VOLUNTEERS DETERMINE FETE SUCCESS

Yeronga State School P&C association - Facebook Page

The fete committee have done an outstanding job to get us this far. Please help them help the school and your children by going to the Yeronga State School P&C Association Facebook page to nominate what stall you would like to help out on ASAP. Stalls like the BBQ, hot dog and hot chip stalls are particularly in need of help. Your children love seeing you working on stalls and doing your bit. If you have hour or two spare, can you please add your name so our committee can stop worrying about the help and concentrate on other logistics! I hope you all have a wonderful time on Saturday.

JUNIOR SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

The Year 1 children are looking forward to the mini playground they designed opening next week. This playground replaces the mini playground removed when the new Prep building arrived.

NEW NATURE PLAY AREA OPENING SOON

Thank you to the many hands on deck last Saturday at the working bee to help prepare our Nature Play early years space. Workplace Health and Safety Reps walked through the area with us yesterday and we are delighted to say that there were no concerns raised. Matt Smith from Barefoot Landscape has designed a space that will support outdoor learning for Prep and Year 1 for many years.

We will begin a transition play to this space next week, with each Year 1 class having time in here each day. Prep classes will begin their transition the following week.

DOG POLICY

This week the YSS Dog Policy was presented at the P&C meeting. This policy outlines that dogs are welcome on school premises however there are some rules to minimise risks. Please do not take dogs inside buildings or on Prep verandahs. The friendliest dog can appear menacing to a child in confined spaces and the noise and chaos could create an unpredictable responses from dogs too. Please clean up after your dog and take any dog faeces off the premises. Lastly, dogs must be on a leash and under the control of an adult at all times on the school grounds. Signage will be added around the school in the next few weeks.

Next week I will be going on LSL to enjoy a  few weeks of the Spanish summer. Mrs Kate Paynter will be Acting Principal for the rest of the term. Ms Kal Masselos is stepping into Kate’s role as Acting Deputy Principal. Mrs Desley Brassington will replace Ms Masselos. Thank you all for the support I know you will give to the Yeronga team in my absence. 

2020 SCHOOL ENROLMENT

Prep interviews begin in Term 3 so we encourage you to get your enrolment forms in ASAP.

NAPLAN

2019 NAPLAN testing program was completed last week. Year 3 and 5 staff and students did a wonderful job of getting on with business with minimal fuss. The results usually arrive towards the latter part of Term 3.

Debbie Spanner
Principal

It’s been a high energy fortnight at Yeronga State School as we have enjoyed the Mother’s Day Celebrations and Prep Pet Visit, along with ensuring that the participation in NAPLAN testing was as smooth as possible for our Year Three and Five students.

We are filled with anticipation and excitement while looking forward to our first Yeronga State School Fete experience, however there may be some trepidation when it comes to contemplating taking part in the ‘Dunk A Teacher’. See you there!

Active School Travel - Let’s get active!

A huge thank you to the Active School Travel leaders who are helping stamp the passports every Wednesday.  They are growing in confidence with their Self Manager skills and also their Communicator Learning Asset Skills.  A huge thank you also is dedicated to Stu the Bikeman who ensures that he rides the attached route to school every Wednesday – so come and join him.  Another thank you goes out to the teachers who are walking to school every Wednesday from the designated spot – let us see how many students we can get at the walking and riding point.

Special events this term are:

• Walk or ride to school with the AST trains to receive a lucky dip prize
• Receive a raffle ticket to go into the scooter and helmet voucher prize – drawn on assembly the last week of school
• Wednesday 5 June 2019 – Ride your bike to school to receive a free bike check by Stu the Bikeman and Brisbane City Council

Riding Train Map

Assemble at 8:20am for an 8:30am departure.

Start at the 7/11 corner of Ipswich Rd/ South Street, ride down South Street, turn right into Nathan Terrace, turn left into School Rd, right onto Park Rd and then to take bikes into the tennis court to stay there for the day. Please view the map below:

Walking Train Map

Assemble at 8:10am for an 8:15am departure.

