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

   

Parent Teacher Interviews

A reminder that our Parent Teacher Interviews will be held on Wednesday the 1^st and Thursday the 2^nd of May.

No interviews can be booked yet.

The PTO software complies with Education Queensland privacy policy. The data that is uploaded, as part of the process, replaces parent names and student names with generic values of student ID numbers. When parents register for an appointment each name and email address is storied securely with PTO.

If you have any more questions about PTO privacy policy please contact admin.

PBL Focus of the Week

Absence from School– Please contact the office absentee line on 3358 7333 option 1 or via email absences@newfarmss.eq.edu.au  before 9am. You can lodge an absence via the Qparents app as well. 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 to complete an exemption form.

Application for exemption for a child or young person enrolled in a Queensland state school – Exemption Form

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.

The Year 6s enjoyed a greatly successful and enjoyable Senior Student Badge Ceremony on Monday the 11^th March. We were fortunate to have special guests The Honourable Trevor Evans MP, Mr Andrew Kilgour of the New Farm Sub-Branch and Mrs Belinda Hill of the P&C join us as special guests. The student leaders proudly received their captains badges for School Captain, Vice Captain, House Captain and Project Captain. We had wonderful involvement and participation from parents and carers and all members of 6L and 6Z received their Student Leader badges and recited their Leadership Pledge. Congratulations seniors!

Great News from the LOTE Department

We are very pleased to let you know that starting from this week, the Prep to Year 3 students are having Chinese lessons with our new Chinese Teacher MS Liz Lee. It will be a thirty minutes lesson, once a week.

The Year 4 and 5 students have Chinese lessons one hour a week. The Year 6 students are having Chinese lessons twice a week for one and a half hours.

 Meilin Chen and Liz Lee

Harmony Day is to Celebrate Cultural diversity. This year Harmony Day/week will be held on Thursday 21 March 2019 during week 8 of this term and our theme is that “Everyone Belongs”.

Students are required to wear regular school uniform for the day.

TUCKSHOP UPDATE

FLEXISCHOOLS ISSUE

Flexischools have been experiencing issues for the past few weeks on Friday mornings during peak times (7am – 8am) and they are currently working to improve their systems to cope with the demand. 

In the meantime, if you are able to submit any flexischool orders on the Thursday evening or at least prior to 7am that should hopefully ensure that your orders are processed and received by the tuckshop.

Alternatively, we do have EFTPOS facilities at the tuckhop if you needed to come in to place an order.

TUCKSHOP VOLUNTEERING

Each week one class will be responsible for finding volunteers to help out on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Each class will get a turn at volunteering and this will run in rotation throughout the year.

Here is the roster for the remainder of Term 1.

Week 7 – 6L

Week 8 – 5R

Week 9 – 5C

Week 10 – 4/5F

Ideally we are after:

• Monday : 1 x homebake, 1 x tuckshop helper

• Wednesday: 2 x homebake, 2 x tuckshop helpers

• Friday: 2 x homebake, 2 x tuckshop helpers

 For homebake, we require un-iced cakes, muffins and sweet biscuits that are a small to medium serve size which are dropped off in the morning. 

 For help in our tuckshop, we are needing help from school drop off until 11am (to ensure we get the food out to the students). Tuckshop help involves preparing food, packing orders and associated clean-up.

 Thanks so much for 6Z helping us out last week!

ICEBLOCKS

Ice blocks are available during second break and we have the following options:

$0.50 – Super Doopers

$1.50 – Icy Twists, Calypos, Chocolate & Rainbow Paddlepops

$2.00 – Mango & strawberry frozen yoghurts

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.

Vanessa, Rachael and Leanne

Cross country / Track and Field Date Claimers

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, this year marks a departure from the normal timing of Australian, State, Regional, District and therefore school Athletics. This has resulted in our school selections for representing for our District to be brought forward to early Term 2 (whereas they would normally be required early Term 3).

The City District made a helpful decision to hold a Mini Meet that included most but not all of the events that required timings etc. This relieves a huge load of man-power that would be required to do that at our Interhouse Sports Days.

The details of the Mini Meet for City District will be published very soon.

Therefore the following dates will apply for our Senior Sports Days and consequently our Interhouse Cross Country morning will be brought forward as well:

Interhouse Cross Country – Term 1 (week 9), Wednesday 27 March, 9-10:45am.

Field Events Day (at School) – Born 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 – Term 1 (week 10), Wednesday 3 April, 9am-2:30pm.

Years 3 – 6 Track Day (At New Farm Park) – Term 2 (week 1), Wednesday 24 April, 9am-2:30pm.

