Term 1 Week 6 Newsletter

Term Calendar

Parent Teacher Interviews

At the end of this term, our classroom teachers will be offering parent teacher interviews to all families. Interviews will take place from the 20^th – 23^rd March. While it is only early in the year, the interviews are an excellent opportunity to learn more about how our children have started the 2023 school year. The interviews will give you an insight into your child’s strengths and future areas to focus on for improvement throughout the year.

At Buderim Mountain State School, we use an online booking system for parent interviews (Schoolzine) which will be open for bookings from 7:30 am on the 6th March and will close at 3:00 pm on the 17th March.

To book your interview time, click on the link below to open the browser.  You will be required to enter your email address (this email needs to be the email that you have provided to the school and is the email that your newsletter/school communication is emailed to) You will be asked to set up a password, and once your password is verified, you will be able to select your child/s teacher/s and book relevant interview times.

The link for booking an interview is below:

https://buderimmountainss.schoolzineplus.com/parentinterviews

Please look out for an invitation from your child’s teacher and we look forward to your attendance.

Free Dress Day

At BMSS we are fortunate to have the Story Dogs program visit students to assist with their reading skills throughout the year. Our Student Leaders support this each year by holding a free dress day and donating 50% of the takings to support the continued implementation of the Story Dogs program, with the other 50% supporting Harmony Day. We will be holding our free dress day on Friday 24^th March. Students are asked to wear clothing to represent their culture, or the colour orange.  Children are also asked to make a gold coin donation.

Staffing Update

The following staff will be replaced while they are on leave in the coming weeks:

• Jon Readshaw (Deputy Principal for Prep and Year 1), will be on leave from the 30 March through to the 24^th April and will be replaced by Mrs Sue Cuthbertson
• Brooke Starr-Thomas (HPE and LOTE) will be on leave from the 28^th March through to the 31^st March and will be replaced by Mr David Neighbour.

School Photos

School photos will be held on Thursday 9th March. Order forms have all been sent home with students.  All students will need to be in full school uniform (not sporting house uniforms) on this day.  MSP request all photo orders be made online using the shoot key provided on the envelope your child received.  Should you require a new envelope, please phone MSP on 07 3865 4291.

Student Smart Watches

We have had some queries from parents about whether students are allowed to wear Smart Watches to school. Students are allowed to wear these watches, but should not use them during the school day for:

• communication (text messages, phone calls, social media)
• internet access
• entertainment (eg. games)

Smart Watches should be set to ‘school mode’ where the access restrictions listed above are switched off during school hours. A reminder also to parents that communication with children during the school day should be done via school staff, rather than via smart watches.  A big thank you to all parents and carers for ensuring Smart Watches are set to ‘school mode’.

2024 Prep Enrolments

Please be aware that Prep enrolments for 2024 open on Monday the 17^th April.  Students born between 1^st July 2018 and 30^th June 2019 are eligible to enrol in Prep for the 2024 school year.  Early enrolment assists us with planning for the 2024 school year. If you are aware of any families who have children of this age, please let them know our enrolment process is open. 

Cross Country

This year, our Cross Country events will involve students from Prep-Year 6 and will be held on Wednesday 22 March. To assist with keeping the Cross Country to schedule, all ribbons for place getters will be handed out on Parades.  The Cross Country will run according to the timetable below:

 Students are encouraged to wear their house shirt and footwear appropriate for running. Parents and caregivers are welcome to attend.

The first six (6) place getters for each ‘competitive’ age group will be invited to represent Buderim Mountain State School at the Nambour District Trials at the Big Pineapple on the 12^th May, (born 2013 – 2000m; born 2012 – 3000m; born 2011 - 3000m).

