Newsletter Term 2 Week 5
From the Principal
Newsletter Week 5
Our class teachers are well and truly into teaching our Term 2 units of work based on the Australian Curriculum and contextualised for our Runcorn students. The curriculum covered at Runcorn gives our students genuine opportunities to engage and connect with good quality learning each and every day. This term is an exciting term for our school, and we look forward to once again developing strong partnerships with you to ensure your child experiences positive growth in their education. There are many school events held this term so keep abreast through the school newsletter each fortnight or through the school and P & C Facebook pages.
Karawatha Camp and Concert
Thursday night will be the culmination of 4 days of camp that our string and band students have enjoyed at Runcorn High School. As always, the feedback from the camp leaders has been so positive regarding our students and how they represented our school. Thank you to Mr Biedermann and Ms O'Callaghan for the extra work that went into creating this great experience for our students. We hope to see you there.
Cluster Moderation
Recently, our teachers worked with teachers from our cluster schools in an afternoon of professional development and moderation. The cluster moderation lends itself to rich conversations about the Australian Curriculum and helps to ensure that we have consistency of judgements of students work, so a B standard in English is the same at Runcorn as it is at another school. We thank our teachers for their enthusiasm and dedication as they undertook this very important work.
Uniform Reminder
As the colder months settle in, we’d like to remind families of the school’s uniform expectations. Runcorn State School is a P&C-endorsed uniform school, and we thank our community for the strong support and ongoing commitment to this policy.
During winter, we occasionally see non-uniform jumpers being worn. While we understand that there may be times when family circumstances prevent access to the correct uniform, we kindly ask that parents send a short note to inform staff. This helps us support students without needing to follow up during the school day.
Meg McClure
From the Deputy Principal
Runcorn State School Emergency Evacuation and Lockdown Procedures
At Runcorn State School we carry out Evacuation and Lockdown drills (practice) during the school day each Semester to ensure that staff and students are familiar with a smooth and appropriate response in the event of a real emergency.
If Parents or Visitors are on the school grounds, before or after school or during the school day and they hear a continuous emergency siren over the loudspeaker they must follow the required appropriate process. There are two different defined processes EVACUATION and LOCKDOWN.
Evacuation 🏃♂️
For the event of a fire outbreak, hazardous substance spill or other emergency requiring evacuation of the buildings or building surrounds to the oval.
An EVACUATION siren will be signalled by a repeated, escalating/rising tone ~~~~~~ (think of flames rising, get up and go).
Please proceed to the oval in a calm but brisk manner and wait there with the rest of the students and staff until instructions are given by loud hailer.
Lockdown 🔒
For the event of a dangerous person/animal/storm, unclean air or other event requiring lockdown within buildings.
A LOCKDOWN siren will be signalled by a repeated constant tone - - - - - - beep beep beep beep (think - stay-down-stay-down-stay-down).
During a Lockdown, remain calm, proceed to the NEAREST building/classroom. Shut all windows and doors (lock if possible), close curtains and hide under tables or desks. School staff will phone the Office to let them know how many adults and students are in the room. If there is no staff member in the room that you are locked down in, please phone the office yourselves. Do not exit the room until the all clear is given over the loudspeaker system.
Roberta Matlock.
From the Head of Department - Curriculum
Visible Thinking in Action: Learning from Each Other at Runcorn
This week at Runcorn State School, our staff meeting took on a collaborative and reflective focus as teachers came together to share how they’re using Visible Thinking Routines in their classrooms.
Inspired by inquiry-based practices and the work of educators like Kath Murdoch and Project Zero’s Visible Thinking framework, our classrooms are places where students’ ideas, questions, and reflections are not only encouraged—but are made visible.
From Prep to Year 6, teachers have been embedding routines such as:
- See-Think-Wonder to ignite curiosity and slow down observation
- I Used to Think… Now I Think… to capture shifts in understanding
- Connect-Extend-Challenge to deepen inquiry connections
- Claim-Support-Question to build reasoning and evidence-based thinking
These routines are doing more than enriching learning—they’re building a culture where thinking is shared, celebrated, and stretched.
During our staff meeting, teachers had the opportunity to:
- Showcase a thinking routine they’ve used recently
- Share examples of student work or thinking
- Reflect on what worked, what surprised them, and how students responded
- Learn new routines from colleagues across year levels
This was a chance for us to celebrate innovation, build collective capacity, and spark new ideas to take back into our classrooms.
“When teachers make their own thinking visible to one another, they build a culture of trust, reflection, and continuous learning.”
Jillian Chittenden
Head of Department - Inclusion
Social Worker at Runcorn
I would like to introduce Mr B (Binoy Joseph) who has recently joined Runcorn State School as the new social worker. In his role, Mr B will support our students in achieving success in their academic, social, and emotional endeavours by offering assistance and resources.
Mr B has stated that his passion lies in supporting vulnerable young people and their families. It is his goal to work together with students, families, and staff to create a secure, welcoming, and joyful school atmosphere. Mr B will work with students both individually and in groups, focusing on social skills, promoting appropriate friendship, emotional regulation, and resilience. He will be at Runcorn on Thursday and Friday every week.
