3 April 2020

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

While this certainly is not the end to Term 1 that we were expecting when we began the year in January, it has also been a time of many successes and achievements in our classrooms and across the wider school. A few highlights to celebrate include:

• The successful roll out of our BYOD iPad program in all Year 2-6 classes.
• The best results on record by our Gumdale swim team.
• Several incursions and excursions were held to complement our curriculum.
• The launch of our Equine program.

Over the past few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges none of us could have expected. With the ever-changing nature of this situation, our staff are undertaking important planning this week in the event of school closures. At the time of writing school will resume on Monday 20 April 2020 as normal, unless health advice determines otherwise.

With the early end to the term, I would like to take a moment to say thank you.

Thank you to each student for consistently giving your very best effort in the classroom right until the end of Week 9. While school may not look the same in the immediate future, I trust that you will all continue to strive for your best in all areas. Don’t forget to keep up your reading over the school break!

Thank you to our dedicated staff for your patience and flexibility during this challenging time. I appreciate the work our teaching staff have done this week to ensure that learning will continue and students will be challenged in whatever form Term 2 takes. Our cleaning, grounds and office staff are also playing a vital role in keeping the wheels turning at Gumdale. Your commitment, professionalism and care has not gone unnoticed – thank you for everything you do in supporting our students.

Thank you to our community of parents and carers for your ongoing support and understanding. Your role in your child’s learning may change in the near future; rest assured that behind you is a team of hundreds of people across the department and across Queensland working in the background to support you and your children.

Thank you to community members and local businesses who have offered support over the past few weeks. Your kindness has been appreciated.

Staffing update

I am pleased to welcome Mrs Sonia Sheridan to Gumdale State School. Sonia has been appointed to the position of Acting Business Manager beginning in Term 2.

I wish you all well during this challenging period and look forward to welcoming students back to Gumdale as soon as possible.

Always our Best,

Phil Savill, Principal
Gumdale State School

Gumdale’s Travelling Wave

COVID-19 Support Resources

Education Queensland

School will resume on Monday 20 April 2020 as normal unless health advice determines otherwise. We will keep you informed via email communications as we receive information. Education Queensland information can be found on the Department of Education’s website.

Health.gov.au

We encourage you to stay up to date with the most up to date information about the COVID-19 pandemic from trusted sources such as the Australian Government Department of Health and the World Health Organisation.

Support for families

Support is available through a number of Queensland Government agencies and community organisations. Parents and carers can:

• call 13Health (13 43 25 84) at any time for practical medical advice and assistance
• review the tips from headspace for a healthy headspace for friends and family, or contact headspace for professional support
• contact Lifeline Australia’s telephone counselling service on 13 11 14 for information, referral and advice
• Obtain help and information from the local General Practitioner or Community Health Centre.
• Contact Beyond Blue or Kids Helpline

Highlights from Term 1

School Watch

Stay up to date with QParents

QParents allows parents to connect instantly with the 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
• Academic report cards
• Viewing unpaid invoice details, payment history, and making payments online

• Viewing and updating personal student details, including medical conditions and address
• Enrolment details

Prep 2021 Enrolment

To enrol your child for Prep 2021 at Gumdale State School, please complete the Student Enrolment Application Form and submit to our Administration Office or email to: admin@gumdaless.eq.edu.au

A parent information session and Prep 2021 Orientation are planned for later in the year with dates to be communicated closer to the time.

News from the Payment Desk

Please be advised that credits are currently being processed for all cancelled excursions.

A negative balance will appear on your statement as follows. Please DO NOT pay this amount.

You can check if you have an outstanding amount owing on your account by logging into QParents.

From the Deputies

Learning @ Home

We have been working with our teams this week to ensure should school closure occur, learning at home materials are ready for students to access. More information will be provided if this is the case.

learning@home refers to the ways schools will maintain teaching and learning in the event of a prolonged school closure or student absence.

The Department of Education has a number of online tools and resources to support students.

Curriculum resources for Mathematics and English are available for students to complete at their own pace. Students in Prep to Year 3 may require support to read and understand instructions.

The resources provided at learning@home are a sample of activities that can be printed and are designed as a support tool for students to continue their learning and engage in familiar activities essential to their learning and wellbeing.

Thoughts from Mrs Gillies

Painting of a lighthouse by a Prep student

We can see rough weather ahead and each family is building their own lighthouse to sit out the storm.

