I look back on a fortnight where we have faced much change and uncertainty as a school community. You could be forgiven for feeling a sense of being overwhelmed throughout these last few weeks- between constantly updated recommendations, a saturation of media coverage and an overall sense of concern for the health and wellbeing of loved ones and ourselves. Whilst this is the case, I am pleased to say that I continue to be impressed by the ability of the amazing YSS staff to stay focussed on our students and to keep calm and steadfast in the face of this extraordinary situation. I sincerely thank our staff and broader community for keeping your ‘eye on the ball’ and making so many sensible choices during this time.

ASSISTANT REGIONAL DIRECTOR VISIT

Our new Assistant Regional Director, Eunice Webb, paid a visit on Monday of Week 9. She was able to drop in to a few classrooms, as well as the Prep Teacher’s planning session and spend some time with the Strategic Leadership team, discussing our current improvement agenda items. Eunice provided positive feedback regarding our clear and concise improvement agenda, the depth of work being undertaken around Assessment for Learning (through a feedback culture and formative assessment), rigorous teamwork processes across the staff teams, processes in place for students transitioning into Prep, the building of staff capacity through our ongoing Curiosity and Powerful Learning journey and the emphasis being placed on inclusive practices and building a deeper understanding with all staff.

It was certainly an affirming visit for us, as we shared with pride the very focussed and intentional work that we do around teaching and learning here at Yeronga State School.

BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL REMINDERS

We need your help! We ask our school community to continue to assist us in following before and after school procedures by adhering to the following guidelines:

• The Prep and Year 1 Natures Play area is out of bounds for all children before and after school (this aligns with our procedures for the Senior Natures Play area)
• No student should be in the school grounds before 8:15am unless attending YOSHC
• All students who are not attending YOSHC should aim to arrive after 8:30am
• Children are not allowed to be playing on any playgrounds both senior or junior prior to 8:30am (if any children in Yr 1 – Yr 6 arrive between 8:15am - 8:30am they should be seated under C Block)
• Children in Prep and Year 1 only are allowed to be on the Prep and Year 1 play equipment between 8:30am – 8:45am, only under the direct supervision of a parent/ carer (this does not apply to Natures Play – this is out of bounds)

We appreciate the support of our community in following the guidelines, which have been put in place to ensure both student safety and the maintenance of our play spaces for future use.

We have also been asked by the Yerongpilly Early Childhood Developmental Program (situated beside the back of the Prep classrooms), to remind parents that the ECDP carpark is only for the use of parents accessing the ECDP program. Please be considerate of these families and do not park in the ECDP carpark while dropping off or picking up students from school.

LOOKING AHEAD- COVID 19

I will continue to work to keep our school community as up to date as possible. You will note from the update sent out to parents today that an additional five ‘Student Free Days’  will be in place next week, from Monday 30 March to Friday 3 April inclusive. This means that while schools will remain open, the Term 1 break will start early for students and they will not attend school next week, unless they are children of essential workers.

Thank you for your ongoing patience and understanding as we work through the coming months.

Kate Paynter

Acting Principal

This last fortnight has certainly presented a unique set of challenges to our school. At present our entire community (staff, parents, students and wider) are working together in many different ways to help each other during a time of some uncertainty.

We want to recognise the huge role that our staff play in building on the role you have as your child’s first teachers. Some of the best examples we have seen of this recently are:

• Taking responsibility for our actions (limiting the spread of germs by practicing good personal hygiene)
• Looking after ourselves and others (social distance rule)
• Being responsible (continuing our learning tasks and inquiries)
• Being clear, calm communicators (sharing information to help, not heighten others)
• Expressing care and concern for others (manners, respect and speaking kindly)
  
  

Maintaining Positivity

This week YSS staff and students have enjoyed a few activities aimed at fostering positivity and teamwork. These have included a Mrs Paynter’s daily Scattergories competition (with some very original answers!). Each morning the letter and categories are announced and all classes have 10 minutes to brainstorm and get their answers to the office by 10am. We have had a multitude of winning classes across the year levels and the spirit of friendly competition is high!

