Attendance FAQ's

What if my student is unwell?

Any child who is showing signs of illness or feeling unwell, should stay at home.
If a child is showing signs of illness at school, the school will contact the parent or carer to collect the child.

Does School Plus automatically know we are away?

No. If you have a regular booking with School Plus Outside School Hours Care, it is your responsibility to notify them directly if you need to cancel or amend a booking, will be away or if your student is absent due to illness.
Please phone 0458 052 153 or email newfarm@schoolplus.com.au 
If you fail to notify School Plus of an absence Police may be notified in accordance with the 'Missing Child Policy'.

What if my student is attending a school activity somewhere else?

If the school trasnports students to an acitivity via bus or walking groups, the school will mark a roll and account for the students.

If you transport your student to the activity, please notify the school they have arrived and are participating in the activity. 
To advise of an off campus activity, you can:
1. email absences@newfarmss.eq.edu.au 
2. phone student absence line (07)3358 7333 option 1
3. QParents app via 'Notify Absences' tab

How does the Absence SMS from school work?

If your student is not present at 9am roll marking and the office has not been notified they would be away, an SMS is generated and sent to parents. You are able to reply text to this SMS. 

If your child/ren have a medical condition requiring regular or emergency administration of medication, please make sure you have supplied school with the following:

1. All medications must be in the original container and have clear chemist labels with the students name
2. Any allergy/asthma/anaphylaxis plans must be completed and signed by a GP
3. All parents must also complete a consent to administer form that aligns with the GP directed plan - there must be a form completed for each medication

IF YOUR CHILD/REN SELF ADMINISTER THEIR MEDICATION THIS NEEDS TO BE CLEARLY DISPLAYED IN BOTH THE LETTER FROM THE DOCTOR AND IN THE ACTION PLAN

Parents are also required to provide a letter detailing their consent for their child/ren to administer their own medication.

Parents are welcome to drop medication to the Admin Office between 9am – 3pm daily.

Students are not permitted to transport their own medication. An adult must attend and provide medication and complete any require consents.

For all emergency medication, once it has been received and recorded by administration, all medication (e.g. asthma medication, anaphylaxis medication) will be put into a labelled box and stored in the administration building First Aid Room.

If your child/ren’s medical status changes (e.g. asthma action plan no longer relevant, allergy severity decreased etc) please let the school know via email through firstaid@newfarmss.eq.edu.au so that we may update our systems.

Dr Carmel McGrath

2025 Student Leaders’ Selection Process

Nominations for 2025 Student Captain positions are now closed and next week we begin our 2025 Captain selection process.  School and Vice-Captain candidates will their speeches on Tuesday 15 Oct.  We do hope to hold these in the hall at 12noon but please note timing can be changed if operational issues pop up.  Following speeches, Year 3-5 students vote, and then shortlisting and interviews are scheduled within a few days.  Once the successful candidates are selected and announced, the same process begins for our House Captains.  Good luck to all candidates.

Swimming Prep-6 and Dance Prep-2

Programs began this week.  Please be familiar with your children’s swimming days and ensure they have all necessary equipment.  Thank you to all parents who have promptly given permissions and payments.  Swim carnivals dates are yet to be finalised.  Prep – Year 2 students are involved in Dance this term.  Dance extravaganza date to be finalised. 

Workplace Health and Safety

We will conduct our term 4 evacuation drill this week.  Next week we will conduct our term lockdown drill and our WHS Committee meeting.  Currently we are also reviewing our safety policy and procedures and will develop our 2025 Annual Safety Action Plan in the next few weeks.  Further in this term we will complete our annual stocktake for our school assets. 

Playground Opening and Pool Fence Rejuvenation Projects

It is fantastic to see the completion of both these facilities projects over the holiday period.  The Official Playground Opening is scheduled for Friday 11 Oct 3:30pm with all community invited.  A huge thanks to our Business Manager Stan Williams for leading this project and for ensuring it was kept on track and reach completion within this school year.  An amazing result with high levels of involvement through parent fundraising and the very kind donation of $150 000 from our P&C.  Thank you to all our parents, staff and students who got involved in the collaborative consultation and generation of ideas for the playground design. 

