Newsletter Term 4 Week 10

From the Principal

This is the last newsletter for the year and what a year? When reflecting on 2021, we can be proud of what we have achieved. We showed resilience throughout the uncertainty of lockdown, home schooling and other unexpected changes. We were able to host large community events and brought hundreds of visitors through our gates. The Semester 1 disco was the biggest we have ever had and then in Semester 2 we celebrated the school’s 120^th birthday. Student performances, their art and craft, food - all came together in the biggest community celebration in many years.

Let’s not forget what happens in the classrooms. Students and staff have worked consistently to reach personal goals and targets. We have high expectations and set our goals accordingly. We reached our targets of students achieving As and Bs and we reduced the number of students below benchmarks. There is still room to grow and this will be next year's goal. In 2021, we focussed on tracking English results and were congratulated on achieving above similar schools in Metro Region. Teachers rate the students highly on effort and 98% received C or above in their effort.

In 2021, Gala days were back in the calendar but unfortunately due to weather, some had to be cancelled. Our students took this on the chin and focussed their attention on other things. We had very successful sports and swimming carnivals and it is always a pleasure to observe the house spirit that is alive and well. Congratulations to all students who participated and well done to the age champions.

Music at Runcorn continues to thrive. Our instrumental students participated in the Karawatha camp, our band, strings and choirs performed at many school events. The end of year concert was full of colour and talent. We are very proud of them. We say goodbye to Mr Craig Millar as he moves to the next adventure in his life. Amie O’Callaghan will be our band teacher in 2022.

Week 9 was a week with many other celebrations. The Year 6's had their Graduation and well done to all of them and thank you to their teachers for planning and organising a celebratory day. It was lovely to see them dressed up for the occasion and we enjoyed the Strings players.

The very next day, we had the Awards Parade. Congratulations to the award recipients.  More details will follow in Ms La Sala’s section of the newsletter.

Over the holidays, many families might purchase uniforms, shoes and socks for their children. Please ensure that these items are the school uniform. All students should be wearing the new uniform with black shoes and either black or white socks. Check the school website for details.

Covid continues to impact on our lives. If there are any changes or closures that might impact the start of school, you will be notified through emails. A letter was sent out last week regarding the vaccinations and coming into schools. Let’s hope that we enjoy the holiday and have a smooth start to the year. It is important that your details are up to date.

Semester 2 reports will be emailed to all families on Wednesday.

At the end of this year, we will say goodbye to Ms Clare Naughton. Ms Naughton has worked at Runcorn for almost four years in Years 2, 3 and 4. We wish her all the best.

Finally, to all staff, students and families, I wish you a restful and safe holiday and we will see you back in 2022. To all who celebrate Christmas, have a very happy one.

Michelle D'Netto

From the Deputy Principal

As the 2021 school year draws to a close we reflect on how we have and can use our You Can Do It 5 keys to success and Inquiry Thinking learner assets.  We have all certainly needed to dig deep with resilience, persistence and collaboration skills with all the uncertainties and changes to routines due to COVID over the year.  One of the highlights 2021 was our 120 Year Celebration Community Arts Fair  - the collaboration, communication and organisation  required to pull this event together by Staff, Students, P&C and Volunteers was incredible.  Special congratulations must go to our confident performers with their high level of musical and dance items. What a wonderful event.  Students will be Stepping Up to their new classes before the end of term and wherever possible meeting their  2022 teachers, this will require us all to be confident communicators as we consider the expectations of the  next year level of schooling.

As we prepare for the 2022 school year, we need to use our organisation and self-management skills to ensure that we have ordered the 2022 stationery lists, have black shoes that fit and black or white socks, and the new uniform which is fully phased in and will be required in 2022. Labelling all school uniform items is one aspect of self-management that requires focus – the other is actually keeping track of clothing, water bottles and lunch boxes.  (There is still a large amount of un-named lost property under B block that has not made its way home – so please have a look for any lost clothing.)  

Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing summer holiday and looking forward to seeing your smiling faces in 2022.

Roberta Matlock

From the Teaching & Learning Coach

Thinkers Society

Throughout Term 4, I have had the pleasure of working with The Thinkers Society.  A group of ten students from years 4-6 who came together weekly to work on The Learning Assets and a personalised passion project.  Last week these students presented their projects on a range of topics from String Theory to Charles Darwin to the effect that screens have on children.  All in attendance were incredibly impressed and proud at what the students had prepared.  I wonder who will be invited to join The Thinkers Society in 2022?  

