Edition 63

Principal's Message

Semester 1 Report Cards

As I have written about for the last couple of editions, this is a reporting term. In week 10, you will be emailed a copy of your child’s Semester 1 Report Card. At present, I am proof reading these. Please take the time to sit down and discuss your child’s Report Card with them. Our teachers have taken a great deal of time to ensure your child’s Behaviour and Overall comments reflect their progress and identify learning goals.

To ensure you receive your child’s Report Card:

1. Ensure you have activated your child’s QParents account. Information on how to set this up is included in all newsletter editions. We will be transitioning to using QParents for Report Cards in 2026.
2. Ensure your email address is up to date.

You will also soon receive an invite to attend a Semester 1 Celebration of Learning in your child’s classroom in week 10.

Active school travel

I had the pleasure of finding the time this week to meet students at our Bike Shed gate. Every student took the time to say good morning. Some students riding bikes or scooters were reminded to slow down as they approached the bridge to ensure pedestrians were not knocked over.

It would be wonderful if more of our school community took advantage of the numerous footpaths within the estate to walk or ride to school. This is a great way to get daily exercise and reduce the number of cars in and around our school.

I was surprised by the number of students who ride or scooter to school and do not wear helmets! Our heads protect our, arguably, most important organ – the brain. If your child rides or scooters to school, please ensure they wear a helmet to protect their growing brain. It would be terrible if I had to make a phone call to a parent or carer about their child being seriously injured as a result of not wearing a helmet. In Queensland, it is law to wear an approved helmet when riding a bike. Please visit https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/rules/wheeled-devices/bicycle#helmets to learn more about what models of helmets are legally permitted in Queensland.

There are also still students who ride e-scooters to school. Earlier this week, one of our students was knocked over and injured by one of our students riding an e-scooter. Unfortunately, whilst there are only a small number of students who ride e-scooters, the e-scooter rider cannot be identified as the individual responsible is showing no Accountability for their actions.

E-scooters

I have addressed the topic of e-scooters previously. E-scooters are classed as a ‘Personal Mobility Device’. The rules around such transport in Queensland are:

To ride a personal mobility device, you must be either:

• at least 16 years
  or
• at least 12 years and supervised by an adult while riding the device.

Children under 12 years of age must not ride personal mobility devices.

If when riding a personal mobility device you break the road rules, you may be given the same fines as motorists, but you will not accumulate demerit points.

If you allow your child to ride an e-scooter to school, please reconsider, as this against the law. Please visit https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/rules/wheeled-devices/personal-mobility-devices#whatisadevice for more information.

Parents/Carers: our children’s first and most important teachers

At Everleigh State School, we believe that learning begins long before a child enters the classroom—and it starts with you.

From the moment they are born, children look to their parents and carers to understand the world around them. You are their first teachers, and perhaps even more importantly, their first role models.

Children Are Always Watching

Whether it’s how you greet a neighbour, handle a tough day, or show kindness to others, your child is learning from your example. These everyday moments teach powerful lessons about:

• Respect and empathy
• Responsibility and honesty
• Perseverance and problem-solving
• How to treat others—and themselves—with CARE

Learning Happens Everywhere

Reading a bedtime story, cooking together, or even chatting in the car are all opportunities to teach and connect. When children see their parents value learning, they’re more likely to develop a love for it too.

What You Can Do

• Model positive behaviour: Show patience, kindness, and curiosity.
• Talk and listen: Engage in conversations that help your child express themselves.
• Celebrate effort: Praise persistence and progress, not just results.
• Be present: Your attention is one of the most powerful teaching tools.

We are so grateful for the partnership we share with you. Together, we can help every child grow into a CAREing learner.

No excuse for abuse – verbal and physical – at Everleigh State School

Recently, we have seen an increase in students responding aggressively – verbally and physically – towards their peers and more worryingly, staff.

We are committed to ensuring that every student feels safe, valued, and respected. Abuse of any kind—whether physical, emotional, verbal, or online—has no place in our school community.

What can School Abuse look like?

School abuse can take many forms, including:

• Bullying or harassment
• Discrimination or exclusion
• Verbal threats or intimidation
• Physical aggression
• Cyberbullying

Our Message Is Clear:

There is no excuse for school abuse. Ever.

