Yeronga State School eNewsletter

Dear Parents and Carers

This is the last newsletter for the term. Normal classes will continue to the very last day of term. I trust that students have enjoyed a full term back at school, with the re-introduction of extra-curricular activities. Like myself, and several staff, they will be looking forward to a break. Be safe.

Quadrennial School Review (QSR)

I have mentioned in previous communication that the school will embark on the development of the strategic plan for the next four years. We will be working with an outside consultant, Steve Frances, who will be facilitating the process. This involved two forms of consultation and feedback.

Parent survey: All parents were sent this link via Schoolzine and are requested that they complete the survey by the end of term. Here is the link: https://www.research.net/r/yerongaparent2020.

Parent forum: Steve will facilitate a forum for up to 20 volunteers. If you are interested please respond to the Schoolzine message with the booking.

Students and staff will also complete a similar survey and have a consultative forum. This feedback will form an important part of the information that assists the school to make decisions for the next step/s. Decisions will also be impacted by the School review report and the school data profiles.

Student Code of Conduct

The surveys and forums will present us with information regarding the school’s code of conduct for students. A team of staff have been working on preparatory materials and we will present each draft as they are completed.

Student Success

Throughout this year, Mitchell (5L) has been training for the 2020 Queensland State Junior Road Championships. This is the state cycling championships. All Qld clubs and cyclists have been very fortunate that the championships have been able to occur given the Covid situation.

On Sunday, 16 August, Mitchell’s hard work was rewarded and that he won the Road race and is now the Cycling QLD State Junior U11 Road Champion.

It is good to see students continuing to pursue their passions despite the present circumstances. Well done Mitchell.

A letter from Deb Spanner

As previously advised, Deb Spanner has been appointed principal of Indooroopilly State School. This was the letter sent out via Shoolzine. A recruitment process will now occur for the permanent appointment of principal for Yeronga State School. I will continue to act in this role until the end of the term.

I am writing to advise that I have been permanently appointed as the Principal of Indooroopilly State School. It was a very difficult decision to make to depart from Yeronga however it is important that I continue to challenge myself professionally. I am looking forward to the next step in my leadership journey however I have been feeling so sad to be leaving the amazing Yeronga State School community.

I am incredibly proud of how the staff and community have worked together so beautifully over the eight years of my tenure, creating a school where a culture of inquiry thrives, student voice is reflected in everything we do and there is a strong belief in the ability of all children to achieve. The commitment and dedication of everyone to provide the best possible spaces and places for children to thrive has made being principal at Yeronga State School such an honour and joy. We have truly created a school where everyone is happy to learn, care, grow and achieve together.

I would like to thank the Yeronga SS leadership team members and the incredible Yeronga SS staff, for their commitment to creating the best possible outcomes for every child, every day. I feel so lucky to have been able to work with such an incredible team and know you will continue to support them moving forward.

I look forward to catching up with many of you at the 150^th celebrations next year. I will be watching on proudly to see how well things progress at Yeronga. Best of luck to you and your families.

Kind Regards

Deb

Senior Student leadership

The process for selecting the Year 5 students for the various leadership positions for 2021 will commence in Term 4. The process involves nominations, short-listing, speeches, interviews and elections. Students in Year 5 will be informed in detail about the process and the criteria. Leaders must earn their badges and must be role models to all other students. The criteria includes:

A willingness to further develop leadership skills
Consistent adherence to school rules
A high level of responsibility and willingness to commit to activities associated with the role
Appropriate communication and people skills
Very high level of personal presentation – always wears school uniform with pride
Willingness to commit to and participate in school activities including willingness to work behind the scenes to set up and clean up from activity days, sports days etc
Regular school attendance
Actively involved in cultural, community, sporting and academic activities.

Year 6 camp

Great environment, great adventures and great teams.

Parking

Local residents have complained about some parents parking across their drive ways and making the local streets difficult to get in and out of. Images of these cars have also been sent to the school. Please could we ask you once again, to be respectful of our local residents and the community and abide by the road and parking signs.

Michelle D’Netto

The students of Yeronga have enjoyed an eventful couple of weeks which has included the Year Six camp to Currumbin Valley, Prep Toohey Forest Excursion, Year 5 Big Bang, Father’s Day Stall, as well as the Prep 2021 Interviews. It certainly is a delight to see the excitement on the faces of our future YSS students as they prepare for their first year of school!

A FEW WORDS FROM KATE

Many thanks for making me feel so welcome on my return to Yeronga. I definitely gained from the time at Sunnybank State School and built upon my school leadership experiences. My sincere thanks to Miss Louise Vaggs for doing such an marvelous job whilst acting in the Deputy Principal role, particularly during such a busy time.