The Big Write

This week will see our last Big Write of 2021.  This has been a really exciting term of writing and I can’t wait to see how we grow and develop our skills as authors in 2022.  Below is our stimulus of week…featuring Runcorn’s own Norman! 

Awards Ceremony

On Thursday morning we held our annual Awards Ceremony to celebrate our high achieving students in English, Maths, overall academics and Citizenship.  I know the teachers found it very hard to choose the recipients for this year, which is a credit to each and every student for their hard work and perseverance in 2021.  Congratulations, we are all so proud of you! Below is a photo of our 2021 award recipients. 

Happy Holidays

As this academic year draws to a close can I took the opportunity to reflect on all of the wonderful things Runcorn has achieved in the realm of Teaching & Learning.  2021 has been a very busy year for classrooms!  We have begun embedding Inquiry Learning into our classrooms: cultivating curiosity, learning about the Learning Assets and how we can harness them as deep thinkers and learners.  We started The Big Write and used the Big 5 skills to build and improve on our writing.  Teachers participated in Coaching, Learning Walks and Moderation both in school and with surrounding schools to share and build on their practice.  I can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us. 

Stay safe over the break, relax, keep reading and I’ll see you all in January.   

Rachel La Sala

Music Matters

End of Year Concert

I am so proud of all the students for performing so beautifully at the End of Year Concert and I hope that everyone who attended enjoyed the night.

My sincerest thanks go to the P&C and all the parents, carers and staff who helped with setting up, packing down, wiping chairs and everything else that goes into the concert. You helped it to run so smoothly- thank you!

I wish the Runcorn community and very happy and safe holiday.

Mariel Hopper- Classroom Music Teacher

mxhop2@eq.edu.au

Norman's News

There have been so many celebrations at Runcorn this fortnight. It’s really the pawfect ending to my first year with you all!

The End of Year Concert was definitely a highlight. It was so exciting being out at night, smelling the sausages cooking and watching all the students and their families coming in dressed up and enthusiastic about their performances. Personally, I was feeling a little nervous about going on stage with the teachers, but it was fun once I was up there – even when I forgot my moves! Next year I will start practising earlier and will see if I can master a few tricks for the audience!

The Senior Swimming Carnival was also lots of fun! The cheering was fantastic and the competition fierce… my only disappointment being that there was no dog-paddling event!

I was lucky to attend the Volunteers Breakfast too. I put on my best ‘puppy-dog eyes’ for all that were attending, but despite my best efforts at getting close to the table of food, nothing was dropped and everyone seemed to enjoy the pastries and fruits. I did get some lovely pats and compliments there though. On the topic of volunteers, I would like to say a big thank you to Paws Only Grooming Salon who volunteer their services to keep me looking and smelling my best always!

The Year 6 Graduation Ceremony was also an event I couldn’t miss. I can’t believe these amazing students will all be off to high-school next year. I am going to miss them all so much but I know that they have re-barkable futures ahead.

Anyway, I will leave you with a joke for the holidays. I hope you all have a lovely break with family and fur-friends and I will look forward to seeing you back at Runcorn in 2022.

WHAT DO YOU CALL A WET DOG WITH A BELL ON HIS COLLAR?   Jingle smells!

Yappy Holidays to you all, many licks and tail wags,

Norman x

PE News

Senior Swimming Carnival

Thank you to everyone who attended the Swimming Carnival. The children appreciated the support. There were lots of smiling faces and personal bests achieved as children stepped outside their comfort zone to compete in new events. The winning house was Banksia.

Prep Year 1 and Year 2 Swimming Mini Carnival

The Prep mini carnivals were hampered with a little bit of rain, but the children all had fun. We had a few races and fun throwing the balls into the goals.

Year 1 and 2 spent half their time racing and half their time showing their parents how much fun they have had playing a modified game of basketball in the pool. 

Surf Life Saving Queensland Incursion

The children and teachers all reported about how much they enjoyed the safety talk. The teachers told me that they believe the children going on camp next year will benefit from this talk. All children received a booklet to work through reminding them of the water safety messages. Don’t forget to stay between the Red and Yellow Flags.

Leah Sutherland, PE Teacher

From the Prep Rooms

Pumpkin Jack Inquiry

During our Inquiry unit Why do we Celebrate? Prep B students noticed that pumpkins were very popular at Halloween. They asked the question, "Why do people carve a pumpkin?" As researchers, the Preps discovered that pumpkins represent harvest time in the northern hemisphere and people carved pumpkins as a fun way to protect them. This peaked our interest in pumpkins and we had even more questions!