Nambour District Swimming Trials

On Thursday 23 February, 12 students from Year 4-6 participated in the Nambour District Swimming Trials. They were:

• Year 4: Fergus A, Hudson O and Jemima L
• Year 5: Beau B, Scarlett D, Isobel A, Flossie S and Mia F
• Year 6: Olivia D, Digby L, Emma O and Aaliyah T

All students who represented Buderim Mountain State School are to be congratulated for their incredible efforts, great attitude and encouragement shown to others. Many great times were swum and all 12 swimmers were successful in placing at least 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd in their races at least once. Special mention to Olivia D, Beau B and Fergus A who won at least 4 of their races. We would like to thank our parents who helped time keep this was greatly appreciated.  Swimmers who were successful in qualifying for the Nambour District Team to compete at the Sunshine Coast Regional Trials on Thursday 9 March are: Fergus A, Jemima L, Beau B, Scarlett D, Isobel A, Flossie S, Olivia D, Digby L, Emma O and Aaliyah T. All the best at the next stage.

Grip Student Leader Conference

On Thursday the 23^rd of February, all of the student leaders participated in a captivating conference about Leadership. The key things we learnt were how to be a leader who thinks about others first, how to get others on board with a new idea, the three L’s (Left out by others, Look up to you and like-minded), and the four H’s (Hear others’ opinions, Help with the little things, Happiness and Humility). The conference went for the whole school day and we had two lunchbreaks in-between.  We had ten-minute breaks called ‘Loud Noises’ where we played fun games such as ‘the Hunted’, where we had a couple of volunteers go up to the stage, to try to hunt out specific items from the crowd. This was just one of the many enjoyable games we participated in.

At the beginning, we were all given a booklet that had different activities and quizzes for us to do, to help us to remember what we had learnt throughout the day. It included sentences for us to finish and different questions for us to answer, to test our understanding. It was a great opportunity for us to get to know and interact with leaders from other schools, ask any questions about leadership and also to get to know each other as the Buderim Mountain 2023 leadership group. We thank the organisers of this event for creating such an engaging and informative presentation.

Prep News

FARM DAY

Prep S

On Thursday the 23^rd of February, our Prep children dressed up as farmers and enjoyed our annual ‘Farm Day’. Our Prep classes enjoyed visiting each Prep classroom and participating in many different farm-themed activities. The children thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the farm animals from ‘Amazing Animals to You’. Our Prep children had a wonderful time petting the chickens, rabbits, goats and other farm animals!      Prep S

Prep D

This was our first incursion for the year and what an exciting one! We all dressed as farmers - many of us choosing denim, checked shirts, boots and wide-brimmed hats. We were able to pat and brush many farm animals including Lance the Llama, sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, rabbit and guinea pigs. We were able to think like scientists and talk about animals needing shelter, food, water and air. We visited each prep classroom and played with farm toys, created fantastic farm craft and participated in a huge range of fine motor activities. We finished the day smelling of farm animals and had a busy, exciting day.   Prep D

Post Office Excursion

In Week 8, the Prep classes will be walking to the Buderim Post Office to send a postcard they have written.  They will be buying a stamp and posting it and then they will have a tour of the Post Office. Prep B and Prep S will attend on Tuesday 14^th March, Prep F and Prep D will attend on Thursday 16^th March and Prep LF and Prep C will attend on Friday 17^th March.  The children are excited to be going on the excursion and are looking forward to seeing their postcard arrive in their mailbox.  Look in our next newsletter to hear all about this exciting excursion.

Easter Hat Parades

An exciting event at this time of year is the Easter hat parade for our junior year levels, which will be held in the Prep Playground. Parents and caregivers are asked to assist with organizing an Easter hat, which students will wear to this event, on the last day of term (Friday 31 March). Parents and caregivers are welcome to attend with details including:

• 9am      Prep
• 10am    Year 1

2023 Buderim Community ANZAC Day Service

While this is not until after the school holidays, it does come up in the second week of Term 2. An invitation has been extended to the staff and students at Buderim Mountain SS to participate in the 2023 ANZAC Day ceremony and march. 

Students are encouraged to participate in the march and the service.  The march will leave Woolworths at 8:30am on Tuesday the 25^th April. Students are asked to be at the long car park aisle closest to Woolworths by 8:15am and be wearing full school uniform including school hat. The students are most welcome to wear their relatives’ service medals. The correct protocol in this case is for the medals to be worn on the right side of the chest.

The ANZAC Day Service, following the march, will be held in the pine forest at Buderim Mountain State School from 9:00am.

Parents are asked to please pick up their children from the pine forest at the conclusion of the march. The Student Councilors will be handing out participation certificates at the end of the parade.

