26 January 2018

Newsletter Articles

Message from the Principal

Welcome to our new families and also to those re-joining us in 2018. First day back was a positive day – great to see so many excited and happy faces – particularly across our Prep classrooms. Photos of the first two days of school are featured in this newsletter; thank you to our P&C for hosting Tea & Tissues for our new families.

As Term 1 gets underway, I’d like to draw your attention to a few housekeeping issues and important reminders. In the meantime, Happy Australia Day! We look forward to seeing everyone at the start of Week 2 on Monday, 29 January 2018.

Always our Best,

Phil Savill
Principal

Reminders from the Principal

End of School Day

Parents and students who are not participating in after school programs are reminded to exit the grounds by 3:15pm so that cleaning and maintenance staff can perform their duties. A reminder that play equipment is not to be used before or after school.

Uniform

It was great to see the majority of students dressed in their formal school uniform on the first day of school. A reminder that ALL students are to wear their formal uniform each and every Monday, as well as on special school occasions. E.g. School Photo Day, Anzac Day etc. A reminder that students are expected to wear ALL black school shoes. An illustration of what shoes are appropriate are featured on our website under Facilities > Uniform Shop.

Assemblies

School Assemblies are held each Monday in Hollis Hall starting 2pm. Sometimes our Assemblies are for Prep – Year 2 only, Years 3-6 only, or a Whole School Assembly. Reminders about Assembly dates will be posted on our website as well as in our newsletter. Parents are welcome to attend.

Senior Swim Carnival

Thank you to our Swim Carnival Sponsor - Todd Gerhardt Realty, Gumdale parents, volunteers, teachers and all those involved in this week’s Senior Swim Carnival – what a successful day! Photos and results will be published in our next newsletter.

Our Learning Priority - Reading

Aligning with the injection of resources from the Queensland Government, our improvement agenda will again focus on reading. It is my belief that while our students are performing well in this area, we can still do better. We appreciate parents' support as we endeavour to help every student reach their potential.

Badge Ceremony

The badge presentation for School Captains, House Captains and Cultural Captains will take place at the first whole school assembly on Monday, 29 January 2018 in the Hollis Hall starting 2pm. Families are welcome to attend.

Meet the Teacher Evening

This event will be happening on 31 January 2018. Each teacher will be running two sessions. The first session is from 5:30pm – 6:00pm. The second session is from 6:00pm – 6:30pm. These short sessions are an opportunity for parents to gain further insight into what will be happening in their child's classroom.

Welcome New Staff

As Gumdale State School continues to grow, we welcome new members of staff to our team. I also take this opportunity to congratulate Mrs Sarah Cracknell on her permanent appointment as Deputy Principal and Ms Leea Mitchell on her permanent appointment as Head of Student Support.

Parking and Traffic Movement

A reminder to be considerate of other users of the roads and parking areas around our school. Please ensure signage and traffic direction is adhered to. The speed limit through our carparks is 10 km/h. Our student safety as well as your own is a priority.

A reminder that parking at the Eastside Village is not for school drop-off and pick-up. We understand that the start of the school year is a busy time for families, but please be respectful of our neighbourhood friends and businesses. Families are encouraged to use our Stop, Drop & Go zone within the Tilley Road School Carpark.

Food Allergies

Some students at Gumdale State School have allergic reactions to foods including nuts and eggs. As this reaction can be life-threatening, we ask that parents be aware of this when preparing food for their child to bring to school. We would also ask that parents make their child's teacher aware of any concerns they may have in this area.

Important Dates

Back to School 2018

VIEW GALLERY

Back to School 2018

Click images to enlarge

Gumdale Student Council Nominations 2018

We are very excited to offer a wide range of students the opportunity to experience leadership roles in the Gumdale State School Student Council.

We are inviting students from Years three to six to nominate to represent their class group in the Student Council. Each class will appoint one representative.

If your child is interested in taking on this additional responsibility they can follow the following process.

Working Together: As in all school activities, we require all students to work respectfully with each other. We ask that students do not ‘campaign’ for this role outside the prearranged time set by the class teacher. Our teachers will endeavour to work sensitively and supportively with all students through the nomination and voting process.

For further enquiries please contact Miss Gillies dgill5@eq.edu.au

News from Student Support

Gumdale State School and Tyack Health

Please read the following flyer from our Head of Student Support, Ms Leea Mitchell about occupational therapy programs available to students in Prep to Year One.

News from IT

QParents

We will be rolling out Q-Parents to Prep 2018 parents on 29 January, 2018.

Please check your inbox for your Q-Parents invite.

The QParents web and mobile application provides a more convenient, easier way for parents and legal guardians of Queensland state school students to interact with their child’s school. Parents will have secure, online access to their child’s student information, anytime, anywhere, through a smartphone, tablet or computer.

