Carmel McGrath

Semester 1 Report Cards

• Student report cards will be emailed home in this last week of term 21-25 June.
• Reminder that parents can add ONESCHOOL@qed.qld.gov.auto their list of safe senders to ensure report card emails are not sent to the Junk folder.
• Semester 1 report cards were distributed on Tuesday 22^nd

Financial and Operational Audit

Thank you to our administration staff who participated in an audit review during last week.  Approximately every 4 – 5 years schools go through a full audit with Health Checks undertaken more regularly each year.  It was a rigorous and very worthwhile process which will give us some areas to refine and improve and commendations for good practices.

Under 8s Day

This Thursday 24 June we are holding our Under 8’s event.  Parents, staff and students in Prep, Year 1 & Year 2 will participate in a range of fun activities in the areas around the hall and music room. 

Parents are very welcome to attend and help out and are asked to keep younger children with them during the 9-10:30am session. Upon arrival, please check in with the Check in Qld App and sign in with your child's classroom teacher. 

Teacher Professional Development

Over this week staff have been involved in the following learning sessions:

• Grammar Development - Mrs Baker, Ms Blackadder and Mrs Norman
• Gifted Education Mentor Training – Ms Loudon, Ms Andrews, Ms De Boer, Mrs Lamb and Ms Foss
• Seesaw – Mr Fenton, Mrs Heenan, Mrs Maslen, Ms Chambers, Mrs Navarro, Mr Ramos, Mr Borg, Ms Kennedy and Mrs Loudon.

Building Update

Our Building Contractor Paynters have advised that there will be some significant works to be completed over the June/July holiday break. Paynters are working with Jabiru vacation care to limit the desruptions to the proposed program. There will be an Energex changeover of mains power and poles on Annie Street, some power shutdowns and a total shut down by Energex is scheduled for Sunday 11 July.

Paynters have also noted that water will need to be shut down due to the relocation of the fire pump house to the Annie street area. Water interruptions are scheduled for over the holiday period as well in the lead up to this change.

If you have any further questions the Paynters communication email comms@paynters.com.au

Staff Update

Next Term we have a number of staffing updates:

• At this stage Mr Borg continues on Year 3 B until Monday 9^th August while Mrs Boyes continues her supported return. I will keep parents informed of any further changes as I know of them.
• Mr Brett Wilson who is currently on leave from New Farm State School has notified us of his intention to retire this year. Brett is a much loved teacher with over 40 years of service in Education Queensland.  He is known as a caring and highly professional teacher valued by staff, students and families. 
• During week 1 term 3 while I am on long service leave, Mrs Bradley and Mrs Norman will replace as Principal and Deputy roles.

Upcoming events:

• Last Day Term 2 – Friday 25 June
• First Day Term 3 – Monday 12 July

Kay Bradley

Birthday Food

Over the last few weeks we have been reviewing the procedures around food shared in school, such as for students’ birthdays or celebrations.  Over the years the practice of bringing in food to share has grown. Unfortunately with COVID considerations and an increasing prevalence of food allergies and dietary requirements, it has become more challenging for staff to manage, especially as our staff has also grown with many relief and specialist teachers coming and going from the school. 

We have made the decision that from term 3, no shared foods will be brought into school and would encourage any birthday treats to be arranged by parents out of school hours, such as a social gathering at the local park straight after school.  If parents wish to share food for such special occasions, they should liaise with other parents and take the responsibility for ensuring allergies and dietary requirements are catered for.  Where class events are arranged, the class teacher will take responsibility for the organisation. 

Out of School Activities

Unless students are on a class organised event e.g. camp or excursion it is important that parents inform the office if their child is away.  This includes extra-curricular activities that students have nominated for e.g. Brainways 

This will ensure you do not receive text messages concerning his/her absence.

To register your child's absence please use the following details: 

Email: absences@newfarmss.eq.edu.au 

Phone: 3358 7333 OPTION 1 

Qparents App 

Melinda Norman

Years 2 & 3 Faces of New Farm Art Show

The ‘Faces of New Farm Art Show’ is back again and this time our year 2 and 3 students are presenting their artwork all week (Monday 21^st June – Friday 25^th June) in the hall 8:15am – 8:45 and 3:00pm – 3:15pm.

Ms Davis has done an amazing job working with students exploring visual conventions such as line, shade, colour, proportion and texture. Students have been examining contemporary artist works to understand how portraits not only capture the image of a person, but also convey feelings and emotions to others. Students have also been using 3D printing to create three-dimensional objects through a layering method. This involves layering plastic materials to create a name tag as a keepsake.

Deadly Choices Program

Deadly Choices has been exploring healthy choices with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to empower students to make positive choices for themselves and their families. This program finished up this week and a heartfelt thanks to Kirilla for all her enthusiasm and fun!