Wednesday Athletics Session

8-8:30am, School Oval.

This week’s athletics practice will focus on Sprints and Long Distance conditioning.

The Brisbane City Cluster High Achievers Program involves over 300 students in Years 5 and 6 from the Brisbane City Cluster of Schools.  The High Achievers Program is part of the Brisbane City Cluster Academic Alliance.

Congratulations! The amazing amount of $926.00 for the flood appeal. 

The winner was Jenny from class 1F.

We would like to welcome Marissa as our newest Road Crossing Supervisor. Marissa will join Jess in performing a very important role as part of our school day. They are helping all students, staff and member of the public across busy James Street each morning and afternoon. Please remind your children to follow the instructions of the crossing supervisor.

We are also welcoming back Gebe a member of our cleaning staff after extended leave. We are happy to see him back and part of the cleaning team. Thank you to all our casual staff who have assisted us whilst Gebe was on leave.

Get involved in the School Banking program.

 New Farm State School is excited to offer the Commonwealth Bank School Banking program to all students.

School Banking is a fun, interactive and engaging way for young Australians to learn about money and develop good savings habits. Children who deposit money into their Youthsaver account through School Banking earn Dollarmites tokens, which they can save up and redeem for exciting rewards.

 The rewards available during 2019 are:

 * Scented Stackable Highlighters 

* Snowy Origami Set                 

* Icicle Slapband Ruler 

* Yeti Fluffly Notepad 

* Arctic Owl Fluffy Keyring

* Scratch Art Cards

* Water Skimming Bounce Ball 

* Polar Pencils & Pencil Toppers

 School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives a Regular Savers Contribution of $5 for every 10 deposits processed per student as well as an Annual Contribution which is based on the number of students who made at least one School Banking deposit in the prior year.

 Getting involved in School Banking is easy!

 All you need to get involved in the School Banking program is a Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account. You can open an account for your child in one of two ways:  

1. Online

Visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking and click on the link to open a Youthsaver account. 

2. In branch

Visit a Commonwealth Bank branch with identification for yourself and your child, like a driver’s licence and birth certificate.

 If your child has an existing Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account they can start banking straight away. They just need to bring their deposit in every week on School Banking day using their Dollarmites deposit wallet. 

 School Banking day is every Friday (except for the first and last Friday of each term). Each week you just need to hand in your bank book between 8.15 - 8.45am outside the Library.

 If you would like to know more about School Banking, please ask for a 2019 School Banking program information pack at banking on Friday morning or visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking

 For further information, please contact Belinda Hill on bjyates12@hotmail.com

Ella successfully trialled to become part of the City District Netball team. Considering how competitive Netball is, this is an awesome opportunity! She will compete at the Regional Trial Tournament on 1 May at the Boondall Entertainment Centre.

We wish you all the best, Ella!

Bowen Hills Early Learning is the coming together of two families who are passionate about providing a loving, educational and richly rewarding early childhood experience with a holistic difference.

 Conveniently located just 3 kms from city, near the ICB turn off, close to Bowen Hills Railway Station this boutique family owned, and operated centre is on route to the city for easy drop off and pick up and naturally within a short drive to New Farm State School.

 Your child will be taken on an adventurous learning journey with magical touches throughout the extensive play areas for each group.  Children also enjoy singing birds, hidden fairy doors, plants and quiet relaxing areas for our little ones.

 We love welcoming new families to our Bowen Hills Early Learning Community and hope to welcome New Farm families too!

 At Bowen Hills Early Learning we are proud to offer you:

• Over 20 years of our families’ extensive experience in delivering childcare services in a boutique and intimate nurturing environment.
• Exciting playscapes including a designated yoga deck, tranquil reading corners amongst the plants, climbing frames, sandpits, fort and full size boat!
• Abundant green areas to support children’s learning and love of the environment.
• Qualified early childhood educators focused on providing richly rewarding experiences in a loving nurturing environment.
• Nutritious meals created on site with fresh ingredients specifically selected for little ones’ growing bodies.
• INCLUSIVE fees covering all meals, children’s yoga, languages, music, sports programs and more!
• Plus, FREE parents’ yoga and meditation sessions each week!

 We have seen firsthand what a powerfully positive impact quality childcare services has on each and every child’s life.  We are proud to offer your child our nurturing and loving environment where every child can benefit and blossom through our high-quality early childhood education and extra-curricular programs.

 We invite New Farm State School families to visit our centre today, meet our passionate team of educators and experience how we provide outstanding early learning services with a holistic difference.

 Book a Centre Tour to discover our difference

https://bowenhillsearlylearning.com.au/book-a-tour/