Edition 59

Principal's Message

There are only five (5) days left of Term 1. As usual, time flies when you are having fun. Despite the disruption caused by the weather events of TC Alfred, it has been a great start to the 2025 year.

We successfully transitioned Year 3 to Year 6 students to our new B Block and expect to have the beautiful, new green area accessible for students for the beginning of next term.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Thank you to all of our parents and carers who booked an interview to meet with their child’s teacher on Wednesday night.  With 759 students currently enrolled, 68% of parents/carers booked an interview. It would be wonderful to see this percentage much higher, as it is important for teachers and parents/carers to work together for the success of our future leaders.

The decision to schedule parent-teacher interviews from 2.45 pm through until after 7.00 pm is to cater for as many of our families as we can. We acknowledge that parents work full time and travel to and from work can make it difficult to book an interview before 6.00 pm.

It is disheartening for our teachers, many of whom have their own young families to organise care for, when parents/carers do not make the time to book an interview, or not show up.  I strongly encourage each of you to make the time to meet with your child’s teacher during our next parent-teacher interviews in Term 3, if not before.

Black Flies (Midges) and other biting insects

I am aware of a number of parents/carers who have raised concerns regarding the influx of biting insects, in particular midges. They were certainly driving my horses crazy a couple of weeks ago and have appeared to abate for the moment.

We have been in contact with Logan City Council to assist in the reduction of these annoying insects. Due to the risks associated with Japanese Encephalitis from mosquito bites, their focus is on reducing the mosquito population.

Logan City Council has information regarding midges, or black flies on their website.  https://www.logan.qld.gov.au/black-flies

The best solution at present is to apply insect repellent to your child prior to attending school. Please refrain from sending insect repellent to school due to the risks associated with such products. Alternatively, an appropriate repellent wrist band may be worn.

Upcoming events

With a number of events taking place next week and during the first week of Term 2, this is a timely reminder about our Parent/Carer Code of Conduct and taking photos or videos containing other students.

Please refer to our Parent/Carer Code of the expected behaviours of our community.

We all love to take photos and videos of our children. However, we have a number of students for various reasons who have strict media permissions. Please be mindful when taking photos and videos of your child, to not post anything containing other students to your social media pages or share with family or friends.

Cross Country

Weather dependant, our 2025 cross country will take place on Wednesday. Please adhere to staff directions and remain in the designated parent/carer viewing area. Any parents/carers disrespecting staff or refusing to following directs and/or adhere to our expectations, will be asked to leave. Students will be not released early unless students have been signed out appropriately.

Easter Bonnet Parade

An event all Prep – Year 2 students look forward to, this event will take place on the last day of this term. Students are to remain with their class and must be signed out appropriately if leaving after this event.

ANZAC Day Events

On Wednesday 23 April, Year 6 students are invited to attend the Brisbane City Student ANZAC Day Ceremony. Notes have been sent home this week and are due back by Thursday at the very latest. As travel will be from Springfield Central Station parents/carers must be able to get students to and from the train station. We will not be organising any transport from school.

Our school service will take place on Thursday 24 April. Information will be shared in the coming days.

As is the tradition, Everleigh State School will be attending the Greenbank RSL Sub-Branch march and service on ANZAC Day, 25 April. Information will be shared via email and SeeSaw as soon as possible.

Attendance to date

Thank you to those parents/carers who make the effort to ensure students arrive on time and remain at school for the entire school. We also appreciate those who provide an explanation for an absence BEFORE receiving the text message, saving both time and money. Yes, sending those messages costs the school money, taking resources away from YOUR child.

This data is from 13/03 – 26/03

Current attendance rate: 92.3%

Carpark Behaviour… AGAIN!

It is getting boring and frustrating writing about the same topic each fortnight. I again, bring to your attention the need to drive safely and respectfully in and around our school. I am tired of our both our Admin staff and I receiving complaints due to the ignorant behaviour of some. We invest in the safety of our students by ensuring staff are on duty at both the Kangaroo and Platypus pick up zones. Every afternoon, calls are having to be made regarding the parking of cars in the drop off zone of the Kangaroo carpark in particular.

This week, I witnessed one of our fathers drive over the concrete barrier of the future crossing at the Platypus Pedestrian Gate and park on the yellow line. When the time comes for us to meet the requirements of a crossing supervisor, this behaviour will create a very unsafe situation due to the lack of visibility for pedestrians to see on coming traffic and vice versa.

Here are a few messages we have received in the past few weeks in relation to driver behaviour:

“I’m just getting a little bit worried about the kangaroo car park. Parents and kids are often walking out in-front of cars in the process of parking. I’ve also seen a bit of conflict at the car park exit and stop drop and go exit with the give way sign. Are parents at the give way sign giving away to every car in that stop drop and go lane or are cars giving away to one car at a time to create the zipper effect.”

