29 January 2020

Newsletter Articles

LEADERSHIP TEAM REPORT

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to the start of the 2020 school year. We hope you have had a relaxing and enjoyable break.

A special welcome to the new families joining Jones Hill this year, we are sure you will have a great transition into our community.

We would also like to welcome our new staff:

1L – Kylie Lewis
1/2C – Anneka Crombie
2/3W – Chris Walters
4MD – Jessica Dunn
5R – Michael Bonney (replacing Ms Rozynski)
DRT – Ellen Wright

The Student Engagement Teachers (Behaviour Management) will also be based at Jones Hill - Bruce Mouland, Emma Green, Lee Graham and Joe Barbaro.

Our teachers returned last week, to ensure all preparations are in place for a successful year of learning. They have taken part in planning, LEM Phonics refresher and worked through our school curriculum programs.

We would like to congratulate our students for the way they were engaged and ready for learning on the first day. As parents you should be very proud of the way the children settled into their new classes.

Jones Hill remains committed to our four improvement areas:

1. Writing & Reading
2. Numeracy
3. Teaching Quality, Explicit Teaching Model
4. Increase students in U2Bs

Our attendance target remains 95%, giving students the best opportunity to achieve their potential.

NAPLAN Online

As children progress through their school years, it is very important that checks are made along the way to see how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and mathematics – skills that will set them upon the path to success as adults.

NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress.

Our students in Years 3 and 5 will be undertaking NAPLAN testing online in May this year for the first time. Moving to NAPLAN online brings many advantages including a test design that offers test items tailored to students’ knowledge and ability.

We will also be participating in a national practice test. This is an excellent opportunity to fine tune any technical and logistical needs, as well as familiarise students and teachers with the online testing process.

Parents and caregivers of children in these NAPLAN year levels will need to be aware of important information relating to privacy, which can be found on the NAPLAN Online Queensland website’s parent information page.

We will keep you up-to-date in the lead-up to May, but if there’s anything you need in the meantime you can contact Stacey Seed (Deputy Principal) at sseed2@eq.edu.au.

P&C

The first general P&C meeting for 2020 is February 11 at 6.30pm in the library. All are welcome to attend and join this hard working band of parents. The P&C AGM is March 10 and we encourage parents/carers to come along and join this group who make such a difference to our school and for our students.

LEM Phonics Parent Session

Our first LEM Parent session for the year is 26 February at 5.00pm in the library. This is session 1, single phonograms. We will be providing a pack of resources for parents who are able to attend.

Nut Aware School – Just a reminder that we have several students within the school who have mild to severe allergies to nuts. Please limit sending any nut products with your child and help us keep our students safe.

Road Safety

This is an important time of year to be road aware. We have a lot of students entering and exiting the school each day. Please be on the lookout for students crossing the roads and making their way to and from school. Please ensure you use the designated parking areas and have a plan with your children for pick up.

Container Exchange Program

As part of our Environmental Program we will continue to participate in the Containers Exchange Program. Last year we recycled over 13 000 containers. All students are encouraged to bring empty cans and plastic bottles to school (no glass). All containers to the office please.

These containers will be sorted and taken to the Containers Exchange Depot. The P&C will receive 10c per container and these funds will be used to buy resources for the school.

Every student will also receive two Zero Waste tokens when they bring in their containers. They will go into a draw at the end of each term with some great prizes. This is a great way to be a Wildlife Warrior, reduce the waste in the Environment, help save our planet and support the school.

Swimming

Swimming lessons for 1H, 1L, 1/2C, 2B, 2MD, 2/3W, 4MD and 4S start on Monday, February 3. Lessons will be held at Gympie South Pool and will run from week 2 to week 9. Swimming invoices, permission and medical forms have been sent home. Payment and all forms are due by Thursday, January 30. Students will not be permitted to attend lessons if forms are not returned.

Parade

Our school parades for Preps to year 6 are held every Friday at 9am in the school hall. Our first parade will be held this Friday. Everyone is welcome.

Kind Regards,

Roadworks

There will be roadworks on Waldock Road, Jones Hill, on Thursday the 30th of January. These road works will cause major delays at drop off, pick up times and during the day. Please take an alternate route if possible.

James Watt - Principal
Stacey Seed – Deputy Principal

EVENTS CALENDAR

UPDATE FROM THE BUSINESS MANAGER

Canberra Trip

This year 83 year 5 and 6 students will have the opportunity to attend the Canberra trip from June 21 to June 26. The final invoice for $346.51 will be sent home within the next week. Pam Walsh will visit the school to speak with the students and parents regarding the trip to Canberra on Thursday 20 February at 5:30pm. Pam is the tour operator and will explain how everything operates and show slides of the accommodation and other venues that we will be visiting. This is a very informative evening and it is a great opportunity to ask questions. At the information evening, you will be given an itinerary, a list of items to take, medical forms and permission forms. These forms are very important and must be signed and returned to enable your child to participate.

Pacer Rebate

Students from our school will soon be undertaking, an educational tour of the national capital. 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 $60.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

QParents

QParents a secure, online portal that is free for all Queensland state schools to use, and provides parents with quick, easy access to their student information including:

• student and attendance details
• behaviour information
• report cards and assessment planners
• timetables and upcoming events
• invoices and payment history.

