Wynnum State School eNewsletter

Principal's Message with Mr Ionn

Attendance

After seeing through the disruptions of the corona pandemic, Wynnum State School is aiming high to record our best attendance ever! We’ve started well, but our goal is to maximise every learning day for our Warriors, as this makes a significant difference to learning outcomes over the life a child’s life in schools, both academically and socially. Congratulations to our Year 1 group for winning the Ionn Warrior Award twice this term for the best attendance.

Since the introduction of the State Education Act of 1875, the Queensland Government has required parents to ensure their children attend school. Under current legislation, Queensland parents have a legal obligation to ensure their children attend school from the ages of Prep to Year 10.

Queensland state schools operate for approximately 200 days each year. Once enrolled, children are required to attend school each day it is open for students.

The importance of arriving at school and class on time:

Ensures that students do not miss out on important learning activities scheduled early in the day
Helps students learn the importance of punctuality and routine
Give students time to greet their friends before class
Reduces classroom disruption Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents. Your assistance with ensuring that your child is at school by 8.45am and ready to learn each and every day is greatly appreciated.

Please Note:

We have noticed an increase in students arriving early at school. It is important for families to understand that supervision of students begins each day from 8:15am.

NAPLAN 2023

NAPLAN tests will be held from 15 to 27 March, 2023. This change means that schools will have results earlier, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year. NAPLAN is a nationwide measure through which parents, teachers and schools can determine how well young Australians are developing the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for other learning. NAPLAN assesses skills that students are learning at school. It is not a test that can be studied for, so the best preparation is learning what we do in the classroom every day.

Wynnum Bajara

Our term 1 Wynnum Bajara invites all community members to join with us to co-construct our approach to be the best allies we can for First Nations students and families, and to continue to enact the words of Quandamooka elder Uncle Norm Enoch: “to know the culture, understand the culture and respect the culture”.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, the 1^st of March in the staffroom at 8:15am.

Hear from our Head of Department (Curriculum) about First Nations perspectives through the Australian Curriculum – build capacity, respect culture and history and to close the gap of educational outcomes for First Nations Students
Plan for upcoming events
Sharing from Cultural Training Day - At the beginning of the year, a group of staff and community members undertook cultural training on country as part of Wynnum State School commitment in this area. This was a major step in ensuring we do know, understand and respect the oldest continuing living culture in the entire world. We celebrate and acknowledge the land upon where we do our work – Quandamooka Country.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Term 1 Parent Teacher Interviews will be held on Wednesday 15 March in the Auditorium. Please use this SOBS link to book your spot/s! https://eq.sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=70389

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

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

BOOK SWAP is here!! We will be placing a bookshelf near the office as you enter the school. These books are available for all students to choose from. Please feel free to take a book or two for home and return it to the book swap when you have read it. If it becomes a family favourite you can keep the book.

If you have any books at home that you would like to donate, there will be a container available for you to do so.

Please place your returned books in this container as well.

How to choose a book? Let your child find a book they are interested in. It may be a book they can read themselves or one that you can read to them. Sometimes it will be a book they are interested in just to look at the pictures.

Happy reading to you all.

NAPLAN 2023

Library Matters with Mrs Sutton and the Library Team

Kia ora! Ms Medcalfe’s Maori Koru Art E & E group, have presented the library with a copy of the book titled, Māui -- Sun Catcher written by Tim Tipene and illustrated by Zak WaiPara. This is a bilingual book in English and Maori, the first in the international Indigenous Voices series.

The story is a modern-day look to the well-known Polynesian myth of Māui capturing the sun. Wearing his super hero outfit, young Māui, who lives with his Mum and three older brothers in a city, finds the day never long enough to get things done. Maui tells his Mum through rhyming verse that carries a rap beat: Mum, I'm gonna catch that Sun for you. That Sun who's always on the run. When Māui’s brothers drive to the pit where the sun is resting, they ask Māui what he plans to do. Aren’t there some days we wish we could slow down?

Thank you again Ms Medcalfe and the Maori Koru Art E & E group for the gift of this book.

Just keep reading…

P-2 Science & Technology with Mrs Crowe

P-2 Science and Technology with Mrs Crowe

Year One Palaeontologists Worked Interdependently, in small groups, to compare and match the dinosaurs to current day animals. These comparisons enabled each young scientist to learn how animal features suit them to their habitat for survival, and how animals have evolved over millions of years.

All Year One and Two classes have now had their first Digital Technology lessons which focused on the procedure and practice of logging in to laptops, exploring the student page programs and shutting down correctly. Persistence was needed as Laptops are fun yet challenging!

