Term 4 Week 1 Newsletter

Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers

A big welcome back to all students and families. Term 4 is always an exciting term for students with swimming, gala days, concerts and end of year celebrations. However, it is also wise to remember to focus on the teaching and learning and strike a balance between the events and the core business.

During the course of the this term, the school will begin to prepare for the year ahead. We will meet the 2022 Prep students as well as other students joining us in the new year. Sadly, we also say goodbye to the Year 6s and other families that might be moving away from Runcorn. To this end, if you know that you are not returning in 2022, please complete the form attached to this section and return it to the office by 29 October. It is important that we predict as accurately as possible numbers for next year as our staffing model is determined by enrolment.

There was a lot to celebrate at the end of Term 3. The disco was held during the day and most of the students had a wonderful time. We also had the Science fair and it was a resounding success.

The school was also recognised by the Education Improvement Branch for its targeted use of resources that enable improved student outcomes. The article begins with, At Runcorn State School, understanding the complete picture is the ticket to targeting resources effectively. The full article can be found on the school website link. Norman features in the article.

Next week, we celebrate the school’s 120 years of providing education to the community. The 120 Celebration Community Arts Fair will mark this significant occasion. I know that it is going to be an exciting community event and I would like to thank Roberta Matlock, the school team – Adam France, Mary Whittred, Jenni McNamara, Shena Jarvis, Julie Schooth and the P&C with Deb and Zoee and their team, for the months of preparation and planning. Thank you to Danielle Davies for preparing the archived materials that will be on display. Spread the word and let’s all come together and CELEBRATE!

COVID Updates

During the holidays, there were some changes to the COVID restrictions. An email was sent to all families and it included:

• Students will return to school on Tuesday 5 October
• All adults must wear masks on school site and when indoors
• The oval gates on Lampson Street and Ardargie Street will remain open. We encourage families collecting students on foot to use the Lampson Street and office gate. The Ardargie Street gate on the oval is essentially for pick up in cars.
• If you are required to quarantine due to travel or being in exposure sites, please contact the school office and let us know.

Visit the Queensland Health website (https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status/public-health-directions/mandatory-masks) for more information.

Michelle D'Netto

Deputy Principal's Report

Welcome students and families back to Term 4.  We are looking forward to our 120 Year Celebration Community Arts Fair on Friday, 15 October.  Please see details below.

We do require Parent Volunteers on the night.  Please phone the school office on (07) 3323 8777 if you can spare 30 - 60 minutes on the evening.  

Lost Property

Parents and Caregivers, please check the Lost Property area under B Block as there is a large amount of personal items.

Roberta Matlock

Teaching & Learning Coach's Report

Writing at Runcorn – The Big 5 and The Big Write

Term 4 at Runcorn is all about writing.  Teachers have been working and reflecting on our current practice and building a framework to ensure consistency or language and practice across our school.  This term we will be introducing two exciting concepts to our students: The Big 5 and The Big Write. 

The Big 5 is a list of writing behaviours that all Runcorn Writers use. These writing behaviours underpin successful writing from Prep to Year 6 and are linked to the Australian Curriculum.  These will be explicitly taught to the students and will link with their individual writing goals.

THE BIG 5

PLAN

Organise our ideas and stick to it!

INTERESTING VOCAB

Use a range of level 1, 2 & 3 words to engage our audience

RANGE OF SENTENCES

Use a range of simple, compound and complex sentences

PUNCTUATION TO ENHANCE MEANING

Choose the best mark to demonstrate your meaning

EDIT TO IMPROVE

Check our work makes sense and matches our plan with correct spelling & punctuation

Every Thursday morning all students will participate in The Big Write.  The Big Write gives students an opportunity to apply and practice The Big 5 writing skills and get feedback from their teacher.  All classes will use a common stimulus or writing prompt and will have at least 20 minutes to create a piece of writing.  We will be finding many ways to share and celebrate writing throughout our school, including sharing samples from students, teachers and teacher aides and our community in the newsletter and around the school.  I will add our prompts from each Big Write to the newsletter so if any Mums, Dads, Grandparents, or other special adults would like to be part of the Big Write feel free to send your pieces through on email to rlasa2@eq.edu.au

Happy Writing!!

