Edition 41

Principal's Message

ANZAC Day Commemorations

Last week was a one of commemoration and reflection for ANZAC Day, with our school being represented at two community events in addition to our school ANZAC Day Service.

On Tuesday, over 70 of our Year 5 and Year 6 students travelled by train to attend the annual Brisbane City Council Student ANZAC Day Service. With such a large student representation, we received a special mention from the MC on not only our large contingent, but the behaviour of our students also entering ANZAC Square. Our students represented our school with such pride and respect, especially when we were rained on twice! This was recognised by a member of the community who sent a lovely email to the school commending our students. Lexie and Lilly laid a wreath on behalf of the school and were fortunate enough to meet Queensland's Governor General, Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM. Thank you to Mr Morley for organising, and for our staff who attended - Miss King, Ms Suter, Mrs Martin, Ms Jenkins, Mrs Manttan and Ms McKee.

Our school ANZAC Day service was very respectful and well attended by parents, carers and community members on Wednesday morning at our ANZAC Garden. Our choir was outstanding singing 'Lest We Forget'. Again, Lexie and Lilly were exemplary leaders at our school's service. Thank you to Mr Scott Buchholz MP Federal Member for Wright, Mr Greg Birkbeck who represented Mrs Natalie Willcocks Division 11 Councillor Logan City Council, Ms Suzanne Guastini founder Enriching Communities, Deyaa and Julian from Everleigh Little Learners Playgroup, Mr Rod West from Greenbank RSL Sub Branch, and Adam Welsh Vice President Everleigh State School for joining us on this special occasion. Our students showed great respect during this service. Thank you to Mr Morley, Mrs Chivers and Mr Carson for their efforts in preparing for this very respectful service.

On ANZAC Day, 20 students from Prep to Year 6 represented Everleigh State School at Greenbank RSL march and service. For the past 2 years, it has been cold, wet and windy. Today, the sun shone very brightly, making for a warm day. Thank you to Mr Morley for again organising this event. Thank you also to Ms Dewsbury, Mrs Jordan, Mrs Lau-Hamilton, Mrs Sellwood, and Everleigh State School P&C Secretary, Mrs Weir, for their attendance this morning. A very special thank you to the parents/carers for bringing students to the march.

Thank you to ONO Flowers and Things for the wreaths laid at each of these services.

Every day counts!

Our attendance rate from Monday 15 April until Friday 26 April is 89.2%.

Our year-to-date attendance is 90.5%

Statistics of attendance for period Monday 15 April until Friday 26 April

Congratulations to Year 5 and Year 6 families for their increase in attendance We continue to see both staff and students impacted the wide number of illnesses circulating in the community.

Not surprising that our attendance rate for Friday 26 April plummeted to 76.8%, with a number of families making an extra-long weekend, given ANZAC Day being on a Thursday.

There is a continuing reduction in the number of students who are leaving school, early, thank you!

We will continue monitoring attendance and we will be contacting families where there is a pattern of absences, including late arrivals and early departures. 

Upcoming Earth Works Blasting

Deputy Principal's Message

Cluster Events:

Everleigh State School is involved in several cluster events across the course of the year. In the upcoming weeks we have some students participating in the Cluster Literacy Day of Excellence at Regents Park State School. Students will be involved in two days of activities to showcase their poetry skills amongst their peers. On May 10, students in Year 5 and 6 have been invited to attend Gala Day to participate in touch or Newcomb. We have two teams competing in this event. Good luck to all of our students.

Message From The Head of Department - Curriculum

Thank you, Everleigh State School students, families, staff and the wider community for your overwhelming support and warm welcome into your school as the Head of Department – Curriculum. I look forward to creating strong links, meaningful partnerships, a connection to culture, and getting ‘out and about’ so I can get to know as many of you as possible.

Over the past few weeks, I have been in a privileged position of being able to witness how our wonderful staff engage with students and their commitment in further developing their knowledge and craft of curriculum and pedagogy. The amazing work they do for our school and your child/ren on a daily basis is extraordinary.

Community spirit and generations of knowledge, encompass a diverse and rich education by embedding localised knowledge and contextualising that knowledge at a school level and by valuing a variety of cultures and voice in our approach to engagement and learning. It also enables our school to build connections to culture by enriching the learning of every student which strengthens all of our work.

The start of this term has certainly been a busy one! Our school teaching team, have been co-constructing the ever-evolving classroom Bump It Up and Learning Walls, focusing on fore fronting assessment, leading to students developing a more meaningful approach and clarity about their learning and what they need to work on to achieve their potential.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

I am delighted to invite all Everleigh State School students to join in the 2024 Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC).

The PRC is a wonderful way to inspire students to develop a love of reading for life. Students are encouraged to select a range of fiction and non-fiction books suited to their reading ability and record books read during the reading period, from 7 May to 23 August, 2024.

Attached is a reader record form to tally books read throughout the challenge.

To complete the challenge:

• Prep to Year 2 must read or experience at least 20 books
• Years 3 and 4 must read at least 20 books
• Years 5 and 6 must read at least 15 books

Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim for the 2024 challenge is to encourage students to make time to read.

