Term 3 - Week 1 2022

Principal's Message

Welcome to another school term. It was fantastic to see so many of our parents and carers join us for the several celebrations of learning and the show stopping Wynnum Idol last term.   

The challenges and impacts of COVID-19 remain active, with many reports of higher than expected cases and a potential third wave. As a school, we are fully committed to ensuring our environment is as safe as possible.

Unvaccinated staff, and other workers, are welcome back on school sites and are able to undertake their duties in the same way as all other staff. Currently, there is no public health requirement for wearing a face mask in schools, although any staff member or student who wishes to wear a face mask will be supported to do so.

We are still engaging in practices that support adults staying 1.5 metres away from other people whenever possible, practicing good hygiene and staying home when sick. Contrary to some reports, staying at home for seven full days after contracting COVID-19 remains in place. Students at schools who test positive for COVID-19 are asked to notify us as soon as possible. 

Wynnum State School currently has a rate of one to two students per day contracting COVID-19. 

We are still continuing to provide rapid antigen tests (RATs) to staff and students who develop symptoms while at school, and who are close contacts.

NAIDOC Week

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week in schools (held this week) is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. Teachers have done a great job with a range of activities to promote this year’s theme: Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up. 

Our special assembly this week saw the winners announced of the NAIDOC Colouring Competition, with prizes handed out by Senior Fire Fighter, parent and member of Wynnum Bajara, Mr Dion Skinner. Mr Skinner spoke briefly about his heritage and role. Students were delighted to experience the Bayside Dancers (Brisbane Bayside State College) with a great display of dancers set to music using Jandai language. In my address, I highlighted the important role our school plays in continuing to learn from First Nations cultures.  It is with great pride that Wynnum State School represents one part of an education system that seeks to support, welcome and enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to secure their future through the benefits of education.

A big thanks to our special guests, members of Wynnum Bajara, library staff, teachers and our student council. 

School Opinion Survey

Beginning at the start of this week, you should have received an invitation to complete the Parent/Caregiver Survey, emailed to one parent/caregiver per family in the week beginning 11 July.  The invitation will be sent from the Department of Education, not the school, and it will have the subject line School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2022.  Check your junk email folders if you can’t find it.  The survey can be completed as soon as the invitation is received and will take approximately 5 minutes using a computer, tablet or smart phone. 

The School Opinion Survey is open until Friday, 12 August 2022.

To have your say, check your email for an invitation from the Department of Education titled School Opinion Survey for parents and caregivers, 2022. 

Can’t find your invitation?  If your family has more than one parent/caregiver, check that they haven’t received the invitation and/or check your junk email folder.

Mark Ionn

Naidoc Week School Assembly

Habit of Mind and Loving Literature Link with Ms Connell (DP Years 1-3)

While there are 16 Habits of Mind, we start each term with the same one – Thinking Interdependently. This Habit helps us learn about all the advantages of thinking about the perspectives of other people, which is a great reminder as we come back together after each holiday break. It is also important because working together, while rewarding and amazing, can also be challenging. This Habit is brought to life by the online book The Day the Crayons Quit which presents the viewpoints of others in a fun way. Enjoy!

Years 3-6 Enrichment & Extension (E&E) Program 2022

Planning is in progress for the experiences that will be offered to students. The program is scheduled to commence on Friday 14 October (Term 4 Week 2) and will run for five Friday afternoons in a row. The E & E process for students is a learning experience in itself – one of listening, decision making, communicating, negotiating and problem-solving.

Key Dates

3 Aug: Students will view proposed E&E activity videos in Homerooms. They will be informed of the need to discuss and negotiate the options they are interested in with their parents. To help families to support student choice, an email will be sent to parents regarding the selection process with the E & E proposed activities list attached.

4 Aug: Homeroom teachers will revisit the proposed activities and answer any questions.

5 Aug: Students complete preference sheets (four activities in order of preference).

8 Sep: Information/Permission letters sent home with students.

14 Sept: Final date for permission slips to be handed back to Homeroom teachers.

This unique program is a great favourite with our students. We thank you in advance for your support of this process of student selection, prompt return of permission slips and making sure all monies are paid by the completion of the program.

