25 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

LEADERSHIP TEAM REPORT

Dear parents and caregivers

I am writing to update you on the ongoing response to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 across the education sector.

These are unprecedented times for schooling systems and you can be assured that all Queensland state schools are working closely with the Department of Education as we respond to this significant and evolving public health issue.

Thank you for your support and understanding as our school and the broader education community manage the impact of COVID-19.

I also acknowledge the excellent work being done by teachers and support staff in our school in ensuring your children are safe and continuing their learning during this difficult time.

School operations

As you may have heard in his press conference on 22 March 2020, the Prime Minister reiterated the view that schools are an essential part of our community and should remain open. This continues to be the advice of Australia’s chief health officers.

Leaders agreed that we cannot see children lose up to an entire year of their education as a result of possible school closures caused by COVID-19.

From Tuesday 24 March, Queensland state school parents and caregivers will be offered a choice as to how their children receive their learning.

State schools will remain open and parents and caregivers can send their children to school in the knowledge they will be safe.

If, however, you wish to keep your children home from school, you may do so. If you choose to keep your children at home, learning materials will be available on the Department of Education’s new learning@home website (qld.gov.au/learningathome). This website has downloadable learning materials, tips for parents and links to other well-regarded, free education websites that parents and caregivers and their children can use.

If you choose to keep your child at home, you must be responsible for them. You must ensure they stay at home and that they continue their learning using the material and websites that you can access online.

Student attendance

As is always the case, I ask parents and caregivers to let our school know if your child will not be attending school, for how long and the reason why.

If you choose to keep your child home due to concerns about COVID-19 you can be assured that you have made an acceptable decision.

You may have seen media reports last week that claim Education Queensland is ‘cracking down’ on parents who choose not to send their children to school due to COVID-19 concerns and that you are risking prosecution if you have made this decision.

The Department of Education has assured all schools that this is incorrect.

As outlined above, if you choose to keep your children at home, Jones Hill School is recommending parents and caregivers access materials available on the Learning Place website or other websites with curriculum materials. These materials have been available from the department for times when children have not attended school for extended periods. Links to these sites are published on our FaceBook page and website to assist you with easy access.

School routines

As you would be aware, schools have been asked to change routines and some specific planned activities over the last few weeks to assist in managing the spread of COVID-19.

These include:

• ceasing all international school/departmental travel for students and teachers;
• postponing or cancelling external school activities such as Cross-country, Colour Fun Run, etc.;
• stopping full school assemblies and rescheduling other large in-school student gatherings and events.

Schools have also been asked to postpone or cancel all school trips, camps and excursions including interschool and representative school sport competitions as a further step in reducing the risk of transmission in our schools and communities. The Canberra trip planned for term 2 is currently on hold while we await further advice.

School hygiene

I can assure all parents and caregivers that during this time we are paying close attention to the cleaning of our schools. Queensland schools have excellent, dedicated cleaners and the department has provided them with additional advice on cleaning techniques since the onset of COVID-19.

To support this work the Government has also increased the amount of cleaning in Queensland state schools in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our schools will be able to provide additional time to cleaners to enable them to pay extra attention to high touch point surfaces such as door handles, light switches, desks, toilets, taps and sinks.

Teachers at our school have also been focusing on the importance of effective hand and sneeze/cough hygiene with students.

Parents and caregivers can also access this information, which includes Queensland Health’s Six Steps to Successful Handwashing available at the link below:

Posters and a 20 second routine video that you can watch with your children, which is available at the link below:

Thank you

I sincerely thank parents and caregivers for the support you are giving your children and for the understanding you are showing to our school staff as they respond to this unique situation. It is important we continue to ensure our schools are safe and positive places for our children during these challenging times.

As always, the health and wellbeing of your children, and our staff, remain our focus.

We continue to take advice from Queensland Health in relation to this matter and the latest information is available on the Queensland Health website at the link below:

It is likely that these circumstances will be in place for many months ahead and we will all continue to work together in the interest of our schools and our school communities.

Canberra Trip

A decision regarding the Canberra Trip 2020 will be made early term 2.

Cancelled Events

Cross Country
NAPLAN
Year 1 and 2 Easter Parade
School Parades
Anzac Day March and Services – Community
Interschool Sports
Representative Sports – District/States/Nationals

Postponed Events

Colour Run
Year 1H, 1L and 1/2C - Australia Zoo Visit
Prep – Favourite Book Character Dress Up

Kind Regards,

James Watt - Principal
Stacey Seed – Deputy Principal

EVENTS CALENDAR

No Parade this Friday – Student receiving Silver and Behaviour Awards will be live streamed on Facebook at approximately 9:15. Token awards will be presented in the classrooms.

