14 March 2018

Newsletter Articles

LEADERSHIP TEAM REPORT

Hi Everyone,

BULLYING. NO WAY!

Friday 16th March is the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. At Jones Hill State School we will be taking a stand together against bullying by wearing ORANGE . All children are encouraged to wear ORANGE to show their support.

Jones Hill State School aims to create a safe and supportive school community for everyone.

Sometimes it can be difficult for parents or carers to know what to do when their child talks to them about bullying.

You are an important part of our work to prevent bullying and to respond effectively if it happens. Stopping bullying involves everyone.

If your child talks to you about bullying:

1. Listen calmly and get the full story. Your calm response is important to allow your child to tell you all about the situation. After they’ve told you their story, ask questions to get more details if you need to: who, what, where, when. Although you may feel some strong emotions about your child’s experience, try to keep calm to avoid more distress to your child.
2. Reassure your child they are not to blame. Many children blame themselves and this may make them feel even worse. You could say things like, ‘That sounds really hard to deal with. No one should have to put up with that.’ or ‘I’m so glad you told me. You should be able to feel safe at school; that’s not fair at all’.
3. Ask your child what they want to do and what they want you to do. A critical part of your response is to avoid jumping in to solve the problem. While it is natural to want to protect your child, helping them to find their own solution is a better option. It helps them feel they have some power in the situation.
4. Visit the link below to find some strategies. The website has tips and ideas for different bullying situations. One idea is to practise strategies at home to help your child feel more confident.
5. Contact the school. Your child may be reluctant for you to do this, so discuss the idea and reassure them that the school would want to know and is able to help. Make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher and, if you need to, ask to talk with the principal. Contact the school immediately if you have a concern about your child’s safety.
6. Check in regularly with your child. Keep the conversation going. It can take time to resolve issues, so check in regularly with your child about their experiences and their feelings. Your ongoing support is important.

If you are looking for support for yourself to deal with a bullying situation, you will find ideas on the Bullying. No Way! website for parents.

Let’s take a stand together and show that Jones Hill State School children and parents are against bullying and violence.

During the recent photo day staff at Jones Hill chose to support “Dolly’s Dream”, a new charity group established by the family and friends of Dolly Everett. Dolly was the victim of bullying and ended her own life at the young age of 14. The staff all wore blue, for one of their photos donned, Akubra hats and donated to Dolly’s Dream.

CLEAN-UP AUSTRALIA DAY

Last Friday students and staff participated in Clean-up Australia Day by conducting an emu parade around the grounds. Many different items were found and there was a high percentage of plastic products. Year 3C used the rubbish found as part of a math lesson turning the information they gathered into graphs and percentages.

CANBERRA

All students attending our Canberra Trip have received their forms and information pack. All forms listed below need to be returned to our school office as soon as possible.

• Activity Consent Form
• Medical Form
• Special Dietary Requirements
• Perisher Lunch and Suttons Forest Dinner Order
• Medication Administration Form

The Perisher Toboggan Flyer also needs to be dated and signed after reading and returned. To access this flyer please click on the link below.

Canberra Government Funding Contribution

Students from our school will be undertaking an educational tour of the national capital from June 24 to June 29. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $60 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs.

DANIEL MORCOMBE PRESENTATION

The committee members of the Gympie Crimestoppers organisation have organised a presentation by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation for students in grades 4-6 regarding student safety. Students will be traveling by bus to the Gympie Pavilion Show Grounds on March 20 and will listen to guest speakers Bruce and Denise Morcombe. As this excursion is next week we need to have all permission slips and medical forms returned by this Friday March 16. No payment is required for this excursion. If you child will not be participating in this excursion please contact the office on 54890 555 so we can arrange a teacher and activities for this time. Please note that if the permission and medical forms are not returned to the office your child will not be able to participate in this excursion.

Please click on the links below if you require a medical or permission form:

QUEEN’S BATON RELAY

Our year 4 to 6 students will be attending the Queen’s Baton Relay Community Celebration at Albert Park on March 26. After the celebrations they will head to Mary Street to cheer on Jones Hill student, Amber S as she completes her section of the Baton Relay.

