Issue 7 Friday 12 May 2023

Sports Day 2023 - Wednesday 17 May

Sports Day is being held on Wednesday 17 May 2023.

Picnic of Sports Day

Parents and carers are invited to picnic with their child/ren on the grassed area between the Year 4/5 teaching block and the Prep classrooms. This area has been selected to reduce disruptions to the whole school's lunch/play break and to ensure the oval area is ready for the afternoon events. 

If you wish to have a picnic, please bring your own lunch and a rug. On your way to the picnic area, please collect your child/ren from their eating area/s. This will ensure only students who are with their own parents/carers picnic on the grassed area; all other students will eat in their designated eating area. While some students will have their pre-ordered Subway, please remember there will be no food or drinks for sale on the day. 

War Cries

To build team spirt the Kruger, Logan and Albert House Captains have been visiting each cohort to practise their teams' war cries. Extra house points will be awarded on Sports Day for the loudest house team. If you would like to join in cheering for your child’s Sports House please find below the two war cries for each Sports House.

Principal - Sonya Wilson

Dear Parents and Carers,

Members of our school community would be familiar with the School Review Report shared with families in a previous newsletter. As communicated at the time, one of the purposes of the Review is to inform our Strategic Plan for 2024-2028.

It is our intention to align our Strategic Plan with Education Queensland’s Equity and Excellence agenda – Educational Achievement, Wellbeing and Engagement and Culture and Inclusion.  These three broad goals align with our school’s Annual Improvement Plan and will be further explored in our Strategic Plan. 

Utilising the feedback from the Review and reflecting on our current Improvement Plan we will be identifying ways we can continue to support Student Wellbeing and Engagement. As a part of this process, we as a staff have been reflecting on what are currently described at Carbrook State School as Quality Habits. These habits have traditionally included organisational expectations such as Six Sharp Pencils, Close the Gaps, Measure your Words, Excellence Over the Shoulder, to name but a few. These expectations are familiar to students. However, as we plan our strategic improvement, we have reflected on these expectations and feel that while they provide clear expectations, they are not necessarily the personal capabilities that set our students up to have emotional intelligence,  be contributing citizens, problem solvers and life-long learners. As a group we have reflected on the personal capabilities described in the Personal and Social Continuum, from the Australian Curriculum’s General Capabilities. Some of these capabilities include; Resilience; Empathy and Compassion; Being a Problem Solver; Self-Regulate and Reflect; Communicate Effectively. On Thursday 25 May at 3:00pm we will be seeking community feedback on these identified behaviour traits and begin planning how we as a school will seek to teach and instil these habits in our students. 

If you are interested in joining this community feedback opportunity and future planning, please register your interest using the link below. If this time isn’t suitable for you, we would welcome your feedback to principal@carbrookss.eq.edu.au 

Following the feedback meeting 25 May 2023 a survey will be sent out for further consultation.

Staff changes in the coming weeks; Mrs Christie McDonald will be taking leave for the duration of this term. We welcome Jane Davis who will be replacing Christie in Year 5 and 6 LOTE classes. Please give Jane a warm Carbrook State School welcome. Teacher Aide Geraldine Hunt will also be taking leave for the duration of this term, her replacement is yet to be confirmed. 

Kind regards

Sonya Wilson

Happy Mothers' Day

It was wonderful to see so many volunteers helping out at the P&C’s Mother’s Day Stall over the past two days. It was also pleasing to see so many dads coming along to help with the selection of gifts.

Wishing all our special mothers, grandmothers, aunts and mother figures a wonderful day Sunday 14 May.  We know your gifts have been carefully chosen and that you will value and treasure them.

Under 8's Celebrations

Deputy Principal - Liz Cook

A couple of weeks ago you would have received via email and as a paper letter home, information regarding the Life Education program visiting our school next week from Thursday 18 May until Wednesday 24 May.

Below is the timetable outlining when each class will be attending the program. As mentioned in the letter, there is no payment required due to generosity of our P & C, however all students will require the permission note returned in order to attend this incursion. If you haven’t already returned this to your class teacher, please do so as soon as possible.

Please note: There was an error made in the modules for Years 2 and 3 in the letter. The Year 2 students will be engaging in the module titled Safety Rules and the Year 3 students will be learning a new module launched this year titled Friends and Feelings.

Enjoy the next fortnight,

Liz Cook

PBL - Hayley Pattison

PBL - High 5 Strategy

Over the past four weeks students have been working hard on understanding and putting into action the High 5 strategy when they are faced with a problem. The High 5 strategy is a problem-solving strategy that can be used in the classroom and playground. Explicitly teaching students the High 5 and reinforcing this strategy provides students with skills which build their self-esteem and confidence to stand up for themselves in different situations. The aim is to provide students with a pro-active approach to dealing with a problem and having an “I am a problem solver” mentality.

