Term 3 - 2025 Week 8 Newsletter
- Message from our Principal Mr Fehlhaber
- PBL Focus Week 9 & 10
- Coming up...
- P-3 Science with Mrs Crowe
- Wynnum Plaza Competition
- ? Jungle Adventure Play – Wellbeing Connection Afternoons ?
- Media Arts with Year 5
- Year 1 News!
- The Power of Play in Supporting Children’s Wellbeing
- CIRCLE OF SECURITY PARENTING (COSP™) PROGRAM – TERM 4, 2025
- P&C News
- Afterschool Activities
- Qparents
- School Facebook Page
- School Bus Services
- Community News
Message from our Principal Mr Fehlhaber
Research strongly suggests that giving students some say over what happens in class and in the school environment can promote engagement and a strong sense of community. Elevating student voice is critical for many reasons. For one thing, as Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey write, “The amount of talk that students do is correlated with their achievement.” There are many strategies that our teachers use to elevate student voice in order to strengthen relationships, foster a sense of belonging, increase engagement, and inform instruction.
Welcoming routines and rituals build relationships between students, parents and the broader school community. Last week I had the privilege of joining our Year 6 leaders in one of our Wynnum welcoming rituals as they welcomed new and prospective parents and students for 2026. It was a joy to listen to the pride of our student leaders as they shared their knowledge of Wynnum. It also provided a strong and positive message for our new parents and their children about what it means to be a Wynnum Warrior.
End-of-term Check-in
The end of Term 3 can often be a challenging time for students, teachers and parents. Apart from the colder weather, shorter hours of daylight which do impact our moods after a period of time, we add the fact that students and teachers are currently in full assessment mode. This adds extra pressure all round which can sometimes manifest in extra stress levels and behaviours that we may otherwise never encounter.
We ask that if you are encountering any unusual changes in your student’s behaviour or demeanour during this time, to discuss it with them and touch base with their teacher or staff member if you require further assistance.
Student Attendance
Last fortnight I wrote about the importance of regular student attendance at school. We are very aware that since COVID, some world-wide attitudes and priorities have shifted and as a system, we have seen attendance levels drop. The key message remains that every day counts in a child’s learning.
PBL Focus Week 9 & 10
PBL Focus Week 9 & 10 – We are respectful when we care for others and their property 🌟 As we wrap up the term, our focus turns to kindness and consideration. This means using kind words, treating classmates with compassion, and being mindful not to damage or misuse things that belong to others or the school 💛🌱🖍️
Coming up...
P-3 Science with Mrs Crowe
Year Three scientists stepped into the light last week to investigate how shadows work. The students came up with many different objects to observe. There was excited discussion about length, shape and the distortion of the shadow from the object based on the direction of the sun’s rays. Each scientist recorded a range of different shadows they found outside the Science Lab.
Prep to Year Three Science currently has a decorated ‘bee’ on display at the Wynnum Plaza ‘Bee Garden’ until 12th September. The Bee that receives the most votes will win a $600 gift card to purchase resources for their school. Our bee is decorated with tiny bees drawn by our Preps and Year Ones. It also other bee designs and ‘Save the Bees’ images created by our older students for’ World Bee Day’. Wynnum State School students love bees! Please visit Wynnum Plaza at any time over the next three weeks to vote for our bee. You will find it outside Kmart.
Wynnum Plaza Competition
From 1st to 12th September, outside Kmart at Wynnum Plaza, there will be a 'Bee Garden' display competition. Schools were invited to enter, with customers being able to vote for their favourite design.
Wynnum SS Junior Science and 2AC have entered the competition in order to promote our school and possibly win a prize for the school. Your vote can help!The bee with the highest votes will receive one of the following prizes, which can be put towards art supplies or fundraising initiatives:
- 1st Place: $600 Wynnum Plaza Gift Card
- 2nd Place: $300 Wynnum Plaza Gift Card
- 3rd Place: $200 Wynnum Plaza Gift Card
To encourage voting, customers will also have the opportunity to win a $50 Wynnum Plaza Gift Card.Next time you are at Wynnum Plaza over the next two weeks please visit the display and vote for your favourite bee. Thankyou in advance for your supporting. Enjoy the photos attached of the 'P-3 Science Bee' and '2AC Bee' promoting our school in the display.