“I counted at least 7 cars in the kangaroo stop and go this morning that were parked-no drivers!

I know this is constantly reminded and policed but people continue to do this -soooo frustrating for those of us doing the right thing!”

“I know that a lot is being done to try and address this issue-the ladies in the afternoon checking and sending people back to their cars is great (no fun for them, I’ve watched many arguments they must endure with parents not wanting to move their cars). Thank you so much to those ladies doing the hard job of policing it!!

Yes, the parking is very difficult around the school-but that is the same for everyone.

I know you all … doing everything you can to stop this extremely rude behaviour! Very, very frustrating and time consuming for the staff as well as the flow of stop and go.

I’m super frustrated with the parents that continue to ignore this! “

Our staff have better things to do than have to ‘police’ inconsiderate parents/carers, and our staff do not deserve to be abused. Please, show some CARE for each other. We expect our students to CARE – it is difficult when the behaviour being role modelled by parents/carers is anything but…

Deputy Principals' Message

From the Deputy’s Desk….

Week 9 is almost complete, and with one week to go in a variety-laden term, we still have much to do and many moments to enjoy.

Currently our students are busy completing assessment tasks started 8 weeks ago, that indicates to us as teachers, what they know and what we still need to work on. This can be an exciting time for some young learners as they show the pride in their work and can also present as a nervous apprehension. Either way, it is important our students remain brave and continue to work with our teachers and aides, to drive their best efforts to enable future growth.

Parent-Teacher Interviews.

Thank you to our families for your support for our first Reporting juncture of 2025. These parent-teacher conversations form an “Oral Reporting” step in the student feedback cycle. At the end of term 2 (semester 1), we utilise our Written Reporting requirements where reports are sent home. Our teachers are busy using certain days these closing weeks, in planning for next term, our unit designs, excursion possibilities and how we can get best outcomes using our Term 1 student results.

Cross Country Carnival.

Our HPE Specialist have been working hard on setting up an awesome day for our students to contest the 1^st Step in the House Cup. Wednesday of week 10, 2^nd April is the day. Schedules have been sent home, and now we hope the rain allows us to go ahead. If postponed, we will run the Cross-Country Carnival in Term 2.

Easter Parade.

Mrs Harker has sent information home for our much-anticipated Prep to Year 2 Easter Parade on the last day of term 1, Friday 4 April. The students have been showing their creativity in classes through the bonnet designs. I wonder what time the Easter Bunny will arrive.

ANZAC Day 2025

Week 1 of term 2 starts on Tuesday 22 April (Monday is Easter Monday). Our ANZAC service is set for Thursday 24 April, from 9.00am-9.50am. Greenbank RSL is hosting its annual parade again and our student leaders and all students, are welcome to participate in the march from 10am. A very special event will occur over the Greenbank RSL ceremony, and congratulations to Greenbank RSL.

Bag Tags

We thank all our families for supporting the uniform policy and ensuring that their child has a Everleigh State School Bag or a large black bag to carry their personal items in. WE ask if over the holiday period families can do an audit of any bag tags on these bags to ensure that they are fastened with a key ring and that there is only 1 tag that helps them to identify their bag. The tag might be the first letter of their name or another identifiable object. By ensuring it is properly fastened to the bag this will ensure it doesn’t become a distracting toy that is removed, played with or lost. We thank you for your assistance with this.

Have a lovely end to Term 1 and enjoy the first term break coming up.

Mr Waugh and Mrs Harker

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 last month, 7 February.  Your support of our school is greatly appreciated.

As the end of Term 1 is fast approaching, we urge families to attend to any outstanding fees. Statements will be issued next week. 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 by emailing admin@everleighss.eq.edu.au

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 (approx 8:45am) 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, principals should discuss the situation with the parent 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.

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

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.

Lost property

Name labels make all the difference in helping us to returned lost items to the correct students. We kindly remind parents to name jackets, hats, 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.

Please see attached photos of current lost property items.

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.

Message From the Head of Department - Curriculum, Ms. Tanya Conway

Celebrating Harmony Day: A Picture-Perfect Celebration of Belonging

Harmony Day is always a special occasion in our school community, and this year was no exception! With the theme "Everyone Belongs," we embraced the opportunity to celebrate diversity, inclusion, and the strength that comes from our differences.