Medical and permission form are now overdue. If you have not yet returned them please return them to our school office. Please note that if the permission and medical forms are not returned to the office your child will not be able to participate in this excursion. If you do not wish your child to attend the Queen’s Baton Relay please contact our office staff. No payment is required for this excursion.

Please click on the links below if you require a medical or permission form:

SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CHALLENGE

On Monday some of our year 6 students attended a Science and Engineering Challenge presented by The University of Newcastle in partnership with the University of the Sunshine Coast. In teams of three the students attempted several science / engineering based challenges. These types of days are to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and get students interested in the areas of STEM. With the great leaps forward in science, technology and engineering your child’s future is unknown. What is known is they will need skills such as, problem solving, working in teams and being innovative. Focusing on STEM helps build these skills.

We are very proud to say that our Jones Hill Team were awarded first place and received the 2018 Science and Engineering Discovery Day Trophy. Congratulations to all students who attended. Certificates will be presented at parade this Friday.

PREP PHOTO

In February The Gympie Times took photos of our Prep classes for a special publication “My First Year”. These photos will be published next Wednesday, March 21.

Kind Regards,
James Watt and Stacey Seed

EVENTS CALENDAR

PARADE AWARDS

The following students will receive awards on Parade Friday March 16 at 9:00am in the Hall

Token Awards

20 Tokens: (PD) – Stella D; (PM) – Nash A, Amelia B, Sadie H, Max H, Peyton J; (PR) – Jaxson B; Chace C; Clayton F; Narla N; Hayley B; (1B) – Cooper A, Aubrey A, Savannah B, Emma B, Emily B, Summer B, Cody B, Alisha C, Connor D, Linkin M, Bronte S; (1/2B) – Sienna S, Amelia B; (2R) – Rani C, Hayden C, Sianna D, Benjamin D, Billy D, Layne J, Lilly L; (2S) – Ava B, Tylor T; (3C) – Jonah M, Madelyn S; (4ML) – Georgia J; (4W) – Matthew B, Kyiah P, Lara B; (5C) – Ellie L, Larni R, Zach W; (5N) – Allie C, Jacobi L, Lara B, Roxy S, Jack T, Zavia V; (6C) – Kayla B, Mia C, Shelby D, Koebi G, Brydie H, Mikayla S, Mia W, Kenzie H, Anjolee L, Will M, Izak P, Aidan R

Behaviour Awards

LEARNING: (PD) – Jack M; (PM) – Sadie H; (PR) – Tahlia A; (1B) – Corey C; (1/2B) – Zander M; (2R) – Rani C; (2S) – Abbie R; (3C) – Rhianna M; (3MD) – Vada V; (4ML) – Bailee G; (4W) – Cooper K; (5C) – Clay W
ALL VALUES: (5N) – Alex M; (6C) – Mikayla S
RELATIONSHIPS: (1Z) – Archer S

Behaviour Level Awards

SILVER: (5C) – Jordan A
GOLD: (6C) – Mikayla S
PLATINUM: (6C) – Koebi G, Aiden R, Will M

LIBRARY NEWS

QUIET WEEK

This week is PEACEFUL LIBRARY WEEK. Students will experience QUIET reading and other activities while listening to classical/soft jazz music which enhances learning. Those using QUIET voices may earn PRO tokens for being Persistent, Resilient readers and listeners as they Organise themselves to do a quiet activity. The tokens can be entered in a draw for some prizes at the end of the week. SO, GET READY FOR PEACEFUL LIBRARY WEEK.

BOOK FAIR

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Book Fair, including students, parents and staff volunteers who gave their own time to be at the check-out or help supervise in the library. Thank you to Mascot Mouse (aka “cheese breath”) and all the students who ran the photo competition and the animal hat making.