This challenge will also be occurring within your child/ren’s classroom. Every class has been provided with posters and tally sheets for whole class/individual recording.

For a student to successfully complete the challenge they must read or experience the allocated number of books for their year level during the reading period. Students who complete the challenge have their efforts recognised with a Certificate of Achievement.

Reading is Magic!

Tanya Conway 

2024 Premier's Reading Challenge Parent Letter

Message From The Head of Special Education Services

In our ongoing commitment to creating a nurturing and inclusive environment for all students, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the principles of equity and inclusion that guide our actions and shape our community.

Equity and inclusion are more than just buzzwords; they are fundamental values that drive our efforts to ensure every student feels respected, valued, and supported. At Everleigh, we believe that diversity is our strength, and we celebrate the unique perspectives, experiences and strengths that each student brings to our community.

But what do equity and inclusion really mean? Equity means ensuring that every student has access to the resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive, regardless of their background, identity, or abilities. Inclusion means creating a welcoming and supportive environment where all students feel like they belong, where their voices are heard, and where they can fully participate in school life.

One way we strive to promote equity and inclusion is through our ongoing initiatives and programs, such as the recent session on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The NDIS session aimed to provide our school community an opportunity to meet with and ask questions that may help them advocate for support for their child. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all who attended this session, and Zoe for her time in coming out to Everleigh SS.

Furthermore, Zoe has allowed us to share her contact details for any families who wanted their specific questions around NDIS answered. Please see her contact details below:

Zoe Hall-Hume

Yugambeh country

She/her/hers

Local Area Coordinator – Community Development

NDIS LAC PITC Program

Carers Queensland

Level 1, 6 Ewing Road, Logan Central 4114

Member of Carers Queensland’s Rainbow Allies

National Disability Insurance Scheme Partner delivering Local Area Coordination services

P 07 3441 3600   E zoe.hall-hume@ndis.gov.au

Rhiannon Kemp 

PBL Focus Weeks 3 & 4 - Commitment - From The PBL Team

Messages From Executive Services

Student Absence Procedure

If your student will be absent, parents/carers have a legal obligation to notify the school office, including advising the reason for the absence. We kindly request you let us know by 9am on the day of the absence. We have two preferred methods for advising absence:

1. Via the Q-Parents App – please see reception if you require information on this.
2. Via our dedicated Student Absence Line – (07) 2899 5160, where you can leave a message any time of the day or night. Please save this number in your phone.

Reminder: You will also need to advise YMCA if your child is booked in and will be absent.

YMCA absences should be advised before 2:15pm via email aev@ymcabrisbane.org or via text or phone call 0459 905 087.

Don’t forget to also cancel your canteen order if you have pre-ordered ahead: (07) 2899 5125

Change of contact details:

Please advise Executive Services if any of your details have changed. For example:

• Address
• Best contact phone number
• Work details
• Emergency contacts other than parents/carers

Please pop into the office to complete a change of details form, or email admin@everleighss.eq.edu.au to update your details.

Spare change of clothes reminder

Please ensure you have a spare change of clothes in your child’s bag in case of accidents. Please include underwear, black shorts/skort and socks.

Lost property

JACKETS, JACKETS, JACKETS! We have a number of unnamed school jackets and tracksuit pants at the office! Have you lost yours? Some of these have been here since last winter. Please check your wardrobes to ensure you have yours. We also have a number of generic (non-ESS) jumpers, both black and maroon.

Name labels make all the difference in helping us to returned lost items to the correct students. We kindly remind parents to name hats, lunch boxes, water bottles, etc. We really appreciate your assistance with this.

Any item that is labelled gets returned directly to the classroom. We only hold unnamed Everleigh uniform items at the office. Please let us know if you are missing a non-labelled item.

Q Parents

We remind all parents and carers to set up their Q Parents app. This app is our preferred option and is a one-stop location to check on your account or pay invoices, as well as to report absences. It is quick and easy to use. The app will follow your child to any state school all the way through, including to high school. If you require any assistance to set this up, please contact executive services.

Music Notes with Mrs Chivers

Welcome back to term two.  We have completed our first assessments in dance from last term and now are onto the practical side.

 Years 1 and 2 are choreographing a short dance with a partner to perform.

Years 3 and 4 are learning a  celebration style dance to perform in small groups.

Years 5 and 6 are learning a Bhangra style dance to perform in small groups.

These performances will be the second part of assessment for the dance units.

 Our choir performed beautifully at the school’s ANZAC day assembly last Wednesday. It was our first performance of the year. We rehearse on Wednesday at second break and students from years 3 to 6 are welcome. Keep an eye out for our next performance on assembly.

“I’ve always said music should make you laugh, make you cry or make you think.” — Kenny Rogers

Keep on dancing and singing

Mrs Chivers

Everleigh State School - P & C Association Mother's Day Stall

Everleigh SS - Canteen Messages

UMS Uniform Shop News

YMCA Everleigh OSHC

Kristy Daly

Coordinator