Edition 6
Principal's Message
MRS HARKER'S MATERNITY LEAVE
As you may be aware, Mrs Harker, our lower school Deputy Principal is expecting her fourth child and will be taking maternity leave at the end of week 4 this term. While we wish Mrs Harker and her family, she will be missed in so many ways.
To replace Mrs Harker, we welcome Mrs Angela Armstrong. Mrs Armstrong will be joining our growing school community from Tuesday 9 August for the during of Mrs Harker's leave.
2023 ENROLMENTS NOW OPEN
We are now accepting enrolments for all year levels from Prep to Year 6 in 2023. Please drop into Executive Services or contact us on 2899 5111 to complete an expression of interest form and collect an enrolment pack. Interviews for all students joining us in 2023 will commence in Term 4.
Our Prep Orientation Program for 2023 will commence this term with a Prep Information Session. This session is tentatively scheduled for this term, with a date confirmed when Mrs Armstrong joins the team. In Term 4, we will be holding 4 PrepStart days where 2023 Prep children and a parent/carer join us for Pre-Prep activities.
LOCKDOWN AND EMERGENCY EVACUATION
As you would be aware from my email on Thursday 28 July, we had a planned lockdown practice in the event of needing to keep students safely in classrooms. As it was our first practice and we experienced some technical issues with our bell system, students followed direction from their teachers.
We also had an unplanned emergency evacuation. I cannot praise the actions of staff and students enough. Despite only having one previous practice, all staff, including relief staff, acted swiftly, following appropriate procedures to ensure the safety of all students.
CODES OF CONDUCT
This is a timely reminder to our school community of Parent/Carer Code of Conduct and Everleigh State School's student Expectations for Excellence. While we cannot control what occurs between students and/or other families outside of school, we can manage the conduct and behaviour of parents/carers and students whilst at school or conduct/behaviour which has a negative impact on the reputation of our school. Social media is not an appropriate platform to sure your greviences regarding our school in general, staff, students or other families. Any concerns or issues you have related to the actions or behaviour of others on school grounds should be brought to the attention of your child's teacher, Deputy Principal or Principal. Behaviour related to the safety and welfare of your child or family should be reported through appropriate channels, such as Police Link.
I would also like to remind parents/carers that all families signed an enrolment agreement and ICT agreement stating their understanding of our school's expectations regarding conduct and appropriate use of ICTs. Any student who chooses to misuse digital devices is in breach of both our Student Code of Conduct and ICT agreement and this may result students losing access to using school and/or personal devices.
Students who bring mobile phones to school for safety reasons are required to apply for exemption. If an exemption is granted, the mobile phone is NOT to be used at school, either before or after school without permission from a staff member and must be handed in at Executive Services each morning. If you have concerns with this policy, please contact a Deputy Principal or Principal to discuss.
Deputy Principals' Message
100 DAYS AT EVERLEIGH STATE SCHOOL
It is amazing to think that we have had 100 days of learning at Everleigh State School and we are so excited to celebrate this memorable occasion with our families on Monday with our Colour Fun RUN! Since the students walked through our gates they have made new friends, built relationships with their teachers, worked hard to learn and demonstrate new learning. They have shown care for our environment and kept our school looking new and inviting for all. We as staff have been able to connect with families for special events and to share learning through our celebration of learning afternoons and parent teacher conferences. This year has been a year of firsts and we have loved working with our wonderful school community to build our culture of Excellence through Equity because we Care. Thank you for helping to make our school the amazing place it is.
TOYS AND PERSONAL ITEMS
Just a reminder to all families and students that toys and personal items should not be brought to school without prior agreement from the classroom teacher. These personal items should remain at home as at school they may get lost, broken or mixed up. Things like Pokémon cards and the trading of these can often cause conflict and confusion for students and interfere with valuable learning time if issues arise. We have a number of games, toys and play equipment at school that the students can use and borrow while at school. We thank you for reminding your child to keep these safe at home.
PREP - YEAR 3 CLUSTER STEAM day
Logan West Cluster Junior STEAM day was held on Wednesday the 27 August. The themes was “The Amazing Race” and student representatives from Prep to Year 3 completed challenges to overcome road blocks, taking detours and having fun.
LEARNING WALLS
Students across the school access learning walls in their classrooms and students in years 3-6 also have person learning walls on their iPads to support them in their learning. These walls act as the third teacher for students and provide them a constant visual representation of what they have been learning and what they need to learn to succeed. This week’s newsletter is highlighting the work being done in the year 3-4 space as students engage with Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda.
Year 3 students are focussing on how the author portrays setting to impact on the mood in the story while year 4 are focussing on character description. As you can see from this image, expectations have been set to demonstrate what needs to be known and demonstrated at different achievement levels. Examples are provided for students to refer to that are worked on in class to Bump It Up by adding, modifying or deleting parts from the exemplar given.
As you can see from the images below, students have an extremely visual journey they are taking with Rowan and Strong John to the top of the mountain with riddles spread throughout. The fascination and enjoyment students are showing in their classrooms in their studies is wonderful to see and the third teacher will be extremely valuable to them as they continue in their work.
PBL Pals
Our PBL Pals have been on many adventures so far this year and visited many classrooms. Students in Prep to Year 2 have loved their kangaroo and joey and students in years 3-6 have enjoyed having the platypus stop by for a visit. Students participated in a schoolwide vote to name our PBL Pals. We are now proud to introduce our PBL Pals.
Week 5 Parade
A reminder that Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond and Platinum CARE Credit certifcates will be presented at our week 5 parade. Your child's teacher will inform you if your child is receiving one of these.
Volunteer Mandatory Training
If you are available to assist in your child's classroom and are yet to complete the required mandatory training, please contact your child's teacher or contact Executive Services. Mr Morley conducts relevant mandatory training for volunteers in weeks 5 and 10 each term. This must be completed prior to volunteering at Everleigh State School.
Message from Executive Services
A reminder to ensure all of your child’s belongings are labelled. Any names items that are handed into Lost Property are promptly returned to their own. However, when items are not named, it is difficult to return. We currently have a number of unnamed items at Administration awaiting collection. If any of the items below belong to your child, please contact us.
Everleigh YMCA News
Book Fair
Our First Book Fair will occur from Tuesday 2 August through until Thursday 4 August in our Resource Centre. Families are welcome to come along with their children before and after school to purchase from the Book Fair. The Book Fair will be open from 8:00 am and will close at 3:00 pm. Each class will also attend and your child will come home with a wish list for you to peruse with them from their visit. The school receives a reward points for our Library to purchase books for items sold at the Book Fair. We thank you for support our school.
Logan Show Holiday Monday 8 August
Just a friendly reminder that the Logan Show Holiday will be on Monday, 8 August, meaning school and Everleigh YMCA will be closed on this day.