Julie Schooth
Norman's News
Firstly, I’d like to give a big bark-out to my friends at Paws Only Grooming—thanks fur the pawsome haircut! I was starting to look a bit ruff, but now I’m feeling like top dog. They really know how to pamper a pup and keep me looking fetching for all my visits around school. I left there feeling squeaky clean and ready to strut my stuff down the hallways, classrooms and playgrounds of Runcorn!
Speaking of strutting, I’ve had a howl of a time recently in Playtopia, our exciting play-based learning zone. I've been exploring loose parts play with the students—digging into everything from crates to tubes to pinecones. It's paws-itively amazing to see the creativity unleashed when we all get to sniff out new ways to build, imagine, and collaborate. Whether it’s a stick, a box, or even a bucket, these paws-on experiences are helping students build confidence and teamwork, one tail-wag at a time.
Thank you all for giving me the best job in the world—spreading joy, calm, and the occasional drool.
Until next time,
Big licks and tail wags,
Norman
Resource Centre News
Join us in the Resource Centre from 2 to 5 June for our fantastic school Book Fair! It’s the perfect chance to encourage your child’s love of reading and discover exciting new stories.
There’s something for every kind of reader including a great selection of fiction and non-fiction titles plus plenty of engaging graphic novels. Don’t miss out on our fun-packed art, craft and science activity packs!
Remember every purchase supports our school Resource Centre.
At the Resource Centre: Monday 2 to Thursday 5 June
3.10pm to 3.40pm
Card payments only – no cash
Online ordering: Sunday 1 to Sunday 8 June
www.thebookwarehouse.com.au
Bookfair ID: #117699
Reminder - Under 8s Day
We are very excited to welcome Prep to Year 2 families and younger siblings to celebrate Under 8s Day with a special morning of play on Friday 23 of May Week 5 from 9.00am - 11.00am.
Parents, carers and younger siblings are more than welcome to come along and spend the morning enjoying the activities. Students are welcome to wear sun-safe free dress that is likely to get messy. We hope to see you there!
Music Matters
Instrumental Music- Karawatha Music Workshop
Our Band and Strings students have been enjoying themselves at Karawatha this week. There is a culminating concert opportunity to present all their hard work tonight, Thursday 22 May at 6.00pm.
Mrs Alison Murray (amurr51@eq.edu.au)
Year 3 Music
The Year 3 classes (including 2/3D) are working on a composing task to write their own percussion accompaniments to the West African welcoming song “Funga Alafia”. Students are using tuned and untuned percussion instruments to create an interesting musical accompaniment to the song. The accompaniments will be notated onto staff lines (tuned) and into beat circles (untuned). Year 3 are really enjoying singing “Funga Alafia” too! It is such a fun and happy song.
Sports News
Welcome to another busy fortnight in the sporting world at Runcorn State School!
We have continued to prepare for the upcoming Senior school sports carnival in Term 2 Week 9 which is on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 June. Due to the large number of students wanting to participate in each event, trials will be held during PE lessons.
It is a great problem to have with there being so many students wanting to participate and give their best, but time constraints on the day of the carnival, have necessitated that we must have trials. This is common practice amongst most schools with a student population over 350 students.
In gross/fine motor lessons for Prep to Year 3, ball game focus has been Captain ball and Over Under Ball.
Mr Brady
lbrad101@eq.edu.au
Health Happenings
Our assembly awards focus this fortnight are the Persistence Key and the Researcher Learning Asset.
Persistence at Runcorn State School looks like:
- Students trying their best when completing challenging tasks
- Students finishing their work on time
- Students avoiding distractions when completing learning activities
Effective Researchers at Runcorn State School are:
- Curious
- Courageous
- Resourceful
At the beginning of Week 5, two tickets from each year level were randomly selected. Our Principal, Mrs McClure, celebrated with those students at a special afternoon tea. The next afternoon tea with Mrs McClure will be held at the end of Week 10.
Sheridan Stirling
sstir16@eq.edu.au
From the Administration Office
Attendance
Runcorn State School's Admin team are available between 8.00am and 3.30pm each school day. You can contact us on 3323 8777 if you have any queries. Student absence texts can be sent to 0429 928 611 or a voice message can be left on 3323 8777 and press option 1.
If students arrive to school from 9.00 am onwards, they are to present to the office to collect a late slip. This ensures that our rolls are marked correctly and prevents parents from receiving incorrect absence texts.
Reminder that EVERY day counts in a child's education.
P & C Association
Important Event Dates for Term 2
- Jersey Day meal deal & gold coin – Wednesday 28 May
- Senior Athletics Day – Thursday 19 June & Friday 20 June
- Junior Athletics Day – Tuesday 24 June
Details for these events coming soon.
