Wondall Heights State School eNewsletter

Welcome back to term 3! I trust everyone enjoyed the holidays, a chance to spend time with family and friends.

Wondall Heights State School continues to adhere to the State Government Operating Guidelines for the current pandemic. This includes hygiene practices such as effective hand hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette, and restricting visitors to the school.

Advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) states that physical distancing is not required for students during classroom activities. However, it is still required between adults. I therefore continue to ask parents and carers to pay particular attention to the requirement for adults to maintain physical distancing of 1.5 metres at all times while on school grounds.

Please do not gather in areas around the school such as carparks, at the school gate or outside classrooms. Please make use of our stop, drop and go area wherever possible.

Staff will be on duty before and after school asking parents to maintain social distancing.

Home School Communication

Parents are not permitted in classrooms, email will continue to be our main point of contact with parents and carers. Please note all staff have 2 school days to respond to parent communication.

Drop off / pick up zone Please note the following guidelines when using the zone:

The drop off zone is strictly no parking.
Parents dropping their children off in the morning are asked to drop their children at the drop off zone and move on.

If you wish to use the pickup zone in the afternoon, we ask you do the following:

Stay in your car.
Teach your child/ren how to do up their seat belts.
Move baby capsules to the right hand side of the car so we can enter children safely in the left hand side. Children are not to walk out onto the road to enter the car on the right hand side.
Have your child’s name on paper on your sun visor to assist us to call children.
We will put school bag’s on the right hand side front seat, please have the window open. Do not get out of the car to put bags in the boot.

DO

DO NOT

Plan your trip to avoid arrival at peak times
Pull in to the pick-up zone.
Move to the head of the queue.
Pick-up or drop-off children via the car’s curb-side doors.
Move out safely.
If your children are not ready for collection when you arrive, please move off and re-join the back of the queue.
Be respectful of the staff providing the service.

Leave your car.
Double-park.
Stay more than 2 minutes.
Arrive early in the afternoon and sit in the zone.

Dropping children at school 8.45am / collecting students at 3.00pm

To manage the pedestrian traffic around the school and social distancing requirements students in years 2-6 are encouraged to use the drop off and pick up zone. Alternatively, students can be dropped at one of the school gates to enter the school on their own (independently).

When collecting your child/ren, please meet them at a school gate, parents are requested to leave the area around the school immediately.

Prep and Year 1 Parents: We request that only one person enter the school grounds to drop off and collect children.

Parents are not permitted to congregate in the school grounds or sit outside classrooms. If collecting your child/ren from a school gate, please time your visit to the school to arrive as close to 3.00pm as possible.

Cakes to celebrate birthdays due to current health concerns with the pandemic we are not accepting cupcakes or cakes to celebrate birthdays. Parents are welcome to supply individually wrapped treats such as Freddo Frogs or Zooper Doopers and class teachers will hand out to the class at the end of the day.

School Assemblies will continue to be done using digital media. It’s our hope that we will be able to share our assemblies online with the community, we are still working on the logistics.

Sick children attending school It is essential that you keep your child home from school if they are unwell. In accordance with Queensland Health Directions parents or carers of any child showing signs of illness will be asked to collect them immediately from the school.

Road Safety

I have been advised that under Brisbane City Council’s school zone parking compliance activities, Wondall Heights State School will continue to be included on a list of priority schools for inspection.

Your child’s safety is our top priority, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you about Road Safety around our school.

The area at the front of the school is a two minute set down and pick up area. Please remain in your car when using this area to reduce congestion. This pick up area has been designed with the safety of our children as a priority.

It is expected that all children will be collected from school by 3.20pm.

We encourage students to travel to school where possible in an active way; walking, cycling or riding a scooter. Actively travelling to school is a simple way to promote a healthy lifestyle and reduce traffic congestion around the school. A crossing supervisor is stationed on Radford Road and students crossing Radford Road are asked to use this facility. If students ride a bike or scooter to school, they must wheel their bikes or scooters through the school grounds, and must arrive and depart using one of the pedestrian school gates.

