Another short week

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend; it makes for another short week here at school. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective) that was the last public holiday for this term and after this week we have seven full weeks of school until our Winter break.

NAPLAN

Next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday students in Years 3 and 5 will take part in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests. The NAPLAN tests are a formal measure of how students are performing, however, it is important to remember that they are a point in time test and only one aspect of the school’s assessment and reporting process. I believe that as a school we have the balance right as far as our NAPLAN preparation goes. Obviously, these tests are important, but we don’t let them drive everything that we do. I know of many schools that spend exorbitant amounts of time ‘teaching to the test’ which undoubtedly places added pressure on children to perform. High performance teaching and learning is the focus of our school each and every day and is the best preparation that can be done for these standardised tests. We feel very comfortable that our teachers and students have this method of comparing school performance very much in perspective. We also recognise that some of the most important outcomes or results that occur in schools, can’t be measured by standardised testing.

We expect that this year’s test results will be sent to our school around September, and an individual NAPLAN report for each student will be sent home around this time. These confidential reports will show your child’s results against key national information in each year level. Our school will use the information in a number of ways, primarily to better identify students requiring support and extension, and to identify strengths and improvement areas in our teaching programs. We will endeavour to make these tests as stress free and supportive for all students as possible and to this end I have found that students take comfort in doing them together with their peers, so please try to ensure your child is present at school on time for these tests. Please note that students who are absent for the tests are required to sit makeup tests on their return to school within this NAPLAN week.

Year 6 Camp

Last Friday afternoon we welcomed back many smiling, if somewhat tired, faces from Tallebudgera Camp. From all reports – and from my first-hand experience last Thursday - students and staff had a wonderful time. School camps are terrific opportunities for students to develop independence, risk taking, resilience and friendships; they are also a special opportunity for staff and students to interact in a different setting other than the school grounds. To the staff who accompanied the students, I thank you for giving up your family time to ensure our students could participate in such a wonderful and memorable experience.

Solar Panels

The Queensland Government’s Advancing Clean Energy Schools (ACES) Program will see our school receive 270 new solar panels. The panels are being installed on the roof of D and E Blocks and once active will reduce the energy demand of our school – excess electricity will be exported back into the electricity network. Work commenced last week and there will be temporary closures of some accessways as some strategic compounds are fenced off to complete the work. The work is expected to take 3 weeks and once completed will help provide clean and green energy for our school and state. Please be aware of this work as you move around the school.

Mother’s Day stall

Thank you to our P&C volunteers who have organised our Mother’s Day stall for this week. The stall will be open on Wednesday, and Thursday and every class has booked in a timeslot to visit, please check with your child’s teacher for the exact details for your class. In addition to providing presents for mums on their special day the stall is also an annual fundraiser for our P&C. Thank you to all in the RSS community for supporting our school through this stall and happy Mother’s Day to all the mums, I hope you have a great weekend.

Learner Profile: Behaviour focus for the week – Knowledgeable – Students demonstrate a desire to learn more and become more knowledgeable by completing all school and homework tasks to the best of their ability. To achieve this goal, students are expected to demonstrate this attribute for the entire term.

Kind regards …and to those Star Wars fans; May the fourth be with you!

Keith Graham
Principal

DO ROCHEDALE’S HIGH FIVE!

When our children come home and report conflict they have experienced at school, we can sometimes be left feeling helpless - How can I help? How can I fix this? Should I intervene? Should I contact the school? While some circumstances require follow up communication with the school, in most cases, the best solution is often a proactive one - teaching our children how to communicate confidently with others to ensure they feel safe and supported, even when their most trusted adults aren’t close by. 

From Prep at Rochedale State School, students learn, the “High Five” and “Bystander Five” and revisit these simple though powerful steps each year. 

1. Ignore - this strategy alone can be enough to avoid a situation from building
2. Talk Friendly – ask in a friendly tone “Please stop, I don’t like it when...”
3. Talk Firmly - if the conflict continues, say “Stop it - I really don’t like it when..” in a firm voice
4. Walk Away - leave the situation by moving away from the area
5. Report - if the person continues, find an adult and seek help to resolve the conflict in a timely manner. 

Click the link to watch our “RSS High Five” song! 