Behaviour Awards

LEARNING: PB- Donovan; PM – Jace; PR – Ryleigh; 1H – Bethany; 2MD – Chase; 2/3W – Breeanna; 3B – Indy; 3D – Miah; 4MD – Naomi; 4S – Ronan; 5R – Izabel; 6C – Fred; 6G - Casey

RESPECT: PC - Mila

JHSS ALL VALUES: 4/5W – Chloe-Jane

Token Awards

20 Tokens

PB – Bridgette, Donovan, Samuel, Rowland, Peter
PC – Maria, Amity, Harry
PR- Flynn, Cooper, Mason, Sebastian
1H- Milly, Amity, Alec, Cooper, Amayah
2MD – Tyler, Angus, Chase, Sadie, Ivie-Rose, Tahlia
2/3W – Hayley, Jaxson, Annabelle, Breeanna, Riley, Garrett, Chloe, Lachlan
3B – Ethan, Grace
3D – Noah, Amelia, Maddison, Regan, Leilani
4S – Billy, Bailey, Louis, Kaden, Riley
4/5W – Maddisen, Jack, Jase, Tilly, Tyler, Cooper
5R – Isla, Jonah, Layla, Lilly, Aurora
6C – Mason, Jayden
6G – Flynn, Lara, Myles, Chaesel, Wade, Cooper, Indi, Bella, Chayse, Mercedes

Behaviour Level Awards

Silver Level

2B – Chace; 2MD – Clayton, Ava-Lee, Hannah, Chase ; 3B – Archer, Lincolne

UPDATE FROM THE BUSINESS MANAGER

Overdue Payments

If your student 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 may be made by credit card using QParent App

Payments made by BPOINT or BPAY may not show up on our systems straight away or overnight. If you have made a payment that is due the next day, please send an email to admin@jonehillss.eq.edu.au with your receipt details or contact the office on 54890 555.

LUNCH BOX IDEAS

Pick'n'Mix 1-6

For a healthy lunchbox pick & mix something from each food group 1 - 6!

The Department of Health and Human Services' Pick & Mix 1-6 poster provides a range of ideas and practical tips to inspire families to create healthy school lunchboxes.

Pick and mix one tasty option from each of the five core food groups to create a healthy lunchbox every day:

1. Fruit (e.g. fresh, frozen, pureed and canned in natural juice)
2. Vegetables, legumes and beans
3. Milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives
4. Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans
5. Grain (cereal) foods
6. Plain water

SWPBS

The last two weeks of term one’s behaviour focus is, Safety. With a focus on student’s rights to learn and teacher’s rights to teach, in a safe environment.

A simple rule to follow – nobody has the right to make other people feel unsafe.

Students should be choosing the following behaviours.

• Keeping hands and feet to themselves
• Respect personal space of others
• Co-operate and compromise
• Respect the rights of others to learn
• Help others
• Listen to others opinions and accept they may be different to yours

These behaviours are an important life skill needed for being a productive and happy member of society.

MATHS AT JONES HILL STATE SCHOOL

Place Value

Having only 10 symbols (digits) in our number system means it is important where each one is placed to communicate the value of the number. Place value underlies many understandings and procedures in numeracy.

The following game can help students consolidate their understanding of place value.

Ladders
2 to 4 players

Materials:

10 sided dice is best but could use a deck of cards to generate numbers

The aim of the game is for each player to write 2 digit numbers and order them correctly.

Instructions:

• Each player draws a ladder with 6 rungs (7 spaces).
• Players take turns to roll the dice and use the digits to make a 2-digit number. For example, Player 1 rolls 6 and 8. He can make 68 or 86.
• Players write their chosen number in one of the spaces on their ladder.
• Players continue to roll the dice and add numbers to their ladder, keeping a sequence of smallest to biggest (bottom to top)
• The first player who fills their entire ladder is the winner.

There will be times when a player is unable to write a number on their ladder, they simply miss their turn. For example, a player with the ladder below rolls a 5 and a 6, there is nowhere to put 56 or 65, so they miss their turn.

Variations depending on level of understanding:

• Using three or more dice and making 3-digit or more whole numbers
• Rolling two dice to make numbers with decimals, e.g. 5 and 6 are rolled. Possible numbers are 5.6 and 6.5
• Varying the number of rungs on the ladder
• Using fewer or more dice to suit ages and abilities
• Using a 6-sided dice

Rob Callaghan
Teacher – 6C

BOOK FAIR – Thank you!

Book Fair, Enchanted Forest – Let Your Imagination Grow … was a great success. Thank you to all students, parents, carers and staff for your fantastic support of our first Book Fair of 2020.

Also thank you to Mrs Spence and her team for setting up and operating our Book Fair and to Mackenzie and the team of student leaders for their assistance and contribution to this Book Fair.

Thank you goes to Super Bear, who could have also been a little itchy, cranky, sleepy, hungry or brave for his visit to Jones Hill SS.

A competition encouraging students to guess how many pages were in the displayed books was run for students. The winners each received a $10 voucher to spend at the Book Fair. Congratulations to: Peter - PB; Amity - PC; Belle - 4MD; Lillyenna - 4/5W; Amelya - 5R & Casey - 6G.

Book Fair encourages our students to explore and expand their imaginations through reading and enjoying books. Book Fair also provides us with the opportunity to be rewarded with Scholastic points to spend on restocking our book shelves with a wonderful array of new books for you to continue to enjoy.

Thank you everyone for supporting our Book Fair.

Ann Walters
Library

P&C News

Easter Raffle

Easter raffle tickets are now available to purchase at the office for $1.00 each. The P&C are also looking for donations for the Easter raffle. If you would like to donate any items to go in the raffle, please drop them into the office.

FROM THE TUCKSHOP

The tuckshop will have a reduced menu as of Thursday 26 March. Updates for the menu will be updated on Facebook daily.