care. When they know you care, children take more risks in their learning.

On behalf of the P- 2 team, we hope you have a restful and safe holiday. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Work sample below is from PB. Look at the incredible detail, thank you Ms Black for sharing.

 Oral Language in P-2

Oral language is the basis of reading and writing. When we do our Prep Orientation before our new students start school, we talk about ‘Reading and writing floats on a sea of talk’. Parents, as their child’s first teacher, are important sources of rich and varied oral language development. At school, we then build on this oral language development to suit new and challenging activities.  Below is a link to a short video about Oral Language Development.

Oral Language Development

Positive Parenting Program for Year 1 Parents – Face to Face

Being a parent is challenging at the best of times! I strongly encourage parents to sign up to the school’s face to face sessions. We are concentrating on Year 1 Parents next term. This program is normally run online but our school is offering face to face, run by our Chaplain Cassie Love. This program assists parents:

• Boosting their emotional wellbeing and maintaining a good relationship now and in the years to come
• Making family life less stressful and more enjoyable – even in tough times
• Setting good habits early and preventing problems from getting worse with practical strategies you can start straight away.

See below flyer for details:

 PREP 2026

2026 Prep enrolments are now being accepted.  Please see below flyer for RSSS 2025 Pre-Prep Program information.

Alice Harvey                                                                                               Jennifer Bampton

NAPLAN

Congratulations to all Year 3 and Year 5 students and teachers for putting in their best efforts across NAPLAN. Parents will be updated once student reports are received by the school.

Curriculum Across the School

All classes have been working with purpose towards the end of term tasks for their year levels. Remember to refer to the Curriculum Newsletters to keep learning conversations going in your family.

Holiday reading

Logan City Council libraries are a great resource and are free. Logan Libraries are available for various activities and a range of reading materials to suit every interest. You can borrow early readers, chapter books, picture books, magazines and more!

Jennifer Bampton                                                                Carla Williams   

Communication and student needs

If you require any information in regard to your child’s learning or supports, please contact your child’s class teacher first. Our Teachers will be able to direct your enquiries if further investigation, actions or supports are required.  WE value student voice. We value parent voice and WE value positive partnerships with parents and our community.

Medical Information and updating student Information

It is crucial student information is updated when there is a change. This includes medical information, living arrangements, address, contact details and emergency contacts. If your child requires medication whilst on school site, parents and cares can complete the required documents at our office, Consent forms are also on the school website. Staff can administer medication as prescribed by Medical Practitioners. Medication must be labelled with the students name and dosage requirements and Chemists/Pharmacists can do this.

Thank you
Bek Rowe, Liz Owens, Diana Wallet & Mandy Furlong
Inclusion Support Teachers

It's been wonderful to see our Prep - Year 2 students enjoying the Wellbeing Hub during breaktimes.  This calm space offers a chance for quiet play and activities with peers.  We've loved watching students show teamwork, creativity, kindness, curiosity and mindfulness as they spend time together.  The Wellbeing Hub will continue to be a place for students to relax, reset and connect next term.

Thank you to all students, parents and carers.

Staff would like to acknowledge the support you continually provide to ensure we are  working together.

We would also like to acknowledge the expert teaching team here at Rochedale South State School inclusive of our ES Staff.

IMPORTANT- EXTERNAL SERVICES on site 2025

Please communicate with services who visit on site and advise the following:

We welcome external services to access and support your child during school hours (and on site). Our school is permitting services on site from 11:00 am. We understand this is not possible for some services and/or students and will make considerations based on individual student timetables at school. Prior to any visits onsite, Access Agreement Consents must be current and signed by both parents and the service provider. Upon receipt, the Principal can approve these so visits can commence.

Visits on site commenced from Feb 17th.

We are requesting the allowance for students to settle into new routines and build relationships with new teacher and peers.

Paperwork for some students may not be due immediately as we have a 12-month cover from the signage of 2023 documents. Please check your paperwork and with the providers prior to contacting the school. All paperwork and documents are available on the school website.

https://rochedalesouthss.eq.edu.au/support-and-resources/student-services-and-support-programs

Please complete the Access Agreement Consent Form and Consent to Share doc. These can be email to supportservices@rochedalesouthss.eq.edu.au for Principal approval. A parent information Fact sheet is also available.

Family Connection, Supports and Network Services

Sometimes, we may need to reach out, chat to a friend or find a service who can help. Here at Rochedale South State School, we pride ourselves at stepping in and helping each other out. There are a number of services available to support students and families who are experiencing difficulties at home or school. Please reach out to a service, contact the school or your child’s class teacher. We understand it takes a team and are available to assist in supporting students and families. 

