Dr Carmel McGrath - Principal

Year 6 Leaders’ Induction Ceremony

Congratulations to all Year 6 students on receiving their student leadership badges at our Induction Ceremony on Monday. We were pleased to see so many families in attendance and thank our special guests the Honourable Trevor Evans, Andrew Kilgour from New Farm RSL and Belinda Hill representing our P&C.  Class teachers Fatima Zayn Al Abidin and Hayden Lawrence did a wonderful job preparing the students for the ceremony which was enjoyed by all. 

P&C AGM – Tuesday 12 March 6-7pm All welcome!

 Professional Development

Leaders In Learning

This week our Year Level Coordinators, Lesley Burridge, Julia Forsberg, Cristian Arredendo, Philip Davies, Rachel Fletcher, Steve Conde and Fatima Zayn Al Abidin, will attend the first of 4 Leadership Professional Learning Days. The series of sessions focus on building the leadership capability across our school. This week’s session ‘Leading Highly Effective Staff Teams’ focuses on the key aspects of highly effective teams. Teamwork is essential in our busy school. The better that people work together and are aligned, the better outcomes the school will achieve. Highly effective teams are more efficient, effective and consistent.

Phonemic Awareness Workshop

Seven of our Prep and Yr 1 teachers will be attending a whole day Phonemic Awareness workshop on Saturday 30^th March. This workshop provides instruction in daily teacher-led oral word play activities to help students develop the decoding skills essential to become proficient readers. Working together in this way demonstrates commitment towards improving the consistency of programs within our school.

 Reading in Classrooms

This week the leadership team will be visiting various classes during reading time to support teachers with feedback and coaching on their programs and student learning.

They will also release teachers to enable them to watch other teachers during reading time. This is a positive way for teachers to learn from one another and develop more consistent high yield strategies.

 Traffic Around Our School

Thank you so much to everyone who has been helping improve the smooth running of our drop off and pick up areas. The processes were established in consultation with our P&C and our neighbours as part of our ongoing Master Planning and Traffic Management planning. Staff volunteer for these duties, but we need everyone’s cooperation with our procedures for this to be successful.  The school’s LOOK OUT program will soon be on our website for your reference.  These expectations are also outlined in our school Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) matrix which was compiled after lengthy consultation in 2018. 

Arriving: Over the past week I have noticed the majority of children being ready to get out of their cars with their belongings and drivers should not leave their vehicle.  This really speeds up the process, so thank you. If you do wish to get out of your car and enter the school, please use an alternate area, such as Hawthorne or Annie Streets.

Leaving: Students should also enter the car from the curb side only as entering from the driver’s side has caused a great deal of concern for student safety. We ask that drivers do not get out of their vehicles in these pick up or drop off zones. If you feel you must, please try to arrive early and find a park in an alternative area, but please beware of yellow lines.

 Full School Review

On 28^th, 29^th March and 01 April we will be participating in our Full School Review.  Every Queensland state school is reviewed by the School Improvement Unit (SIU) at least once every four years.  These reviews are an important part of how the department supports and monitors schools.  The review team will be in our school during this period visiting classes, talking with staff, student leaders, parents and our community and school partners. 

 By the end of the review the team will present us with their findings and make recommendations for our next 4 year period. This dovetails nicely into our Quadrennial School Review which is also scheduled for this year.  With the Review Findings we will then develop our new 2020-2024 School Strategic Plan.  This plan informs the Annual Improvement Plan which forms the planning for our annual budget.

 To register your interest in participating in our review, please contact admin@newfarmss.eq.edu.au or email the SIU at siumb@qed.qld.gov.au

 Also see facts sheet attached.

 School Photos – Monday, 18^th March

• Y1 EXCURSION - Nudgee Beach – 20-21^st March
• Harmony Day – Thursday, 21^st March
• Full School Review (SIU) – 28 March – 1 April
• Last day of Term One – Friday, 5^th April
• Friday 19 April– GOOD FRIDAY
• Monday 22 April – Easter Monday
• First Day Term Two – Tuesday, 23^rd April

Absence from School– Please contact the office absentee line on 3358 7333 option 1 or via email absences@newfarmss.eq.edu.au  before 9am, all students need to be accounted for each day. Please leave the following information when calling or emailing. Your name and contact number, your child's name and their class, their reason for absence and length of absence if known. We cannot have any unexplained absences on our rolls each day. If you are going on holidays please contact the office prior to leaving on your holiday.