2025 Prep Enrolments

We continue our prep transition and enrolment process into this term.  Interviews are scheduled for Tuesdays with new families and our Kookie Play Group is held each Friday.  Our tour of the school and Prep Open Day is scheduled for this Thursday 10 Oct 9:15am.  Our numbers are steadily increasing and booking filling up so if you know anyone who is yet to submit an enrolment, please encourage them to do so immediately. 

Kay Bradley

Formation of Classes 2025  

Over the next two weeks, students will use a survey to nominate three to five peers who they would like to be in the same class with, in 2025. From this list, they will be guaranteed one peer.

Students may decide to choose children they play with only at school, or children of a different gender. You may wish to discuss this list at home, but it’s important our students have their own voice in this process. Students, especially Prep and Yr1s, will be supported in class by their teacher to complete this short survey.  All students will be reminded to not include names, for the sake of filling spaces, as they may end up in a 2025 with that student.

As parents, you are invited to share some information relating to your child’s learning and any particular personality clashes that you would like us to consider, when forming classes through this link:

Parent voice in this process, does not include requesting certain friends or particular teachers.

Although we do utilise some software in the process of forming classes, be reassured that our teachers, admin and inclusion team have ‘human input’ at each stage of the process.

As always, when classes are formed, they remain in draft until day 8 of 2025, when our staffing numbers are finalised by Education Queensland. 

Term 4 Lunch Time Clubs

Below are the lunch time clubs on offer for students for Term 4. These will be held second break 1:20-1:40pm. 

If your child will not be returning in 2025 please complete a Student Departure Advice, this does not include year 6 graduates. 

Our enrolments for 2025 are open, be sure to submit your expression of interest now!

BAND RECRUITING FOR 2025

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

All parents of current year 3 students only, are invited to click on the link below for information, and to apply for, our band instrument instrumental music program in 2025. Learning and performing a musical instrument in a group environment indeed has many developmental benefits with the fun factor being my favourite!

For any questions please contact Mr Colin McIntyre via email cmcin13@eq.edu.au

BOOK CLUB

BOOK CLUB issue 7 is here!

Book Club has arrived! Look out for your copy of Book Club in your child's schoolbag! It's packed with hundreds of books and starting from just $3 to help you on your child's reading journey. Explore the books together and discover many genres and themes and activities to choose from and to suit all reading preferences.

Please place your order by Monday 14.10.24

No cash orders will be accepted at school. Please use the LOOP order and payment function.  Scholastic.com.au/LOOP or download the LOOP app

Look out for a copy of the brochure in your child’s bag, or at this link here

https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/

There is never any obligation to purchase from Book Club, but each order earns also earns more resources for our library and classrooms. Thank you.

The New Farm Kingfisher Swim Club is back, and we’d love to see all New Farm State School students get involved! ? This community-focused event is open to all primary school-aged kids and is held right here at the New Farm State School Pool. It’s a great way to unwind, make new friends, and enjoy a fun and relaxed Friday night! ?

Whether you’re a confident swimmer or just starting out, as long as you can swim 20 meters with a kickboard, you’re welcome to join! ? It’s free to attend, no registration is required, and there’s a sausage sizzle ? and drinks ? available for a small cost, making it a great night out for the whole family.

We are also looking for volunteers to help get the kids ready for the races and assist with running the BBQ and drinks stall. Please contact me if you are interested in helping with the BBQ—your support will make the event even more fun! ?

Details:

• First Event: Friday, 4th October
• When: Every Friday night starting from the first Friday of Term 4
• Time: Arrive at 5:15 PM for a 5:30 PM start. Events finish by 7 PM ⏰
• Where: New Farm State School Pool
• Who: All primary school-aged kids are welcome! ?

We look forward to seeing all our New Farm State School families for some splash-tastic fun! ? Come and join the community spirit!

Any questions please call Paul 0403666060