Here are some services that can be accessed.

Local Family and Child Connect service, call 13 FAMILY (13 32 64) to be referred to the closest office. A free, unlimited confidential service that helps families during tough times. Call 13 FAMILY (13 32 64). 

Triple P — Positive Parenting Program — A free parenting program for Queensland parents and carers to raise happy, healthy children and teenagers.

Parentline — A confidential telephone counselling service which supports parents and carers of children. Call 1300-30-1300.

Talking Families — A website full of useful tips to help start a conversation – either so you can ask for help for you and your family or offer support to a family you know.

oneplace — A free, online community services directory for Queensland parents, young people and families who are having tough times, to find help in your local area. 

Raising Children Network — A comprehensive website offering resources and information on parenting for children of all ages.

We wish you a lovely break with your families and look forward to Term 2.

Thank you

Brigette Cannons
Head of Inclusive Education and the Inclusive Education Team
Jo Stotschek, Diana Wallet, Bek Rowe, Mandy Furlong, Liz Owens, Chloe McKenzie, Cynthia Pitman and Holly Davies

2025 Facilities Update

You may have noticed our basketball courts are fenced off at the moment and works are happening on site. We have been fortunate in being selected to have our courts repaired and upgraded. The tennis courts have had fencing mended and new fencing wire installed and are now reopened for student use. The lower courts are receiving a surface upgrade which we are very excited about and drainage around them is being improved. This will be of great benefit when we host interschool basketball next semester. We thank the Region for their ongoing support of our school and facilities. We would also like to thank the team at Arborspec for their ongoing support of our school and for looking after our trees.

We were very fortunate not to receive too much damage from Cyclone Alfred but as you may have noticed we do still have some debris lying around. Our facilities team is doing their best to remove all of the branches and sticks lying around but it does take time. If you see anything we may have missed please let me know. We are currently waiting on tree loppers from QBuild to help with the bigger branches, so are keeping students away from those areas for the moment.

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 anyone 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.

Wishing you all a happy and safe holiday, see you next term!

Wendy Grocott
Business Manager

Online gaming can be a great way to have fun, relax, escape, be creative and socialise. As the Easter School Holidays approach and kids have more time to engage with their digital devices, this is a fantastic time to have a chat about how we can set ourselves up for positive and safe game play.

How can I avoid online gaming hassles?

Online gaming is popular in homes around Australia. For young people between 8 to 17 years old, eSafety found that 85% of this age group play online games, and that most young gamers felt it was good for their skill development or learning, social connections and emotional wellbeing. But harmful behaviours can also happen in gaming spaces, so here are some tips on how you can avoid online gaming hassles.

Choose a safe username

Try choosing usernames based on your interests or personality instead of one with your name, birthday or location in it.

Make sure only people you know can see your pictures or recently played feed

While it’s normal to want new friends, it’s best to play it safe by protecting your privacy.

Use your settings to control conversations

Being abused or criticised shouldn’t be a normal part of your gaming life.

Collect evidence, report and block abusive players

The gaming platforms have a responsibility to ensure your safety. If the abuse is starting to feel harmful, collect evidence so you have proof.

Get more help

If you’re feeling bad about what’s been happening while you’re gaming, make sure to talk about it with someone you trust.

Esports Update

Our Minecraft Free Play Even was extremely popular in term 1 with an average of 90 students participating each lunch time. Students learnt how to host multiplayer games boosting interpersonal communication and teamwork skills. It was wonderful to see students create, explore and survive together.

At the end of term 1 students in grades 4 to 6 had the opportunity to nominate teams of 5 players for our first ever Minecraft Capture the Flag Competition. So far 7 teams have taken up the challenge. In Term 2 students in grade 6 will mentor teams in the lower grades, focusing on game play and tactics. This event will be a fantastic opportunity for the students involved to further develop their self-confidence and sportsmanship.  

 

 

Elisa Weston
Technologies Teacher P-6, eSafety Champion

Dear Parents and Guardians

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 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

Sad news for all,

Mr Cody has moved on to bigger and better thing in his career.  While we are currently looking for a new coordinator Lisa will be here to help Miss Susannah with all that needs to be done.  Lisa is a relief coordinator that has worked with the Y for over 10 yrs.  

Vacation Care

Bookings are now open for our Easter Vacation care so be quick to retain your spot.  All bookings are to be completed online through the app.

The YMCA Rochedale South OSHC Team