There is nothing permanent except change – Heraclitus.

Heraclitus was a Greek philosopher born in 535BC. I am not sure if he could have anticipated what the world would be like in 2021, however what he did know is that change is inevitable. For some people change is difficult, while for others it is easier as they readily embrace the new challenges. The way we approach change can have a huge impact on how we react to it; we cannot control change, however we can control our own reaction to it. The past two years - and the new COVID variant identified over the weekend - have shown how quickly the world and circumstances can change. However, as the world changes, we too change. As a school we have continued to change, to keep up with the latest educational ideas but also to respond to the ever-changing world. I believe we have done this with a sense of calmness, resilience, common sense, collaboration and professionalism. We have, and we will continue to, adapt, improvise and innovate as we embrace change to ensure our students receive the best education possible while at Rochedale State School. More importantly, we will model these positive reactions to change, as they are the attributes we want our students to have and display as they grow up and become the adults of our future world.

Classes for 2022

Classes for next year are being finalised to be ready for Friday’s Shuffle-Up Day. We plan that on this day, during the middle session, all students will ‘shuffle up’ to their new class and meet their new class mates and teacher. Students will bring home a note outlining their 2022 class and teacher for parent reference. Please understand that for privacy and confidentiality reasons we will not be displaying general class lists around the school on this day. Many factors contribute to creating class lists and I would like to thank parents and teachers who have discussed individual educational considerations with me. (As always, changes to our class formations may occur as we continue to enrol from our ever-growing suburb over the holiday break up until Day 8 next year when our year’s staffing and student numbers are finalised). Please remember that the parent considerations for classes have been carefully considered for the 2022 class lists, however they were preferences not promises. It is impossible to accommodate every individual parent request particularly when they are for specific teachers or for children to be in a class with specific friends. Final class placements are a school decision made after considering a range of factors and we will not be in a position to make changes once this process is finalised.

New Building

To help accommodate the growth of our school, plans for our new building are being finalised. The contractor has been decided and I am meeting with them this afternoon for a start up meeting. Work will certainly be underway at the start of next year. Our new building will be a double story brick building containing 12 new classrooms and associated facilities. It will be an ‘L’ shape backing on to the Admin block and running adjacent to our trees and seating area down towards the Junior Playground.

Uniforms for 2022

When you are buying new shoes and clothing for school next year, please refer to our school uniform guide, on our webpage, to ensure that your purchases fall within our P&C approved policy. By doing so you help support our school image and also help teach children to respect and follow rules. The presentation of our students is a significant element in forming a positive public image of our school and something our school wishes to enforce. Students who are not in correct uniform may be dealt with through our behaviour policy as with any breech of our school rules and policies. Please help students learn to develop responsibility and respect for rules by ensuring that they are in correct uniform each day. I would like to particularly point out that shoes should be plain black in colour with black laces. In this way parents can support their students and ensure that attention is not being brought upon them for failure to follow our uniform expectations.

Road work at front of school

As I mentioned last week, weather permitting, work will begin this week on the bus stop and footpath area opposite our school as part of the new childcare complex. Our school has worked with the builder to ensure the impact of this work on traffic is minimised. The initial plan saw the existing footpath being redirected onto the current road forcing the road to be narrowed drastically. To avoid the loss of road width, the footpath opposite the school will now be re-directed onto the building site, leaving the road relatively untouched. If you do use this side of the road, please be aware of this change for the last 2 weeks of school. Thank you for your patience and understanding while this essential work is undertaken.

Christmas Carols

This Thursday is our Christmas Carols evening beginning at 6:00pm on the main oval and fingers crossed it will go ahead. Those who have history with our school know that many of our special events have a habit of attracting rain and storms – this week looks like no exception. After a wet week last week, the weather is once again predicted to be wet particularly on Wednesday and Thursday. We will work with the staging company, who are concerned about getting their truck bogged if our oval is too wet, to see if this event can go ahead as planned. Even if we can get the stage in, wet weather may prevent the sound and lighting equipment being prepared in time and also may provide inappropriate seating areas for our audience. I will continue to consult with our music team and stage company throughout the week to make the best decision we can about our Carols Night in a timely way. If the weather is against us we will try to make a call on Wednesday to give everyone time to change or adjust their plans. We will also look to see if rescheduling is an option –this may also depend on whether the stage is available next week. I know everyone involved is looking forward to a wonderful night of Xmas cheer with our students, however some things are just beyond our control. We shall wait and see, but I do want to forewarn you of all possibilities in light of the existing forecast for this week. Let’s hope for a week of sunshine, clear skies and nice weather!

Learner Profile:  Attribute focus for the week – Thinker – Students should reflect on their term’s work, think of any improvement needed and set a new learning goal for next year. Students should share their learning goals with their teacher or ask their teacher for assistance to set their new learning goal if required.

Kind regards
Keith Graham
Principal

Spelling

How do we Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check?

Learning to spell is a very challenging process. There are many different ways to approach the teaching of spelling – however, one of the most popular strategies would be the ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check’. Although other strategies are adopted by teachers in classrooms – this method (LSCWC) for learning how to spell is an exercise that can be done at home.