Mother’s Day wrap-up
Our 2-day Mother’s Day Stall event was a massive success, raising over $2,000 to subsidise our students’ attendance at science incursions and excursions for this year. A most sincere thank you to:
- all our students and community members who made purchases
- our generous donors - Councillor Kim Marx (450 handmade cards), Officeworks Mt Gravatt (some Fujifilm Instax film for the photo corner), and our families touched by thalassaemia (200 handmade succulent pot plants)
- our incredible group of volunteers that made it possible – Hiroko, Jenny, Evelyn, Andrew, Christal, Ella, May, Meiwei, Ayako, Megan, Cameron, Amy, Kelly, Yuqin, Yan, Gordana, Moemi, Nadera, Quan, Lixia, Kia Teck, Avleen, Dani, and Katriana.
Mother’s Day Stall
Students will be able to purchase something for their mothers, aunties, grandmothers, or other maternal figure. Allocated class times for the Mother’s Day Stall are in the table below.
P&C Day this Friday
P&C Day is a nationally-recognised day held this Friday 23 May to coincide with National Volunteer Week. It recognises schools’ dedicated P&C members/volunteers for the tireless work they do every year to improve educational facilities, resources, and student outcomes in Queensland state schools.
Runcorn State School P&C Association recognises the invaluable contribution that our volunteers play; here are some statistics for the year 2025 to date:
- 53 volunteers
- Contributing 35 hours of time
- Across 10 events
A most sincere THANK YOU to these wonderful people who play such a major role in our school community thanks to the gift of their time.
National Volunteer week video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9XeaGS9Ro
(less than 1 minute)
Can you do ‘Just One Thing’ to make our school better?
As a community, each of us can make a small volunteer contribution if we can all do ‘Just One Thing’ to help achieve great outcomes for our school. Many hands make light work! Please take a few minutes to complete the following questionnaire:
Alternative hyperlink: 'Just One Thing' volunteer questionnaire
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
P&C Meetings
Our next P&C General Meeting will be held on Monday 2 June at 4.00pm in the school Resource Centre/Library. This is your chance to stay informed, have your say, and be part of the decisions that help shape our school community.
Everyone is welcome, and we would love to see as many parents and caregivers there as possible. Whether you’re a regular or it’s your first meeting, come along, get involved, and help make a difference. If you have any questions, please contact Nadera at rsspcsecretary@outlook.com
Our meetings usually occur on the Monday afternoons in Weeks 2 and 7 of each school term at the current time of 4.00pm, however we would like to invite feedback about the P&C meeting times to improve inclusivity of more families who would be interested in attending:
Please complete this poll to have your say in a time that suits your family best.
Uniform Shop
Get ready for School Photo Day
Our School Photo Days are coming up on Thursday 5 June and Friday 6 June – make sure your student’s uniforms are photo ready to avoid last minute stress.
Winter sale on now.
We're excited to offer some amazing discounts on essential winter items. Don't miss out.
- Jacket: Now only $50 (was $55) - Limited sizes 16 and 18 available.
- V-neck Jumper: Only $25 (was $30) Limited stock, so grab yours while you can.
- Knit Sweater: Just $35 (was $40) Limited sizes available.
- Trackpants: Now just $20 (was $25) Stock is limited, so get them before they're gone.
Whether your kids need to stay warm for school or for weekend adventures, we have everything you need at great prices. Hurry, these items are only available while stocks last. Thank you for supporting the Runcorn State School P&C Association by purchasing through the Uniform Shop.
Tuckshop
Contact: Sally - tuckshop@runcornss.eq.edu.au
Opening hours: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (8.30am to 1.45pm)
How to order:
- Via Flexischools (see image below), or
- Over-the-counter purchases can only be made Wednesday to Friday where students can bring cash.
Birthday orders: Don’t forget that cupcakes and ice blocks (Zooper Doopers) can be ordered via Flexischools. Please note that these are only available Wednesday to Friday, and all birthday orders must be placed at least two days prior.
Jersey Day Meal Day
Please keep a look out for our flyer coming soon.
Volunteers Needed in the Tuckshop.
You don’t need cooking or kitchen experience to help in the Tuckshop. Under the guidance of our friendly Tuckshop Convenor Sally, you can help in one or more of the following ways:
- Putting sticker labels on bags
- Sorting bags into categories (Hot Food, Sandwiches etc.)
- Filling drink orders
- Preparing and heating up food
- Making salads and sandwiches
- Peeling apples (and even using the slinky machine!)
- Baking
- Placing hot food items (e.g. potato gems, chicken nuggets) in bags, ready to pack into orders
- Placing hot meals (e.g. lasagne, spaghetti, fried rice, pizzas) into bags, ready for sorting into delivery boxes
- Placing orders into class tuckshop delivery boxes
- Washing up
It’s an excellent way to help out in your community by providing an important service to students and staff. To volunteer: email tuckshop@runcornss.eq.edu.au with your preferred days and times that you can assist.
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Community News
Jabiru offers before and after school care and vacation care at Runcorn State School. Our team includes a range of friendly people who are into craft, sport and outdoor exploration, so there’s something for everyone at Jabiru Runcorn.