Year 1 Martin's Creek Incursion

‘Living Adventure’ is the title of our Science unit this term. Year 1 was lucky to be able to look for living things living in healthy habitats while we explored our own backyard at school and Martin’s Creek. We used our nets to catch fish, yabbies and insects in the creek. After closely examining some of the living creatures we found on our oval with an Ana loop, we made a clay creature to take home.

PERKS

In Week 4, our PERKS lesson for students in Years 1 to 6 focussed on GOAL SETTING.

We covered the following in the lesson:

• What is a goal/goal setting?
• Why do we set goals?
• Who sets goals?
• Where do we start?
• What are some different types of goals – eg activities, personal habits, schoolwork, learning to do something new, relationships

A framework for goal setting was introduced to the students - SMART GOALS. The posters will help you to understand this.

An action plan is a series of steps or ’mini goals’ to help us achieve our goals. This is an important part of goal setting.  Writing down our goals and the steps we need to follow, help us to successfully achieve our goals by keeping us on track.

Internet Safety

On Monday the 13^th March, our P&C has arranged for Brett Lee, the founder of “Internet Safe Education” and author of the book “Screen Resolution” to speak to both students and parents with his mission being to equip and educate young Australians with the skills and knowledge to use the internet safely whilst making them aware of their rights and responsibilities in the cyberworld.  

The student sessions will be held during the school day with all students attending a session.  A big thank you to our P&C for funding these sessions.  Student sessions are as follows: 

About Brett Lee 

Brett Lee is the founder of 'Internet Safe Education' and the author of the book ‘Screen Resolution’. He has spoken to thousands of students, teachers, and parents across Australia. His program’s mission is to equip and educate young Australians with the skills and knowledge to use the internet safely whilst making them aware of their rights and responsibilities in the cyberworld.

Brett worked as a Queensland police officer for 22 years, 16 of those as a detective in the field of child exploitation. In the five years prior to his retirement from the QPS, he was a specialist in the field of internet child exploitation investigations. A sought-after speaker and media commentator both in Australia and overseas, Brett is also endorsed by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner as a trusted provider of online education. Tickets are free until our capacity limit is reached, at which time we will unfortunately not be able to accept new bookings to this presentation.

Year 3 & 5 NAPLAN Online

This year all of our Year 3 and 5 students will be participating in NAPLAN online for the 3^rd year.  Over the past two years, the feedback from students is that most prefer this format.  Year 3 still undertake their writing test as a paper test, but all other tests are online.  This year the testing will occur between the 15^th and 17^th of March.  Students complete testing in reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. All participating students will receive a summary of their results later in the school year. Please see attached an information brochure for Parents regarding Naplan.

Curriculum Corner

Year Level Planning Meetings

We are heading into our year level planning days towards the end of this term in preparation for the Term 2 curriculum delivery. Teachers from each year level will spend a full day unpacking the curriculum requirements and the summative assessment tasks. We will discuss and brainstorm ways to aim for the ‘A’ and ‘B’ descriptors in the assessment tasks.

Analysing our students’ academic data is also an important step in planning. We need to know our learners and ensure we are catering for all learning needs. This process allows our teachers to differentiate their lesson planning to cater for all learning levels within their classrooms.

The year level planning days at the end of each term (to prepare for the following term) involve all teachers from each year level unpacking the curriculum. The planning days are vital in ensuring continuity across all classes in each year level. They give our students the best possible access to the Australian Curriculum, while also differentiating curriculum and teaching strategies based on each student’s academic needs.

Australian Curriculum Version 9

The current and first version of the Australian Curriculum was released in 2010. It has been under review, drafting, consultion and refinement during 2020-2021. All educators across the country had a voice in the feedback of the current Version 8.

Version 9 was then approved in April 2022. You will see the rollout information below from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority) conducted research of curriculum systems in Finland, New Zealand, Singapore and British Columbia. They also consulted international studies (e.g. PISA and TIMSS) to see what a world-class curriculum should have included and how to prepare our students for the world in which they live today and in the future.

