News from the Sustainability Legacy Committee

This year, Year 6 students have joined one of four legacy committees aligned to our school improvement areas. The purpose of these legacy committees is for students to work together as a team to improve our school and leave a legacy as they end their primary school journey at the end of this year.

The Sustainability Legacy Committee consists of 25 members including two Legacy Representatives – Amelie Mules and Mahrosh Nadeem. The Legacy Representative role is to be the spokespersons for the group, lead discussions and ensure all committee members collaborate and contribute towards the Wildly Important Goal (WIG).

Our WIG: To improve Yeronga State School's green footprint. 

Actions: We will reintroduce Nude Food Mondays; conduct Emu Parades twice a term; and be Carbon Crusaders by turning off lights and fans in our classrooms at break times.

Fundraisers: Our main fundraiser will help fund the regeneration of the gardens and compost bins, and make donations to some green charities.

Legacy we will leave: To reduce waste at YSS. We will also incorporate recycling stations (paper, cardboard, soft plastics, pens, whiteboard markers and batteries), and reintroducing composting of brain snack/munch and crunch rubbish.

We look forward to student and school community support as we embark on our important legacy.

Look out for more Legacy committee updates soon.

Year 5 Creative Writers Workshop

Earlier this term 8 students in year 5 nominated to take part in the Yeronga State High School creative writing workshop.  Students worked towards writing a story

 over this day and just this week, the final product has been delivered!  All of the participant stories have been compiled in a book, and each participating student has received a copy.  Check out just a small sample of their stories below.  Students have reported some key takeaways for this day:

Dash – “I learnt more about the storyline of a good story, and how important it is to build suspense”

Zahra – “I leant about figuratively language, and how it adds details to my stories”.

Edie – “Sometimes It’s difficult for me to finish my writing as I have lots to say.  It helped me to know how to end my stories”.

Whole School Wellbeing – Switch4Schools Trial

As you know, at Yeronga State School we are committed to developing the well-being and emotional intelligence of our students. As you know, we have implemented the The Zones of Regulation program throughout our school that has been very successful, and enthusiastically embraced by both staff and students alike. Now we feel it is time to explore ways we can take it to the next level.

To this end we are excited to partner with Decida, a local company specialising in digital tools designed to strengthen emotional intelligence, to trial the implementation of Switch4Schools which is a simple program to take some of the things we have learnt in the Zones of Regulation program and help embed them into our everyday behaviours. 3M, 4M and 6QW are trialling this program, with a view to feedback about its potential benefits for our whole school community. Students will be encouraged to “check in” at the start of the day and after the second lunch break to learn to identify and label their feelings, and will be supported to participate in small activities that are designed to help the students learn to more effectively manage their emotions in the classroom.  These small strategies are expected to create a classroom environment more conducive to learning for all.

We are really enthusiastic about the benefits the program could have for our students, and look forward to seeing the results of the trial. For those interested in finding out more about Switch4Schools, you can find them online at https://www.switch4schools.com.au/. 

Under 8's Morning

Under 8’s morning is a celebration of learning for all Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 children.  We will be celebrating this occasion by having our Prep – Year 2 children engaging in play activities.  The local kindergartens are also invited so that they can become familiar with our school grounds.  The senior students also get to demonstrate their leadership skills by assisting the younger children for the morning. 

The Under Eights Day theme is ‘Play in a changing world’

When: Friday 24 June 2022
Time: 9:15am – 10:15am
Where: Children are to come to classroom at start of the day

Parents are welcome to attend!!!

Tracy Freeman and Stef Kirk
Deputy Principals

Year 4-6 Athletics Day – Monday 13^th June

Please note the timetable below is a guide.

Discus, High Jump, 800m and 1500m finals will be done in the lead up to the actual day. Weather and time permitting the 800m finals will be this Friday June 3 at 1:50pm. The 1500m finals will be next Friday June 10 at 1:50pm. Discus and High Jump will be during HPE lessons over the next week.

Volunteers: If you are interested and able to help out on the 13^th of June please email Mr Curness (hcurn1@eq.edu.au) .

Field event trials have been conducted during Health and Physical Education lessons. Students will be informed shortly if they have qualified for the Competitive group. If your child was away or feels they may have been over looked please encourage them to speak with Mr Curness.

Please make sure your students wear their sports uniforms. 

Week 9 – Monday 13^th June

Upcoming Payments

Year 1 Lone Pine Excursion

Today all year 1 families received an email about the upcoming Lone Pine Excursion.

The parental consent form will be sent home tomorrow and invoices will be emailed home as well.

The due date for the invoice and permission is the 24^th June 2022.