Kirilla from Deadly Choices and our NFSS students learning about healthy food choices

“All of the participants were really excited to come to the program, meet with one another and discuss healthy food choices” – Kirilla (ATSICHS, Brisbane)

Instrumental Music

Mr McIntryre has been doing a great job practising with band members and gearing up to perform at assembly. I couldn’t help but stop and join in with them when walking past the music room last week. Well done everyone for bringing your amazing sounds into our New Farm State School. We can’t wait to see (and hear) you perform for us next term!

  Mr McIntryre practising with instrumental band members

Planning Sessions

Teachers have been planning our term 3 curriculum with a particular focus on English and Health reading for the start of a new term. I’m very excited to see the collaboration of teachers across year levels as they refine their units of work to be relevant, meaningful and engaging for our students. 

Did you know there are three school curriculum plans at New Farm State School? Our NFSS Whole School Curriculum Plan, Year Level (or Band) Plans and Year Level Unit Plans are really important in ensuring our students have lessons that are taught in classrooms that align directly with the Australian Curriculum.

For more information on the Australian Curriculum for parents visit:

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/parent-information/

Judy Loudon

From Wednesday 16^th June to Friday 18^th June the Qld Association of Special Education Leaders (QASEL) held their state-wide conference. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Building Collaboration, Confidence and Creativity’. Proudly on Thursday 17^th June we presented a workshop to approximately 25 participants. We celebrated our work with our strategic pillars, the importance of embedding inclusive practices, how our pillars braid with each other, and how each pillar uses tiered systems of support. Special thanks go to Carmel McGrath, Kay Bradley, Nick Fenton, Sandy Chambers and Natasha Andrews for attending and co-presenting the workshop with Judy Loudon. Special thanks also go to Melinda Norman and Jo Minto for making sure everything ran smoothly back at school on the day and contributing via video. Highlights of the conference included presentations by our State Education Minister, Grace Grace; our Director General Tony Cook and the guest speakers at the conference dinner Tim and Judy Sharp of ‘Lazer Beak Man’ fame. As a young man with Autism, Tim has certainly overcome many challenges in life to be celebrated worldwide for his art. Some of the best quotes of the 3 days were-

• ‘We are only as effective as our collective efforts.’- Ric Day, President QASEL
• ‘Giving students a life of choice rather than a life of chance’-Tony Cook, Director General DoE
• ‘Every school review is about inclusion’- Ms Deb Dunstone, Assistant Director General DoE
• ‘Education improvement requires adults to make sustainable changes in what they do. How can we activate others for change?’- Dr Simon Breakspear
• ‘Students want care, consistency and commitment’- Dr Steve Francis

Extension Programs

Students identified with gifts or talents at times may be offered additional extension opportunities outside of the school. Some of these opportunities are organised through the school such as High Achievers and Mini Festivals. Some of these opportunities, such as BRAINways, are not. Because BRAINways does not always notify the school of registered students for upcoming programs, some of which your child will be attending, please email your child’s Class Teacher and our Inclusion Coach, Judy Loudon on jloud6@eq.edu.au. To ensure consistency of absenteeism records please email absences@newfarmss.eq.edu.au with the date/s of attendance for your child/ren on the day or ahead of time so that our admin team can register the absence. Thanks for your assistance.

Did you know that Mr Fenton runs ‘Innovators of Tomorrow’ an extension program for STEM? Next term, Mr Fleming and Mr Lawrence are commencing a lunch time sporting extension program for Year 5-6 students. Ms Davies is also setting up an Art Club for lunchtimes. Ms Loudon is working with teachers regarding differentiating the teaching and learning for students with gifts/talents requiring extension, including the development of learning area Individual Curriculum Plans (ICPs). During Term 3 students in Years 1 and 4 will have the SAGES Screener conducted to screen for students who may have gifts/talents in literacy, numeracy and reasoning. If you’d like to know more about the screener, Individual Curriculum Plans, or the supports in place for students requiring extension please contact your child’s Class Teacher or our Inclusion Coach, Judy Loudon on jloud6@eq.edu.au

Paynters have advised that there will be some significant works to be completed over the June/July holiday break. Paynters are working with Jabiru vacation care to limit the disruptions to the proposed program. There will be an Energex changeover of mains power and poles on Annie Street, some power shutdowns and a total shut down by Energex is scheduled for Sunday 11 July.

Paynters have also noted that water will need to be shut down due to the relocation of the fire pump house to the Annie street area. Water interruptions are scheduled for over the holiday period as well in the lead up to this change.

If you have any further questions the Paynters communication email comms@paynters.com.au

Photographic update via Drone

Fortitude Valley State Secondary College is currently accepting Expressions of Interest for Years 7, 8 and 9 in 2022. Interviews for In Catchment applicants will be scheduled in Term 3. Please submit your EOI to ensure your early interview time. Refer to our website for required documents and EDMap link to confirm catchment eligibility.

https://fortitudevalleyssc.eq.edu.au/enrolments