Behaviour Refection Sheet Process

At Carbrook State School we believe that an important part of reflective practice is when students own their behaviour and have a restorative conversation with their teacher and parents when an incident arises. This reflection sheet allows the student to identify solutions, in consultation with their teacher, and understand their role in the behaviour. Parent awareness and input is also an important part of this process. In order to support the student, the reflection sheet will be sent home so that you can have a conversation with your child and reinforce the school expectations. The reflection sheet must be signed and returned to the classroom teacher. Please see both the lower school reflection sheet and the upper school reflection sheet for your reference.

National Simultaneous Storytime

This year, National Simultaneous Storytime takes place on Wednesday 24 May 2023 at 11:00am. 

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, family day cares, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 23rd successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.

By facilitating NSS we aim to: 

• promote the value of reading and literacy, 
• promote the value and fun of books,
• promote an Australian writer and publisher, 
• promote storytime activities in libraries and communities around the country,
• and provide opportunities to involve parents, grandparents, the media and others to participate in and enjoy the occasion.

The 23rd annual storytime event will be live streamed from The Sydney Zoo! Join us as Rebecca Young reads her book The Speedy Sloth accompanied by Heath McKenzie who will teach us how to draw Spike, there may even be a special appearance from some of the residents at The Sydney Zoo!

National Simultaneous Storytime

The Speedy Sloth link 

It was finally time for the event of the year,
Spike couldn’t believe it—
THE GREAT RACE was here!
The other sloths said it couldn’t be done,
but Spike didn’t care, she was ready to run!

About the author

Rebecca Young is an award-winning author from Sydney. Her first book, Button Boy, illustrated by Sue deGennaro, was a Notable Book for the 2012 CBCA Awards and has been published internationally. In 2016, Teacup, illustrated by Matt Ottley, won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature in the NSW Premier’s Literacy Awards.

About the illustrator

Heath McKenzie is an award-winning children’s book illustrator who has written and illustrated countless books for children. Heath lives in Melbourne with his wife, two kids, dog, and a fish that he considers more of a lodger than a family member.

iHUB

In Term 1 and Term 2, the Year One classes have been working hard on understanding their emotions by using the Zones of Regulation. We can use the Zones to talk about our feelings at school, or even how our day went!
We have learned that all of the Zones are important and there are no emotions that are bad.
When we experience extreme emotions (angry, silly or sick) we are learning why we are having that feeling, and what we can do in order to help ourselves (and others) feel better.

We have made our own Zones Tool Boxes in order to think about the tools and strategies we can use to regulate and learn!
Here are some examples of our Tool Boxes!

We have learned that can take large movement breaks to help our brains and bodies have a rest before we are ready to learn again. Mrs Gardiner and Mrs Lo have been doing some wonderful whole class movement breaks with lots of yoga, dancing and virtual obstacle courses!

We can use our body as a sensory tool and some students have been working on push, pull and jump activities! Our hands are great sensory tools, ask a Year One student today to show you how they can use their hands to help them focus, learn and feel better!

FREE Autism Hub webinars for parents.  

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

Japanese Children's Day

In Week 3, this term it was Kodomo no hi (Japanese Children’s Day) which is celebrated on Friday 5 May. As a school we recognised the day on Tuesday 2 May.

During Term 1, Sensie McDonald worked with each class to decorate a koi kite. These koi kites are traditionally called Koinobori and are hung from people’s houses to bring good fortune and luck.

Our Koinobori are displayed in the school’s library along with texts relating to Japan.

In the classrooms students have been engaging in videos, music, dance and information about Kodomo no hi and Japan.

Sayonara.

Arts - Kat Boobyer

Term Two Visual Arts is in full swing with some glorious sunrises created using felt pens, filter papers and water. Exploring the use of added collage elements to create foregrounds and backgrounds should prove useful when students begin crafting their self-devised masterpieces later in the term. Students have now shifted moods and are working on some watercolour resist rainstorms, adding more techniques to their toolboxes and investigating how line can communicate different ideas.

In Dance, students have begun choreographing their segments and may be scoping out potential costume items from around the home. Please assist them in this endeavour without buying anything - artists can be very creative problem solvers.

2/3 DK - Deidre Klatt

Maori Koru Necklaces

In HASS, 2/3DK students have been making connections to Australia’s closest neighbours, and have enjoyed exploring the different cultures. Using modelling clay, they have created Koru necklaces, which represent peace and growth. These necklaces were traditionally made by Māori people from carved bone in the shape of an unfurling fern. We did some further research and found that they can also be made from jade, greenstone and even wood or metal. The symbolic shape however, remains the same.