Kind regards, Mrs Walters

NAPLAN QUESTIONS

Here is a few NAPLAN questions for you to try:

LEM PHONICS NEWS

Reading and Spelling Rules

Rule 7 (Week 8): The phonograms ‘l’, ‘f’, ‘z’ and ‘s’ (saying its first sound) are usually doubled at the end of a one-syllable word if they follow a single vowel.

For example: ball, puff, buzz, miss

Exceptions: nil, if, bus, quiz

Extension to this rule: when one-syllable words are added to another word, we drop one of the ‘l’s because the word is no longer a one-syllable word.

For example: all + ways = always, help + full = helpful, will + full = wilful

However, in the suffixes ‘less’ and ‘ness’ both ‘s’s stay. The ‘l’s leave and the ‘s’s stay!

For example: kindness, wordless

Exercise: Complete the following words. Based on the rule above you need to decide if ‘l’, ‘f’, ‘z’ and ‘s’ will double or not. Explain your decisions.

Rule 8 (Week 9): Use the phonogram ‘ck’ at the end of a syllable for the /k/ sound if preceded by a single vowel saying its first sound.

For example: black, peck, lick, sock, luck

Exercise: Add ‘ck’ to these words only if they follow the rule. If a word does not follow the rule, cross it out.

Syllable Rules

Breaking words into its parts, or syllables, is an essential skill that every student must master to become great readers and spellers. Every syllable must have a vowel – both written and sounded. Even though there are six primary vowels in the English language (‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, ‘u’ and sometimes ‘y’) there are 17 vowel sounds that can be represented by 30 vowel phonograms. A vowel sound is simply indicated by a drop of the jaw. Therefore, an easy way to determine the number of syllables in a word, is to count how many times your jaw drops when saying that word.

Along with learning the Reading and Spelling Rules, your child is also learning how to successfully break words into syllables. There are ten Syllable Rules. In this newsletter, we will cover the first three rules.

Syllable Rule # 1: Never divide a one-syllable word.

For example: cat, good, shell, three

Syllable Rule #2: Divide compound words between the words which make that compound word.

For example: sun-set, class-room, book-shelf

Syllable Rule #3: Divide suffixes from the base word.

For example: help-ing, fit-ness, act-ive, fam-ous

P&C NEWS

HOT CROSS BUN DRIVE

Hot Cross Bun order forms were sent home last week. Order forms and full payment must be back at school by Thursday March 22. You can choose to have your order delivered to either our School Tuckshop or the Baker’s Delight Store. All orders will be available for pick up on March 29. If you need earlier pick up due to going on holidays early, please contact Kelda on 0429 867129. Anyone who did not receive an order form may pick one up at our school office, or click on the link below.

EASTER RAFFLE

Don’t forget to grab a ticket in our annual P&C Easter Raffle. Tickets are only $1 and are available from our school office. Small books are also available for those who wish to sell to family and friends.

If you wish to donate an item for the raffle (Easter eggs, craft item, chocolates) please give them to the office.

SCHOOL BANKING

School banking is run from the Gum Tree Café from 8:30am to 9:00am every Thursday.

BULLYING PREVENTION AND CYBER SAFETY PRESENTATION

Gympie Regional Council, in collaboration with The Gympie Times, are hosting a Cyberbullying Presentation for parents, carers and the general community (18 years+) at 6.00pm, Thursday 15 March 2018 at the Gympie Civic Centre. Michelle Murray from Bully Zero Australia Foundation will deliver the presentation along with special guest Ali Halkic who lost his only child Allem, to cyberbullying. He will share his personal experience at the presentation.

The Presentation will cover topics such as:

• Cyberbullying and online harassment
• How to deal with bullying and bullies
• Who is involved – empathy and respect
• Where to seek help

MEET OUR STAFF

KATH RHODES

Occupation: Teacher Aide
Born: Sydney

Hi to all of the Jones Hill families.

I moved up to Gympie with my family from the Central Coast of NSW in 1989.

I worked at Coles for 13 years until I had my only child Amalie in 2004. After becoming a mum I stayed home for a few years then when she was in grade 3 decided to do a bit of study and found a really awesome school called Jones Hill to do my work placement.