Social distancing has meant that many games we would normally play need to be paused for a while, so we have had to find some new ways of enjoying our time together. During lunch time on Tuesday we played “Dance Monkey” to give students and staff a chance to dance outside. It was good fun and the students were suitably impressed by the dance moves modelled by teachers and our Chappy Jen. Apparently we are not quite as cool as we thought!

Coffee drops and random acts of kindness have also been observed throughout our community. It is so crucial that as adults we continue to model empathy, calm and personal responsibility to our young people.

Active School Travel – postponed for now….but returning!

Keep Our Kids Safe – Shut the Gate!

When entering or leaving our school grounds, please close all gates behind you. This ensures our students’ safety, especially in the lower school. Thanks for helping us to Keep Our Kids Safe!

Tracy Freeman and Louise Vaggs

Deputy Principals

QPARENTS

We'd like to thank all the families who have been registering for QParents. We have had a great response from parents who have now registered. 

If you have not yet activated your account please email nlang67@eq.edu.au and ask to be sent another invitation. 

We hope to have as many parents using QParents as possible. For more information about Qparents please see below. 

Office Team

Hamish Townsend and Kym Mansfield

Yeronga State School P&C Co-Presidents
ysspandcpresident@gmail.com

Representative Sport

Congratulations to Matilda S and Hayden C who were selected in the Met West Regional Swimming Team.

Gala Days

The dates for Gala days are, weather and circumstances permitting, 8 & 29 May.

Senior Cross Country (Reserve Day: 12 March)

Congratulations to our Cross Country Age Champions They put in magnificent efforts and are;

8 Years

Boys: Ethan D

Girls: Emma G

9 Years

Boys: Finn S

Girls: Aggie W

10 Years

Boys: Angus W

Girls: Saskia A

11 Years

Boys: Callum H

Girls: Willow H

12 Years

Boys: Aiden S

Girls: Lizzie H

Progress Scores for Cross Country Inter-house Championship

It is very important to remember that lowest score wins. Congratulations Paterson! Remember that if circumstances permit the Junior School (Prep to Year 2) will run to conclude the championship.

Rebel Sport Community Givebacks

Just a quick note to publicise our involvement with this scheme and how it works. For some time now Yeronga State School has been part of the above mentioned scheme. The scheme gives the school credit for purchases of equipment at Rebel as anyone who purchases equipment nominates Yeronga State School as the recipient of Community Kickbacks. I have purchased cricket equipment, Footballs and Netballs with this credit. It is an easy way to contribute resources to our school especially if you enjoy spending time and money in sports stores like myself.

Important Sporting Dates 2020 (All upcoming events postponed. We will advise you of dates when events of this nature are permissible)

27/03/2020 – Gala Day Two (10 – 12 years) TBA

01/04/2020 – District Cross Country TBA

24/04/2020 – YSS Athletics Trials (Years 4 – 6) TBA

01/05/2020 – YSS Athletics Trials (Years 4 – 6) TBA

05 & 06/05/2020 – District Boys Football TBA

06/05/2020 – District Tennis TBA

07/05/2020 – District Girls Football TBA

08/05/2020 – Gala Day Three (10 – 12 years) TBA

15/05/2020 – YSS Athletics Trials (Years 4 – 6) TBA

19/05/2020 – YSS Junior Cross Country (Prep – Year 2) TBA

21/05/2020 – District Rugby Union (11-12 years) TBA

22/05/2020 – YSS Athletics Trials (Years 4 – 6) TBA

26/05/2020 – YSS Junior Cross Country Reserve Day (Prep – Year 2) TBA

29/05/2020 – Gala Day Reserve Day (10 – 12 years) TBA

05/06/2020 – YSS 1500m (Years 4 – 6) TBA

05/06/2020 – District Softball TBA

09/06/2020 – YSS Senior Athletics Day 1 TBA

12/06/2020 – YSS Senior Athletics Day 2 TBA

25/06/2020 – YSS Junior Athletics TBA

Cameron Bateman
Sports Teacher

So much has changed in the world since our last newsletter only two weeks ago.  I know that with so many forced closures and the need for social distancing, grief and loss have become a reality for many of us. While there are no quick fixes, please look for ways to grow, to support, and to be kind to others in our community through this difficult time and potentially long recovery period.