Rachel La Sala

Music Matters

Save the Date

Tuesday 23rd November- Music Medals Ceremony 2pm

Wednesday 24th November- End of Year Concert- Sunnybank SHS

120th Arts Fair- Friday 15th October

To celebrate our school turning 120 this year our ensembles and Choirs will be performing at the Arts Fair on Friday October 15.

The performance schedule is as follows:

5:40pm Senior Choir- Meet at 5pm between H and I Block

6:20pm Band- Meet at 5:35pm in H1/H2

7:10pm Strings- Meet at 6pm in H1/H2

7:30pm Year 3 Choir- Meet at 6:45pm between H and I Block

Students in Year 4-6 please wear the Formal School uniform and Year 3s wear neat school uniform.   Attendance at all rehearsals is important to prepare for this performance.

Mariel Hopper - Specialist Music Teacher

mxhop2@eq.edu.au

Strings

The String Students have had a great start to Term 4 with the Senior Strings performing on Parade and the Junior and Beginner Ensembles rehearsing for the 120 Year Community Arts Fair.  

Students in Junior and Senior Strings are required to wear their Formal School Uniform to the Arts Fair. 

Thank you String Students for attending rehearsals.  Rehearsals will be held in the Music Room located in B Block.  Future Rehearsals for String groups are as follows: 

We are certainly off and running this Term with exciting events and great music to perform.  I look forward to seeing everyone at the 120 Year Community Arts Fair. 

Keep practising and smiling,

Andrew Biedermann (abied1@eq.edu.au)

PE News

Swimming will be starting in Week 2. If your child has started at Runcorn State School from Term 2 this year, please fill out the permission slip your child brought home.  If you have misplaced your copy, please collect another copy from the office.

Below is an example of appropriate sun safe swim wear. Please check that your child’s swimmers still fit and are in working order. Also, please pack sunscreen for your children to apply before their lesson.  Children must have a swimming cap.

Please pack a separate bag with your child’s swimmers (see above), towel, sunscreen and other items they may need.

Swimming Timetable

Gala Day

Our first Gala Day for this semester is on Friday 15^th of October. Please finalise payment by Monday 11^th of October. Permission slips must be filled in and returned for your child to participate. If we don’t receive a completed permission slip, your child will not be able to attend, even if you have paid. If we have wet weather there will be no makeup day this term.

Schoolzine Mythbusters

Why should I give permission for my/my child’s data to be used in Schoolzine? Why Schoolzine? 

Schoolzine is an application that acts as a hub for our school communication. It is an online platform designed to make it easier for parents to stay engaged and informed.  This includes integrated access to:

• School Newsletters
• School Calendar
• Forms and Documents (eforms)
• Announcements
• Absences
• Bookings for events
• Surveys and Polls
• School public website
• Three Way Reporting

Newsletters can be automatically translated to a language of your choice for easier access to up-to-date school information. Schoolzine is an approved and preferred supplier for Education QLD.

What is the difference between Schoolzine and our current newsletter?

The current newsletter involves a manual process of sending school newsletters via email and publishing to our website. These newsletters are publicly available on our website.

Schoolzine allows for an online creation of newsletters, streamlining the process for creating and sharing this content. As soon as newsletters are published with Schoolzine, they are accessible to the whole school community.

What is the SZapp? How can I access it?

With the SZapp, parents and staff can login with their own Schoolzine account – allowing for easy access to school newsletters and the other previously mentioned items. Parent names and email addresses collected on permissions forms will be securely uploaded to generate SZapp parent logins.

School staff can use the SZapp to broadcast messages to the school community, appearing as a notification on the users’ device. There is a passcode required to subscribe – this is 4109 (this could be sent via email if preferred).

Find the SZapp wherever you download apps for your mobile devices (iOS and Android only).

Can Schoolzine be accessed on a PC?

The Schoolzine website can be accessed via PC. However, PCs do not support the SZapp which supports additional functionality, such as the push notifications used to broadcast messages.

Where is this data being stored?

Schoolzine hosts (stores) the data in Australia.