Treat this time together as precious. Let go of the rush of packing lunch boxes and school bags. Put the tight school shoes in the cupboard for a while. Focus on teaching your child the important lessons of life that are often bigger than the 3Rs.

Learn about what your child is interested in now. Capture their individuality, talents and creativity. Learn how to do a lot with a little together. Show them that your family is resourceful and that boredom and frustration are easily beaten by imagination and ingenuity. Celebrate milestones and small wins.

If the online learning tools get too much, change the pace and switch routines. Think about what the lighthouse family would do…

They’d reconnect with the real world and each other. They would probably tend a garden, record wildlife, talk philosophy, sing, dance, and draw. They’d go for walks and really look. They would read aloud to each other, would make models and picture books, ride bikes and play family rules cricket.

They would count things, keep inventories, measure and cook. They’d pose problems to collectively solve, make guesses and test out theories. The lighthouse family would work out how to reuse something five different ways before putting it in the bin.

There is learning in every one of these tasks. Whenever possible, enjoy not being pulled away by outside commitments and appointments. Remember that you were your child’s first teacher. From your child’s perspective this might just be the best time ever.

Fast forward: “Remember that time when we were all at home together and we…..”

School Council Update – Term 1, 2020

Members of the Gumdale State School Council completed foundation training by Effective Governance on Friday 28 February. This was a refresher training for foundation members and valuable training for newly appointed members. The information delivered was well explained and useful.

The first School Council meeting for 2020 took place on Friday 13 March at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. This term the School Council acknowledged staff member Steve Wicks, groundsman and bus driver, with the Staff Recognition Award. This award recognised his dedication to maintaining the upkeep of our school ovals and gardens and for going ‘above and beyond’ where and when needed. Council endorsed several documents including: AIP; Investing for Success and Customer Complaints Management. A Continuous Improvement Register is to be implemented alongside the Customer Complaints Management.

Gumdale State School P&C Association have announced that Mr Aaron Beake has been elected as President and he will be joining upcoming School Council meetings.

Mr Savill presented his Principal's report which included changes to school routine due to the COVID-19 Virus. He noted that Queensland Departmental directives were being followed and communications to community are being sent promptly. A decision to cancel the remainder of Term 1 assemblies was endorsed by Council members.

Council Chairperson, Janet McBeth, updated the council on the activities of the school since the last meeting, advising members of the smooth start to the school year. She stated that Gumdale State School would continue to be divided into sectors to allow for ease of administration and supervision with each of the Deputy Principals being a clear line manager. This would permit rich conversations to occur about curriculum, data and the growth of students. The Year 4 team held a parent night in the first week of term whereby information was delivered regarding student development. Other workshops will be held throughout the year to impart further knowledge. Other activities that have taken place this term include: the 2020 School Leaders induction ceremony; Senior Swimming carnival; Music Meet & Mingle evening and a visit from author Samantha Wheeler. Ms McBeth noted that the STEM program and associated extras were now fully operational as is the Elite Sailing Squad. Our Japanese visitors from Tama Mejuro Junior High School enjoyed their time with Gumdale families and students. Cyber Safety Incursion occurred, and Parent Teacher interviews were scheduled be taking place later in the term.

STEM News

2020 Premier’s Coding Challenge

The Premier's Coding Challenge is an annual statewide initiative for all Queensland students in Year 3 to Year 10. The Premier's Coding Challenge aims to encourage an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in Queensland students. Students can enter as individuals or as a pair, in one of 8 categories. See examples from previous winners (ZIP, 67.8MB). Winners receive prizes (PDF, 65KB) of coding and robotic kits (total prize pool $10,000).

Sports News

Bayside District Representatives

Congratulations to the following students who were selected in Bayside District representative teams:

Jack D – Basketball
Rosa C, Kami R and Chloe R – Hockey
Harley W and Beau M – AFL
Harris B, Rileigh B, Josephine C, Hunter C, Alexander F, Edwin L, Paige M, Becky R, Chloe S and Annabelle S – Swimming

A special mention to Harris B who was also selected in the Met East Swimming team for 50m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle.

Congratulations to the following students who are the 2020 Swimming Age Champions:

Keep moving!

Music Notes

Choir Home Practise

To assist with home practise, members of the Gumleaves and Gumtrees Choirs have access to audio tracks, helpful links and information in Showbie on their iPads. Now more than ever it is important to practise and share the joy of music at home, so keep singing!