Look – Look at the word

• Dissect the word into its parts
• What parts are easy and what parts are hard?
• Does it look like another word we already know?

Say – Say the word out loud

• Am I saying the word correctly?
• What sounds can or can’t I hear?
• Are there any tricky parts?

Cover – Cover the word, say it and spell it

• Have I covered the word in the list?
• Which parts have I found easy to remember?
• Are there any parts I am struggling with?

Write – Write the word from memory (still covered)

• Am I finding it easier to write the word?
• Are there any parts I am struggling with?
• Do I need to try again because the word looks wrong?

Check – Uncover the list word and check your words

• What parts do I need to rehearse?
• Do I have to try again?
• If it’s correct – spell it out loud again with confidence!

The Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check strategy allows students to visually analyse and verbally repeat the spelling of words. This in turn will hopefully, along with other activities used in the classroom, help with the retention of spelling words and find their way into students' speaking and writing.

Have a great week
Tom Grimson
Deputy (Year 3-4)

I would like to take the time this week to congratulate the members of the 2021 Student Council for their work throughout this year.

It was another disrupted year that prevented several activities from going ahead. Our Student Council still worked hard and focussed on events they were able to participate in, hosting a number of fundraisers and community building events.

To ensure these events were planned, members gave up their Tuesday morning break times to attend weekly meetings. They also donated their time throughout the year when help was needed to put their plans into action.

Below are a few of the events the Student Council were able to hold in 2021:

• A green and gold colour day to raise money for our Australian Paralympians
• Recycling bottles and cans project
• Art Competition for Koala awareness
• Selling Remembrance Day poppies and badges
• A bright colours day to put a smile on our faces and raise money for Rochedale Outdoor Learning Area

The Student Council members had a successful year building their leadership skills and supporting our community. Thank you to each member who showed commitment and dedicated their time to our Student Council.

Their success is also due to our wonderful community who continuously get behind these events and support the School Council. So, thank you to our Rochedale community for your support and encouragement in 2021.

We are looking forward to the opportunities that may arise for the 2022 Student Council.  

Natasha Floyd
HOD- Curriculum

This year Rudra and I had the privilege of representing our school as members of the 2021 Youth Advisory Council, lead by State Member for Mansfield Corrine McMillan.

We met three times this year, with the aim of helping to advise the Palaszczuk government on youth affairs and the concerns of young people.

Last Thursday evening, The Youth Advisory Council wrapped up the year with a lovely dinner at Parliament House. My favourite part of this evening was a tour of the Legislative Chambers, and the “Members Reading Room”, where the walls are stacked floor to ceiling with books that contain every law ever made in Australia.

Rudra and I are very thankful to Corrine McMillan and Rochedale State School for this opportunity. It certainly helped us dare to dream that one day we might come back to Parliament House as elected members, not just as admiring visitors.

Matilda Gava.

As we approach the end of year we have a large amount of lost property.  Can you please ask your child to check lost property under C block and also when doing their swimming lessons this week to check the lost property at the pool.

Welcome to Week 9 of Term 4!

Captain Read It

Congratulations to our Captain Read It Winners from Week 8 of Term4

Prep C       Amine A

1S              Malyar A

2F               Sonya H

3G              Quinn R

4K               Somang K

5C               Nate V

6N               Riley A

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 NEWSLETTER - TERM 4, WEEK 9 - 2021

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS: Uniform shop (eq.edu.au) - PREP 2022 Online Ordering is open now and will close on Tuesday November 30. Please note that this is for pickup on Shuffle Up day only. The Uniform Shop will not be open on Shuffle Up Day. If you have older children, then please order through the regular Uniform Shop menu. There will be a second opportunity in the new year for Prep 2022 online ordering with pickup dates of Wednesday January 19, Thursday January 20 & Friday January 21. We are unable to open for those dates currently but hope that changes. Please visit the website for infomation on size charts & pricelist etc. Swimcaps are now back in stock. These are different to our previous ones.

We are gearing up for Back-to-School 2022 with Online orders through Qkr. 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

SNACK SHACK NEWS: Tuckshop (eq.edu.au)

Snack Shack's final day for 2021 will be Wednesday December 8. Looking for a gift for your Child's Teacher that won't break the budget? Available now on Qkr! Purchase a gift certificate for your Teacher to spend at the Tuckshop. These can be purchased from as little as $5 and can be picked up from the Tuckshop on Monday December 7. We are trying to limit the receipt of cash over the counter, please consider our online options or eftpos when ordering.  Any concerns or questions you may have please email fsmanager@rochedalesspandc.com.au or pandc@rochedalss.eq.edu.au

ROSHCA NEWS: ROSHCA (eq.edu.au)

All information regarding enrolling at ROSHCA can be found on the school's website or by emailing us at roshca@rochedalesspandc.com.au

P&C NEWS: P&C (eq.edu.au)

Want to have more input or just want to get involved? The RSS P&C meets on the 4th Tuesday of the month during term times and we love to see new faces and hear fresh ideas. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to pandc@rochedalss.eq.edu.au

Kind regards,
Michelle Duncan
Admin Asst. RSS P&C
07-3340-8365