School Newsletter Issue no. 15 - 25.8.2023

Message from the Principal

             Spring has kind of Sprung!

It is hard to believe we are moving into the last weeks of August.

The wattle trees are in full flower around the school and in different parts of Toohey Forest. When I was based in Mount Isa for six years and travelled regularly between Mount Isa through to Longreach and out to Hughenden, I was always keen to identify what trees were in flower and the animals the trees attracted.

At  Bribie Island where I was teaching for a year the wattle trees in flower meant the bream fish would be biting so there would be plenty of people trying their luck at night time fishing. For us at Yarranlea it is time to look up and see if we can spot any koalas as they make their annual migration through the forest.  

Many thanks to everyone for their assistance at the “Yarranlea presence” at the Griffith Open Day. It was wonderful to have our students perform in different ways, these being: the Super String Group and the Full School Choir. It has been three years since we have had a full "live performance" of strings and choir at the Open Day. Our thanks to everyone who contributed on the day.

As we move towards the business end of the term we will have the following;

Optimind – Saturday – August 26^th

We have two groups, comprised of students from Grades 2 to 6 who have worked on solving a long-term problem and who will participate on the day, in solving a spontaneous problem on the day.

Colour Fun Run – Wednesday – August 30^th

To be held in the afternoon from 1.30 until 3.00 at the small oval where the 100 Days of Prep celebration cake cutting was held. The afternoon will consist of small rotational group activities. Parents are invited to park and participate. Teaching staff will return to school straight after the event with students who are booked in for OSHC. For the best effect for the colour fun run, we suggest wearing an old white T-shirt up top and old pants as well.

 Year 6 – Tuesday – September 5^th

The Year 6 group will be involved in an entrepreneurial workshop at Logan. This is a trial for us to see if this workshop would also suitable for grades five next year. It was originally planned for Monday – September 4^th however, the organisers changed the date and venue. Miss Dionysius will accompany the year six students on the day.   Further details will be relayed closer to the event.

Griffith Market Day – Tuesday – September 5^th =  a text will be sent on Monday, September 4^th

P and F meeting – September – Wednesday – Wednesday – 13^th

Please note the change in day for the P and F meeting with the venue to be the Carina Bowls Club. The primary focus is twofold this being community fellowship and also identifying the P and F committee for 2024.

Spring and Summer Storm Season

As a general rule, we do watch the B.O.M. radar throughout the seasons. With Spring and Summer not too far away the following are our protocols for storm season:

1. You don't have to rush to pick up your child. Your safety is just as important. 

2. A text message will be sent if there is a storm weather warning

3. Prep/Grade 1 and siblings will be in the OSHC-covered area within the school. If raining, please stay in your car, text us you are here and we will bring the child to you.  We will not release a child until we recognise the parent or guardian picking up their child. 

4. Grades 2- 6 will move across to the M 15. The M15 building is where the current parking area for pickup. Where the ramps join the footpath outside of M15 there is shelter near the lift. We can see the cars come in and park hence we can walk the children out to the cars. Again we will not release any child until we recognise the car or the parent. 

5. If you are going to be late then TEXT the school mobile number. We are conscious of the traffic congestion on our major roads especially with storms and school traffic.

Book Week

As a staff, we  have decided to hold over Book Week until the new preps have their first visit in October

If Leaving Yarranlea

A reminder that if you intend to leave Yarranlea ( other than grade 6 ) we do need one term's notice.

School Drop Off and Pick Up Arrangements - Term 3 - Preps

Road Closure  - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th 

Griffith will be holding Markets/Events on the following dates. On these days, as per term one we will use the Visitor's Circle Car Park and the Maintenance Building M17 (please refer to the image below - section highlighted in green). Teachers will be in attendance to escort our students down to the school.

What's been happening

Playgroup Expression of Interest 

We are currently accepting expressions of interest for a "Parent and Bubs"Playgroup!

This would occur on a Monday morning, from around 9 am-10:15 am, and would finish at morning tea joining with the Yarranlea children. 

If this is something that you would be interested in please email; admin@yarranlea.qld.edu.au

We are also welcoming interest to our wider community, if you have family/ friends who would be interested in a playgroup please feel free to pass our email along. 

Dingoes NewsDesk

Hi everyone,

I hope you have all had a wonderful week and enjoy the weekend to come!

Matildas Letters 

This week the students penned letters to the Matildas women's soccer team. Students described how they were inspired by their determination and success and how proud they were of their efforts. Some students even made collages, drew pictures and made bracelets to send with the letters. We were able to go and post our letters ourselves up at the postbox near the university's cafe. 

OptiMinds Practice 

Our Year 2 -6 students who are taking place in the OptiMinds challenges this Saturday were able to practice their performances in front of the whole school this Wednesday. It was fantastic to see all their hardwork over the past few weeks come to life and we wish them all the best tomorrow! 

Kookaburras NewsDesk

Greetings
Kookaburra
Families

Colour Fun Run:
Our whole school Colour Fun Run is NEXT WEDNESDAY THE 30TH AUGUST from 1:30PM. This will be held on the small oval, at the bottom carpark, near the busway (same location as last year).
Students will attend school in uniform but will need to BRING a hat, white shirt, other shorts (if they wish) and a towel.
Students will change their clothes before the run at big lunch break..
(PLEASE do not come to school in the white shirt).  

