Term 1 - 2024 Week 3 Newsletter

Principal's Message with Mr Ionn

I am pleased to see the weather starting to cool off in comparison to the beginning of the term. Week 3 continues to see our warriors getting stuck in to some great learning and back into routine.

Considering it is the start of the swimming season, it is the perfect opportunity to acknowledge our Physical Education Teacher Haydn Blair and Swim Coach Jemima Lee, who lead the learning at the pool. The water-based skills and technical proficiency is a critical part of the Physical Education strand of the Australian Curriculum. For our Wynnum Warriors, many have the opportunity to be surrounded by water-based activities in our local area.  However, water safety and the ability to swim is a critical life skill.

I am ever grateful that we are a school with a pool and our Wynnum Warriors get to develop water mastery and joy of swimming activity in an environment that is familiar to them and where they know they are safe. Moreover, the school is fortunate to have Blair and Jemima. These talented leaders are committed to and enjoy what they do. The continue to share a wealth of swimming instruction between them and are a great co teaching team that makes PE lessons in the pool an enjoyable part of the Wynnum Learning agenda.

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.  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.

State-Wide ‘Away for the Day’ Strategy

The implementation of the state-wide strategy requiring all Queensland state school students to have their mobile phones switched off and ‘away for the day’ has been well supported by students, teachers and families at Wynnum State School. If a child chooses to bring a phone to school, they will be responsible for their phone during the school day, ensuring to hand in each morning and picking up in the afternoon.

Exemptions will be made available for students who require access to their mobile phone or wearable device for health monitoring purposes.  If you require an exemption, please contact me via email Principal@wynnumss.eq.edu.au to make an application for consideration.

Upcoming Whole School Photos

Please refer to the flyers below for information on ordering class/individual photos of your child.

Term 1 Parent Teacher Interviews

In addition to providing academic reports, at least twice a year, schools offer parents opportunities to 
discuss their child’s achievement and progress with their child’s teacher(s). Our Term 1 Parent Teacher interviews for most classes will be held on Wednesday 13 March from 3.15pm in the Auditorium. If your child is in 1LH, interviews will be held on Tuesday 12 March from 2.00pm in the Front Office.

Bookings will open this coming Monday 12 February and are made online via the SOBs booking system. 

https://eq.sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=70389

7 Steps to Helping Anxious Kids Return to School

Psychologist Michael Hawton provides parents and carers with seven simple steps to enable them to support their anxious children to return to school consistently. It may seem overwhelming, balancing supporting your child through anxious thoughts and feelings and wanting to provide them with the best education and social experiences in their development. Michael Hawton, a psychologist, father and trained teacher with 30 years' experience, walks parents and carers through some simple steps they can implement straight away to set their child on the right track to returning to school consistently.

NAPLAN Information

ANZAC Day

Sports Report with Mr Blair

2024 District Sport Information:

 Please find information regarding the 2024 District and Regional Sporting Calendar.

 These teams are trialled out of school hours at varied venues and it is your own responsibility if you wish to attend.

 If you are interested in trialling for a district team the process is below:

• Mark in your calendar when your trial will take place (dates are subject to change)
• Check to see if you qualify for the criteria: students who have prior experience playing sport at a representative level- either through school and or through club (must be Division 1 or equivalent) and have demonstrated a high level of performance of a wide range of skills specific to the sport, they should be encouraged to apply for the district team.
• Inform Mr Blair your interest in attending and trialling.
• Understand school trials will need to occur pending on interested participants.
• Collect paperwork prior to your trial from Mr Blair.

District Sport Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bayside-District-School-Sport-111228100234264

District Sport Website information: https://meteastschoolsport.eq.edu.au/district-sport/our-districts/bayside

Free Dress Day

P-2 Science and 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 the needs and features of living things, their habitats and life cycles, during these first weeks of science classes!

Preps botanists began their investigations of the needs of a plant and plant parts above and below ground. Look at the detail in these Prep science journal recordings!

Year One palaeontologists engaged in group explorations comparing animals of today with the dinosaurs of prehistoric times. The task was to observe and compare features and decide as a group which dinosaur features were found in the particular animal of today. Young scientists compared an emu, lion, kangaroo, goldfish, killer whale, crocodile and rooster with eight prehistoric dinosaurs! The year ones were very good at working together just like real scientists do!

Technology lessons for Year Two have begun. There were many excited faces, with eyes lit up, while practicing logging-in independently to laptops and engaging in explorations of a range of software! Look at the concentration on these faces!

Next Monday 12^th 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 2024 theme is “Inspire Inclusion”. Encourage and remind your daughter to attend this excellent lunchtime investigative celebration which will inspire all!

World Science Festival Brisbane is nearly here! Presale for ticketed events is now open.  Please click this link to see the range of enthralling events to book and to check out all the free science events.

https://www.worldsciencefestival.com.au/

P&C News

Upcoming P&C Meeting! 🗓️🌟

Join us for our first P&C meeting on Thursday, 15th February at 6:30 PM in the school admin block. We'll discuss our priorities for the year, and this is your chance to voice your thoughts. Can't make it in person? No worries! Online options are available for those who can't attend physically. Everyone is welcome!

Pool Party Recap 🏊‍♂️🎉

A massive thanks to all who splashed into our first-ever Pool Party! The vibes were fantastic, and we're grateful to our adult and student volunteers for making it happen. Special shout-out to Wynnum Wahoos for keeping us well-fed, Bayside Swim School for ensuring everything ran smoothly, and a heartfelt thank you to Bendigo Community Bank Wynnum and the Lord Mayor's Community Fund for their support.

Fishing Comp Alert! 🎣

Get ready for some fin-tastic fun! Check out the Fishing Comp flyer for all the exciting details.

Containers for Change ♻️🌿

Spot our new green and white bins at Mega-Central! Wynnum State School is now a collection point for 10c cans and bottles as part of Containers for Change. Look out for more info coming your way soon.

Keep the positive vibes flowing! 🌟🙌

PCYC - Before & After School Care Snapshot

School Facebook Page

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

Qparents

Have you downloaded the Qparents app?

QParents is a secure, online portal that has been created to provide parents/carers of Queensland state school students with 24-hour access to their child's information.

Qparents allows you to securely access information about your child and communicate directly with your child's school.

Features of Qparents:

• attendance details
• report cards
• invoices
• payment history
• excursion permissions

Currently we have roughly 80 percent of parents/carers on Qparents. If you haven’t already made an account with Qparents, new invitation codes have just been emailed home.

Any further questions please contact the school office.

Absentee Line

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

2024 School Term Dates

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 

Community News

Chess Mates

Wynnum Vikings