Dr Carmel McGrath

Parent Teacher Information Sessions

This week classes are holding their annual information sessions.  At the sessions, teachers will discuss their timetables, curriculum, positive behaviour expectations and procedures, homework, specialist information and other specific class information.  Parents should also expect to receive a term class newsletter each team in the first few weeks.  This should have gone home either last week or this week at the information session.

Enrolment Census – Day 4 & Day 8

We have now finalised our student enrolment for 2020 with 558 students in total.  This is an increase of 54 students from this time last year.  I now expect no changes to the classes we have formed as this total fits within the 23^rd teacher allocation.  While we continue to enrol students throughout the year, our staffing numbers will now remain unchanged for the school year. 

Swimming begins this week – thank you to all parents who have sent through their child’s permission and receipt of payment.

Excursions and Incursions

Year 1 – Due to the wet weather, this week’s Yr 1 Incursion is postponed with a new date to be confirmed. 

Prep -6 - Tuesday at 2:30pm in the hall all classes will attend the annual Chinese New Year Lion Dance performance. Thank you to Mrs Chen for arranging it.

Year 1 Nudgee Beach excursion is scheduled for Mon 17 (1SM, 1SC, 1G) and Tues 18 February (Yr 1SR)

Prep Sensory Unit excursion is scheduled for Friday 28 Feb (PB & PM) and Friday 06 March (PNav & P Nash)

Term 1 P&C Meetings – all parents, staff and community members are welcome to attend.

Tuesday 18 February – 6-7pm in A Block library

AGM Tuesday 17 March – 6-7pm A Block library

Health

Some medical conditions require exclusion from school or childcare to prevent the spread of illness among staff and other children.  Please see attached a copy of the ‘Time Out’ poster, which indicates the recommended minimum exclusion periods for schools and care facilities.   See attached.  Coronavirus fact sheets are currently available on our website also.

Our 2020-23 Strategic Priorities include:

• Innovation
• Inclusion
• Well-Being
• Curriculum

Our 2020 Explicit Improvement Agenda is improving educational outcomes for all students in Reading and Writing.  Our work in this area is responsive to student needs and aligned with our school and regional targets.  In each year level team, teachers will work together to know their student reading levels and develop high quality consistent practices. 

In Prep – Year 3 staff are trained in the Read Write Inc Sythetic Phonics program.  Sandy Chambers is leading the support and coaching at the school level with teachers and teacher aides having opportunities for honing their skills and provide targeted teaching in specific achievement levels.  Sandy has already held one parent information session on the newly introduced approach to ‘reading’ and will continue to offer more through this term.  I encourage parents to come along and find out more about the approach so that they can also support at home.

In Year 4-6 teachers are training in the How Language Works Functional Grammar Program to improve the grammatical understanding of students’ language choices in writing.  The program enables teachers to provide explicit feedback on how students can improve their writing.  Teachers receive ongoing in class support and after hours professional development training.

Kay Bradley

Grandfriend Project

 We are very excited to announce the introduction of N.F.S.S Grandfriend 2020 project, in conjunction with AVEO Newstead Aged care Community.  The aim of this project is to foster cross generational links between our school and AVEO.  Research has found that these links have positive effects on both generations. 

Classes involved in the project will be allocated a Grandfriend for the year.  These volunteers will be involved in a range of classroom projects from reading to excursion helpers and with curriculum links e.g. local history and letter writing.  Teachers will also be inviting their Grandfriend to special school events throughout the year e.g. Anzac Day and Leadership assemblies.

This morning we hosted some prospective Grandfriends and hope they will soon be regular visitors in our school.

 P.B.L. FOCUS OF THE WEEK

Be Safe

• Walk in the pool area
• No rough play, splashing of others or pushing
• Keep your head above water and stay in your ready position, holding the edge, when waiting your turn.