Wynnum Warrior Girls celebrated ‘International Women and Girls in Science Day’ on Friday 10^th February. Both Junior and Senior Science Labs were overflowing with very eager and engaged female scientists from Year One to Six!

Scientific equipment including microscopes, magnifying glasses, a light box, stethoscopes, natural and preserved specimens, life cycle models, ‘live’ mealworms and zebra finches with eggs were investigated with Wonderment and Awe! Videos of famous female scientists through history stimulated Questioning, and Problem Solving occurred during interactions with each other. Enjoy the photos below!

On Friday the 10^th of February Wynnum State School students celebrated International Women and Girls in Science Day. Girls from Year 1 – 6 were invited to the Junior and Senior Science Labs at first break where they could explore a range of scientific concepts. The Senior Science Lab was a hive of activity as girls from all year levels interacted with the displays. Thank you to all the girls who came down and joined in the fun!

Sports Report with Mr Blair (PE Teacher)

Sports Report with Mr. Blair

Wynnum State School recently sent 3 swimmers who qualified to the Bayside Districts Swimming Carnival. Ciena Wallis, Mei Arnett and Tuki Matene represented the school well. A big congratulations to Ciena whose swimming time during the 50m butterfly resulted in her qualifying for Met East! Mei and Tuki also did very well seeing as it was their first districts competition for both of them.

Cross country is next Friday (week 6). Students from grades 3- 6 will be running the same course starting with a lap of the oval and the top 10 or so students will continue on to a course around and through the school- leading back to the oval for an entertaining finish.
The order of the runners will start with the year 6s starting at approximately 9am then year 5s and so on until the year 3s start their first cross country race. The event will finish at first break which is 10:35am. It is great to hear the school cheer on our seniors first for their first time in the school calendar which also earns points towards the much sought after Hadfield Cup.

Swimming in classes will continue until week 7 of the school term. For students in year 5 and 6, we will be starting some safety and survival scenarios from next week (week 6) and students will require some additional clothing items as well as their usual swimming attire.

large shorts or track suit pants
large t-shirt
socks

Students will be wearing these extra clothes on top of their swimmers. Therefore, rashies are still required and swim caps and goggles etc.

Well done to our students Jett Broome, Hamish Coleman and Lachlan Russell who all made it into the district AFL team. There will be mention of further students who have made it into district teams in future newsletters.

Guidance Officer update with Ms Manning

Dear parents and carers,

I hope the first 4weeks of term has gone smoothly and that students are now all settled and established into their routines.

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you of the importance of being aware of cyber safety when your children are using the internet. As technology continues to advance, so does the potential risks that come with it. As a result, it is important to ensure that your children are aware of the potential dangers that come with being online. As a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure that your child is safe when they are using the internet. Some tips to keep in mind are to set parental controls, talk to your children about cyberbullying, and be aware of what your children are doing online. It is also important to remind your children that they need to speak up and reach out if they feel unsafe online.

Here are a few tips to help keep your children safe online:

Talk to your children about cyber safety.
Explain to your children that they should never give out personal information online, such as their name, address, phone number, or school name.
Tell your children to never agree to meet someone they have met online in person.
Talk to your children about cyber bullying and what it is. (**the use of technology to harass, threaten, or embarrass someone).
Explain that cyber bullying is wrong and can hurt people's feelings.
Show your children how to be respectful online and to not say mean things to others.

There are many different ways that someone can be cyber bullied. Some examples of cyber bullying include (but are not limited to):

-Being sent mean or threatening messages online

-Being harassed or mocked on social media

-Having personal information shared without consent

-Being excluded from online conversations or groups

-Being the victim of online stalking

Parents and children can find some useful resources and information on cyber safety here: https://www.esafety.gov.au/

If you need help, please reach out to someone or contact one of the relevant numbers below:

Police / Ambulance – 000
Lifeline provides 24hr telephone counselling for people in crisis or emotional distress on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline is a free 24hr counselling service for Australian kids and young people 1800 55 1800
Parentline provides confidential counselling for parents, from 8am-10pm, 7 days a week 1300 301 300

Have a great fortnight.

Nathaly Manning

Guidance Officer

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

QParents- Registration Guide

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

Absentee Line

To notify the school of your child's absence please text your childs name and reason for absence to 0429 467 361.

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

QLD school term 2023	QLD school term dates
Term 1 QLD	Monday 23 January 2023 - Friday 31 March 2023
Term 2 QLD	Monday 17 April 2023 - Friday 23 June 2023
Term 3 QLD	Monday 10 July 2023 - Friday 15 September 2023
Term 4 QLD	Tuesday 3 October 2023 - Friday 8 December 2023

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.