BMSS will follow QCAA and Department of Education advice:

• Familiarisation of English and Mathematics V9 in 2023
• Implementation of English and Mathematics V9 in 2024

Our Yearly Curriculum Overviews are located on the website.

https://buderimmountainss.eq.edu.au/curriculum/teaching-and-learning

Kristie O’Keefe

(Head of Curriculum)

Library Lounge

Thank you to everyone who ordered books from Book Club this term. The library received $660 in rewards to purchase new books for the library.

Book Fair will be Week 3 Term 2.  It will be open for students and parents to purchase books from 2^nd to 4^th May. More information will come closer to the time. Book Fair will replace the normal online Book Club in Term 2.

Book Fair Theme is “Bookaneer – Where Books are the Treasure”.

‘Shiver me timbers,’ the library is looking ‘yo ho ho!’ with students’ artwork.

LIBRARY RULES

                        Listen to your teacher/library team.

                        Inquire (ask) if you need help

                        Be respectful of others.

                        Read and talk quietly.

                        Always walk never run.

                        Return books to their proper places.

                        Your manners are appreciated.

QParents

Our school has been using QParents in recent years for all year levels. If you have not already signed up with an account, all unregistered parents of P-6 students should receive an invitation email at various points of the year to invite you to sign up. QParents is a simple way to pay for any school excursions or fees without having to send money or paperwork back to the school. Parents can also gain an update on their child’s attendance and submit absence information. (For any early departures on a school day, you do still need to go via the health room to have your child’s absence recorded). Finally, parents can update personal details automatically and students’ past report cards can be accessed via QParents. If you have not received an invitation, please check your spam/junk email folders as we have been made aware that certain email providers have predetermined settings that automatically move school emails to these folders.

Playgrounds: Keeping our children safe

To assist with keeping all of our students safe, we would like to remind everyone our playground equipment is not permitted for use before or after school. The equipment requires a teacher on duty to supervise all children for safe play. We appreciate your support with following school procedures and to ensure our children are safe.

Dog Owners

Recently, we have had enquiries from members of our school community in relation to bringing dogs onto the school grounds. While the State Government doesn’t allow dogs on school premises at any time, we try to work in with the Buderim community and ask all families and community members to assist with the following guidelines.

Buderim Mountain State School, including the oval, is not a designated off-leash dog park.  No dogs are allowed on the premises:

• Between 7:30 am and 4:00 pm school days
• When the school oval is being used by someone paying to hire the oval before 7:30am and after 4:00pm
• When students from Buderim Mountain State School Outside School Hours Care are using the oval or playgrounds before 7:30am and after 4:00pm

We ask dog owners to please clean up after your dog and remove all dog droppings from the school site and please do not leave in school bins.

Parades

Parades will continue on the following days, please be seated by 2:20pm

Tuesday: Prep & Year 1
Wednesday: Year 2 & 3
Thursday: Year 4
Friday: Year 5 & 6

Parades include the presentation of weekly awards, messages and occasional performances. Principal’s certificates, banners and medallions are presented twice per term. Any awards that are submitted by Wednesday the 22^nd March will be presented on the following parade:

Week 10 – 28^th March to 31^st March

Lost Property

All lost property, once sorted, is located in the bag racks outside the healthroom. There is currently a lot of unnamed items to be collected. 

Relief Cleaners Needed

Buderim Mountain State School is seeking casual relief staff for cleaning.

This position requires the applicant to hold a current Paid Working with Children Blue Card and a criminal history check.  Previous experience in working in a school environment as well as in the cleaning industry would be beneficial.  Please refer below for the generic role description:

Cleaner's Responsibilities

As the Cleaner you will contribute to the efficient and effective operation and environment of the site by providing a high level of cleaning.  These include:

• Ability to carry out cleaning duties with limited supervision and cooperatively participate as a team member
• Cleaning and sanitising of classrooms, toilet facilities and sick bays; vacuuming; mopping; sweeping; hosing; blower vac; rubbish disposal and litter control; removal of graffiti; other appropriate cleaning duties as directed

Hours operate in a split shift, usually 5 - 8am and 3 - 6pm

This position reports directly to the Business Manager.

If you are interested, please submit your contact details and a resume/CV by Friday 31 March 2023 to our Business Manager, Heidi Reitsma (hreit3@eq.edu.au).

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