 Volunteers and Visitors mandatory training booklet

Jo Minto

Welcome back to our wonderful learning community here at New Farm State School. I am fortunate enough to continue as the Guidance Officer for 2020 and I am looking forward to working with the students, families and school team. I will be working at New Farm State School every Thursday and Friday. My office is room D-27 Level 1 in D Block.

My work, over many years within the education system, has allowed me to engage in a variety of roles and I have experience in Behaviour Management, Coaching, Leadership and Teaching throughout Queensland and abroad. I am passionate about working together to create inclusive and connected community learning spaces where every child can grow and learn to their full potential. 

Referrals to the Guidance Officer are initially commenced through your child’s teacher or the administrative staff at New Farm State School and are presented to the Student Support Services Team who meet weekly to determine the best course of action for each case.

The Guidance Officer role in the school includes supporting students and families to access additional support – both in school and external supports, along with conducting student psycho-educational assessments with parent approval.

I look forward to working with the New Farm School community over the coming year.

 Jo Minto

Guidance Officer

Sandy Chambers

Thank you to the parents who came along to our 1^st Parent Information session last Thursday on our new reading program, Read Write Inc (RWI). The following links will take you to the Ruth Miskin website where you can read more information and watch videos about the program.

Ruth Miskins Parents’ Page:

http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/

Ruth Miskin Facebook :

https://www.facebook.com/miskin.education

Free e-books for home reading:

http://oxfordowl.co.uk/Reading/

 The 1^st Parent Information session is going to be held again next Thursday, 20^th February, Week 4 from 9:00 – 9:30am.

Book Clubs  

This week Scholastic and Redgum book club brochures will be handed out by the class teacher.

Orders can only be made online for both book clubs as no cash/cheque/money order payments will be accepted at school. All purchases are delivered to the school and then distributed to the child. The school receives commission on all purchases which goes directly ontp purchasing new books and other exciting resources for the school library.

You can find Scholastic book club at www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP and Redgum book club at https://www.redgumbookclub.com.au/redgum.

Happy reading!

Mrs Lamb & Mrs Chambers

TUCKSHOP OPENING HOURS & SPECIALS

The tuckshop is open on Monday, Wednesday & Friday

Wednesday menu

Friday menu

We have different specials available on each of those days:

• Monday – Sushi, Bento Box & Fried Rice (Available from week 5)
• Wednesday – Pizza and Pasta (Available from week 4)
• Friday - Sausage sizzle and Chilli Veg/Beef (Available from week 4)

In addition to that, we have a great range of sandwiches, salads, snacks and drinks.

As the sushi is made off site, its needs to be pre-ordered by the Friday, for the following Monday. Once the sushi has been ordered we are unable to cancel it if your child does not attend school on the Monday.

HOW TO ORDER

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 and drinks.

Friday second break – we will be selling ice blocks, paddle pops and frozen yoghurt.

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.

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. To ensure that the tuckshop runs smoothly, we are needing the following:

Monday: 1-2 tuckshop volunteers and 1 home bake volunteer

Wednesday : 3 tuckshop volunteers and 2 home bake volunteers

Friday: 3 tuckshop volunteers and 2 home bake volunteers

We are hoping to have the class volunteer system start in Week 5 once we have the class reps details.

NEW Uniform Shop Open Hours (to begin on 25/26 February)

Term 1 & 4:

Wednesdays 8-9am and 2:45-3:45pm

Term 2 & 3:

Wednesdays 8-9:30am

 Uniform Price List 

Yes the Senior Choir is starting up again for 2020. Mr Chapman welcomes year 4, 5 and 6 students to come and sing some songs and have some fun, on Tuesday mornings at 8:10am before school. Some year 3 students with a great attitude may be paired up with one of our great seniors and offered a position in the choir. We will be preparing for performances at school and nearby venues. Enquire with Mr. Chapman or just come along for rehearsal if you want to be in the choir. Rehearsals will be held on Tuesday mornings at 8:10am, starting in week 4 (next week). Be ready to experiment with sound and musical arrangements but mostly make sure to come with a smile and a positive attitude. See you soon!