HOME SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

At YSS we have a number of communication channels for keeping in touch with our school community. Please note the following about the different methods we use:

STAFF EMAIL: Parent emails to staff are welcomed as a tool for communication. Please be aware that although staff do try to get to emails on a daily basis, their first priority is a responsibility to student supervision and learning. It is advisable for any urgent information that it is best to contact the school office to ensure the message gets to your child/child’s teacher.

SCHOOLZINE App: 1^st place to go for information from the calendar and information is also sent out in ‘feeds’/ alerts relating to day to day events at school. Also has links to our newsletter, website and important forms and documents.

YSS FACEBOOK: Used to send out photos and short messages related to happenings within our school. This is not used as a tool for the school to respond to comments or questions- we ask parents to direct any questions through the school office (via phone or email).

QParents: Used for payments and lodging of absence from school.

TEACHER AIDE APPRECIATION WEEK

Last week we celebrated Teacher Aide Appreciation Week and recognised the dedication of the hard working Teacher Aides at Yeronga State School. We are grateful to the YSS Teacher Aides for all that they do for our school community.

‘FENCE’ PEOPLE OF YSS- 150^th PROJECT

The students in Prep- Year 4 have been thrilled to have the opportunity to take part in this exciting project! Our Student Leaders in Year 6 are looking forward to taking part during Week 10. Our sincere thanks to the Tape family and the band of willing parent volunteers who have made this unique project possible, in readiness for the 150^th year celebrations in 2021. We cannot wait to see the new additions to the iconic collection of “Fence” people go up around the school perimeter.

We wish you and your child/ren all the best for the final two weeks of Term 3.

Help share the news that Yeronga State School is turning 150 next year. Stickers have been produced and will be distributed to classes next Monday for students to take home. You are encouraged to put them on your car or somewhere else prominent to help advertise next year’s events. We have been able to contact hundreds of past students and staff, but know there are many more that we need to connect with. The stickers are just another way to get the message out. Thank you for your support.

Gaynor Couchman’s Retirement

Last Friday night we said farewell to a retiring teacher from Yeronga State School, Mrs Gaynor Couchman. Mrs Couchman had worked at Yeronga since 2002 and had officially remained on staff until recently. Her role was as Special Teacher of Literacy and Numeracy. Many students and staff had the benefit of her expertise over the years. Both past and present staff attended a function at Brisbane Golf Club including past Principals Mrs Spanner and Mr Johnson as well as past Deputy Mrs Walker. We wish Mrs Couchman all the best for her retirement.

STUDENT COUNCIL- FREE DRESS DAY

Our Student Council representatives are planning to hold a Free Dress Day on the last day of Term- Friday 18 September. Students will be invited to come along in free dress and bring a gold coin donation to support the Student Council in their fundraising. Students and staff will be encouraged to come dressed up in a ‘Holiday’ theme! Students are reminded to ensure that they are wearing a sun safe shirt with sleeves (i.e. no singlet tops) and closed in shoes.

Tracy Freeman and Kate Paynter

Deputy Principals

ILLEGAL PARKING

We have recently received an email from a local resident who has been unable to leave their home as someone has parked illegally across their driveway.

Please remember when dropping off or picking up students, use the designated Stop, Kiss N Go zone in Park Road. Two minute parking is allowed in this zone and drivers are to remain in their car. There are other parking options on Park Road, School Road and Honour Avenue if you would like to park for any length of time.

Staff have also noticed that the disabled carpark in front of A Block is being used by parents and visitors that do not have the disable access sticker. Please be considerate of other members of the community who may need to use this carpark to gain access to classrooms.

Excursions Term 4

This week emails have been sent home to parents in relation to the below events occuring in the first 2 weeks of Term 4.

Payment and Permission for these events are due by Next Friday. We ask all parents to check to confirm they have received the correspondence from the school and ask that they complete permission and payment if they would like their student to attend.

Year 1 - Lone Pine Santuary

The parent letter was emailed home on Monday. The invoice was released today. Permission links can be found at the bottom of the parent email.

Preferred method of payment is via BPoint or QParents.

Students will be attending the excursion on 13 October 2020.

Year 2 - Go with the Flow

The parent letter and invoice were emailed home today.

Permission links can be found at the bottom of the parent email. Preferred method of payment is via BPoint or QParents.

Students will be attending on the dates below:

2P & 2W – 7^th October 2020
2R & 2M – 8^th October 2020
2BH – 9^th October 2020

Year 4 - Camp Expression of Interest - PGL Kindilan

An expression of interest parent letter was emailed home on Tuesday.

Links to indicate if your student will be attending the Camp in November were at the bottom of the email. If you are interested in sending your student please complete the links. The camp can only go ahead if we have a certain number of students attending.

We hope as many students can attend if possible.