As I walked around school today, visiting classrooms and checking that everyone was calm, I came across three classrooms busy working on gratitude journals.  What a lovely thing to do, particularly in a time of uncertainty, stress and even loss.

The Oxford Dictionary defines gratitude as, “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness”.  Harvard Medical School have published an article, “Giving thanks can make you happier”, saying that gratitude is “strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness”.  Gratitude improves our health and well-being by helping people work through adversity, have increased positive emotions, impacting relationships and experiences.  Gratitude can be expressed for the:

• Past – thankful for past experiences, lessons, friendships, blessings
• Present – appreciation for the things and people in your life
• Future – hope for the future with an optimistic mindset

During this current crisis, it is so important to develop good practices that will help us through this time, to maintain/improve our mental health, and positively impact those around us.  In implementing this practice in your life, you could write in a journal (as some of our students have been doing), verbalise your thanks to people around you, write a card or email to someone outside the family, or even have a time of sharing with the family at dinnertime.  What could you start doing today to express your gratitude?

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude” – A.A.Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Blessings,

Jennifer Bennett

jenniferb@chappy.org.au

National Close the Gap Day – 19 March

Last week was National Close the Gap day. This day draws attention to the legacy of colonisation that continues to manifest in gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in health, economic, education and other measures. Close the Gap day acknowledges that our colonial history continues to impact Indigenous Australians and aims to create equality for all Australians.

Kalari COVID-19 message to the school community

COVID-19 is impacting all of our lives in so many ways.

Kalari would like to send a message to the school community to take care of yourselves and each other during these times, especially around COVID-19 vulnerable groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with existing health issues and with our old people.

Stay safe and look after each other!

Yugara word of the week:

Grandmother: Barbang (Bah-bung).

Need something to do during COVID-19 lockdown?

With the changes in routines and isolation periods due to COVID-19 lots of parents are looking for educational activities to do at home. To help with this we have provided a link to a large range of resources about Indigenous history, culture and perspectives.

There are stories, songs, videos and digibooks - you will find resources suitable for all ages that you may wish to explore with your kids. There’s something here for everyone!

https://education.abc.net.au/home#!/topic/494038/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-histories-and-cultures.

What is Kalari?

Kalari means ‘message stick’ in Yugara language and is name of the YSS Indigenous Working Group.

Green Team meetings have been suspended until further notice, but that doesn't mean that our school isn't still focusing on sustainability.  Our Cash 4 Cans container crates are still being used, so please encourage your students to put their containers in the crates at lunchtime.  If you are collecting containers at home and would like to donate them to our school, there are green lidded bins in three locations around our school.  Under the year 6 stairs in the quadrangle, next to the tuckshop and under the year 1 building.  All of the money raised through these containers is returned to the school to be used for other sustainability initiatives, like paper straws in the tuckshop.

Some great green ideas for things to do while in isolation

- Plant some seeds and spend some time each day caring for your plants as they grow.  Plan some recipes to cook when your plants are ripe for harvest.  No packaging, no food miles, fresh produce...win, win, win!

- Start a compost bin or worm farm.

- Got lots of scrap paper?  Youtube some cool origami patterns.

- Organise your recycling system.

- Do some craft with your recycling.

- Declutter, ready to donate your stuff when the pandemic is over.

- Got spare fabric?  Sew yourself some vege bags to avoid using plastic bags for fruit and veges.

- Do some baking!

Stay safe everyone, we look forward to moving forward on more green initiatives when we can meet again!