An invitation will be sent out to parents of new students this week to invite them to use the QParents app. A letter will also be sent home with instructions on how to set up and use the app with the students Unique Identification Number. Please contact the office if you have any queries.

Overdue Payments

If your students has an overdue account, please be aware that it may affect their ability to be able to participate in upcoming school activities. Statements are sent out regularly to allow parents to see what is outstanding on their accounts. Many families are using payment plans such as Centre Pay and BPoint. If you are having difficulty paying, please contact the Business Manager on 54890555 to discuss utilising these payment plans.

PAYING BY CENTREPAY:

• Complete the Centrepay form and return to the school office for payment plans.
• Complete Centrepay form online

PAYING IN PERSON: Payment by Credit Card, Debit Card, Cash or Cheque.

• Payment can be made at the School Office, Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:00am and 4:00pm
• EFTPOS facilities are available

PAYING BY QPARENT

Payments made be made by credit card using QParent App

Student Absence

Each parent of a child who is of compulsory school age has the legal obligation to ensure their child is enrolled and attends a state school or a non-state school, on every school day for the educational program in which the child is enrolled, unless the parent has a reasonable excuse. The safety and wellbeing of students are the highest priorities for the Department. Parents need to know if their child hasn't turned up for school, and schools need to know when and why a child is absent. Parents are required to contact the school on, or prior, to a student being absent. Absences may be reported by phone, written note or by using the QParent App. State schools will be required to notify parents on the same day that any student is absent from school without explanation. The school will send out daily SMS text messages to notify parents that their child is absent and allows a reply service for you to explain the absence. Currently there are students who are on our system with unexplained absences. You will receive a letter this week regarding these absences. Please return the letter to the office with a brief explanation of what the absence was for.

Student Absence Line – 5489 0566

MEET THE STAFF

Japanese Corner with Sensei

My name is Sonny Pellinkhof and I am the new Japanese teacher at Jones Hill State School this year. In our very first lesson of Japanese for 2020, we will be learning how to say a few greetings (aisatsu) words in Japanese. Students I wonder if you can teach people in your family to say “hello” or “nice to meet you” in Japanese. We will also look at our Japanese Belt system and how students can become a Black Belt in reading Japanese.

The Importance of Aisatsu

Most of the time when you greet someone, that greeting is returned. This little success promotes confidence within yourself and teaches you that people don't bite. It helps you feel good about yourself and makes the other person feel good about themselves as well. Next time you are out and about, I encourage you to say hello to someone that you wouldn’t normally say hello to. (in English of course, you don’t have to say it in Japanese!!) It doesn’t take much effort and you never know; you might make someone’s day.

Stay Japanesey.
Sensei

SAGE MUSIC ACADEMY

P&C News

P&C Annual General Meeting

The P&C AGM will be held in the Library on the 10th of March at 6.30pm. All parents/guardian are welcome.

CAMP AUSTRALIA NEWS

Welcome back families and a special welcome to families new to the school and our program.

At Camp Australia, we provide an engaging and supportive outside of school hours space for children to play, connect, learn and grow. We work together with your school community to deliver a tailored program that is designed to bring out the very best in each individual child. Creating a unique place where children can practice real-life skills in a fun and exciting environment that challenges them to succeed. In our sessions, children will be provided with a healthy snack while given time to relax, socialise with friends and learn some life skills along the way. Come to the OSHC space to meet April (Assistant) and myself, Jessica (Co-ordinator). We will be available at the hall to speak with families between 6.30am - 9.00am and 2.30pm - 6.00pm Monday to Friday.

It’s FREE to Register.

To attend our program, you must register your child. You can register an account with us at pp.campaustralia.com.au/account/login. Once registered, it’s easy to make bookings and manage your booking options online via our parent portal. If eligible, to help you with the cost of child care, you may be entitled to receive the Australian Government Child Care Subsidy. Visit my.gov.au to find out more.

Thank you everyone, have a great first week of term 1.

Jessica and April

HOT SHOTS TENNIS EXCELLENCE PROGRAM

Gympie and District Tennis Association Coach Brett Cottrill will commence Hot Shots Tennis program from Tuesday 11th of February at Jones Hill State School. Groups will be held on Tuesdays (starting 11th of February) - Years 3 to 6 and Wednesdays (starting the 12th February) – Prep and Years 1 and 2, at lunchtimes from 11.00am to 11.40am for a MINIMUM BLOCK OF 7 WEEKS. Costs will be $85.00/pupil, $160.00 for 2 children or $210.00 for three children in the same family.

To register for the program please contact Brett Cottrill on 0417746795 or return the completed form back to the office by Tuesday 11th February.

We accept the Get Started Sporting Vouchers.

Please make cash payment or cheques payable to Brett Cottrill.

Direct Deposit: B A COTTRILL. BSB 014585 ACCT 583359786 including students name as reference.

Note: After school Hot Shots games and Fixtures start commence on Thursday 6th February at The Reg English Memorial Tennis Centre Cartwright Road Gympie from 3.30pm to 5.00 pm.

HOCKEY QUEENSLAND