Meet at River City Cycle, go across the overpass, over to Killarney St, turn into Park Rd then walk onto school. Please view the map below:

Bridge Builders Information Session                 

On 16 May we welcomed Joceyln Chirnside to present a parent workshop. An eager and engaged group of parents attended and it was an extremely beneficial session. The workshop aimed to support parents in guiding the use of ‘Bridge Builder’ strategies to resolve sibling and friendship conflict.

The Bridge Builders program is followed at Yeronga State School with an aim to teach children strategies to address conflict effectively, so they can move through life confidently. Conflict is an unavoidable fact of life and usually occurs because of our different needs, beliefs or expectations. Resolving conflict well enables us to move more confidently through our lives and create positive and healthy environments around us. 

Uniform Reminder

A reminder to parents to ensure that all students are wearing the correct shoes to school. The expectation is for all students to wear closed black shoes, such as sports shoes or leather school shoes, with the formal dress uniform. Black or white joggers are the expected colour of joggers for the sports uniform. Laces must match the shoe colour.  Please see the examples of expected shoes to be worn to school below:

Upcoming Events

We would love to see you at our upcoming events - mark the dates in your diary!

They include:                         

• Book Fair (29/5-3/6)
• Combined Music Showcase (21/6)
• Junior Athletics Carnival (25/6)

Kate Paynter and Tracy Freeman

Deputy Principals

FETE this Saturday, 25 May!

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to volunteer for the fete. We can't stress how important it is for the fete to run smoothly. Everyone will have a great time with a little elbow grease from the school community. Please roll your sleeves up and get to know your fellow families by volunteering an hour or two on the day (or more if you like). Head to the Yeronga State School P & C Association Facebook page to claim your spots. There are LOTS of volunteer spots that still need filling.

Please don't be shy, if the volunteer shifts for your childrens' class stalls are full, you can sign up for another class or year level at a time that suits you. It's a terrific way to build connections with other families at school and it's also great fun!

Sell! Sell! Sell! & Buy FETE RAFFLE TICKETS 

This is an easy and effective way to fundraise for the Fete and our school - please help us reach our stretch fundraising goal of $25,000 in ticket sales. Tickets for sale ONLINE now! Total prize pool worth over $10,000. First prize worth $5,000, thanks to Brisbane Travel Centre at Moorooka. Drawn 25 May, 5:30pm at the fete. Winners notified by announcement and text/email.

A special online link has been created for each class to track who sells the most tickets. The class that sells the most tickets will win a movie afternoon for their class complete with ice cream and pop corn! Please share your class link/s far and wide! And don't forget to BUY tickets to be in with a chance to WIN!

www.raffletix.com.au/yerongaPREP1
www.raffletix.com.au/yerongaPREP2
www.raffletix.com.au/yerongaPREP3
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Fete Cake Stall

Everyone LOVES the YSS Fete cake stall, and it is usually one of the highest grossing stalls, thanks to the amazing support from families who donate a wonderful array of home made baked goods and sweet treats. We need everyone's help to beat the record set last fete!!! And you don't even need to bake - think protein balls and lolly necklaces or check out these links for inspiration:

• Last minute bake stall ideas: CLICK HERE 
• No-bake baking: CLICK HERE
• Gluten free ideas: CLICK HERE 
• Vegan baking: CLICK HERE

Here's how to help:

1. Decide what you'd like to contribute 
2. Collect packaging from outside the Tuckshop between 7:30-8:45am on Thursday 23 May & Friday 24 May.  You might also want to consider recycling your cherry tomato, berry, or other similar supermarket packaging – perfect for biscuits!

3. Bake & label your goodies:

Once you've created your masterpiece/s, please label all of your goodies (with the labels provided - link in this newsletter and also sent via Parent Rep emails) showing ingredients and whether they contain allergens such as gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, soy, sesame, or others.

