Issue 2 Friday 17 February 2023
Principal Sonya Wilson
Dear parents and carers
By this week, we are very much into the rhythm of the school year and have experienced a strong and positive start.
On Tuesday we celebrated the Heart of Carbrook. This day focused on the importance of kindness and how we as a school can promote the value of small acts of kindness amongst our community. To signify the day students were able to wear red while engaging in activities to focus their actions on acts of kindness and how this might look. See the photo gallery below showing how many of our classes acknowledged the day.
On Wednesday, we held our Parent Information Meetings. This event builds on the Curriculum Newsletter and is designed to support your child’s learning and wellbeing as we build Parent – Teacher Partnerships. These partnerships between home and school, teachers, parents and carers are foundational to your child’s success at school. Along with all staff, we strongly encourage you to stay connected and reach out to us if you have any concerns about your child or celebrations to share with us or our community.
It was wonderful to have the opportunity to meet our new families and to continue to build a sense of community.
Involvement in the P&C is another way to become actively involved in shaping our school community. It is with a heavy heart that I acknowledge Bec Allpress’ intention to not seek re-election for the position of P&C president in 2023. I would like to formally acknowledge and thank Bec for her contribution to the Carbrook community during her time as President. Bec and her team have been instrumental in the many opportunities offered to students and parents including – Colour Run, Disco, Movie Nights, Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day Stalls, raffles and Subway Meals. On a more personal note, I would like to acknowledge Bec as a valuable reference point, providing insights and valuable feedback from a parental perspective. I have appreciated her sage advice. Thank you on behalf of the students, parents and staff of Carbrook State School.
Mel King, Treasurer has also advised of her intention to not seek re-election. Mel has kindly stayed on as Treasurer after her daughter finished at Carboork State School. A truly generous gesture.
The next scheduled P&C meeting on 14 March at 4:00pm is the Annual General Meeting when all the elected positions are declared open and nominations for the executive positions of – President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer are sought and elected. The value of having an active P&C in our school community is immense, not only for the opportunities the P&C provide for the students and families but also in helping to inform and influence the strategic planning for the school.
Please carefully consider whether one of these positions may be of interest to you. Provided in the P&C newsletter article is a description of the roles and responsibilities as well as an insight from Bec about the personal benefits of taking on such a role.
It is timely that new staff to Carbrook State School are introduced. It is with great pleasure that I can advise that our newly appointed Schools Officer Grounds and Facilities Aaron Gaunt has been able to take up his role. Please take the opportunity to introduce yourself and welcome Aaron to our school if you see him out and about. Aaron will be hard to miss in his colourful shirts as he goes about his business of keeping our beautiful environment looking welcoming.
Please also join me in welcoming Jane Tuckett. Jane joins the Carbrook State School Leadership Team. Jane comes to Carbrook as an additional Deputy Principal awaiting relocation to a permanent school. Jane’s expertise will be an asset to our team furthering our pursuit of excellence and driving valuable projects during her time at Carbrook.
Please see Jane’s letter sharing some information about herself.
Sonya Wilson
Principal
P&C News Bec Allpress
Welcome back to 2023!
We hope everyone had a lovely festive season with their loved ones.
It is with a heavy heart that I announce to our community that the time has come for our P&C executive committee to hand over the baton - we need some fresh faces and fresh ideas and a fresh committee to take the reins.
Mel and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time on the Carbrook State School P&C, and while we are stepping back from the Executive side of things, we aren't going anywhere - we will still be here to help you settle into the roles and we will be actively supporting all fundraisers and events.
We didn't step into these roles just for our children, we did it for every single child. We love the community at Carbrook State School. We have loved getting to know everyone and also all the friendships that have been formed from our time on the P&C.
Whilst sometimes we faced challenges, and the organising of events felt impossible at times - we wouldn't change any of it. The biggest reward of all is seeing how happy the children were when we ran events, the smiles, the squeals of delight and the happiness is what makes everything so worth it.
So, please I encourage you to take the step into being the new faces of our P&C. It truly is a rewarding experience.
I'd like to thank our entire Carbrook community including all our amazing staff for the love and support you have all shown me since I've been the President and thank you for trusting me to be in this position, it truly was an honour. Also a huge thank you to Jade and Mel for always supporting me in their roles as Vice President and Treasurer, it has been great to work alongside you both.