Parents’ cars are not permitted to enter the school grounds without prior permission from the Principal. Gates to the lower carpark and all other school gates are locked after 3.30pm each afternoon.

Whether students arrive by car, bicycle or on foot, in order to promote safety for all students and visitors must use a pedestrian entrance to enter and leave the school. Students must not take short cuts through staff car parks.

Playgrounds

There are two times during the day where students are given the opportunity to play.

Students are able to access the following play areas:

Prep: Prep Playground at the rear of the school and Library.
Year 1 – 2 Junior Playground at the rear of the school, Outdoor Learning Area and Library.
Year 3 – 6: Large oval, Arena and Library.

Please note that no students are permitted to use the school play equipment before or after school.

Every day counts, every minute counts

Does arriving late for school impact on your child’s education?

If he/she is only missing…	That equals …	Which is …	Over 13 years of schooling that’s …
10 minutes per day	50 minutes per week	Nearly 1 ½ weeks per year	Nearly ½ year.
20 minutes per day	1 hour 40 min per week	Over 2 ½ weeks per year	Nearly 1 year.
30 minutes per day	Half a day a week	4 weeks per year	Nearly 1 ½ years.
1 hour per day	1 day per week	8 weeks per year	Over 2½ years.

It certainly adds up doesn’t it?

It’s important that your child/ren arrive on time to school, so they are ready to start the day and are engaging in the morning routines.

There are a number of students who are having frequent days off that is impacting on their academic progress…

If he/she is only missing	That equals…	Which is…	Over 13 years of schooling that’s …	Which means the best your child can perform is …
1 day per fortnight	20 days per year	4 weeks per year	Nearly 1.5 years.	Equal to finishing Year 11
1 day per week	40 days per year	8 weeks per year	Over 2.5 years	Equal to finishing Year 10
2 days per week	80 days per year	16 weeks per year	Over 5 years	Equal to finishing Year 7
3 days per week	120 days per year	24 weeks per year	Nearly 8 years	Equal to finishing Year 4

For further information visit: www.education.qld.gov.au/everydaycounts

School Absences

Parents are reminded that if their child is away from School, could they please phone the School early in the morning. Parents can ring our ABSENTEE LINE ON 3906 6460 and leave a message explaining your child’s absence from school.

Extended Absences

If your child/ren are going to be absent from school for more than 10 days you need to complete an Exemption from Compulsory Schooling form. Please call into the Office for the form. Please note that if you’re taking your child/ren out from school through the term, they will miss work and possibly assessments while they’re away. We are unable to guarantee that assessments will be done when your child returns to school, if this is the case the assessment for the Learning Area will be marked as N, not assessed, on the report card.

School Chaplain

Welcome to Lydia Prater, our new Chaplain, to our school community. Lydia will be working at Wondall Heights SS on Monday, Thursday and Friday this term.

Today’s growth mindset quote of the day …

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

George Bernard Shaw

Have a great week.

Melissa

Welcome back everyone! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful holiday. I’m so excited to be back in classrooms and to see all the wonderful learning which will occur in Term 3.

REMINDERS FROM THE LAST P-2 ASSEMBLY

Effort Marks - Although we strive to do our best and achieve well on our report cards, the effort mark is also very important. I was very impressed to read that so many children were receiving ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’ for their effort marks in learning and behaviour. This is so important to become a successful and life-long learner.

Eating Areas – It is important to remember that students have two allocated 10 minute eating times per day. This is time for students to sit and eat so their bodies and brains can refuel for learning. We have had incidents of children not doing the right thing through this time and being disrespectful to staff on duty. All P-2 students were reminded of the Eating Time Procedure and that they have a duty to listen to staff, keep their areas clean of lunch litter and to wait until instructed to leave the eating area for play.

LEGO CHALLENGE

Thank you to the two families that completed the community LEGO Challenge this holidays and submitted photos. Awesome work and great community spirit!