The “Bystander Five” aims to foster a safe school environment for all children, by ensuring that children who are subject to conflict with others are supported by their peers:

1. Stay Calm – take deep breaths and think before you act
2. Keep Yourself Safe – do not put yourself in any danger
3. Talk Firmly – say in a firm voice “Stop saying/doing that”
4. Get Help – find an adult who can help
5. Befriend the Victim – be caring and be a friend to them

Proactively teaching and encouraging the “High Five” and “Bystander Five” sets our children up for success in dealing with difficult situations and developing their confidence to stick up for themselves. 

Wishing you all a great week and I look forward to seeing parents of our award recipients, invited by their class teacher, at Friday’s Student of the Month parade.

Michelle Rossiter
Acting Deputy Principal (Prep/Year 1)

Dear Parents/caregivers

Constructivism is often a word we hear when people speak about inquiry learning within the IB – Primary Years Program. Constructivism is a well researched and documented approach. It forms the foundation to learning within an IB – PYP classroom. Essentially, it outlines our belief and philosophy about learning and teaching.

Constructivism is an approach that promotes the belief that when learning children, in fact all of us, draw upon prior knowledge and experience to help make sense out of what we are learning. If we are learning about a period or event in Australian History teachers may ask the students to first recall an event in our own lives. Or for the older students, teachers may ask what they can recall about events in Australia’s history. These simple initial steps help the students to establish a contextual frame about ‘what is history’. Or if we are writing a story, the teacher may ask the students to recall their favourite story and what makes it so enjoyable. I suppose one way to consider it, is moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar.

These building blocks help the students to make connections between what they already know and what new knowledge and learning experiences they will encounter within the next set of lessons. Drawing upon past knowledge and experiences can help a student to make sense out of what they are learning and makes the learning more manageable. It can help the students to place the learning into a familiar context. By drawing upon past knowledge and experience students deepen and expand their knowledge and understanding of the concepts within their learning.

Sometimes linking the learning also helps students to correct any misunderstandings or to clarify any confusing ideas.

Have a great week, and enjoy the winter sunshine.
Paul Kelly
PYP Co-ordinator

Hello Parents/Caregivers,

Senior Sports Day will be held on Wednesday 23 June and years 3,4,5 and 6 will participate. Events will include 200m finals, 100m and 80m sprints and ball games. Field events and 800m and 400m races will be finalised prior to sports day. Track and filed events will be held according to age groups (year of birth) which allows us to select our best competitors and have them ready to compete at the Mt Gravatt District Track and Field Carnival in term 3.

If time allows, at the end of the sports day we will announce our house champions, age champions, house field event winners, ball game champions , march past winners and of our course our athletes who have made our school team for 2021.

Whilst we have dual ages in our classes, due to time constraints we can only have age champions from 9 to 12 years. Therefore the 8 year olds in year 3 can participate in sprints and ball games on the big day.

Attached is the program of events that commenced last week during lunch times (second break). The field events held during lunch times are high jump, long jump and shot put. These events are final events so all students wanting to receive house points must be present to participate. The 800m (10yrs,11yrs and 12 yrs)  and 400m (9yrs) events will also be finalised during lunch times while the 200m finals will be held on sports day. All time trialling for the 800m, 400m and 200m will take place during PE lessons. Teachers will display a copy of the timetable in their classrooms.

Any student who is away (sick, injured or at an appointment) from their event cannot challenge for the house points or age champion points. However, if a student wants to challenge for a spot on the school team to compete at the Mt Gravatt Track and Field Carnival, they may do so by informing me as soon as possible. At a later stage I will trial the student to see if they are successful in gaining a place on our school team.

If there is inclement weather on the day of the event, the event will be cancelled and be rescheduled on a future date.

Mr Lenton has kindly offered to assist me with the lunch time events on Mondays and Thursdays.

Regards
Chris Brown
PE Teacher

Hi RSS Community,

How blessed we are to have two long weekends in a row!

I hope you filled your extra day doing the things you love as a family. Some students in the dropoff zone this morning shared stories of the fun they had camping over the weekend.

As a school chaplain I am very grateful to attend all school camps and holiday camps for work. This means 4-5 camps a year. Last weeks year 6 camp at Tallebudgera was so good. On reflection it was definitely the people that made it such a successful camp. Thank you to all the year 6 cohort parents, your children were a delight to journey the week with. They were positive, resilient, courageous and kind.

Below are photos from our April Holiday Easter camp. These year 5-6 students were pure joy!

Enjoy your week!
Kind regards,
Chappy Sue 

Welcome to Week 3 of Term 2!