QParents allows parents to connect instantly with their child’s school to access and manage their child’s student information, including:

• Attendance and absence details, as well as the ability to notify the school of an absence
• Behaviour information
• Academic report cards
• Class timetables
• Viewing unpaid invoice details, payment history, and making payments online
• Viewing and updating student details, including medical conditions and address
• Enrolment details

QParents will assist both staff and parents in sharing and responding to information in an efficient and effective way.

It won’t replace the traditional ways you communicate with our school, but it will provide another way to communicate with us.

The benefits of QParents

• Convenience and time savings for parents
• Parents can view or update their child’s details without having to contact the school
• Secure 24/7 online access.
• Available anytime, anywhere — access QParents on your smart phone, tablet or computer
• Greater transparency of information
• Improves accountability between parents and schools by providing parents with timely access to their child’s information online.
• Allows parents to engage more deeply in their child’s schooling
• Improved administration efficiencies for schools
• Allows schools to streamline their administrative processes and cut down on printing

What is a QParents Account Owner (QPAO)?

The school will nominate one parent or legal guardian for each student to be the QParents Account Owner (QPAO). The QPAO will be able to register for QParents to access and manage the student’s information online. A student’s QPAO will be able to view the student’s information and submit requests to update some of the student’s details.

The QPAO will also be able to invite other people (such as another parent or family member), to view the student’s information. Once invited, these people can register for QParents as “delegated viewers”. A delegated viewer can see the student’s details, but cannot make updates.

Registering for QParents

You will receive an invitation email from us containing your unique invitation code on Monday 6 February 2017. Simply follow the instructions in that email to complete the QParents account registration process.

If you do not want to register, you can just ignore the invitation and your child’s student information will not be available to anyone through QParents. Or, if you want another parent to be the QPAO, you can advise us and we will send them an invitation email or letter with their own unique invitation code.

Identity verification

When registering as a QPAO, you will need to verify 100 points of identity documents online. The 100 points can be made up of documents in the following list:

Australian Passport 50 pts
Australian Marriage Certificate 40 pts
Australian Driver Licence 50 pts
Australian Citizenship Certificate 40 pts
Australian Birth Certificate 50 pts
Change of Name Certificate 40 pts
Medicare Card 20 pts
Australian Visa (foreign passports) 20 Pts

If you only have 60-90 points of the above ID documents you can still register for QParents, but you will need to attend the school between 2-3 for an additional check after you have registered online.

If you don’t have sufficient documents, you might like to nominate another parent as the QPAO.

For more information on the online identity verification process, see the link below.

Where does the information about my child come from?

All of the information that is presented in QParents comes from the IT system that is used by all Queensland state schools. Schools will continue to manage student information in this system, and the information will be extracted and presented in QParents.

Will my child’s information be secure?

Yes. QParents is a secure portal that meets strict industry standards. Only people with the right to access information about their child will be given an account; no one else.

If you don’t want to register for QParents, your account will not be created and your child’s information will not be made available through QParents.

Help and contact information

For help, visit the link below or call 13 QGOV (13 74 68)

Gumdale State School has a new app!

SZapp is a great way to keep up to date with our latest news and information. Using SZapp will give you easy access to information such as:

• Newsletters on the go
• Latest News & Reminders
• Calendar
• Policies and Documents
• Event Bookings
• Digital Forms

When subscribing to Gumdale State School please make sure that you add yourself to any of the applicable groups. This will ensure that you are receiving all relevant notifications.

SZapp

Learn how to install the app

Apple Devices:

1. On your device, open the App Store.
2. Search the App Store for SZapp.
3. Download and install SZapp.

Android Devices:

1. On your device, open the Play Store.
2. Search the Play Store for SZapp.
3. Download and install SZapp.

Find your School

Select your school's region.

Search for and select your school.

Register a User

Before you can add your school, you will need to register.

Enter your email and name.

Create your password.

Confirming your Email Address

Once registered you will be sent an email to confirm your email address. Open your mail program and click/tap the URL to confirm.

Upon completion, you will then be shown a confirmation screen.

Allowing Permissions

Upon installation of the update, you will be asked to allow access to storage on your device. This is required to ensure that SZapp can access the necessary files to store crucial data on your device.

Please click the affirmative options on each pop-up.

Note: The pop-up message you see may differ depending on your device.

Managing Notifications

Choose which group/s you would like to receive notifications from.

Groups with arrows indicate that there are sub-groups which you can join.

Home

The Home tab displays the most recent news item and links to important school information and tools.

Feed

The Feed tab shows a summary view of all news items which you have subscribed to.

Manage

The Manage tab allows you to customise what information shows in your news feed and what push notifications you will receive.

For more information please view our FAQs

Click here to download a printable Installation Guide

Click here to view SZapp FAQs