🌿 Jungle Adventure Play – Wellbeing Connection Afternoons 🌿
Year 5/6 students enjoying an afternoon at Jungle Adventure Play. These activities encouraged teamwork and problem-solving as students navigated challenges and worked together in a fun, active environment. It was wonderful to see so much laughter, cooperation, and resilience on display!
Media Arts with Year 5
Year 5 students have been busy during their Media Arts ‘create’ session, working on their exciting e-comic project. This task links closely with their English and Health learning, as they develop original stories with meaningful themes.
During the session, students created their characters and designed settings to bring their short story narratives to life. Their next step will be to photograph these scenes before moving onto the digital stage—adding language features, sound effects, and transitions on the laptop to produce an engaging and entertaining e-comic.
Year 1 News!
This week we were lucky enough to have the Wynnum fire brigade come to visit. We would like to give a big thank you to Sally’s mum who is a firewoman at the station and the other firemen and firewoman who came to give a talk to the students. The students were very engaged in the talk, demonstrating some wonderful knowledge about what to do in a fire and asking some great questions. The highlight was exploring the real-life fire engine; there were lots of excited faces when the fire people asked if we would like to have a go of the fire hose!
Fire Saftey Snaps
What a busy few weeks we have had in Year 1! We attended our first excursion out of the school to Primrose Park. We investigated natural, managed and constructed environments to build on our knowledge we have developed this term in HASS. The students did a wonderful job of completing their investigations and enjoyed having a picnic and a play in the park with their classmates.
Primrose Excursion Snapshots
The Power of Play in Supporting Children’s Wellbeing
Recent research has highlighted the importance of play in helping children grow happier, more confident, and resilient. Over the past century, children’s opportunities for free and adventurous play have decreased, while rates of anxiety and depression have increased. Studies show that when children are given the space and freedom to explore, take safe risks, and create their own play using “loose parts”, they are more likely to feel in control of their world. This sense of independence supports their emotional wellbeing and reduces stress.
Our ‘Adventure Play’ space opened in 2024. It is an area where children can build, imagine, and direct their own play. The area is also known as ‘Gana Yagabiliba’. The Jandai language phrase is made from gana (think); yagabili (make); the suffix ba at the end of the phrase means (place of). Therefore, the place of thinking and making.
We are grateful to Angus Gorrie, a parent and passionate advocator of ‘loose parts’ play, who has shared his knowledge and expertise as a Playworker. Angus and a team of parent volunteers have helped create and maintain this area, encouraging the evolving use of various materials (it’s not pretty, but it’s fun!)
Our Wynnum Warriors have a fantastic opportunity for adventurous, child-led play, where they can be creative, problem-solve and build confidence. This gives them the tools to thrive and strengthen their mental health in fun and proactive ways.
CIRCLE OF SECURITY PARENTING (COSP™) PROGRAM – TERM 4, 2025
P&C News
👗📚 COSTUME LIBRARY 💃♻️
Following the success of Book Week this term, our P&C Vice President, Ashley Woodbury, came up with a fantastic idea — a Costume Library!
The concept is simple: donate your unwanted Book Week costumes, outfits, or creations, and next year you’ll be able to borrow one in return. It’s a great way to reduce costs for families, eliminate last-minute stress, and give those amazing handmade creations a second life.
The library is now accepting donations, and we’ll share more details as the project develops.
🎉🐙TRIVIA NIGHT🌊🐬
We’re thrilled to share a further update following our fantastic Trivia Night last month — the P&C are proud to announce that we raised an incredible $13,000 in profits!
This outstanding result would not have been possible without the enthusiastic support of our wonderful school community and the generosity of our amazing sponsors. Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed, or helped behind the scenes — your involvement made all the difference.
We are once again sharing the details of our sponsors below — please support them where possible, as they so generously supported us.
🪙♻️CONTAINERS FOR CHANGE♻️🪙
Thank you for your contributions so far this term. If you have any cans and bottles around the home, send them in. We are always happy to provide more recycling bags, for ease of transport and if you want to keep them separate at home. Don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions or requests.
If you are visiting the depot directly, you can still donate to the school using our details. Wynnum State School P&C Member Number C10062108.
Our next meeting is Thursday 16 October at Wynnum Bowls Club and as always everyone is welcome.
Afterschool Activities
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 been emailed home this week.
For any additional questions, feel free to contact the school office at 3893 5111 or visit our administrative team in person, who will be happy to assist you with the setup.
School Facebook Page
Please visit the page via this link https://www.facebook.com/WynnumStateSchool and click Like!
School Bus Services
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