Kenny 1E

Nean Family

PREP ENROLMENTS 2021

Notice of Intention to Attend Wondall Heights State School in 2021

We are looking at Wondall Heights State School’s planning needs for the 2021 school year. Part of this planning is considering the number of students we will have enrolled in the school. If your child is of Prep age for the 2021 school year and you are considering enrolment at Wondall Heights State School, can you please let us know your intentions by contacting the school. This is not binding and the catchment area and enrolment requirements still apply. The enrolment process will start in Term 3, outlined below. This intention to enrol information is to assist us with forward planning to make 2021 as successful as possible for all our students.

Save the Date – Prep 2021 Information Session

Tuesday 28 July 5:00-6:00pm in the Performing Arts Hall

Everyone is invited to attend the information session on Tuesday 28 July, whether in catchment or out-of-catchment. Enrolment forms will not be handed out at this session, they will need to be collected from the office during school opening hours to check for enrolment requirements.

Enrolment Process

In catchment students can currently enrol at the office during office opening hours.

Out-of-catchment students can join the waiting list, please contact the office.

A decision will be made for out-of-catchment enrolments in Term 3, you will be invited to attend the Prep Interviews in September if you are successful in securing a place at Wondall Heights State School.

This year’s interview process has changed from previous years. There will now be a group interview where parents will be presented information and asked to fill in questionnaires whilst their children interact with our teachers, in a group setting. The new format is designed to create a sense of community and for children and families to meet and establish connections in preparation for 2021. This format will also allow our staff to spend more time getting to know your children and to observe their interactions with other children. More information about this process will be provided to families next term when booking an interview.

Please share this information with family and friends living in the catchment area!

Welcome back!

It has been lovely to see so many smiling faces entering the school grounds this week. This school year has presented many challenges for us all. With the start of the school term it is important that children are attending school each day. Research shows that in Queensland, higher student attendance at school is associated, on average, with higher student achievement.

Your child will achieve better when they go to school all day, every school day:

they learn better
they make friends
they are happier

Under Queensland law, you must make sure your child of school age is enrolled and attends school all day, every school day unless they have a reasonable explanation. Illness, competing in a school sporting event or going on a school excursion are reasonable excuses for being absent from school.

Student Code of Conduct

Over the coming term Wondall Heights State School will commence the process of community consultation of our school’s Student Code of Conduct. Consultation forms an important part of the development and feedback process for the Student Code of Conduct.

The Student Code of Conduct replaces the:

Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students
Statement of Expectations
Code of School Behaviour.

Queensland state schools have the full 2020 school year to develop and consult with their community on the new Student Code of Conduct. Until a school finalises their Student Code of Conduct, the existing Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students continues to apply.

What is the Student Code of Conduct? Every Queensland state school is required to have a Student Code of Conduct. This is the school’s behaviour policy, with information about school rules, consequences and processes for addressing bullying and the use of technology. Student Code of Conduct replaces the Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students, Code of Behaviour and Statement of Expectations. The Student Code of Conduct is developed in consultation with each local school community, is published on the school website and provided to every student and family upon enrolment.

Content of Student Code of Conduct: Every state school has their own Student Code of Conduct developed to meet local needs, however the following sections are mandated for inclusion: Purpose, Contact information, Endorsement, Contents, Whole school approach to discipline (including differentiation of discipline), Disciplinary consequences, School policies (Temporary removal of student property, Use of mobile phones and other devices by students, Preventing and responding to bullying and Appropriate use of social media), Restrictive practices, Critical incidents.

I look forward to your feedback and contribution to this important school document.

Wondall Heights State School have registered for the Premier’s Reading Challenge. The Premiers Reading challenge is an annual state-wide initiative to encourage student to read widely for pleasure and learning. Students have until the 28^th August to complete the challenge. Recording forms have been given to students to record the details of the books that they have read.

Australian Curriculum: Cross Curriculum Priorities

The three cross curriculum priorities are:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
Sustainability

Teachers at Wondall Heights State School consider the three cross-curriculum priorities continuously throughout the planning, teaching, assessing and reporting cycles of the learning areas. They do not constitute a curriculum on their own as they do not exist outside of the learning areas.

The priorities provide national, regional and global dimensions that enrich the curriculum through development of considered and focused content that fit naturally within the learning areas. These curriculum priorities support the delivery of learning area content at the same time as developing knowledge understanding and skills relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia and/or Sustainability.