Premier's Reading Challenge

Each year students from across the state participate in the Premier's Reading Challenge which starts next Monday 10 May. Students are encouraged to record the books they read and reach their target before Friday 27 August. Students will receive record forms from their class teachers. Additional sheets can be found on the PRC website along with a list of recommended books for reading.

https://readingchallenge.education.qld.gov.au/about/booklists

Happy Reading Everyone!!!

Brain Teasers

Q. What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?

A. finding half a worm in your apple.

Congratulations to Levi E in 3G for working this one out.

Q. What's the number one use for cowhide?

A. holding cows together.

Congratulations to Moses H in 6R for cracking this one. 

Captain Read It

Congratulations to our Captain Read It Winners from Week 9/10 of Term 1

Prep J             Ella S
1K                   Jake Willis
2H                   Jasmine M
3K                   David K
4R                   Pushti S
5M                  Tara H
6A                   James P

Congratulations to our Captain Read It Winners from Weeks 1 & 2 of Term 2

Prep B            Lola B
Prep D            Max M
1M                  Willow C
1L                   Lachlan W
2B                  Ria W
2C                  Elise T
3G                  Alex L
3F                   Sahasra B
4F                   Blake T
4P                   Ashton K
5B                  Joshua A
5R                  Grace L
6A                   Jaee B
6M                  Rose S

Have a great week!
Jackie and Lorraine

ABSENCE LINE 3340 8388 or

text 0427 890 693 (24 hours)

*******IT IS NOW A REQUIREMENT THAT ALL STUDENT ABSENCES BE REPORTED ON THE DAY OF THE ABSENCE TO THE SCHOOL OFFICE*******

To report a student absence, please call the absence line on 3340 8388 or text our SMS line on 0427 890 693.  These lines are both open 24 hours a day.

When recording an absence on either our phone line or SMS line, please state the following:

1. Your name
2. Student's name
3. Student's class
4. Reason for absence

Please speak clearly and slowly and help us with spelling of names when calling the phone line.

P&C NEWS: 

Our next General meeting will be held, Tuesday May 25 at 7pm. Attendance is open to all. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to pandc@rochedalss.eq.edu.au

SNACK SHACK NEWS:

Any concerns or questions you may have please email fsmanager@rochedalesspandc.com.au or pandc@rochedalss.eq.edu.au

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS:

Uniform Shop Opens every Wednesday 2.15pm to 3.15pm, every Thursday 8.15am to 9.15am and then again in the afternoon at 2.15pm to 3.15pm.

Online orders through Qkr are always processed on a Thursday. Please be patient while we work through them. If your order is not delivered to your child's classroom on the Thursday it will be delivered on the Friday after parade. Uniform delivery is subject to class times and if your child's class is not there this will cause a delay. Every effort is made though to make sure the orders are delivered directly to the teacher for distribution to your child. Any questions or concerns can be sent to uniform@rochedalesspandc.com.au

SCHOOL BANKING NEWS - Student banking services no longer available.

School banking services will cease to be offered in our school as at Week 10, Term 2 2021. Wednesday June 23 will be the last banking day. In line with several other states and territories, the Department of Education’s decision is in response to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) Review of School Banking Programs report in December 2020. Students will be able to maintain their banking relationship directly with their bank. Consumer and financial literacy will continue to be delivered to students as part of the Prep to Year 10 Australian Curriculum, including Moneysmart and the BuySmart competition. 

Kind regards
Michelle Duncan
Admin Asst. RSS P&C
Ph: 07-3340-8365
E: office@rochedalesspandc.com.au

MOTHER’S DAY STALL TIMETABLE 2021

Please note class times for the Mother’s Day stall this week. Gifts range in price from $1.00 to $10.00 and children can buy more than one gift.

Please put all money in a zip lock bag with the child’s name written clearly on the front.

Don’t forget to bring a bag for your gift.

There will also be a Mother’s Day raffle, tickets are 50c each (max 4), tickets will be available during the stall hours and the raffle will be drawn at parade on Friday May 7.

The stall will be held in the RPAC Building.

Wednesday May 5                                                           Thursday May 6

(Prep to Year 2)                                                                   (Year 3 – Year 6)

THE STALL WILL BE OPEN FROM 8.00 – 8.30AM WITH ANY RESIDUAL STOCK, ON

FRIDAY MORNING MAY 7 IN RPAC

Any parents who are free to assist please contact Petta Traynor on 0434 149 834