Instrumental Music Practise Guide

• Practise regularly (daily for a short amount is better than once per week for two hours).
• Set goals (e.g. Aim to finish Tradition of Excellence Book 1 by end of Term 2).
• ZERO distractions! Usually a quiet space is best with no interruptions to assist concentration.
• Fix problems. Students know when they’ve made an error during playing and should focus on fixing problems each time they play.
• Scheduling practise at the same times each week sets a routine, students are more likely to practise if they are set in a routine.
• Encouragement and persistence! Music isn’t instant and takes a long time to perfect, at some stage in every child’s musical journey they will require some positive words of encouragement.
• Practise with someone else. Practising with a friend, sibling or relative is great fun and very enjoyable!

Interactive Practise Studio (IPS)

• In instrumental lessons the students continue to work through The Tradition of Excellence method book and its accompanying app called IPS (Interactive Practise Studio). This is a free app with the purchase of the paper copy of the book. The app has a handy recording function which allows your child to record themselves playing along with the backing track, which is a great way to hear progress over time.
• Information about IPS can be found inside the back cover of the Tradition of Excellence book along with a user code which must be entered into the app in order to carry out the free access. Below is a link to the web page for IPS, where you will find further links for both Apple and Google Play:

From the Music Department,

Community Business Network

Gumdale State School is pleased to have the support of businesses in our local and nearby community by way of sponsorship. Each year, our school resources are enriched courtesy of members in our Community Business Network.

More details regarding our program and the packages available can be found on our school website or by contacting Marissa Bowen, Executive Assistant.

Phone: 3902 8333 Mail: mbowe79@eq.edu.au

Our Platinum and Gold Sponsors are:

Platinum Sponsor

Todd Gerhardt Realty goes above and beyond for his clients. Todd has broken countless street records, priding himself on getting the best possible price for his vendors. Todd Gerhardt is considered a real sellers agent, but he is equally devoted to his buyers and he knows how to close the deal leaving both parties more than satisfied (which in today's market cannot always be the case).

Todd leaves no stone unturned in the search for the right buyer for your home. It is Todd's mission to offer the best real estate experience you can get.

Gold Sponsor

Alpha Home Maintenance is a handyman service designed to save time, money and energy for all your property maintenance needs and those general repairs around the home. We provide a free consultation prior to any job so we can work together on an option that will ensure you choose the service that is right for you. We strive to work hard and deliver outstanding results and exceptional customer service every time. Call us today on 0400 823 868.

P&C News

Fundraising Programs

A reminder to support the following organisations if the need arises for their goods and services. For every purchase made, they kindly give back to our school.

Follow the P&C

To stay up to date with all things P&C, follow us on social media:

• Facebook at Gumdale State School Parents & Citizens
• Instagram at gumdale_ss_pandc
• Twitter at gumdaless_pandc
• Or contact us on pandc@gumdalesspc.org.au

GOSHC

Making a Permanent Booking

If you would like to book permanently for 2020, please send us an email. All casual bookings will still be made through the MyFamily Lounge App and you will be able to book one term at a time. Each term’s bookings will open one week prior to starting. Vacation Care is also booked through our MyFamily Lounge App.

Autumn Vacation Care

With the ongoing development of COVID – 19, we are looking to the Department of Health for updates and guidelines. In keeping with the social distancing guidelines, GOSHC has decided that we will cancel all excursions during the upcoming Vacation Care period. These will be replaced with in-house, fun service days. You can view our program for the first week of the break by clicking the link below.

If you have any questions please let Shaunesy, Abby or the P&C Executive Team know.

Gumtree Eatery

We would like to say a huge Thank You to all the wonderful volunteers who have given their time to help us here in the Tuckshop.

We hope to see you all soon, stay safe.

Carol and Helen
Gumtree Eatery Tuckshop Convenors

Uniform Shop News

A big thank you to everyone for their patience while we work through difficult times. Our suppliers are working hard to fulfil orders so we can restock our shelves.

The Uniform Shop is currently closed and will re-open when school resumes. Flexischools orders will not be processed until this time.

The good news is that Polos and Hoodies in all sizes are back in stock. We are still waiting on the new Microfibre Shorts. We do have a limited supply of size 8 in a slightly shorter length than the final product we will be stocking available. All current uniform items will continue to be acceptable GSS uniform.

Stay safe and hopefully see you soon.

Michelle Moffatt
Uniform Shop Manager