Will personal information submitted through ‘forms’ be published publicly?

No. Any information submitted via online forms will be stored privately.

Who can access Schoolzine?

Anyone can access and view newsletters via the Schoolzine website.

What if I do not give permission?

All communication from Term 4 will be communicated via Schoolzine.  Hard copies of communications will be available from our school office.

Newsletters will still be available by manually navigating to our school website and following the link to the Schoolzine website.

Does Schoolzine have a privacy policy?

Yes, you view find the Schoolzine privacy policy and terms of use here:

• Terms of use: https://www.schoolzine.com/terms
• Privacy policy: https://www.schoolzine.com/privacy_policy

Prep 2022

Prep 2022

Prep - Hear and Say Screening

Prep Hearing and Vision Screening

Once again this year we are offering our Prep children to participate in the Hear and Say Hearing Screening Program. This program is an excellent opportunity to have your child’s hearing screened by a trained professional in Paediatric Audiology who will provide you with a report and any recommendations if required. The screening is being held at Runcorn State School on the 19^th of November at a cost of $18.00 per child. Online registration closes on the 8^thof October School Hearing Screening - Parent Consent Form (paper registration forms are available if needed). Can you please ensure you have registered and paid by the 8^th of October.   

In addition to Prep Hearing we are also conducting Prep Vision Screening through Children’s Health Queensland on the 4^th and 5^th of November. Please complete the consent form by Friday, 15 October 2021. Please click the link to access the online form. There is no charge for this service. 

From the Resource Centre

It’s been a very busy and exciting time in the Resource Centre with the arrival of a new batch of graphic novels, which our students absolutely LOVE!  They have been enthusiastically coming into the library before school and during lunchtime to try and be the next lucky student to borrow one of these fantastic books!

We are also seeking volunteers to cover library books at home ….if you would like to help please email admin@runcornss.edu.au or phone the office to arrange to collect a small box of books to cover.

Thank you!

Mrs Danielle Bailey

Norman's News

A big welcome back to Term 4! I missed everybody so much over the holidays, but used the time to recover from a little surgery that lots of dogs have. The surgery required me to have some stitches, and I needed to wear a special cone around my head so that I didn’t bite at them. I had my operation on the first day of the holidays and didn’t get my stitches out (and my cone off) until the last weekend. This meant that I spent a lot of time just relaxing at home and much to the amusement of my family, I bumped into lots of things and ran into the backs of their legs with my cone! I should say a big thank you to VETLOVE KURABY for looking after me so well, and also to PAWS ONLY GROOMING SALON who made me feel so special after I got my stitches removed.

My family also learnt that my activities at school must really tire me out because when I was at home for the holidays, I had lots of energy! All that liveliness meant that I was able to explore my creative side digging in the garden and chewing on the furniture! I moved lots of plants around the garden and put them into new spots, and also made some new holes in the lawn. I thought I was being very helpful but not everyone saw it that way.

Now that I am back into the routine of school I will continue to learn my therapy dog skills and will commence some more official training in mid-November. I am hoping that I will get to wear a special vest once I have done that training and will be more confident about working with you all.

Until next time,

Big licks and lots of tail-wagging, Norman

P&C News

Heritage Garden

Unfortunately due to COVID lockdowns in Melbourne the delivery of our engraved pavers has been delayed. This has put on hold the construction of the Heritage Garden. Please keep an eye out for working bee dates once the pavers have been received.

Polos

The commemoration polos that were ordered in the first round are nearly here. There will be another opportunity to order yours commencing in week 2 and closing Friday 22nd October. Keep an eye out for order forms coming home with your child.

Events Wrap Up

Disco

Our cancelled disco was held during school hours on the last day of Term 3. Students had a wonderful time carving up the dance floor and enjoyed the meal deal at the Tuckshop. Thank you to all the volunteers that helped this day be a success and thank you to the school administration and teachers for working with us to give this opportunity to the students.  Over $300 was raised.