Library Buzz with Mrs Sutton and the Library Team

NAIDOC is celebrated by people from all walks of life, Indigenous and non‑Indigenous.  In the library in the lead up to NAIDOC week we have displayed a range of books, puzzles and artefacts for the students to view and enjoy during this time.  We have also seen many students enter the NAIDOC colouring-in competition.  Hundreds of entries were received and are now on display in the library.  On Wednesday’s assembly, 26 winners from Prep to Year 6 were presented with their prizes, from our special guest, Dion Skinner.  Mr Skinner is a Senior Fire Fighter, parent and member of Wynnum Bajara.  Thank you to the library team for their donation of books for prizes.  Well done to our creative and innovative young people for their colourful and respectful posters. 

And lastly, thank you to our Preps for contributing to the beautiful display of our school’s mascots on sticks, which lined the pathway into our school. So creative and they looked stunning!

Did somebody say…when is Book Week 2022?  Term 3 always signals the countdown to Book Week and all the fun of celebrating and exploring the shortlisted books vying for Book of the Year.  The theme for Book Week 2022 is… ‘Dreaming with eyes open’ acknowledging Australia's First Nations People and their rich story-based culture.  Darug woman Jasmine Seymour won the CBCA New Illustrator Award in 2020 for her beautiful picture book 'Baby Business' and now she has produced (see photo below) all of the poster artwork in Dreaming with Eyes Open too! 

I will share more information in further newsletters, but to start our Book Week preparations, we are holding our first ever WSS BOOK SWAP.  Called…Give a Book!  Take a Book!  Here’s how it works.  Each Homeroom will have a collection box.  We would like students to start thinking about bringing in a book from home that they have already read and are willing to swap.  Students can start bringing in their preloved fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from home beginning week 2.  Further details to come on how books will be swapped during Week 7 of Book Week. 

Oh, and you may want to start thinking about planning your Book Week costume too, for our Book Walk parade on Friday 26^th August. 

Just keep reading….

In Issue #5, Scholastic are giving away FREE books to help celebrate and spread the love of reading in your school. Parents can choose from a selection of 25 books (5 books in each age group). Offer is valid for LOOP orders only and for one transaction. 

Orders close by 28^th July 2022 

Science News with Mrs Crowe (Prep-3 Science Specialist)

Earth and Space Sciences Investigations began this week in coordination with NAIDOC Week. P-3 scientists engaged in introductory experiences that demonstrated how our First Nations people were the first true astronomers. Before Galileo: ABC Message Stick

This informative video from a few years ago shows a true collaboration of scientists and our first nations people. It shares and celebrates the deep collective understanding of astronomy from both cultures who still continue to work together.

The ‘Indigenous Science’ display outside the P-3 Science Lab this week enabled all our interested Wynnum Warriors to engage with traditional stories, information and images of how First Nations people in Australia use biological, physical, chemical, earth and space sciences in many purposeful ways throughout their daily lives.

The display included books from Deadly Science (Science is deadly! It is how we make sense of the world. At Deadly Science we have a cultural responsibility to our first & future scientists). These books fully engaged our young scientists even during their lunch break! Click this link to find out more https://deadlyscience.org.au/

P-3 Earth and Space Sciences Investigations for Term Three:

Prep - Weather in our World (Identifying Weather Patterns)

Year One - Changes All Around (Seasonal and Environmental Changes)

Year Two - Water Works (The Water Cycle)

Year Three - Night and Day (Sun, Earth and Moon Cycles)

It certainly will be an exciting term ahead for our young Wynnum Warrior meteorologists, climatologists, hydrologists and astronomists as they investigate phenomena in space and changes on their earth. Look up, look around and discover science happening in your world every day!

Teaching and Learning with Ms O'Donoghue (Head of Curriculum)

Welcome back to our families.  We are looking forward to working alongside you to support your child/children.  Before the holidays our year level teaching teams worked to examine, design and scrutinise the upcoming curriculum ready for success with this term.  We looked at ‘what’ we will be teaching and ‘how’ we will best deliver the teaching and learning process. 

Much discussion occurs around how we can actively engage every learner in each curriculum area and target the learning outlined in the Australian Curriculum (AC).  We track our teaching and learning within each year level and across all year levels to ensure we are covering all elements of the AC, using this as our building blocks for success in the next semester and/or next year of learning for every student.