We have a house full of feathered and four legged family members that are spoilt, mainly by my mum. Our family and I love to go fishing and have quality family time. My hobbies are cooking, reading, gardening and when time allows playing on my PS4.

RENEE RYAN

My name is Renee Ryan and I have been a Prep teacher at Jones Hill since the start of 2017.

Teaching History: I am an early childhood teacher with 15 years of teaching experience in the Kindergarten to Year 2 sector. I have taught at St George State School, Robina State School, Toobeah C&K and Bungunya State School. At Bungunya (near Goondwindi), I was the P-2 teacher in a small two-teacher school with 32 students.

Family: I am married with 2 children, Billy (11 years old) and Lola (8 years old). We live on acreage with our 2 goats, 8 chickens and 17 fish. My parents and younger brother live on the Gold Coast, where I grew up. I have 3 nieces and 1 nephew.

Interests: I enjoy reading, watching movies, yoga and swimming in the pool. I love travelling with my family, and am planning a trip for later in the year.

SUSAN WELLS

Hi, my name is Susan Wells.

I moved to Gympie at the end of 2015. Prior to moving here, I travelled around Australia for six and a half years with my husband Jason and my daughter Lilly.

I started at Jones Hill in February 2016 where I was a Teacher Aide before moving into the office in January 2017. Lilly was a student here at Jones Hill before heading off to Gympie High this year.

Our interests include: travelling, camping, fishing and historic cars. Above is a photo of myself with my 1960 Morris Minor.

MELANIE ZERNER

Hi, my name is Melanie Zerner and I grew up in Noosa after my parents moved there when I was 8 years old (they were Kiwis who had just heard that Noosa was ‘pretty nice’ – lucky whoever it was they were talking to knew their stuff!). Prior to that my parents travelled quite a bit – I was born in The United Arab Emirates, did kindy years in Barbados, and did my early primary years at a school in Cairo, Egypt. I graduated as a teacher in 2001 and have taught in different schooling systems within Australia since that time, in Warwick, Brisbane and Gympie. I also spent a few years teaching overseas in the UK and travelling throughout Europe. I have been fortunate enough to have gained experience in a range of grade levels and different teaching roles – I am currently teaching Grade 1 and I love it. I’ve been teaching at Jones Hill in different roles for over four years now, with a bit of Gympie South State School in the middle!

I am passionate about teaching and find it a very rewarding job. I love making the classroom an exciting place that students look forward to coming into every day. When I am not at school (or making resources for school at home – I do love laminating!), I love to spend time at the beach just hanging out with my family. I have two children, both of whom are students at Jones Hill. My interests include art, travel, cooking, and experiencing a wide variety of cultures. My husband, children and I are enjoying our time in Gympie but we’re looking forward to moving south at the end of this current school year to fulfil our dreams of living in Victoria – I love cold weather, seasons and wintery beach walks! I am excited about what the future holds!

COLES SPORTS FOR SCHOOLS

Please drop your vouchers in the office.

TENNIS GYMPIE PRIMARY SCHOOL CHALLENGE YEARS 1 TO 6

Tennis Gympie will be holding the 1st Primary School Challenge for 2018 at The Reg English Memorial Tennis Centre on Cartwright Road on Thursday March 22 from 3.30pm to 5.30pm

The cost is $10 per player, $15 for 2 players from the same family or $20 for 3 or more players from the same family including a free sausage sizzle. The challenges will be based on our Hot Shots Tennis in Schools programs and Holiday Fun Tournament events and all players will be placed into groups of appropriate skill levels (eg Red, Orange and Green Ball Levels).

Heaps of fun and prizes and a chance to represent your school.

Note: Players from the winning school must play a minimum of 4 challenges to be eligible for a medallion.

AUSTRALIAN ARMY CADET UNIT

Do you have a child aged 12 to 18 years who is interested in becoming an Army Cadet?

Gympie is raising its own Australian Army Cadet Unit. An information and recruitment night is being held at the Gympie RSL on March 28 at 6pm. For more information click on the link below.

MARY VALLEY TRAIL BLAZER