End of Year Baskets

In the coming week notes will go home about our End of Year Christmas raffles. We will again be doing themed baskets from each class which will be raffled off at the End of Year Concert held on Wednesday, 24 November. Baskets will be placed in your child's classroom to receive donations. The themes for each class are:

2022 Events

We are busily planning our 2022 events. Is there something you would like to see? Please send us an email with your ideas rsspcevents@outlook.com

Tuckshop

Ordering

The preference is that all orders are placed on Flexi Schools. We offer a very limited over the counter menu to purchase for first break (lunch), please see this menu below. We strongly encourage you to order afternoon tea online, as afternoon tea over the counter sales are dependent on having volunteers to serve. Ice blocks can continue to be ordered online and picked up by your child from the tuckshop. Please refer to flexi schools for more information. We are able to accept cash again for ice block sales.

Forks and Spoons

Please ensure you pack spoons & forks with your children’s lunches from home, as these items are NOT handed out for free at the Tuckshop.  Single use spoons and forks are 10c each.  (Food items ordered from the Tuckshop requiring cutlery do not incur this fee).

Tuckshop

Our Tuckshop relies on the generosity of volunteers to make it a success, and to offer students and staff an extensive menu 5 days a week. To help make the load lighter for our Convenors, we need as many helpers as we can get – mums, dads, and grandparents. This year we have lost some of our dedicated Tuckshop Volunteers due to their children moving on to high school. Volunteering in the Tuckshop on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis is a great opportunity to participate in the school community and meet other parents. If you can spare as little as 30 minutes after school drop-off, or a couple of hours from 9am-11am, please contact our convenors at tuckshop@runcornss.eq.edu.au or via the Runcorn P&C Facebook Page. We have a variety of jobs available.

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is now open by appointment only, please use the QR code located on the office front glass door to book your appointment. Online ordering is still available via email rssuniform@outlook.com and we will deliver your order to your child’s classroom as soon as we can.

If you have any old uniforms that you would like to donate please send them in with your child and let us know via email (rssuniform@outlook.com) and we will collect from their classroom.

Blue Cards for P&C Volunteers

We are in the process of updating our Blue Card Register for the P&C. It is a requirement as part of the school's Student Protection Risk Management Strategy to ensure that all volunteers at a P&C event (such as discos and the Arts Fair), in the Tuckshop, or the Uniform Shop that is not a parent of a Runcorn State School student should have a current Blue Card which is registered with the P&C.

If you are a non-parent P&C volunteer (or would like to become involved in volunteering through the P&C and are not a parent), please email Nadera at rsspcsecretary@outlook.com to provide your most up-to-date details.

Facebook

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook Runcorn State School P&C Association to stay up to date on everything!!

Runcorn State High School - Year 6's entering into Year 7 in 2022

Title: Runcorn State High School – Year 6 Information Evening

Date: Monday, 15 November from 6.30pm to 7.30pm

Description:

All students enrolled to attend Year 7 at Runcorn State High School in 2021 and a caregiver are invited to attend an information evening. The evening will be located in our Blues Sporting Hall, parking is available outside of the hall and along Hill road.

Mr Egan (Deputy Principal – Junior Secondary), Mr Allen (Head of Junior Secondary) and Mr Warwick (Officer of Welfare and Learning) will provide you with some information on expectations for next year and helpful hints in the transition to High School for your student. Uniforms will also be on display and students will find out which class they will be in.

Caregivers will be emailed a Microsoft Form link to RSVP for the Information Evening. Please note that due to COVID-19 restrictions only one caregiver along with their student are permitted to attend from each family.

Title:      Runcorn State High School - Year 6 Orientation Day

Date:     Monday, 22 November from 8.45am to 2.50pm

Description:

All students enrolled to attend Year 7 at Runcorn State High School in 2021 are invited to attend an Orientation Day. Students are to arrive at Runcorn State High School at 8:45am wearing their primary school uniform and meet in the Sports Hall. They need to bring with them a hat, drink bottle and some lunch or money for the canteen. A sausage sizzle and ice block will be provided on the day.

On the day, students will meet their key teachers and find their classrooms for 2021. Students will also experience a sample high school timetable with Maths, English, Humanities, Science and HPE. Students will end the day with sports activities in the hall.

Parents can collect students from the Sports Hall at 2:50pm

Community News