If you are interested in becoming an Executive Member, please feel free to reach out to our P&C Team, either Via our Facebook Page or email us at pc.carbrookstateschool@gmail.com to discuss further.
Bec, Jade and Mel
The next P&C Meeting will be an Annual General Meeting where the executive positions of – President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer are sought and elected to form Carbrook State School's P&C Team. The metting will be held on Tuesday 14 March 2023 in the Administration Building at 4:00pm. A general meeting will be held after this AGM. All welcome! Remember many hands make light work.
Deputy Principal Liz Cook
As the term starts to pass us by quickly, it is a little unbelievable to think we are approaching the halfway point of the term next week!
Thank you to the families who were are able to come along to our parent information session on Wednesday evening this week. It was fantastic to meet some more faces of the Carbrook community and to see partnerships between parents/carers and teachers continue to grow.
NAPLAN 2023
This year students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in NAPLAN Online from the 15 March-27 March.
NAPLAN is a national 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.
NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.
NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
Our students in Years 3 and 5 will engage in a practice of the online assessment next week (week 5) to familiarise themselves with the format, language, response types and time constraints of the assessments. These practice assessments are completed in a training environment and no student responses will be recorded.
Students who are absent for test sessions will have the opportunity to attend catch-up sessions within the testing window 15-27March 2023.
Please read more information about NAPLAN Online in the NAPLAN – information for parents and carers document attached. NAPLAN online privacy information has also been attached as an important reference for parents/carers.
More information can be accessed on the Queensland Government Website - https://education.qld.gov.au/parents-and-carers/school-information/naplan
If you have any questions or require further information, please contact me and I will be more than happy to help.
Bravehearts Ditto Show Prep – Year 3
At the beginning of this week, all Prep – Year 3 parents would have received both electronically and as a paper copy, information regarding a Bravehearts Ditto Show.
The Ditto Show is a fun, interactive live incursion. Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure Show teaches young children essential personal safety skills and knowledge using age-appropriate language, song, and dance, starring Bravehearts’ lovable lion cub ‘Ditto’ and a specially trained presenter.
When: Tuesday 28 March
Where: Carbrook State School Hall
Time: 12:00 pm (Prep & Year 1)
12:45 pm (Years 2 & 3)
Cost: $9/student
BSB: 064170
Account Number: 00902152
Account Name: Carbrook State School
Please note all payments are made online and permission slips are to be returned to your child's class teacher no later than Thursday 23 March 2023.
Parents of the students attending the performance are able to attend, if you are interested, please notify your child’s class teacher of your intention.
Liz Cook
Deputy Principal Jane Tuckett
I would like to thank the staff and the students that I have already meet, for the warm welcome I received when I started at Carbrook on Wednesday. Living and shopping locally has meant that I had already heard some great stories about Carbrook State School and its community, so I was very excited when I heard I would be coming here. I have been a Deputy Principal with Education Queensland for over 20 years and have been placed at Carbrook, as an over allocation for one semester, while I wait for a relocation.
During my time with Education Queensland I have worked in a range of schools, from a school with just over 200 students to school with over 2000. Whilst I have worked with all year levels, my favourite area of the school would be the Early Years and assisting children in transitioning from Kindy to Prep, as you can usually see every student showing some improvement every day. I also enjoy listening to the younger students' opinions and views on the world, and seeing the joy on their faces when they have discovered something new or have achieved their goal.
I have a special interest in The Arts, Design and Technologies and Mathematics. However, I do have a love of reading and try to encourage children of all ages to develop this love as well. Whether reading for learning or relaxation, reading opens the mind and heart, and helps to create pathways for the future.
As a mother, wife and grandmother (a young one), I value family and the role families have in the education of their children and working together so that our children can achieve to the best of their ability. While at Carbrook I am looking forward to becoming involved in the P&C and getting to know the students, their parents/carers and other members of this wonderful community. If you see me around please don’t hesitate to come up and say “hi”.
Kind regards
Jane Tuckett
iHUB News
This year Social Skills will look a little different across the school as we work within our year level cohorts.