4. Drop off your goodies
5. Drop off your donations outside the tuckshop on Friday 24 May between 7.30-8.45am or 3:00-4:00pm; Or at the Cake Stall on Fete day: Saturday 25 May—from 8:00am.

Class performance timetable

ALL YSS kids will star at the Fete in their year level performances. To help you plan your timing on fete day here are the times and locations for the year level performances, and also for students involved in the music program:

Stage 1

12:00pm Opening Ceremony

12:15pm Prep

12:30pm Year 1

12:45pm Year 2

1:00pm Year 3

1:15pm Year 4

1:30pm Year 5

1:45pm Year 6

Stage 2 - Music program performances

1:00-1:30pm - Strings students arrive and unpack at the Music room. Students may choose to say in the Music Room whilst Mrs Eastgate tunes instruments or enjoy the fete activities until 2:00pm

2:00pm - Strings students return to the Music Room to prepare for their performance

2:30-3:00pm - Strings perform (Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Chamber Strings)

2:45pm - Cosmio Singers and Stella Voce students arrive and meet in the Music Room

3:15-3:30pm - Cosmio Singers perform

3:30pm-3:45pm - Stella Voce perform

3:15pm - Senior Band students arrive and meet in the Music Room

4:00-4:15pm - Senior Band perform

Guitar lessons - now offered after school Mondays

Our extracurricular guitar lesson provider is now offering classes at our school on Monday afternoons. To find out more or to enrol your child please contact Blaise Asnicar, Virtuoso Guitar School, on 0448 620 396.

Cross country snow cones

A big thank you to all the parents who volunteered for the snow cone stalls at the school cross country days. Together these raised close to $1,200 for our school - $723.80 through the Senior cross country in February, and $473.50 at the Junior cross country in May. The Junior School cross country was the same week as the Mother's Day stall so we asked a lot of our school community that week and they came through on both occasions, thank you!!!

Mother's Day stall success

Thank you to our whole school community for donating such a lovely array of gifts for our kids to buy for their mums and special people in their lives. A record $2,171.80 raised with every child in the school having the opportunity to select a gift on 10 May. A huge thank you to Kristen Jennings for doing another fabulous job coordinating the stall, and to families who donated and bought gifts, to the teachers who brought their classes to the stall in the hall, and to the mums who volunteered on the stall to help the kids pick the perfect gifts.

Democracy Sausage Sizzle

On Federal election day, Saturday, 18 May, a fantastic team of parents, teachers and students put up their hands to volunteer for our Democracy Sausage Sizzle, just a week before the Fete. We sold 850 snags and 220 bacon and egg burgers with 25kg of onions and made a profit of $2,125.58.

From 7am to 4pm an army of volunteers worked together to feed the hungry voters and families, and many stayed well beyond their volunteered hour. The  YSS Garden Club, Sarah Cordingly's Beeswax Wraps and ReThink info hub + store joined us to create what was a brilliant community atmosphere.

A massive thank you to Sue Tape for coordinating the BBQ and for staying the whole day from beginning to end, and all the awesome parent, teacher and student helpers and the many many school families who came and supported by buying a snag.

Nature Play

Not to be outdone by the crew on the Democracy Sausage Sizzle,  30 fabulous people turned up on election day to help finish the new Junior School Nature Play space so the fences could come down.
There was digging, planting, watering and mulching - the team moved several cubic metres of sand and mulch. The kids ensured all was working correctly and added their own touches to the creek. A massive thank you to all the parents and kids who turned up in force despite the fact that most will be back this Saturday to volunteer and support the fete. The Nature Play space is looking fantastic and hopefully only a few more weeks until it is open for play for our Junior School kids. Nature Play is funded through a Commonwealth Bank grant secured by the P&C, with extra funds contributed by the P&C. This is only possible with the support of our wonderful school community - thank you!!!

