Term 1 - 2023 Week 3 Newsletter

Principal's Message with Mr Ionn

Your child, our Wynnum Warrior. One team.

At the heart of all our strategic planning, we place our collective energies on each child through the special relationship we have with families. It’s not just your child’s school—it’s your school, too.

We all have a role to play to ensure everyone is included and respected, and a place where everyone has a deep sense of pride in what we do and what we can achieve together.

Our school is a place to build relationships with the staff who support your child so you can trust each other with the role you each play in your child’s development.

Positive and honest communication between you and the school means better outcomes for your child. We are all on the same team.  As we are coming up to our Meet the Teacher afternoon next week (15th of Feb, from 3pm), some information on communication has been added. 

Home / School Communication

As a parent and /or carer, your needs and concerns are important to us. Our home /school communication processes are set up so your needs can be met by the right person as quickly as possible.

Appointments with your child’s homeroom teacher or other member of teaching staff:

• If you would like to meet with a member of our teaching staff, including the homeroom teacher, this must be pre-arranged. Teaching staff are busy in the morning preparing for the school day and may already have plans. This is why appointments are pivotal for a successful meeting. An appointment should be requested via email or by phoning the school office. Please remember we are required to adhere to court orders and other legal instructions when communicating with adults.

• Sensitive Information: Any sensitive information should be communicated with the Principal or Deputy Principal. If there is an emergency or urgent message we ask that this is directed to the school office, and where necessary you will be put in touch with the Principal or Deputy Principal. We will respond to all parent/carer inquiries within two business days. This may be dependent on staff absences or the nature of the action that the correspondence requires. Staff, outside of the leadership team, are not expected to send nor respond to emails over the weekend or during holiday periods.

Please make sure to like us on Facebook, and please check out the information in regards to using QParents. A series of invitations were sent prior to this information being shared, and I do apologise if this caused confusion or inconvenience.  QParents allows parents and carers to:

• view attendance details, report cards, invoices and a history of payments
• provide digital consent, reasons for unexplained absences and to notify the school of future absences
• view and pay school invoices online
• update student details including residential and postal address as well as medical conditions. 

Mrs Collingwood (DP Inclusion and Prep)

Schools have gone to the dogs!

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the positive impact that Therapy Dogs can have on student and staff wellbeing including; increased communication, reduced stress and anxiety, improved engagement and learning outcomes, social skills and positive relationships. Wynnum State School is lucky to have our two Therapy dogs - Snoop and Darcy. Both Snoop and Darcy has been certified through Positive Response Dog Training (registered Delta Therapy trainer) with their handlers Mrs Collingwood (Snoop) and Ms Connell (Darcy).

During assembly students were reminded of how to interact with our Therapy Dogs and what the purpose of their job is. Ask your child what they know about Snoop and Darcy and I’m sure you will see a smile!

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

As we ease into the first term of 2023 we thought it would be useful to share some ideas on reading that will benefit your child. Here is a short video you can watch that explains the importance of reading, singing, playing and talking with young children.

For older children the benefit of playing games is also a way to build vocabulary knowledge.  These can be board games and also games such as ‘eye spy’, ‘I went shopping and I bought a …’. 

Discuss the book they are reading – ‘Who is the main character?’

“What have you learnt about the characters?’

‘What has happened so far?’

‘How do you think it might end?’

Library Matters with Mrs Sutton and the Library Team

Library Matters

Of course, there are books to explore, but in our library, there’s more than just books!!!  The library is the perfect place to go solo, sit with friends and engage in conversations of the day or interact with the many games, toys and construction sets to discover.

Check out some of our happy snaps from this week.

Library Bags

Please remember all students from Prep – 2 are expected to have a library bag.  If your child does bring a book home in one of our “Spare” Library bags it is hoped that the bag will come back to the library as soon as possible. This will ensure the next child has the same opportunity if they also forget a bag.

Book Orders 

Orders from the Scholastic Book Club Issue 1 closed on Tuesday 7 February.  Each family has the opportunity to order online and books will be delivered to the school. There are always several titles for only $3 each, which is great for students to purchase with their pocket money, or to put away for those unexpected birthday parties! Our school also benefits with a percentage of sales from Book Club towards classroom and library resources.  If you have any questions, we are more than happy to help.

Just keep reading…

Mrs Sutton and the Library Team

P-2 Science & Technology with Mrs Crowe

A big ‘Wynnum Wow’ to our Prep botanists, Year One palaeontologists and Year Two biologists! All have shared emerging knowledge about living things, and their intense interest in biology, during these first weeks of Science classes!