 SMS Notifications for absences - We currently use the SMS4schools notification. These are sent out from the office after the classroom roll marking and recorded absences have been entered.

SMS Notifications for absences - You will receive a SMS if the following scenarios happen:-

1. You have not notified the school of your child’s absence by 9am. Phone or email are our preferred options. Phone 3358 7333 option 1 or absences@newfarmss.eq.edu.au
2. Your notification is received later than 9am. Our reporting process needs to be timely.
3. You have not notified the school of holiday or scheduled time off.
4. You are attending an off campus activity and have not notified the office.
5. You arrived late for class or assembly and are not signed in at the office for a late slip. All movements regarding children must be recorded through the school office.

Please respond to the SMS immediately by an SMS and the reply will be generated in our Oneschool database to correct the unexplained absence.

Maker Space up and running in 2019.

This school is so lucky to now have a dedicated Maker Space area where classes can play, learn and create their knowledge in all sorts of areas of the Curriculum.  Classes have already made use of the area and all students are engaged in the class activities.  I look forward to seeing classes in this vibrant space throughout the year.  Throughout the year, teachers and their class will be working with me to extend everybody’s knowledge of the resources and what is possible to show what is being taught in the classroom.

To start the process off, specific classes each week will be producing a 1-2min video about the social skill / PBL focus for the week.  This will be displayed on assembly and then become a permanent resource for the classes to use throughout the year.  Classes have the option to use any of the resources in the Maker Space to produce their video for the school.

Below are some pictures displaying what we currently have. This is a great starting point for the year.

John Rafter

STEM Coach

Ongoing administration of medication

If your student requires ongoing administration of medication at school and you have not yet completed and returned the form, please complete the form below and return to the first aid room.

Emergency Medication

Short term administration of medication

If your student requires medication for the short term ie: 5 days, and you have not returned a completed form, please complete the form below nd return to the first aid room.

Short term administration of medicine

TUCKSHOP UPDATE

YEAR 6 VOLUNTEERS

We are needing some help in the mornings taking orders over the counter as well as helping with the labels for the flexischool orders.

Also, on Fridays we are needing some help with counter service during second break when we are selling the ice blocks.

Come and see us in the tuckshop if you are interested!

TUCKSHOP HOMEBAKE STALL NEXT WEEK

The Tuckshop Homebake Stall will be held on Wednesday 20 February from 2.30pm.

Baked donations are welcome, please drop off at the tuckshop before 2pm and please label the ingredients.

TUCKSHOP OPENING HOURS

The tuckshop is open on Monday, Wednesday & Friday

We have different specials available on each of those days:

• Monday - homemade pies and sausage rolls
• Wednesday - pasta and pizza
• Friday - sausage sizzle and nachos

In addition to that, we have a great range of sandwiches, salads, snacks and drinks. Please see the menu’s below!

You can order via Flexischools (up until 8am) or over the counter (up until 9am). We accept cash and EFTPOS over the counter.

First and second break (if we are open) - come to the counter for fruit, snacks, cookies and drinks!

Please note - Flexischool orders must be placed by 8am on the day of order.  If you have placed an order and your child is not at school a refund can be made by notifying Flexischools by 8am of that morning.

   Celebrating Chinese Lunar New Year in New Farm

This year, the Chinese Lunar New Year Day was on Tuesday, the 5^th of February. According to the Chinese Horoscope calendar, 2019 is the Female Earth Pig year. Brown is connected to the earth. Therefore, 2019 is also called the year of the Brown Pig.

As a tradition in New Farm State School, we invited the Southern Shaolin Wushu Academy to present the lion dance and martial art demonstrations. Children had a chance to closely watch the authentic Chinese cultural performances and be able to interact with the lions. The whole school enjoyed the lion dance and the martial art. It was a happy celebration in New Farm.

                                 

Lost property- If you have lost any items from swimming these are now located in the lost property under A Block. All unnamed items that are left in Lost Property for longer than 2 weeks will be donated to the Uniform Shop. All lunch boxes or drink bottles that are unnamed will be disposed of after two weeks in lost property. Please remember to name items and they can be easily return to your students.