Swedish Fika

In HASS, the students have also been exploring the personal connections to places, both near and far. Samson kindly shared some traditional Swedish food with the class.

“Fika is a concept, a state of mind, an attitude, and an important part of Swedish culture. It means making time for friends and colleagues to share a cup of coffee or tea, and something to eat. It is a ritual and cannot be done alone”.

We were all very happy to fika with Samson.

Symmetry

2/3DK students have been exploring symmetry as part of Maths and enjoyed creating symmetrical paintings.

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Year 4 Excursion

In Week 3, the Year 4 cohort went to Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre. This fun-filled day focused on the initial contacts between Aboriginal and European people in the Moreton Bay area. Students were immersed in a moment in time in 1823, when circumstances brought the two different cultures together for the first time. 

The day started with an introduction to the story of Pamphlett, Parsons and Finnegan, three ex-convicts lost in Moreton Bay. Students follow their story, learning some of the knowledge and skills the Indigenous people of the Moreton Bay area freely shared. Students also participated in an First Nations Presentation focusing on Culture, Language, Country and Lifestyle. This included a Yarning Circle, learning Indigenous names for the local area and a Tools and Weapons Demonstration.

Under the guidance of Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre teachers, students participated in a range of hands-on activities that were essential for survival, such as fire building, shelter construction from natural local materials, using a spear and boomerang to "hunt" animals and storytelling.

We had a fantastic day!

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Carbrook's Got Talent

This term the Community Committee will be hosting Carbrook’s Got Talent. After the positive feedback last year about the video viewing in the classrooms we decided to go with this model again in 2023. The competition opens Monday 15May 2023. We are hoping to see a large range of talents again this year.

If your child/ren want to enter please submit a video of your child/ren showing off their talent to Mrs Simone at tssin0@eq.edu.au or to your child’s class teacher to pass on. This could be on a USB or emailed by the Friday 16 June 2023. We are looking for all types of talents like singing, dancing, movie making, magic, acting or even showing off your sporting skills.

Library News

Thank you to every single student that visited and enjoyed our amazing school library during Term One and welcome back to the library in Term Two.

As always, the dedicated library team have been working behind the scenes to make the library an environment that students beg their teachers to take them to and somewhere they chose to visit during second break. Our goal is to create a sense of belonging within the library which in turn will encourage students to love and care for our library space and its books.

When students visit the library this week, they will notice new ‘Welcome To Your Library’ signage. This new signage is a simple visual display of the expectations when visiting the library and when borrowing library books. Teachers will be upfronting these expectations with students during their next library session.

LIBRARY

Enjoy the library.

Thank you for reading.  

P&C News

Lost Property

Carbrook State School have had some jumpers that have been donated to the school and some lost property.

All labelled clothing has been returned to it's rightful owner.

All unnamed and donated jumpers will be put out on the silver chairs under the cover area on Monday morning before school. If you need a Carbrook State School jumper please help yourself to a size that will fit your child and ensure you label it so if it is misplaced it can be returned to it's rightful owner.

Fire Ants Information

Fire ants are one of the world’s most invasive pests and they have the potential to devastate our environment, economy and the outdoor way of life we know and love. To stop the spread of fire ants, the Department of Education is collaborating with the National Fire Ant Eradication Program to manage fire ants across schools within South East Queensland. This important work will help protect our schools and community from the dangers posed by fire ants. 

An initial pilot program has treated 46 schools across the Logan, Ipswich, Somerset and Gold Coast City local government areas (Metropolitan and South East education regions). This will expand over the coming years to include additional schools. The treatment consists of applying two rounds of an insect growth regulator which sterilises the fire ant queen and prevents new ants from maturing into adults. These types of products are widely used in mosquito control programs, cockroach treatment and pet flea collars and when used according to instructions, are not harmful to humans, pets or wildlife.   

The first round of treatment occurred in early 2023 and round two is being completed during April and May. The fire ant bait is being applied by experienced pest management technicians.

The school treatment program supports efforts to eradicate fire ants within South East Queensland by suppressing the fire ant population in areas until eradication treatment takes place. Under the Biosecurity Act 2014 all Queenslanders have an obligation to manage biosecurity risks. The Department of Education is meeting its obligations by managing fire ants on land it owns or manages.  

The National Fire Ant Eradication Program is also running a range of community projects to provide residents in selected suburbs with free fire ant bait to treat their yards to support eradication goals. For the latest information on community projects or for more information about fire ants visit: https://www.fireants.org.au 

Victoria Point State High School