Year One investigated fossil artefacts. Thank you to Eve (1/2SC) for sharing her family ‘Fish Fossil’ which is over 40 million years old! This artefact truly enhanced our palaeontology investigations and learning (See photos below). Questioning and problem solving occurred during the study of different characteristics of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores through an interactive PowerPoint and images from scientific research.

Technology lessons for Year One and Two have begun. Excited faces and eyes lit up during successful log-ins to laptops and explorations of software!

This Friday 10 February, Wynnum Warrior female scientists from year one to six are invited to participate in ‘International Women and Girls in Science Day’! The International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2023 theme is “Innovate. Demonstrate. Elevate. Advance”. Gathering data through all senses, questioning and problem solving, Creating and Innovating with absolute expressions of Wonderment and Awe will occur during this excellent lunchtime investigative celebration! Please encourage your year one to six daughter to attend on Friday during First lunch break.

Casual Cleaning Position

An opportunity has arisen for a motivated and hardworking casual Cleaner to join our team at Wynnum State School. Working casual hours from morning shift (4:30am - 7:30am) and afternoon shift (3pm - 6pm). Please note this is not set rostered hours so flexibility to fill in shifts (on short notice) is a must. Experience not necessary but is preferrable. Blue card is required. If interested or would like further information, please email resume/questions to principal email principal@wynnumss.eq.edu.au

School Photos Information

QParents- Registration Guide

Sports Report with Mr Blair (PE Teacher)

Congratulations to all students who have been nominated for district team trials. If your student plays at a high level, either in division 1 or at a representative level of their sport, ask them to come speak with me.

Cross country will be held on Friday of week 6 which is the 3 of March. It would be great for parents and carers to encourage students to run around their local park and spend some time strengthening their muscles in preparation of the event. Looking forward to this highly anticipated day for our school. It will be for grades 3 through to 6.

Musical Notes with Ms Barnes (Performing Arts Teacher)

Welcome all.

There are exciting things planned for the music program this year. Junior choir, senior choir, and senior band start this term, with junior band beginning in Term 2. These will all be held in the Music Room, please see the below schedule for times.

Choir Schedule

Junior Choir (Week 4) – Monday 7:50am to 8:40am
Senior Choir (Week 4) – Tuesday 7:50am to 8:40am

Band Schedule

Junior Band (beginning Term 2, Week 1) – Thursday 7:50am to 8:40am

Senior Band (Week 3) – Thursday 3:00pm to 3:45pm

Back by popular demand: Wynnum Idol!

Any student who wishes to compete must submit their entry to Miss Barnes in the Music Room by 2:45pm on Friday the 17^th of March (Week 8). Students may submit a video of their entry on a USB labelled with the student’s name and class. Finalists will be announced in Term 2, Week 1 to give the students plenty of time to rehearse and perfect their act. The Grand Final will be on Friday the 23^rd of June.

Best of luck to all aspiring idols!

Guidance Officer update with Ms Manning

I trust that everyone is settled into their new routine and classrooms and working hard towards their personal goals.

This week (6th to 12th February) is Children’s Mental Health Week, and I want to take this opportunity to remind you of the importance of mental health for children and young people. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and it is essential that we all take steps to ensure that our children are supported and nurtured in this area. I encourage all of our students to take part in activities that promote positive mental health. This could include participating in activities they love, doing art or listening to their favourite song. It can also be to identify 5 trusted adults (High 5) and talking to one of these trusted adults when they feel overwhelmed, anxious, stressed or sad.

I’d like to also bring your attention to Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week that starts on the 12th of February, with RAK day being on Friday, the 17^th of February. Random acts of kindness is an annual event that aims to create a community of kindness and care. I wanted to take a moment to remind you of the power of kindness. We all have the ability to make a difference in the lives of those around us, and it doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. Even the smallest acts of kindness can have a lasting impact. Adopting a kindness attitude and making it the norm can have a big impact in people’s lives – not just for RAK week, but one that can be lasting and serve as a reminder that there is good all around us.

Let’s all strive to make kindness the norm.

Nathaly Manning

Guidance Officer

Wynnum Warrior

Meet one of our Wynnum Warriors Iannrah. Iannrah voluntarily gives up his morning and afternoon tea play to help pick up rubbbish around the school. Keep up the great work Iannrah!

School Facebook Page

Wynnum SS has launched our own Facebook page! 

It would be benefical if we could get as many of our Wynnum Warrior families as possible onto this online social media and social networking service. We are excited to be able to deliver instant updates and important information about upcoming school events. 

  Please visit the page via this link https://www.facebook.com/WynnumStateSchool  and click Like!

P & C News

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 

2023 School Term Dates

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.  

Community News