One of the highlights of our celebrations was the "Everyone Belongs" Photography Competition, where students and staff captured moments that reflect the spirit of Harmony Day. We were absolutely thrilled to receive so many stunning and heartfelt photos showcasing friendship, cultural pride, teamwork, and the beautiful connections within our community. Each image told a unique story, reminding us of the power of belonging and the importance of embracing one another.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated. Your creativity and thoughtfulness made this competition truly special. Congratulations to our winners and to everyone who shared their vision of belonging through their lens. Your photos are proudly displayed below. Harmony Day isn’t just one day, it’s something we live every day.

Let’s continue to celebrate and support one another, because when everyone belongs, we all thrive!

Message From the Guidance Officer - Mrs Mel Bashford

Words of Wellbeing: Recovery after Traumatic Events

Traumatic events, such as: natural disasters, being in (or witnessing) an accident, witnessing violence and abuse, can result in our children needing some extra emotional support. Big events like this can negatively affect the health and wellbeing of children. In the days, weeks and months after a traumatic event, you can focus on:

Supporting Mental Health:

Listen and attend to your children carefully. Speak to your children regularly about how they are feeling after the event. Check in with them over time and remember that frequent, shorter conversations are often more supportive than one-off chats.

Let them know it is normal to still feel upset after such a big event and that you are there to help them through this. Normalise their feelings of distress and give them the time they need.

Everyone experiences distressing events differently, including children within the same family. Talk about this together, focusing both on hard times and what is helping. Children can learn from this and see that it’s okay to feel differently than others and to recover in their own way.

As the weeks go past, initial distress will begin to pass; however, if things aren’t getting better, it is important to seek extra support for you and your child. If your child is having trouble sleeping, avoids reminders of the event, or seems constantly fearful, these might be signs of childhood anxiety, childhood depression, or post-traumatic stress. Talk with your child’s GP or paediatrician. They might refer your child to a psychologist or counsellor. Your child can also call Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 or use the Kids Helpline webchat service.

Taking Care of Physical Health:

After a traumatic event, it’s important to encourage your child to get enough quality sleep, nutrition and physical activity. This can help your child stay physically healthy, which is good for their mental health too.

Help your children return to a normal routine.

If you can, it’s important to get back to your usual family routines for daily activities like meals, play and bed. Family routines will help your child feel safe, secure and confident that things will be OK. It can be tempting to allow normal rules to slip, but children do best when things are predictable, clear boundaries are set and followed, and they know what to expect.

Connect with your community

Support Children to re-establish their social connections. Take them to sport, meet up with friends at the park or catch up with extended family for a picnic.

Finally – take care of yourself:

This is not an indulgence, but a priority. Our children are not okay if we are not okay. It’s important to look after yourself after traumatic events too. This is good for your recovery, which will also help your child’s recovery. If you’re having trouble coping, it’s important to seek help from your GP, another professional or a trusted friend. You can also call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636, or contact a parenting helpline.

PBL Focus Week 10 - From The PBL Team

Q Parents - Registration Process

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.

HPE Message From Ms. Beck & Mr James

Inter-House Cross Country – 2025

Wednesday 2 April (Term 1, Week 10)

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 Wednesday, 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

UMS Uniform Shop News

Greenbank Scouts

City of Logan - April School Holiday Activities

The City of Gold Coast - Free Wheelchair Racing Sessions

The City of Gold Coast has kindly funded FREE weekly wheelchair racing sessions. Join us for these free introductory wheelchair racing sessions at Griffith University (Gold Coast campus). These sessions are available every Saturday morning, until June 28, 2025.

Register here on eventbrite Weekly FREE Wheelchair Racing Sessions Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite

Mentor 4 Me is offering participants a chance to try out a racing wheelchair. Anyone who uses a wheelchair or has a physical disability like Cerebral Palsy, a muscular disability or has an amputation and many others can come along. This opportunity is aimed at introducing individuals to wheelchair racing or preparing them for the Gold Coast Marathon Wheelchair 5km event.

We have 8 racing wheelchairs available for all different sizes from 5 year olds through to adults. We also have a Seated Throwing Frame for children with mobility differences (like Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, MS and amputees) and for those who use a wheelchair.

The program serves as a precursor to the Gold Coast Marathon Wheelchair 5km, teaching the necessary techniques and skills to manoeuvre a racing chair. It includes enjoyable activities and relays. The involvement of parents, carers, or friends is welcomed to provide assistance during the sessions. We would like to get the word out there regarding these opportunities for people of all abilities. 

The 5km Wheelchair Race is the first of its kind in Australia and a new pathway event for young athletes to work toward Paralympic Events. With solid numbers in the inaugural year, 2024, this will ensure that it is a permanent event at the Gold Coast Marathon.

Wheelchair 5km | Gold Coast Marathon