Woolworths Earn & Learn

Woolworth’s Earn & Learn stickers are back and we are collecting so that our school can earn some awesome resources. Simply collect the stickers each time you shop at Woolworths and don’t forget to ask neighbours and family to collect on our behalf too. Please drop the stickers into the special Earn and Learn box on the ground level of the Grade 1 building, or in the P&C payments boxes, or to YOSHC. Let's collect as many as we can!!!

Hamish Townsend and Kym Mansfield

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

What is Kalari?

Kalari means ‘message stick’ in Jagera language which was the name of a school newsletter that was circulated in the 1980s at Yeronga State School. This name has been taken up in 2019 by the newly formed Indigenous Working Group, made up of volunteer parents. Anybody is welcome to join! Drop in and say hello at our stall at Yeronga Fete this weekend. For more information and how to join us click here!

 Junior Athletics Day: 21 June ( 9- 11 )

Parents are very welcome to watch the sessions. Bring along your picnic rug or folding chair. Please be aware that all students need to be with their class teachers during the activities. They will need to bring along their snack, drink bottle and hat to the activities. Sunscreen should be applied before coming to school.

After roll call all classes are to assemble under the shelters next to the top oval (at the “Big School”) at 9:00am. We will complete activities by approximately 11am so the lunchbreak should run as usual. Tuckshop may be ordered using the normal system and it will not be open to sell food during the sports activity sessions. Each rotation (2 activities of 15mins) will run for approximately 30 minutes with a 5 minute change over.

Please note students will participate in their classes not age group.  The day is one of participation in, and enjoyment of physical activity and our endeavour is to ensure all children achieve this.  Many of the activities will provide the students with an insight to what skills they will need when they enter the Senior Sports Day in years to come. We hope you can join the children on the day.

 Junior Athletics Day - Tuesday 25 June 2019

*This program is a guide and times may alter slightly on the day.              

*Children will participate in their grade level.

Gala Days

The remaining dates for these very important days are, weather permitting, 31 May and 14 June. Children need to commit to training from this point as they will be required to attend all remaining Gala Days.

New District and Regional Representatives

Congratulations to Willow H who was selected in the Met West Regional Cross Country Team. Congratulations also to Daniel B, Archie S and Aiden S who were selected in the Eastern District Boys Football Team. Best of luck to you all!

Senior Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to Evans on a wonderful performance. They were deserved champions.

Congratulations to all of our age champions.

So many people to thank. Thanks to our amazing staff, parents and students who worked together to make this a successful day. Thanks to Mr Sutherland who not only trains our children in his amazing running club but maintains our grounds and helps me early on carnival days to have everything ready.

Eastern District Athletics: 24

Congratulations and best of luck to our district aspirants. This year our district athletes include; Harry A, Elyanna A, Daniel B, Edward B, Milly B, Andrew C, Liam C, Kobe C, Ben C, Chloe F, Elesi G, Jasper G, Willow H, George H, Callum H, Lizzie H, Catherine K, Jerusha M, Isabella M, Antonia M, Amin M, Georgia M, Henry M, Savannah O, Hana P, Adam Q, Hamish R, Hayley R, Jayden R, Joshua S, Finn S, Aiden S, Amelie S, Maggie S, Archie S, Lily S, Ben T, Anna T, Juliet W, Martha W, Salima W and Bill W.

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.

Important Sporting Dates

District Track & Field: 22 and 24 May

District Boys and Girls Tennis: 27 May

Regional Boys and Girls Football: 28 May

District Rugby Union: 28 May

Gala Day 2: 31 May

Regional Tennis: 11 June

Regional Rugby Union: 11 & 12 June

District Boys and Girls Softball: 13 June

Gala Day 3: 14 June

Regional Athletics: 17 & 18 June

11-12 years Girls Rugby League: 21 June

Boys and Girls Regional Softball: 27 June

Cameron Bateman
Sports Teacher

Inspirational Dads…

Do you know an inspirational father or father figure (grandfather, uncle, coach, teacher, etc) to honour in the 2019 Qld Father of the Year Competition? The overall Queensland winner will win a five night family holiday at Sea World Resort and Water Park.  In 2014, a wonderful YSS Dad was the regional winner for Brisbane South. Check out www.qldfatheroftheyear.org.au for more details soon as nominations will close 5 July 2019. 