What We’re Doing

• Continuing to explicit teach appropriate behaviours in the classroom and playground aligned to CARE values – Commitment, Accountability, Respect and Encouragement
• Reteaching those students who require additional support in displaying our CARE values. This occurs at break times if required as a reteach and consequence
• Providing social-emotional learning through whole class lessons on Zones of Regulation
• Encouraging open communication between students, staff, and families
• Providing relevant consequences for those students who consistently display such behaviour to their peers and/or staff members. In some instances, suspension is a consequence.

How Can You Help?

• Talk to your child about kindness, empathy, and standing up for others
• Encourage open dialogue about their school experiences
• Report concerns to school staff promptly
• Model respectful behaviour at home and in the community

Together, we can build a culture where every child feels safe to learn, grow, and thrive. Our school Expectations of Excellence, which is displayed clearly in all classrooms and around the school is below. Please discuss the importance of respectful behaviour with your child.

Deputy Principals' Message

Hi to our Everleigh SS families,

Thank you for all you do to support our students with us to enhance their school and learning experiences. Each Tuesday when we get to see you in our Parades, it is always a celebration of you as much as our students. Our teachers fully value what you do and please continue to keep in touch with all of us as we keep our students at the centre of what we strive to achieve each day at Everleigh SS. As staff, we also fully appreciate your support in working alongside us to ensure ALL our students are catered for as much as we can with their in-class efforts; their PLAY-time interactions and being positive about how much we IMPROVE in handling our daily operations. As we enter the cooler season and days that may impact on how we feel, how tired we may be after a big day or restless night, our classrooms complete daily check ins on making sure our young learners are able to draw on skills of regulation and conversation with teachers to ensure their voices have a place in our progress.

Week 8 keeps the momentum of learning and events flowing nicely for all of us. Our Year 4-5-6 students have responded wonderfully to our Touch Training program on Tuesday afternoons and a huge thanks to Miss King, Mr James and Ms Beck for supporting our QTF coach, Jett. Our goal here is to build a student’s experience with this great game and the confidence that grows from a sports involvement will carry across into other parts of a student’s self-esteem. Miss King enters teams in the Qld All Schools tournament in term 4 for students in years 5-6, however we are building our squads in year 4 for the future. 

Senior Sports Day is ramping up for Thursday and Friday of week 9. Our track lines will be fully marked next week as our PE teachers continue our timings and practice for another House carnival. Our Instrumental Music (IM) program is also building our young learners’ skills and Mr Jenkin has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to immerse our development with Park Ridge SHS support. On Friday 13 June, some IM students will have the option of attending the Park Ridge SHS music concert at 6pm, to see it in action. On Wednesday 18 June, a half-day workshop (11.30-2.30pm) where Park Ridge SHS students work with our IM students, will also generate enthusiasm to improve; while our last day or term, on Friday 27 June, a music workshop for our Beginner IM students will operate with Mr Jenkin and PR SHS students. All information has gone home, however if you have missed this, please contact us at the school. 

ICT for learning is an important part of building 21^st Century skills in our learners. The responsibility of an iPad also comes with ensuring it is charged every day, and the use of the device supports our ICT school rules. We are seeing an increase in iPads not coming to school charged, so please assist us with this as students are not permitted to charge devices at school. Similarly, should an iPad not be working, we have a drop off time: (8.00am-9.00am) where students can deliver their device to our IT Tech, Shivesh, in the Resource Centre (RC). Outside of these times, students will be required to remain in class, completing written work or cooperating with a peer should the activity be research or online. We need in-class time to prioritise students out-of-class/ walking to RC. The device will then be able to be collected in the afternoon, (2.00-2.30pm).

Public Transport/ School Bus expectations. When travelling to or from school and wearing our uniform, displaying the behaviours that we aspire to for our students, is also expected. While we receive positive comments from our bus drivers, we are also working through some concerning behaviours of late. Immediate feedback to our staff will help us manage and act on inappropriate student behaviours and it is pleasing to see our senior students stepping up and role-modelling this. However, please remind your child of this and encourage them to report any concerns to our office staff or any staff, immediately. 