Year 5 - Camp - Currumbin Valley

The Year 5 Camp parent letter was emailed home last Tuesday. Invoices were emailed out as well from rbenn127@eq.edu.au. You will also find the permission links at the bottom of the parent email.

Please note that payment and permission must be organised for your student to attend.

Year 6 - Future Energy Excursion (Toohey Forest)

The Year 6 Toohey Forest excursion parent letter was emailed home on Monday.

Invoices have also be sent home from rbenn127@eq.edu.au. Permission links are at the bottom of the parent email. Students must have permission and have the invoice paid to attend.

Please also note that there has been an adjustment when the classes will be attending, please see below:

6Q & 5/6W Tuesday 6 October – (First day back Term 4)

6A & 6M Wednesday 7 October

Students are able to wear their senior shirts as well.

P&C meeting - Tuesday, 15 October

The next P&C meeting is at 7:00pm, Tuesday, 15 October, in the Resource Centre and via Zoom. There is a limit of 20 people in the Resource Centre so a videoconferencing link will also be sent to members with the meeting agenda. We look forward to seeing you there. If you haven't already signed up as a P&C member, it's not too late - you are welcome to join via our online membership form: www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020ysspandcmembership.

We have now streamlined our processes for P&C meetings to make them shorter and more inviting. For more information on our new meeting processes and requests for funding support please visit: www.yerongasspandc.org.au/index.php/general-monthly-meetings-requests-for-pc-funding-support/.

Tuckshop open Tuesdays in term 4

In response to feedback provided by our school community through the P&C Planning Survey, we will trial opening the Tuckshop on Tuesdays in term 4, from the first week of term. Orders can now be made via Flexischools and our Tuckshop convenors, Yvonne and Stacey, look forward to feeding our children for an extra day each week.

Volunteers play a huge role in ensuring our Tuckshop menu is as affordable as possible for our school community. If you are interested in volunteering in the Tuckshop on Tuesdays please email yerongasstuckshop@gmail.com. Tuesdays in term 4 will be a great opportunity for new volunteers to learn the ropes as we expect they will be the quietest day in the first term of Tuesday openings.

Photo: Our Tuckshop team loves supporting student activities - on Friday, 28 August, Stacey and Yvonne joined the grade 1's in dressing as Where's Wally to support them in their fun geography unit.

2021 Senior shirt orders

Senior shirt order forms have been handed out to all grade 5 students by P&C Uniform Shop Convenor, Yvonne Starr. Please ensure orders are submitted by the deadline on Friday 9 October 2020. Should the order form not have arrived home, another can be collected from the Uniform Shop, or email Yvonne at yerongassuniformshop@gmail.com.

'Gingerbread fence people' painting with Senior Leaders - 17 September

There are still a few volunteering spots available to assist our Senior Leaders paint their 'fence people' on Thursday, 17 September. To volunteer on the day please sign up at www.signup.com/go/bubxRfV.

Well done to all the children in grades Prep to 4 who have done such a great job of painting their 'fence people'. We can't wait to see your creations decorating our school in time for the 150th celebrations!

Please head to the P&C Facebook page to see some of the colourful 'gingerbread fence people' masterpieces our children have created (if you scroll through the posts you'll see there are several 'fence people' pics: www.facebook.com/YerongaSSPandC.

Father's Day stall THANK YOU!

The care and generosity of our school community shone through in spades with the P&C Father's Day stall on Thursday, 3 September. Every child was able to select a gift for their Dad or significant adult thanks to many families donating more than one gift for each of their YSS children, and also more than $3 per gift on 'shopping day'. Thank you so much for your support, generosity and kindness.

We hope all gift recipients enjoyed their gifts and all families had a lovely Father's Day.

Thank you, also, to Kristen Jennings for your stellar coordination of the stall, including shopping, wrapping, and 'covid safe' organisation on the day. Usually a wonderful team of parents helps our children to select their gifts from the stall in the hall, but this year Kristen coordinated Senior Leaders to take a tray of gifts to each class to minimise risk to our community.

YOSHC Holiday Care bookings open for September-October break

The YOSHC team is excited to be able to offer an exciting Holiday Care program including select excursions and incursions over the September/October school break.

For more information and to make your holiday care bookings please head to: www.yoshc.com/holiday-care.

All excursion and incursion providers have covid-safe plans in place and the YOSHC team will closely monitor health announcements to ensure the safety of all children. Back up plans are in place for the program to run on school grounds in case this becomes necessary.

P&C Facebook page for latest news: 'like' and 'follow'

To keep up-to-date with the latest YSS P&C news, updates and activities, please 'like' and 'follow' the P&C Facebook page: www.facebook.com/YerongaSSPandC. It's a great source of information for our school community, and is regularly updated by the P&C team.