Our curriculum is taught through the Gradual Release Model.  Teachers will model the learning required and then support students to have a go.  This is with the intention that all students will be able to independently complete the tasks within the unit and assessments at the end of term.  The ultimate goal is for students to have a deep understanding of skills and knowledge and apply these to other circumstances they come across in their everyday life.

Parents can view the AC using this link, it also has a range of information you may be very interested in reading :-

ICAS Assessments

This year we will be running the ICAS assessments in the mornings before school.  They will begin at 7.30am and will run from a designated classroom.  The dates for the tests on offer are below.  Our school dates will be finalised when we have the numbers secured for each of the tests.

There is an online payment system.  Please visit https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Students have to sit the online assessments within the week they are being offered. Makeup sessions will be provided for those who are away on the day.

Access is gained through a school code.

You will be sent to the following page to enter details:-

There are other tests available that you may wish to register your child for.  These will have to be completed from home.  There are instructions on the website. https://www.icasassessments.com/

We are looking forward to supporting Wynnum families in participating in the ICAS assessments. 

If you have any questions please email Sue Romeril, srome12@eq.edu.au.

MATHS MATTERS with Mrs Lentakis (Numeracy coach) and Mrs van Fleet (Maths Intervention teacher)

What’s going on: Fractured Fractions Last time we looked at the different situations that can involve fractions. Let’s now look at two common misconceptions made by students.

Please feel free to email through any questions or ideas to hlent1@eq.edu.au.

♫ Music Notes with Mrs Gordon (Music Teacher)

Wynnum Idol 

Congratulations to the Wynnum Idol WINNERS!

Finn J, Pahulpreet K and James P

Well Done! to all finalists for their excellent performances, controlling their nerves and wowing the school community with their talent!

Finn Jordan has written some thoughts about his experience this year in Wynnum Idol:

“The period of waiting for your turn has to be the scariest part of being in Wynnum Idol. When you get on stage though, all your fear melts away and the only goal I was thinking of was putting on a show. Standing on the stage with all the finalists at the end I could feel an air of anticipation. When the winners were announced and they said my name I was shocked but happy that I had got over the line.

This is definitely an experience I will remember for the rest of my life!

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♫ Instrumental Music

All families should have received the Instrumental Music Timetables for Mr Cosic and Mrs Thomas. Please make sure your child is aware of their lesson time and prepared with a working instrument and music every Thursday.

Letters will be sent home this week regarding the two weekend performances for the Concert Bands. Senior Band will perform at both weekend events, the Junior Band will perform at the Manly Markets only.

Band Performance Date Claimers -     Saturday 23^rd July:  St Peters Fete (Senior Band only)

• Sunday 28^th August: Music by the Bay - Manly Markets

Tuesday 6^th September - WAMM (Wynnum and Manly Music Workshop) Intermediate: ALL Year 5 IM Students

Wednesday 7^th & Thursday 8^th September - WAMM (Wynnum and Manly Music Workshop) Senior: ALL Year 6 IM Students

♫  Choir

When you sing  in a choir you are helping your brain to learn faster!

Senior Choir Date Claimer – Thursday 1^st September Singfest

Both the Senior and Junior Choirs rehearse every week (same day/same time each week) in the Music Room.

All are welcome to come along!                                                                                                                                             

♫ Overview of Music Rehearsals

Sports News with Mr Blair (PE Teacher)

Just a friendly reminder that the updated Sports Carnival date is Friday August 19. It would be great if you came along and supported your Wynnum Warriors, it will be a great day out!

For Physical Education this term, there will be a mixture of sports and activities. We have been playing some Yulunga Indigenous games for NAIDOC week this week and following from this we will be learning a football (soccer) unit for the seniors and continuing our minor games unit for juniors.

The district athletics carnival is on the 4^th and 5^th of August. Parents and carers wishing to nominate students for this event please note that the trials are to represent the district and there are strict qualifying times. You will need to send the office a copy of your child’s athletic distances and times for the school to put forward the nominations. Please contact me via email should you want to put a nomination in at Hdbla0@eq.edu.au

Hopefully by the time this newsletter is published Queensland is celebrating a mighty victory over the Blues! GO MAROONS!