How many seeds in a pumpkin? Does a bigger pumpkin have more seeds?

Are all pumpkins the same? Is a pumpkin a living thing? How do they grow?

After reading the story Pumpkin Jack, we decided to investigate how a pumpkin grows. We placed our Pumpkin Jack inside a terrarium to watch it change. We asked how will it change? How long will it take? To our surprise we observed some huge changes and we are all very excited! Take a look at the photos below. Next week we will transplant our Pumpkin Jack into the garden to see if we can grow more pumpkins!

From The Health Room

If your child has recently grown out of their polos (new style)/skorts/dresses/shorts, the Health Room is always accepting donations for emergency situations.  Please drop washed items off at the office.  It will be greatly appreciated.

P&C News

2021 is almost over!   Do you know what we in the P&C have done this year?

As we get closer to the end of the year, it is a great opportunity to reflect on the successes we have had. This helps us to plan for the year ahead. This year we:

• recruited two new Tuckshop Convenors and continue to provide service everyday
• managed a Uniform Shop online
• held a huge disco
• provided breakfast for students in the Naplan years
• ran a bake sale
• held raffles
• provided catering and organised an Arts Fair for over 1000 community members and visitors
• held Mothers and Father’s Day stalls and
• developed plans to build the Heritage Garden

Whew! By organising these events, we have raised just over $12,000 and supported the school with purchases for the Arts Fair, sound and lighting for the Christmas concert and lobbied for support for the purchase of Prep bags. Sadly, we did have to cancel one disco as we could not get enough volunteers.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

To be able to continue to offer the services at the tuckshop and uniform shop onsite and run events that bring joy to our children, we need more volunteers. The P&C exec are a group of hard-working parents who volunteer their time and would like to rely on other parents stepping forward.

You know the saying, many hands make light work.

Come to a meeting or help in just one way - it makes the load a lot lighter for everyone. Bring a friend and make it fun. 😊

Our first general meeting in 2022 is on the 21 February and our AGM is on the 21 March 2022. This is the meeting where all positions become vacant. Come and join your P&C so that together we can continue to run the Tuckshop and Uniform Shop, and raise funds to contribute to our children’s school environment and learning.

What can you contribute? Come and see one of our current, friendly, hard-working P&C members.

End of Year Concert

It was such a great evening and seeing our students up on stage was great. Thank you to everyone who volunteered or supported us by buying food, drinks and raffle tickets. Congratulations to all of our lucky winners on the night! We raised just over $2,700 for our amazing school.

Swimming Carnival

Thank you to everyone who supported our Meal Deal at the Swimming Carnival this week. We raised just over $370.

Mango Delivery

Our delicious Mangos were delivered last week. Thank you to everyone who supported this drive. We made just over $900.

Tuckshop

End of Year Deals

We are on the count down to the end of the school year. To celebrate, our Tuckshop has been offering 8 days of special deals. Below is what is still on offer, please see Flexischools to order:

2022

At our last P&C meeting we discussed the current profit and continued operation of the Tuckshop. It was decided that we would reduce the days we are open to only be 3 days per week, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We look forward to your continued support of our Tuckshop. The Tuckshop last day of service will be Wednesday 8 December and will reopen on Friday 28 January 2022.

Uniform Shop

The last day for appointments is Friday 3 December. Please use the QR code below to book your appointment. Online ordering is still available via email rssuniform@outlook.com.  Orders received up to Friday 3^rd December will be delivered to your child where the order can be filled.

Uniform orders for back to school will also close on the 3rd of December and will be available for collection the following dates by appointment only: 

20^th January – all returning students

21^st January - Prep & Siblings plus any new Students

Please note that the 21st is ONLY for Prep and new students and their siblings, if you are current family and DO NOT have a new student starting, please make an appointment for the 20 January. 

If you have any old uniforms that you would like to donate please send them in with your child and ask them to bring them up to the office.

ARE YOU A RECYCLING WARRIOR?

Did you know that you can support the P&C Association and in turn contribute to improving the school and enhancing your child’s education? All whilst helping the environment. All you have to do is use our scheme ID (C10025917) when making a deposit of cans, poppers or bottles at any recycling centre. All proceeds come back to the P&C Association.

You can, we can, we all can!!! Make a change.

Debbie Linford, President (Volunteer)

Parents & Citizens Association, Runcorn State School

P: 0414 781 190  E: rsspcpresident@outlook.com

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