Lunch-box tips…

Making school lunches every day can be quite a challenge and it is easy and convenient to rely on those packaged foods.  Unfortunately, processed snack foods provide little nourishment for our children with the fuel they need to learn and grow. 

Making lunches does require time and sometimes a bit of extra effort, but Dr Robyn Littlewood from Qld Health says, ”there is an abundance of medical and nutritional evidence proving that children and young people who eat nutritious meals every day and lead active lifestyles tend to excel.”

A tip that has helped me provide school lunches for my own family is to make up ready to go sandwiches and bread rolls (with cheese, ham, vegemite, etc), and store them in the freezer.  Some days, my family take freshly prepared foods, but there is always the ready to go supply in the freezer when time is short.  Queensland Health also make great suggestions for lunchboxes that include:

• vegetable sticks like capsicum, celery, cucumber and carrot paired with a vegetable-based dip (such as guacamole, hummus, eggplant and salsa or cottage cheese)
• a fresh colourful salad
• wraps (filled with lean meat such as diced chicken, turkey slices, reduced fat cheese or tinned fish or egg and plenty of salad vegetables)
• sushi rolls or rice-paper rolls
• home-made muffins or slices with added fruit or vegetables
• reduced-fat cubed cheese or cheese sticks
• air-popped popcorn
• pikelets – sweet or savoury are good
• hard-boiled egg
• a small tin of baked beans
• a tub of yoghurt or custard or a carton of milk

Dates to remember…

26/7               Chappy’s Movie Night

26-27/10        Chappy’s Camp at School

Blessings,

Jennifer Bennett

jenniferb@chappy.org.au

How to Create a Reading Culture in Your Home

Reading opens doors to adventure, opportunities and brighter futures. Aside from sheer joy books can bring to the reader, it works the imagination. Reading for pleasure improves literacy, social skills, health and learning outcomes.

"Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will need to read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives. They will need literacy to cope with the flood of information they will find everywhere they turn. They will need literacy to feed their imaginations, so they can create the world of the future. In a complex, and sometimes dangerous world, the ability to read can be crucial."
— International Reading Association, (Moore et al, 1999, p. 3 as cited by Clark & Rumbold, 2006)

Tips for how to create a reading culture in your home

1. Make time for reading aloud – reading to your child every night or once a week.

A recent study (Merga, M. K. (2017) Interactive reading opportunities beyond the early years: What educators need to consider. Australian Journal of Education) uncovered that parents will often stop reading aloud to their child once their child learns to read on their own. However children still enjoy and gain benefits from being read aloud to. Finding time to read aloud to your child will greatly improve their reading skills and create personal connections.

2. Giving Choice in what they read- allowing your child to select the book they are reading helps promote a positive attitude towards reading. Giving recommendations are highly encouraged though.

3. Visit a library often – students have access to the school library every week however they are not allowed to take books home over the school holidays. Instead of going without books visit the Brisbane City Council library (Fairfield is the closet library to school) and borrow books for free.

4. Set aside time to read- carving time out of your busy life for silent reading/ reading aloud is extremely important. Allowing your child time to read will help encourage them to pick up a book outside of this designated time.

5. Be a reader yourself- leading by example will help promote the importance of reading to your child.

6. Talk about reading- let your child talk to you about what they are reading, what they think might be coming up in the story, what they liked/didn’t like. Allowing your child to discuss their reading helps establish excitement and develops their literacy skills.

Happy Reading,
Mrs Cowie and Mrs Hage 

The Kurilpa Scout Group offers outdoor fun and adventure for kids aged 5 - 17.

On Sunday 9 June from 3 - 6pm we will be hosting our Annual General Meeting.

This event is free, open to the public and presents a great opportunity to learn more about Scouts and the contribution they make to our local community.