Year 4 Camp – Payment Due Date 17^th June 2022

We’d like to thank all the Year 4 families for returning the medical forms and parental consent forms.

If you have not yet returned these forms and you would like your child to attend please return these forms as soon as possible.

Payment for the camp is due on Friday 17^th June 2022.

Kind Regards, 
Yeronga Admininstration 

Parent Café

Do you have any questions about school that haven’t been answered?  The Parent Café is another opportunity to get information or seek help.  The staff attending Parent Café will be able to direct you or find out the information for you.  Come for a visit on Tuesday mornings in the junior school at 8:30am.

Building Community

‘We are hardwired to connect with others, it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives and without it there is suffering” – Brene Brown

I so agree with this quote from Brene Brown, and know after working with people that to build community and have purposeful connection requires effort and being proactive. Here are some building community activities, some of which could be planned for the coming school holidays.  What could you organise?

• invite a group of parents (with the children) to the park for morning tea
• celebrate a birthday or other significant event with some friends
• organise a lunch with your work mates
• volunteer and work together over a project at school e.g. P&C or Chaplaincy event
• participate in your child’s sporting club, attend games, and chat with parents
• host a BBQ and invite a group of friends
• join a charitable fundraising event that helps build connection e.g. World’s Largest Morning Tea, Bridge 2 Brisbane, etc.

Coming up

29/7 Chappy’s Movie Night

13/6 Sub and Drink Deal Lunch.  Place your order before 9am on Thursday 9 June through the webpage https://myschoollunch.com.au/yeronga-ss-staff-or-student-selector or use the QR code below to take you there. 

Running Club

Running club has resumed and unless the weather makes it impossible to run safely, will continue this term on Tuesdays, from 3:15 to 3:45 and Thursdays from 7:45 to 8:15. Mr Sutherland will hold his sessions on Fridays from 7:45 to 8:15. Remember that all of these sessions will occur on the main, or years 3-6, oval.

Districts Representatives - Eastern Taipan's District Cross Country

Congratulations to the following students who were selected at the District trials to compete at the Met West Region Cross Country trials as members of the Eastern Taipan District Cross Country Team. Due to weather and ground conditions, the competition at John Paul College will now be held on 7 June 2022.

Great good luck to all competitors:

Hudson 6K
Finn 5B
Finn 6K
Lachlan 5L
Aggie 5B
Violet 5L
Nadia 6K
Alex 4L
Nick 5W
Lati 4W
Sam 6K
Matthew 6QW
Mollie 4H
Piper 5L
Arabella 5W

Representative Sport Dates Release (Important)

The trial dates for term one of 2022 are listed below.

District Sport and COVID

Please remember the following district/regional policy if your child is attending district or regional trial in term 2:

“In light of the department’s back to school Covid Safe Plans and Practices, as well as restrictions imposed by various school venues running many of our trials, we have made a decision that NO SPECTATORS will be permitted to attend Eastern Taipans District Sports Trials until further notice.”

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 Term 2, 2022

14/06/2022 – District Girls Rugby League

13 & 14/06/2022 – Yeronga State School Senior (Years 4-6) Athletics

15/06/2022 - Yeronga State School Senior (Years 4-6) Athletics Reserve Day

22/06/2022 - Yeronga State School Junior (Prep – Year 3) Athletics

23/06/2022 - Yeronga State School Junior (Prep – Year 3) Athletics Reserve Day

Many Thanks
Hamish Curness (Health Teacher) and Kerri McGuire (Acting PE teacher)

Curiosity Centre Update

As our new school building starts to emerge from months of scaffolding and fencing, the teaching staff who make up the Curiosity and Creativity Legacy Committee (one of Yeronga’s 4 school areas of improvement) recently met to brainstorm ideas central to utilising the Curiosity Centre which will be located within the new building. The Curiosity Centre boasts an impressive footprint and with this comes the opportunity to evolve the space into a creative hub of discovery central to playing, experimenting, designing, and constructing with different materials, resources, and technology. 

How to foster an inspiring and engaging learning environment for our students, showcase our projects and involve the wider school community were topics for discussion during the meeting. Initial ideas for how the centre could be used include - 

• Kick off and Tune in to Inquiry learning with inquiry displays.
• Provision and access to open-ended resources to develop into a tinker area for the students.
• Sessions where parents and carers are invited to experience the Curiosity Centre with their children.  
• Art exhibitions and Open Studios
• Hosting experts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics

The Curiosity Centre is an exciting addition to Yeronga with so many curious and creative learners already filling classrooms throughout the school. The Curiosity and Creativity committee is looking forward to working together with students, colleagues, and the community to further grow a shared vision for this space.

Jess Greenfield
Visual Art Teacher