Year 3 Social Skills
In Week 1, Year 3 met together to discuss the school expectations (4Bs) and how this applies to different settings across the school (Playground, eating, classroom and transitions). The students did an ‘ink your thinking’ activity, writing their thoughts down around these 4Bs.
Their work is proudly displayed in the block on the windows and serves as a great anchor chart for discussions.
From week 2, the Year 3’s are working on the 7 caring habits. You can check out more information on the 7 caring habits below or at https://www.habitsforwellbeing.com :
Positive Partnerships
The Positive Partnerships Story Circle helps us to think about six areas that are important in understanding the strengths and support needs of our young people.
These strengths and support needs can look different at home, in the community and at school.
Stem Sheri Walls
Last week in STEM was very busy! Prep got to come for their first lesson in the STEM room and they were very excited to be able to start using the iPads. Year 1 are learning all about data. This week they had to sort animal pictures in their group. Year 2 are learning about different information systems and how we use them. They spent lots of time in their groups talking about all the ways we use systems and recording their thinking. Year 3 have been extending their knowledge of hardware and software to learn about peripheral devices. They learnt all about input, output and storage devices. One of the most exciting parts of last week was the Year 4 students receiving their laptops. We have been spending time getting to know the laptops and the expectations around using the laptop.
Music Melissa Dillon
CLASSROOM MUSIC
Welcome back to 2023! We look forward to another exciting year in the music department. Preps are engaged in exploring their voices and developing their singing skills. Years 1 – 3 are singing in whole and small groups learning many different songs. Years 4 – 6 are busy exploding melodic techniques and are beginning to engage in composition through use of their laptops.
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
Welcome back! I would like to welcome Miss Hayley Frost our new band teacher to Carbrook State School. We thank Mr Johansen for the work and effort he put in here at Carbrook over the past three years. Mr Luke Bushell has returned as our strings teacher this year. Thank you to parents for promptly returning all necessary forms for instrumental music. We are currently in the process of confirming payments and look forward to sending instruments home very soon. It is important that you encourage your child to practise their instrument and develop a routine. We recommend 10 minutes a day, five times a week to begin. You can always encourage a little lounge room performance so they can show you what they have been working on.
PE Melissa Dillon
Students in Prep to Year 3 have been working on developing their motor skills while participating in team games. We are focusing on fair play, encouragement and sportsmanship. Years 4 – 6 students have been lucky enough to work with Georgia and Bronte from Netball QLD from Weeks 2 – 6. Students are engaged in modified activities while learning Netball skills.
Date claimer: Cross country is coming up on the Tuesday 7March. Information has been emailed home regarding this event and you can find the letter attached to this newsletter. Please ensure that notes are returned to your class teacher ASAP!
PBL Hayley Pattison
This fortnight our PBL focus is “Be responsible: I will walk from play to my transition area and wait for my teacher.” Students have been working hard to practice walking from play areas to wait for their teacher at their classroom or in the undercover area. Students have been sitting and waiting responsibly for their teacher to provide them instructions. Please see below for some wonderful examples of how this is being demonstrated in our school.
Heart of Carbrook Day
Heart of Carbrook Day
On Tuesday 14 February Carbrook State School celebrated Heart of Carbrook Day. On this day we promoted building positive relationships in our school community and celebrated the heart of Carbrook.
Year Two had a wonderful day celebrating our Heart of Carbrook Day this week. The students have been very busy learning about Kindness in our weekly social skills lesson so they were excited to be able to create and share many ways of being kind throughout the activities on the day. The students made caring hearts identifying different acts of kindness that they do within the school and home. They also made kindness bracelets and necklaces to promote kind words, smiling and passing it on and being an upstander. Year Two’s fine motor skills were well underway with the activities of the day.
On Tuesday, the Year 5 students spent some time making a heart bee to deliver to a teacher that they wanted to give a kind message to. There were lots of bees floating around the school on Tuesday! We also spent some time creating a positive affirmation bookmark to use in the classroom. The Year 5 team had a lovely time working together to complete these activities.
Creative Dancing
YMCA at Carbrook State School
The YMCA is a facility run at Carbrook State School for before and after school care. Please contact them if you have any before or after school drop off or pick up issues. Students should be at school no earlier than 8:30am and school pick up time is 3pm.
