Translate

Edition 60

Principal's Message

Welcome back to Term 2! We continue to welcome new students and their families to our growing school community.

School uniform reminder

It was lovely to see all of our new and returning students on Tuesday. I was extremely impressed with the majority of students wearing our full school uniform. All of our senior leaders at this week’s parade were well presented in our school uniform. They are certainly great role models.

As the weather becomes cooler, this is a timely reminder that students are expected to wear the school jacket and/or track pants. In the event you are unable to purchase one or both of these items, plain black jumpers and/or plain black track pants are acceptable. For those students who prefer tights over the warmer track pants, plain back tights are also acceptable.

Black jumpers – pull over or zip – need to be plain black (no logos, slogans, etc) AND WITHOUT A HOODY. Hooded jumpers are a safety risk. I have seen many incidents where innocent games of tag turn into a child being pulled to the ground by their hoody.

A reminder that sports shirts are only to be worn on Friday or for sporting events, such as our annual cross-country event on Tuesday.

Bike and scooter safety

Our school is fortunate to be easily accessible other than road vehicles. There are an abundance of footpaths in and around Everleigh Estate, leading to our school. Our pedestrian gate with a dedicated bike storage facility positioned near the AFL field, off the main roads, makes walking and riding to school safe.

It has been brought to my attention that we have some students who are so excited to get to school each morning, that the footpath behind the AFL field to our school has become a race track. While it is pleasing to know our students are eager to get to school, they need to do it safely. Parents and carers who walk along this footpath have been close to be knocked over as a result of our eager, speedy students.

If your son or daughter rides to school – scooter or bike, can you please speak to them about:

Ensuring helmets are worn – this means the chin strap fastened
Being mindful of other path users
Slowing down when approaching other path users who are walking

In addition to this safety message, there are some students who are riding E-scooters to school. There are specific laws associated with the appropriate and safe use of E-scooters in Queensland:

E-scooters and other personal mobility devices are allowed on footpaths, public spaces, and road-related areas.
Riders must be 16+ to operate e-scooters, or 12-15 years old with adult supervision.
Maximum speed is 12 km/hr on footpaths and 25 km/hr elsewhere.
No doubling allowed.
E-scooters must comply with normal road rules when on the road.
Using a phone while riding can result in a $1,078 fine, and speeding fines range from $143 to $575.

Student Behaviour when travelling on school buses

Sadly, I have been made aware of unsafe and disrespectful behaviour by some of our students who use our local bus services.

On Wednesday afternoon, I spoke with all students regarding safe bus travel and reminded them of the following:

Remain seated at all times
Where seatbelts are fitted, seatbelts must be worn
Mobile phones and/or iPads must remain in school bags are NOT to be used. The use of either device – unless in an emergency – is breach of our school’s Digital Device Policy, which is discussed and agreed to during a student’s initial enrolment interview
When given a direction to remain seated by the bus driver, it is expected to be followed
Respectful language is to be used towards the bus driver and other students
Noise should be kept to a minimum to allow the bus driver to get our students home safely

I will continue to monitor student behaviour on our bus services. Continued refusal to follow school behaviour expectations and/or Code of Conduct for bus travel, may result in students being suspended from accessing bus services, and/or school-based consequences.

If your child uses one of our bus services, please remind them of their responsibilities to ensure the safety of all travellers. Please review the code of conduct for bus travel with your son or daughter.

https://translink.com.au/travel-with-us/school-travel/code-of-conduct

ANZAC Day Commemorations

This week, we have prepared to commemorate ANZAC, with classes making wreaths, in preparation for today’s service.

On Wednesday, Mr Douglass, Ms Suter and I had the privilege of attending the annual Brisbane City Student Service with 33 Year 6 students at ANZAC square in Brisbane. Travelling to and from by train, I was extremely proud of how our students conducted themselves on our travels and during the service. They all presented themselves, our school and community with CARE. Some of our students met the Premier of Queensland, Hon. David Crusafulli. The weather was perfect and we were treated to a special fly over from the air force. It was a privilege to attend this event with our students.

Due to our growing student population, we were unable to hold our annual school ANZAC Service at our special ANZAC Garden. However, we were able to lay the wreaths at our commemorative garden after the service.

Again, our school community shows great respect when commemorating our ANZACs. Congratulations to our student leaders, Mrs Danielle Martin, class representatives laying wreaths, and Mrs Chivers and our school choir for such a respectful service.