Hamish Townsend and Kym Mansfield
Yeronga State School P&C Co-Presidents
ysspandcpresident@gmail.com

Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

This Sunday 13 September 2020 is the 13^th anniversary of the day that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) was adopted by the UN General Assembly, with 143 countries voting in favour.

Australia was one of only 4 members of the United Nations that actually voted against the Declaration! Subsequently Australia has indicated it supports the Declaration.

The Declaration includes over-arching principles such as the rights of indigenous peoples to the full enjoyment of all human rights, non-discrimination, self-determination and autonomy. It also covers areas such as rights to cultural, spiritual and linguistic identity; education and labour rights; and rights to maintain traditional connections to lands and resources.

The Declaration affirms that indigenous peoples make a unique contribution to the diversity and richness of civilisations and cultures, and encourages positive relations between governments and indigenous peoples.

You can read the full Declaration here: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf.

Yuggera word of the week:

‘Yakka’ – work hard. You’ve probably heard Aussies talk about their work being ‘hard yakka’ – did you know that ‘yakka’ is actually a local Yuggera word that is now used all around Australia and is even in the name of an iconic Aussie work wear label?

What is Kalari?

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

Kalari aims to increase the acknowledgement and celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history at YSS, through an inclusion of Indigenous perspectives and in line with the YSS school values.

Kalari is made up of Indigenous and non-Indigenous volunteer parents and anyone can join! For more information or to get involved about contact Aren Healy at mamaaren101@gmail.com.

Gala Day 1 - Softball

The boys softballers and t-ballers went to Indians baseball fields for the first Gala Day for a very successful first leg of their campaign. The senior team containing many junior players punching well above their weight came away with a win, a draw and a loss. Everyone made a contribution to the scoresheet with Hamish and Finn starring with the bat. The junior t-ballers scored a mammoth 39 runs in securing two victories in three games. An excellent result considering this was their first outing. Archie featured on the score sheet while Izaan was an effective first baseman. Both teams can only improve from here as we focus on honing our fielding skills.

Gala Day 1 - Touch Football

Yeronga was well represented at the touch football with 70 students participating in the day. For many of the students it was their first time playing touch football. The growth and development demonstrated by all teams was very pleasing.

Results:

Senior A Boys: 3 wins, 1 draw

Senior B Boys: 2 wins, 1 loss

Junior Boys: 1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses

Senior A Girls: 1 win, 2 losses

Senior B Girls: 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss

Senior C Girls: 1 draw, 2 losses

Junior Girls: 1 win, 2 losses.

Gala Day 1 - AFL

We were all very excited to be able to participate in gala days again. Our senior girls’ team, despite being comprised of mostly year 5 students, had an outstanding day. The girls won all three of their matches and demonstrated some fantastic skills, teamwork and sportsmanship. The team is eager to continue refining their passing and marking skills for our next gala day. Our junior team, made of players mostly new to AFL, competed in the Year 5 boys’ competition. They girls showed resilience throughout the day and developed a greater understanding of the game. Congratulations to all participants – I am looking forward to watching you further develop your AFL skills in Gala Day 2!

Athletics Trial Information

Running Club

Running club has re-commence this term, Mondays and Tuesdays 3:15 – 3:45, but only students whose parents can collect or deliver them, in person or through YOSHC, should attend. This condition is necessary to ensure the safety of the children. Mr Sutherland will re-commence his sessions also this week. They are held on Friday mornings from 7:45 to 8:15.

Representative Sport Dates Release (Important)

As part of the “road map” out of COVID representative sport dates have now been released. Please do look below if your child is interested in any of the sports listed.

Yeronga State School (YSS) District Trial Selection Policy Special Consideration (Years 3 to 6)

The representative pathway for school sport is for children from 10 to 12 years of age. Yeronga is part of a very strong district which consists of 28 schools from Yeronga State School to the Calamvale area. In contact and skill team sports those aged 11 and 12 need to possess the advantages of size and speed, as well as skill on most occasions. Selectors will choose those with the skill and the resilience to compete at a higher level. Remember that selectors give up their time for these trials meaning that it is important for us to send only those ready to compete at a higher level. Very seldom is it appropriate to send students for experience. An indicator of readiness for participation at a higher level would be being among the best 3 or 4 players in most games for your club under 12 teams.

In order to be selected to attend a District Trial children should make themselves known to me (Mr Bateman) for either a selection trial with the appropriate teacher or so that they may be given the appropriate forms. Remember that children must give at least two weeks notice that they wish to attend a district trial to allow for a school selection trial to be held in the event of a great deal of interest being shown in a particular sport.

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.

Ball Games

The Ball Games Carnival is looming very large. Please note that this year, due to the COVID precautions, there cannot be any spectators from outside the school. Please find the information as to timing below. Names are probably finalised and I imagine that costumes are about to be made.

Ball Games Program 15 September 2020