School Photo information

Year 6 Sporting Gala Day

On Monday 20th June, Brisbane Bayside State College hosted students from a variety of local primary schools for the year 6 Sporting Gala Day. This was an opportunity to not only compete in primary teams, but also demonstrate individual athleticism in order to achieve selection for STEP (Sports Training Extension Program) in 2023. Students participated in fitness tests (beep test, sprint test, agility test, basketball throw and standing long jump), multi-sport games, an obstacle challenge, ball games and a doubles badminton tournament. Congratulations to all students for their involvement in the day.

Pyjama Day 2022 with the Student Council

We hope the students of Wynnum State School had a fantastic day on the last day of school. Our school hosted the annual Wynnum Idol talent show and it was Pyjama Day. Students were able to wear their warm and cosy pyjamas to raise money for the Pyjama Foundation. Students wore onesies, dressing gowns, slippers and brought pillows, blankets and even soft toys! We raised an amazing amount of $847.05. Thank you for all the donations. This money will help build the confidence and literacy skills of children in foster care homes.

Super Skipping Squad with the Student Council

At the end of Term 2, the Student Council hosted the Super Skipping Squad and it was a huge success! So many Wynnum Warriors came to show off their super skipping skills! A total of 320 students participated in the event. The grade that had the most students participate was… Prep, with a total of 64 students. Now, the moment that you’ve been waiting for. The winning house, with 111 points....BOOANGUN!

We would like to thank every student who participated and also the amazing teachers who volunteered their time to supervise this event. 

Road Safety and Car Parking Reminder

Could all our families who drive to school please remember to be considerate of our neighbours when parking. When we leave plenty of space around driveways, we are helping our neighbours to safely move in and out of their residences, which in turns keeps everyone safe. Thank you for your consideration. 

Also a kindly reminder that the carparking spaces provided at Edge Early Learning Centre are for parents of Edge Early Learning families only.

Change to Early Collection Process

Congratulations to all our families supporting learning by making sure students are arriving on time in the morning. It is now rare to see anyone coming late after the second bell (8.45am), and the extra hour of learning time a week is being put to good use. A reminder that if your child enters late through the Stradbroke Ave entrance, they need to sign in through the office before heading to class. This makes sure we have accurate attendance data before the daily absence SMS are sent out. 

With the extra time being gained back in the morning, we are going to tackle the loss of learning time in the afternoons. Our front office is experiencing a huge increase in requests for early collections. Classes are being interrupted, multiple times a day, by teachers having to stop teaching to answer the phone to send students to the office. More and more students are leaving early and missing instruction. Our amazing front office staff are also stretched to meet the increasing demands.  

All early pick-ups will now require parents/carers to come into the office, sign out their child/ren and then pick up directly from the classroom/s or specialist lesson. Families with regular appointment times scheduled and communicated through the class teacher/s are to continue with the process they have in place. 

We are looking forward to teachers being able to teach, and our learners being able to learn, right through until 2.45pm, whenever possible. Thank you for your understanding as we transition to the new process.  

School Bus Services

Just a reminder that we have a bus service that runs from Wynnum State School. Below is a link to both services.

https://jp.translink.com.au/plan-your-journey/timetables/bus/T/815

https://jp.translink.com.au/plan-your-journey/timetables/bus/t/819/outbound/2022-05-31

A Go Card will need to be purchased to be able to utilise this Translink bus service. The following link lists retail outlets of where to purchase a Go card https://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/go-card/locations 

Upcoming Prep 2023 Tour - Wednesday 17 August

2022 School Term Dates

Term 3: Monday 11 July to Friday 16 September 

Term 4: Tuesday 4 October to Friday 9 December 

Finance Matters

The school's preferred payment method for all excursions/incursions/camps is now via BPOINT. All parents/carers will recieve an invoice to their nominated email address when a school activity is invoiced to their child's account.  This invoice contains a BPOINT link (located on the bottom left hand side of the invoice) which directs you to a secure payment website upon which credit card details can be entered to make payment. Please make contact with the office if you are not receiving your invoices via email.   

QSchools App

Don't forget to download the QSchools App to your Iphone or Android device.  The QSchools App is another great way for Wynnum State School families to receive and read our fortnightly school newsletter and also receive important notifications regarding school events.  Simply download to your phone and 'star' Wynnum State School as your 'favourite' school.  

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