If you aren't familiar with the concept of a Colour Fun Run, the aim is to split the school into multi-age groups and create an obstacle course with different stations. As students complete each station and run between them, they are sprayed with a vibrant coloured chalk powder.. The event is designed to be messy! (Hence the change of clothes and bringing a towel)… the white shirt is worn to show the "colour" after the run is completed. The powder is non-toxic and completely washable from skin and hair.

Parents are encouraged to attend this event!

If you would like to volunteer your time to help, or even be a part of the course and spray some children with colour, please let your classroom teacher know!

MR. WALKER:
You may have noticed a new friendly face around the school. Mr. Walker is a teaching student at Curtin University and he is completing his placement in the Kookaburra room. Mr. Walker is only with us for two weeks this term, but he will be back for a further 3 weeks in the middle of Term 4. So if you see him around, please say a big friendly hello! The children have made him feel very welcomed, and he has praised their manners and learning efforts.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Last Friday Miss Z, Maree and I attended a Social Emotional Learning workshop. As a school we are exploring different SEL frameworks that will best suit our multi-age, whole school environment. Though this is a slow and careful process, the aim is to ensure consistency across the year levels; by using familiar language and common stepping stones, centered in problem based learning, for all students to follow. We know that in this POST COVID world, certain anxieties and "big feelings" are heightened. As a staff we hope to find an approach that will underpin our weekly teaching, and better help our students regulate their feelings and emotions in a safe way. We hope to implement practices that they can not only continue to use at school, but into their adult lives as well.

SHOW AND SHARE:
Please find below some photos of our recent Show and Share moments!

"For a small child there is no division between playing and learning; between the things he or she does ‘just for fun’ and things that are ‘educational.’ The child learns while living and any part of living that is enjoyable is also play."

Puggles NewsDesk

Hello wonderful Puggle Families,

HASS

It has been a very busy week in the Puggle Classroom this week. Our Prep students have been studying maps this term and we are studying the differences between traditional maps that we use every day and First Nations maps and symbols. The children created their own maps using symbols that they had learned to represent Yarranlea.  

Science

 Our Year One students have been studying the sky. This fortnight, they observed the sky and landscapes on different days and compared them. They loved drawing the different nature in each lanscape around the school. 

Health

In Health this week, the Puggles identified their safety network- their six adults who they know they can go to when they feel upset, uncomfortable, or unsafe. 

Griffith Open Day

It was wonderful seeing so many families at the Griffith Open Day community event. Thank you so much to everyone for all your help and support on the day. The students did a wonderful job performing in the choir and Super Strings. We are so proud of how hard they have been working on being part of a team, working together, and having confidence in themselves. 

Scary Dance 

We are well in the swing of learning our Scary Dance for this year! If any families have any cling wrap, foil or baking paper rolls that they wouldn't mind donating to the Puggles we would love to use it them as part of our props for the night. 

Prep 2024 Meet and Greet 

We would like to invite all of our Puggle Families to our Prep meet and greet on Saturday 28th October 2023 and Saturday 18 November 2023 at Oxley Common, Rocklea, from 9:30 am- 11:30 am. This is a wonderful chance for our Puggles to get to know the new Preppies coming in and help with the transition to 2024. If you are available to come and play with us for one or both of the days we would be very grateful to see you. 

Show and Share

OSHC News

End of Term 3 is coming by so quickly and will be on us before we know it.                The Vacation Care Program has been emailed so if you have not received this email, please let me know.  We have a full program of very exciting activities and look forward to entertaining and caring for all of your children.

TEN PIN BOWLING

Hello Parents and Carers of the Yarranlea Junior League,                                                                                                      Whilst the children are learning their new skills and techniques for bowling, game scoring is changing with many children bowong over average games, from 3 over to 49 over average each week!                        The children are performing on the lanes with their new skills and also showing their safety skills remembering to walk behind the lanes if visiting other teams and not running at the centre.                       

We have our younger bowlers learning to bowl to the end of the lane without using the ramp, thier choice so they must be feeling stronger and more confident.  As I introduce them to bowling, with 'a granny style bowl' each child will slowly increase their confidence in learning how to hit more pins, and gain some accuracy, learning where and how to throw their ball.

I have also been following up on pin awards during the last week with the assistance of the T.B.A who has followed up the results for these and the turn around for receiving awards is a lot speedier. 

Big congradulations to Sara Roussos who was mentioned on Sunday night at the Sunshine Coast T.B.A.Q Awards Night where she was given recognition for the Qld Bowl Patrol Girl of the Year for 2022 and will be sent a certificate from the T.B.A.Q awards night. 

Remember that there is a 'free' game available using the voucher on the bottom of the certificate and when you take your children to bowling as League Members you receive a discounted price to bowl. 

Bowling Balls and bags have been ordered so we hope to see them arrive shortly.  Once they have arrived the children will be measured for their finger size and these will be drilled into the ball for them to start using.                         ......................see you on the laneway, Coach Graeme

My New Gallery

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 18

Next

WHAT'S COOKIN? 

AFTERNOON TEA - After School Care HITS!!!

 Apple and Yoghurt Muffins

Meat Pies! Vegetable Pies!

Pizza Scrolls

                                     If you have a favourite recipe you would like to share with our families,                                                                                           please forward to me so that I can include in our newsletter.