From our Foundation Year in 2022, Everleigh State School has taken part in the Greenbank RSL ANZAC Day march and service. Students are invited and encouraged to attend this special event to keep the memory and importance of ANZAC Day alive.

March details are:

9.30 am: Meet at Blackwell Street – RSL staff will direct to start point.
Parking is limited (Corporate Place), however first in best dressed.
10.00 am – march commences and finishes at Greenbank RSL carpark.

Showing images 1 - 8 of 13

Deputy Principals' Message

Welcome back to all our returning families, and a warm welcome to those joining the Everleigh State School community for the first time this term! We're incredibly proud of the positive and enthusiastic start our students have made as they return from the holiday break. It's been wonderful to see such strong engagement in learning tasks right from the outset, setting a great tone for the term ahead.

Hearing and Vision Screening in Prep

Hearing and vision screening has commenced for our Prep students and will be finalised by Week 7. This important screening helps identify any potential difficulties early, allowing students to be referred for further testing and support if needed. A reminder to Prep parents: this weekend is the final opportunity to provide consent for the hearing screening. Please follow the link sent to your SeeSaw accounts to complete the consent form.

Parent Partnerships

Partnering with us in your child’s learning journey plays a vital role in their success at school. Regularly checking in on their progress, supporting them with homework, and helping them arrive at school ready to learn all contribute to their achievement. If you ever have any concerns, please remember that your child’s classroom teacher is your first point of contact. They can provide support directly or connect you with the appropriate staff member if needed.

Under 8’s Day Information

On Thursday the 29th May, our students in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 will be celebrating Under 8’s Day. The students will be participating in a range of visual, creative and movement based interactive activities along with their parent/ or carer. These activities will be set up around our junior learning spaces. The activities will run from 8:45am through until 10:30 am.

We ask a parent or carer to attend with their child so you can join in this special event with your child/children. This year’s theme is “Unleashing Scientific Thinking Through Play” and we would love for you to join us to celebrate this special occasion designed to embrace the joy of early childhood and the power of learning through play. Invitations and permission slips will go home next week. Please RSVP as soon as possible.

Message From The Executive Services

Important information regarding school attendance

Parent’s responsibilities – it is the parent or carer’s responsibility to ensure the following:

ensure their child arrives at school on time and attends their educational program every school day
provide their current contact details to the school to enable effective notification
contact the school either before or on the day of an absence, or as soon as practicable, in accordance with the school's communication processes and provide an explanation for each absence
notify the school if their child will be arriving late or leaving early
ensure their child follows the school’s processes and procedures for late arrival and early departure.

Late arrivals - It is expected that students arrive before class begins at 8:30am. Once the school gates are closed students arriving late should be escorted into school via the office by a parent or carer who must give a reason for the late arrival.

Where late arrivals are persistent and regular, you will be contacted to discuss the situation to determine if additional supports and/or strategies are required to strengthen engagement and improve attendance.

Early departures – It is expected that students remain at school for the length of the school day. Parents are encouraged to ensure their child misses as little school as possible.

Early departures should only be requested for reasons deemed reasonable. Routine appointments such as doctor or dentist should be made for outside school hours where possible.

Early departures should be advised ahead of time to ensure minimal interruption to class learning. Please phone the school office to request an early departure if necessary. (Please do not pre-advise an early departure via the QParents app as this causes a system glitch)

As classroom areas are out-of-bounds during lunch breaks, early departures during breaks that are not advised ahead of time will need to wait until the end of the break when students are permitted to access and collect their school bags.

Absences – school absenteeism and truancy can impact significantly on students' learning and wellbeing. Research shows that in Queensland, higher student attendance is associated, on average, with higher student achievement. Additionally, attending school every day helps children to build social and emotional skills such as communication, teamwork and resilience.

Under the law, you must make sure your child attends school on all school days unless there is a reasonable excuse. Schools must monitor attendance of students and follow up with parents and caregivers any unexplained absences.

It is expected that the school is notified of a student absence before 9am on the day of the absence, where possible. Our preferred method is via the QParents app. Please contact the office if you require assistance to set up the QParents app. Alternatively you may phone the Student Absence Line on (07) 2899 5160, where you may leave a message anytime of the day or night.

Absence for Family reasons – When the student is absent due to family circumstances beyond the influence of the student. Parents should be encouraged to ensure their child misses as little school as possible. Where these absences are persistent and regular, principals should discuss the situation with the parent and/or student to determine if additional supports and/or strategies are required to strengthen engagement and improve attendance.