Have a lovely couple of weeks. With disco’s coming up, our P&C is working hard and would welcome any support you may be able to offer. Thank you also for supporting our wonderful Student Council in our Free Dress Day. Our teachers are deep into finalising student results for our Semester 1 reports and conversations of where they think they are at with English, Maths, Effort and Behaviour; are ongoing chats our teachers are having with our students.

Kind regards,

Mark Waugh (3-6) and Teneale Harker (P-2) (Deputies)   

Messages From The Executive Services

Student Finance

Thank you to those parents and carers who have already made payment for the 2025 SRS Student Resource Scheme and iPad Hire invoices. The due date for payment was 7 February. 

We urge families to attend to any outstanding fees. Statements were emailed at the end of May. Statements are emailed regardless, if payment is owing (debit) or the account has prepayments (credit).

Payment plans are available for all families. If you would like to set up a payment plan or have any concerns regarding your account, please contact the Admin Office on 07 2899 5111 or email admin@everleighss.eq.edu.au

Seasonal Asthma

With the cooler change of season, we are seeing more students with seasonal asthma at the office. When we are giving students their relievers at school, I am surprised at how many children with a prescribed preventer have not taken them. If your child’s asthma action plan includes the use of a morning preventer, we recommend you help them by setting up a morning routine that ensures this is given. 

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 unauthorised 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, you will be contacted to discuss the situation 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 use the QParents app, or you can 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

With the colder weather arriving, students are experiencing more toileting accidents. Please ensure you have a spare change of clothes in your child’s bag just in case. 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 - Registration

Q Parents

We remind all parents and carers to set up their Q Parents app. It is a simple way to quickly access and keep on top of all our services, such as:

• Attendance/absences
• Consent forms
• View outstanding invoices
• Pay invoices
• Report cards
• Update contact details

If you require any assistance to set this up, please contact Executive Services.

Message From The Head of Department - Curriculum, M.s Tanya Conway

Message From The Head of Special Education Services, Mr Josh Newby

📘 What is the NCCD?

The NCCD is a national process that happens in all Australian schools every year. It helps schools identify and support students with disabilities by collecting information about the adjustments or support they receive to help them learn. It’s about giving every child the best chance to succeed at school.

💡 Why does it matter?

The NCCD helps:

• Make sure all students with disability get fair and equal access to education.
• Schools understand what support students need.
• The government decide where funding and resources are needed most.

👦👧 Who is included?

Students are included if they:

• Have a disability (this could be physical, cognitive, sensory, emotional, or developmental) that impacts upon their learning each day.

• Receive extra support or adjustments in their learning (e.g. different teaching methods, extra time, help from support staff).

🛠️ What are “adjustments”?

Adjustments are any changes the school makes to help your child learn. These could be:

• Changing how content is taught.
• Providing extra support, intervention or resources.
• Letting students work at their own pace.
• Giving extra time during assessment.

🔒 Is my child’s privacy protected?

Yes. The NCCD does not collect names or personal details. It only reports numbers—so your child is never identified.

📣 What do I need to do?

Nothing is required from parents or carers, but schools usually inform parents that their child will be counted in the NCCD. You’re welcome to ask your child’s teacher about what support is being provided and how your child is progressing.

✅ The takeaway

The NCCD helps schools:

• Support your child better.
• Understand their needs.
• Make sure they are learning in a way that works for them.

PBL Focus Weeks 7 & 8 - Commitment - From The PBL Team

P.E Message From M.s Beck & Mr James

UMS Uniform Shop News

Greenbank Early Years Network - 12th June 2025

You're Invited: Early Years Service Expo – Next Thursday!

We warmly invite all families and community members to join us for the Early Years Service Expo on Thursday evening, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

This exciting event brings together local schools, early childhood centres, and a wide range of early years services to showcase the many supports available for families. From playgroups and family support programs to health professionals and early intervention providers, there’s something for everyone.

Many families are unaware of the incredible resources available in our community—and we want to change that! This is your chance to:

• Discover local services that support young children’s learning and development
• Chat informally with service representatives at your own pace
• Learn how to access support tailored to your family’s needs

Drop in any time between 4 and 7 PM—no need to book. Bring along friends, neighbours, or extended family who might also benefit. We look forward to seeing you there!

Flagstone State Community College - 2026 Enrolment