1.The Advancing Clean Energy Schools (ACES) Program, New Farm State School has been approved for the installation of Energy Conservation Measures (ECM’s). Begins Friday 21 February – Saturday 29 February 2020. The staff carpark will be closed during this week. Barricades will be installed at the entrance on Annie Street. Please observe all safety signs during this time.

ECM Work
The Departments contract partner, ERM, have been approved to undertake the following works at your school:

ECM Work
The Departments contract partner, ERM, have been approved to undertake the following works at your school:

1. Installation of a new 36kW solar PV system; D Block
2. Decommissioning of existing solar PV system; A Block
3. Replacement of some light fittings with LED fittings; all areas
4. Replacement of some light tubes with LED tubes;
5. Installation of controller timers for hot water storage;
6. Installation of timers for Zip hot water systems; and
7. Installation of smart remotes for air conditioning systems.

For clarity, the ACES program is funded by the Department, at no cost to the school, in the aim of making schools more energy efficient and reducing the States consumption of electricity.

2.New Farm State School (0943) - Transition telephone service from ISDN to SIP

TRANSITION OF TELEPHONE NUMBERS -

• 28/02/20 at 1pm – – Azentro and Telstra will remotely access your PABX to test and then transition your telephone numbers from your existing ISDN service to the SIP trunks recently connected. There will be no outage of our telephone service. Once complete, our site contact will need to make a test call to an internal and external number to check the call quality.

3. Leopard Tree – Heal Street entrance. Arborist visited site on Friday 24 January. Awaiting final report for course of action required. This area is on our Conservation Management Plan. The area will remain barricaded for this time.

4. Oval – rejuvenation project stage 2 including Stair lift and pathway connection – Honeywill consulting are managing this component of the project to enable complete access to the oval. There is still some edging, artificial grass and a handrail to be installed. The current weather has halted these works. We’ll look forward to this be completed. Staff have been trained in the use of the chair lift by PR King Lifts.

5. Annual Safety Assessment- near completion. School officers has been working extremely hard on this process. It is lengthy and time consuming. After all data is entered we receive a report to indicate what areas are still to be addressed. Most items we currently are aware of around our school.

6. School Infrastructure Plan- for review Term 1. The items listed on this plan are generally works completed at the school in conjunction with the regional office.

7. Building Future School Program-, if you still have questions or comments regarding the building works for Masterplan, you can contact the Dept. at the email address below. We have not received any further notices for families this year.

buildingfutureschools@qed.qld.gov.au

8. Suez- Recycling- All classrooms and offices will shortly be equipped with a paper waste recycling disposal bin. It is extremely important that teachers monitor what is put in these bins. There can be no contamination of food waste. Paper and cardboard only. Cleaner will continue to collect these each day.

9. School Watch

The School Watch Program is a partnership between Education Queensland, the Queensland Police Service and the State Government Protective Security Service.  It aims to reduce criminal activity in Queensland schools and encourages everyone to look out for after-hours crime in our schools.  If you see anything suspicious, please don’t attempt to intervene.

Call the School Watch number – 13 17 88

We're excited to share that the new School Banking theme for 2020 is Treetop Savers. The Commonwealth Bank has developed a new range of rewards designed to appeal to all ages.

School banking is held every Friday in the Library from 8:30am and for more information and on how to sign up please visit

https://www.commbank.com.au/banking/school-banking.html

This year's rewards more eco-friendly and sustainable. All rewards are reusable and packaged using sustainably sourced paper.

• Terry Denton's Activity Book – Term 1
• Mini Soccer Ball – Term 1
• Treetop Stationery Set – Term 2
• Treetop Handball – Term 2
• Tomato Seed Kit – Term 3
• Magic Mist Drink Bottle – Term 3
• Emoji Wallet – Term 4
• Snakes & Ladders Game – Term 4

We would like to thank our sponsors for their continuing support for 2020.