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

Halloween Disco

A huge thanks to our P&C for organising the annual Halloween Disco last Friday night. It is always a highlight of the school community calendar, especially for our students who love to dress in costumes and celebrate with their friends and families.  Special thanks to the key organisers Fiona Caniglia, Michelle Logan and Dan Ward.  Great atmosphere and well attended by our community. 

Last week of School Term 4

As you are aware, this school year is 41 weeks in duration with 11 weeks in Term 4. Week 11 is a normal school week and our school remains open for students as in any other year. Last week I put out a survey to determine the expected number of students so that we could consider plans for our events and activities. The survey indicated approximately 87% of students will be in attendance and therefore the final week will include a combination of regular classes and alternative activities to engage students. 

What will the final week of school look like?

• Report cards will be completed by 06 Dec and sent to parents by Thursday 12 Dec
• Some celebrations will be held in week 41 including Year 6 graduation assembly and class celebrations of learning in P-6
• Allocation of 2025 classes and classroom transition activities will be scheduled for this week
• There will be scheduled periods when students may be supervised by teachers other than their regular teacher when teachers will be taken off-line to work on deep planning and preparation for 2025 in line with the Australian Curriculum
• Students may be combined into diverse groups of varying ages, depending on the activities planned such as team games, talent show, and outdoor activities.
• Tuckshop will be available
• Uniform is still expected to be worn each day
• Our OSHC service will operate as normal before and after school

Important Dates:

• Whole School Fun Day Friday 08 November 2024
• P – 3 Swim Carnival – Thursday 28 November 2024
• 4 – 6 Swim Carnival – Friday 29 November 2024 
• Instrumental Music and Choir Fortitude Valley SHS – Tuesday 26 November 2024
• Year 6 Graduation Dinner – Thursday 06 December 2024
• Year 6 Graduation Ceremony – Monday 09 December 2024
• Last Day of School 2024 - Friday 13 December 2024
• 2025 School Office opens - Monday 20 January 2025
• 2025 Staff Pupil Free Professional Training Days - Wed 22-Friday 24 January
• 2025 First day of classes for all Year Levels - Tuesday 28 January 2025

Kay Bradley

Daily Writing

Writing, by hand, on a regular basis is very important for our students.  Providing stimuli and encouraging free writing has many benefits, including:

• Improving stamina
• Building creativity
• Providing a vehicle for ‘student voice’
• Linking to other areas of curriculum
• Targeting ‘on the spot’ intervention – whole class and individual
• Building student perception of themselves as writers
• Giving opportunities for handwriting – cursive script by end of year 3

Ask your child what they wrote about, today. 

Classes 2025

As parents, you are reminded to share relevant information relating to your child’s learning and any particular personality clashes that you would like us to consider, through this link, which will close on Friday:

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

Please do not send emails with 2025 information, as it may not be captured. 

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 is confirmed.  If our staffing allocation changes, new classes may be formed impacting class configurations.

Uniform Reminders

A few uniform reminders:

• Predominately black shoes.
• Plain analogue or ‘fitbit’ watches; no Space Watches or Apple Watches.
• Plain hair ties or hair bands.
• No make up permitted.

In the past week teachers have been reviewing units of teaching and learning for 2025, with a particular focus on Maths. As Australian Curriculum continues to move to the updated version, it is essential that our classrooms also remain current with curriculum demands.

Last Wednesday night we had the opportunity to launch our Digital Teaching and Learning Strategy for 2024-27. It represents a commitment to Equity and Excellence in everything we do, aiming to provide our teaching staff with contemporary digital tools and capability development that will support a whole school approach to teaching and learning, preparing every student for a successful future. Our strategy outlines a focus on:

• Connectivity and devices,
• Access to a diverse range of curriculum,
• Well-being and safety; and
• Supporting parents to become digital learning partners.

A significant focus is on curriculum and aligning digital literacy capabilities to purposeful learning experiences.  As you receive your child’s curriculum overview each term, you will notice that we are highlighting where digital capabilities will be taught throughout the term.

It was wonderful to see parents join online and at School and would like to extend the opportunity for parents over the next fortnight to ask any further questions via the below QR code:

Finally, Kookie Playgroup continues to draw pre-preppies on Friday mornings. Our enrolling prep students and their parents have the opportunity to become familiar with our grounds, meet new friends and enjoy a relaxed morning session together with stories and activities.

Next year is warming up to being a great year ahead.

Let's make some noise about walking to school!

Students, families, friends and staff are all invited to come and join the band on the walk to school bus, Friday of week 7, the 15^th of November. The walk will leave the New Farm Council Library on Sydney St at 8:15am and band students should arrive to get ready from 8am please. Let's show New Farm what an active life looks like.

Mr Fleming and Mr McIntyre.

Last Wednesday, 30 October, Year 1S trialled a Granfriends morning. Many thanks to Mrs Bradley and Carolina for organising this.

Three Granfriends and the class enjoyed a rotational array of games, stories, puzzles and drawing. Lastly, we sang some songs while our new Granfriends shared some yummy morning tea from the tuckshop. The children all wrote letters for Roxanne, Gloria and Sara. We hope to start our letter writing now to our beautiful new GRANFRIENDS.

Ms Smith

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

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

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

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