Moving house
Transport issues
Family member is ill or in hospital

Absence for Holiday - Holidays during the school term are discouraged. If the absence is for more than 10 consecutive days, an application for exemption form should be completed.

Unauthorised absences – When an excuse given for a student absence is deemed as unreasonable by the principal it will be recorded as an unauthorized absence. This includes:

Leisure activities
Shopping
Visiting friends and relatives
Celebrating birthdays
Fishing
Truancy
Any other reason for absence that the principal does not consider to be reasonable

Where absences are persistent and regular, principals should discuss the situation with the parent to determine if additional supports and/or strategies are required to strengthen engagement and improve attendance.

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

With the start of the cooler weather, we are beginning to see jackets being worn to school. These are often taken off during playtime and left in the playground. If they are clearly labelled it is easy for us to return them to the correct student. Last year we had dozens of unnamed jackets left over that were eventually donated to our guidance officer, as we had no way of knowing who to return them to. PLEASE ENSURE YOUR JACKETS ARE LABELLED.

Name labels make all the difference in helping us to returned lost items to the correct students. We kindly remind parents to name hats, jackets, lunch boxes, water bottles, etc. We really appreciate your assistance with this. Any item that is labelled gets returned directly to the classroom.

All previously unclaimed and unnamed school jackets have been given to our guidance officer to distribute to families in need. If you believe you have lost an unnamed jacket, please advise as soon as possible.

All unclaimed, unnamed items are disposed of or donated at the end of each term.

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 and view report cards. 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.

QParents_registration_quick_reference_guide.pdf

PBL Focus Week 1 & 2 - "Encouragement" - From The PBL Team

Music Notes With Mrs Chivers

Welcome back to Term Two.

We will be having a busy 10 weeks in music.

This week, our choir performed at the ANZAC assembly.

Years 5 and 6 will be starting their music project assessment task in the next couple of weeks. They will be researching and reporting on the music of a different culture and presenting it using Keynote on their ipads.

Years 1 and 2 will also be completing their music assessment task over the next few weeks. They will be responding to pictures and videos of people experiencing music in different places.

MUSICAL NEWS

Our cast has been chosen for the upcoming musical. If your child auditioned but has not received a speaking role, they are still able to be involved as part of the ensemble. I will be speaking to these students. They will have the important jobs of being Fantasyland characters on stage as well as singing and dancing.

Rehearsals will begin next week on Tuesday. I will be creating a See Saw group for students and parents this week and will send though the rehearsal schedule for weeks 2 and 3. Keep a look out for it this weekend.

If you have skills in sewing or crafting and would like to be involved in costumes, set or prop construction, please contact the school.

Remember….

"Music can change the world because it can change people." - Bono

Keep on singing

Amanda Chivers

HPE Message From Ms. Beck & Mr James - INTER-HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY - 2025

Inter-House Cross Country – 2025

Tuesday 29th April (Term 2, Week 2)

Dear Everleigh Community,

House Spirit and encouraging each other to participate and do your best, are some of the amazing by-products of our Sports Carnivals. These events are never a winner-take-all attitude, instead a celebration of supporting those who are able to excel in this environment, and to have-a-go and grow from being a part of a team.

We have designed an awesome day for our school community and look forward to an exciting event. The Carnival Program has been organized for a FULL SCHEDULE of RACES for you to plan your day. We are building independent thinkers here at Everleigh State School, and each student in the Championship Races are encouraged to know their date-of-birth and race details. Mr James and Miss Beck are preparing our runners for the distances of their ages, and we look forward to sending our successful young athletes to the District Event in term 2.

Despite being a Tuesday, we ask that for all of our House Carnivals, our students wear their House Shirts. It is so special seeing all four colours of their houses and to display friendly competitiveness.

We look forward to Parents supporting. We encourage our parents to attend and see their children participate in our school events. The conversations and follow up is essential in our young learners feeling valued for what they do. Should you wish to take your child/children home prior to the end of the day, please ensure your classroom teacher knows to ensure our safety and attendance protocols.

Age Champions and Champion House will be announced on the day, before students are dismissed from the oval at 2.30pm.

It is a big day and a special day. We look forward to sharing this moment with our families and celebrating our student’s efforts.

If you have any queries, please email our awesome HPE specialists:

kjbeck0@eq.edu.au or adjam0@eq.edu.au

Kim Beck Adam James

HPE Specialists