Dr Carmel McGrath

Drop Off and Pick Up

It is great to see our drop off / pick up zones starting to work well.  There have been far less issues now but there are still a few things that would really help the flow of traffic.

Drivers please:

• Do not park in the Heal or Hawthorne Street areas before or after school.
• Remain in your vehicle
• Have your LOOKOUT name tag on display for staff
• Be ready to move on if your child is not there and staff ask you to drive on.
• For further reading on the LOOKOUT program see our website- search LOOKOUT

and refer to the SafeSchoolTravel website link below.

https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/School-road-safety/Safe-school-travel-safest.aspx

Life Education

This week classes continue to attend their life education sessions.  Teachers have been very pleased with the students listening during the sessions and their thoughtful questions.

P&C AGM

Our P&C Annual General Meeting is tonight Tuesday 16 June at 6pm.  If you wish to attend, please contact Sheroo as there are limited numbers able to attend: secretary@newfarmPandc.com.au

Strategic Development

This week we continue our leadership work with year level Coordinators including teachers from Prep – Year 6.  Education consultant David Curran conducted his final session with the teachers on leading teams.  Later in 2020 David will return to support the P&C develop their Strategic Plan to align school community priorities and enable clear direction for supporting the school.

Thursday 25 June – Free Dress Day

The Community and Charity project leaders have organised a free dress day for the final Thursday of term.  The students are asked to wear free dress and donate a gold coin to support the Emergency Services. Students are asked to wear sunsafe clothes and closed in shoes.

Last Day of Term 2 – Friday 26 June

This is a normal school day with regular start and finish times.

Kay Bradley

• Dismissal Arrangements

With a few hiccups and adjustments, we have been very successful in dismissing all our students safely and quickly, whilst keeping parent numbers around gates and inside the grounds, to a minimum.  Thanks to everyone for helping.  From today, we will move our dismissal process from 2.45 p.m. to 2.50 p.m.

• Adjustments for COVID

A reminder that the following adjustments are in place at the moment, until further notice:

• No food/ice blocks for birthdays
• No face-to-face meetings
• Alternative dismissal arrangements in place
• Reduced number of adults on the school grounds

We hope to phase these adjustments out, sometime in term 3.

 PBL Focus of the Week

• School photographs – Monday the 22^nd of June

Attached is the timetable for school photographs. The photographs will be taken individually this year and then put together as a class group.

Evacuation and lockdown drill for Term 2- completed

Cleaning and Sanitising of classroom- daily. Our cleaning staff will continue with the daily precautionary cleaning regime for all areas. Grounds staff will continue to sanitise handrails, bubblers and playgrounds during the day.

Building Project- Pool Change rooms upgrade. Delay to end date revised to the 15 July. J&D Contracting will be onsite for the remainder of this term.  Honeywill Consulting will be managing this process. Year 1 G will remain in the Art Room, Year 1 SR will be in B block and the computer Lab for some of their sessions. Mr Chapman and Mr McIntyre are now back working from the Music room. LOTE lessons will be continuing via the student classrooms.

The termite damage has now been repaired and flooring is being laid in B block.

Pool entrance gates – to be heightened. Delayed due to Pool upgrade project. Mr Rainbow requested the pool entrance gates be heighten to allow more control over entering the area. The entry latch will be heightened as well. Works will commence after the change room project is completed.

Tree Trimming on the oval playground – Booked with Brisbane Tree Services.

Gutter Vac- Booked for Monday 6 July. We will have the Hall, B block and C block guttering cleared during this time.

Social Distancing measures for the reception area, photocopier room and staffroom. You will see the reception area looking a little different. We have had sneeze guards installed at the front desk and floor markings have been put in place. We will have 3 rooms in B block open for staff at lunch times. Hand sanitiser and washing facilities are available in each room.

Garden bed removal and repair to concrete- Rowan Cassidy will be onsite this weekend to complete the final part of these works which includes demolition of the brick garden bed which was damaged by the tree and re concreting this area.

School Cleaners Day- Monday 15 June we celebrated School Cleaners Day. Our school cleaners play an extremely vital role in keeping our schools safe. This year, in particular, it’s more important than ever to acknowledge and thank our school cleaners for their efforts in making sure our schools are protected from the spread of Coronavirus.

Thanks to Gebe, Dereje, Libby, Izabel, Jaqueline, Ana and Carolina.  

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

The Debating Club @ New Farm SS Online - Term 3

Open to year 4, 5 and 6 students

Term 3 2020 commences on Tuesday 14 July 2020 (ie week 1)

Held every Tuesday afternoon 3:30 - 4:30 or 4:35 - 5:35 pm Online 

Term 3 Fee: $218

New Farm State School students are encouraged to join in the 2020 Premier’s Reading Challenge.

What is it?

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is an annual state wide initiative for Queensland State Schools and non-state schools from Prep to Year 9. Last year, 168,000 students from 937 schools took part in the challenge, reading an astounding 2.31 million books.

Student’s make a record of the number of books they read over the set time period, then receive a certificate of completion if they read the set amount of books.

Reading plays an important part in students’ lives during their school years and beyond. It allows children to actively engage their imagination and opens up a world of educational opportunities. The Premier’s Reading Challenge aims to improve literacy and encourage children to read for pleasure and learning.

When is it on?

The reading period for the 2020 Premier's Reading Challenge commenced on Monday 11 May and closes Friday 28 August.

How many Books do students read?

• Prep to Year 2 should read or experience at least 20 books,
• Years 3 and 4 should read at least 20 books, and
• Years 5 to 6 should read at least 15 books.

Experiencing books can include shared reading, listening to stories, or reading picture books. The aim for the 2020 challenge is to engage more students reading more books than ever before.

How do students get involved?

Students wishing to take part in this year’s challenge will be registered by Mrs Angela Lamb our school’s Premier’s Reading Challenge coordinator. Student record forms can be picked up from the school library or download the student record form.

Every student who completes the challenge will receive a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Premier!  Students who participate but don’t complete the challenge receive a Certificate of Participation. Certificates will be presented to students during the Premier’s Reading Challenge celebration weeks of 2 – 13 November 2020.

It will be great to see as many of our students as possible take part in the 2020 Premier’s Reading Challenge!

Please visit Premier's Reading Challenge for more information.

  Premier Reading Challenge – student-record-form .

Happy Reading!

Angela Lamb