FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome to the start of 2022, another year of exciting learning.  While this year has been a somewhat different start, I am sure that when students and staff come together today, the joy of the beginning of the school year will be with us once more.  Staff and I are excited to welcome all students back to school.

I’m appreciative of the understanding of students and parents around the many changes that have been made to the start of the school year. A special thank you to our staff who have been working hard to ensure we are well prepared to support our students and their learning when they return to school.

I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to our new students and families joining the Rochedale State School community.

We’ve opened the school year with 42 classes, as we know, changes can and do occur as the numbers change.  The number of children enrolled and present on Day 8 determine the 2022 class compositions and staffing. If class changes are necessary we will make decisions in the best interests of the children.

Starting a new school year is a busy time for everyone, there will be many emails that will be sent out to ensure parents and carers are aware of school processes, policies and information. It’s important that you read school emails and newsflashes.

For parents who have a G mail email account, our emails tend to go to your junk or spam folders, please regularly check your junk/spam folders. 

School Improvement Agenda for 2022 will focus on Reading and Writing and Differentiation, we’ll continue to focus on improving student outcomes.

Teachers as Learners

Teachers returned to work on Tuesday 18 January to engage in professional learning.  The four day program set the focus on pedagogy and working collaboratively to ensure consistency of practice across year levels.

Teachers engaged in professional learning on:

• Curriculum Planning and preparation
• Student Code of Conduct
• Target setting
• Mandatory Training – Code of Conduct, Student Protection.

Home/School Communication

Research leaves no doubt that when parents and teachers work together the educational outcomes are always better for children.  In addition to improved educational outcomes a strong partnership between home and school ensures maintenance of children’s wellbeing, parents feel more confident and teachers feel supported.

To maintain our home / school communication and to reduce our environmental footprint, teachers will continue to email class newsletters and information home. If you change your email throughout the year please let office staff know so that school records can be updated, admin@rochedalss.eq.edu.au

All staff will respond to email and phone messages, in a timely manner, during business hours.  Some staff may choose to respond outside of these hours and this is their choice to do so. However, there is no expectation that staff will respond to emails after 4.00 pm and before 8.00 am.

We expect that staff would respond to communication within two school days.

New Staff Members

It is my pleasure to acknowledge and welcome into our community new members of staff:

Teaching Staff Email addresses

Please see below teaching staff email addresses:

Religious Instruction at Rochedale SS

Religious instruction (RI) will start in Week 7 for students who are participating. This will be dependent on the school returning to normal operating arrangements from Monday 7 March, further information will come out closer to the date.

As stated below, RI lists will follow parent/carer participation preference, unless parents/carers inform the school they require a change. This needs to be done in writing/email to the school, please include ‘Religious Instruction’ in the subject to assist us with processing.

Religious Instruction Details

Queensland state schools embrace a multitude of cultural, religious and non-religious beliefs and encourage students to grow and develop as a whole person, in particular, in beliefs, values and attitudes. State schools respect the background and beliefs of all students and staff by not promoting, or being perceived as promoting, any particular set of beliefs in preference to another.

Queensland state schools are required to make available religious instruction for students, where we have volunteers available to provide approved programs. This is in accordance with Chapter 5 of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 and Part 5 of the Education (General Provisions) Regulations 2006 by making available up to one hour per week for the provision of religious instruction to students (except Prep students) who are members of a faith group that has approval to deliver religious instruction at the school.

We welcome approved religious instruction providers from all faiths, the faiths offered at Rochedale SS are the providers currently available. We are able to offer students one 30 minute session per week of religious instruction.

The faith group that provides religious instructors to deliver an authorised program are listed below:

Students are allocated to attend religious instruction based on information provided by parents/carers on the completed Application for Student Enrolment unless other written instructions have been provided to the school. Note: This information remains operational unless the parent/carer informs the school otherwise, in writing.

Students who are not participating in religious instruction will remain in their classroom and be provided with other instruction by their class teacher. Other instruction relates to part of a subject area already covered in class and may include, but is not restricted to:

·   Personal research and/or assignments

·   Revision of class work such as literacy and/or numeracy activities.

If you wish to make a change to your child’s participation preference in religious instruction, either to attend or not attend, please email Jane Jeffrey  on jjeff157@eq.edu.au , please included in the subject Religious Instruction. Parents will be advised if there are to be changes to the religious instruction offered and/or other instruction programs conducted at this time to ensure they are able to make informed decision on their child’s participation.

COVID Health Advice

If your child is sick/symptomatic

To keep our school community COVID-19 safe, students must not attend school if they are unwell or have COVID- 19 symptoms. Students should attend their local Queensland Health testing clinic  where they will be prioritised to receive a rapid antigen test (RAT).

If the test result is negative and the student is well, they can return to school.
If the test is positive, the student will need to follow Queensland Health quarantine and isolation requirements .

If your child becomes symptomatic at school

They will be immediately isolated and parents/carers will be contacted to collect them.
When the student is collected, the parent/carer will receive a free Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) to administer at home.

If the test result is negative and the student is well, they can return to school.

If the test is positive, the student will need to follow Queensland Health quarantine and isolation requirements .

Please note we don’t currently have RATs at the school, we anticipate they’ll be delivered next week.

Priority RATs for staff and students

Staff and students can also attend their local Queensland Health testing clinics where they will be prioritised to receive a RAT.

If your child becomes symptomatic at home, do not come to school to collect a RAT, proceed directly to your local Queensland Health testing clinic.

Management of positive COVID cases

Queensland Health has advised the following when COVID-19 cases occur at a school:

• Communication will be provided to staff and families that there has been a COVID-19 case (it is important to know that specific information of the case will remain confidential). This advice may be provided to you as part of regular updates to the community.
• Community members will be advised to monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and stay home if unwell.
• Follow any direction provided by the Public Health Unit (PHU) or Queensland Health.

All individuals must follow Queensland Health advice in relation to isolation and testing.

If your child/ren or a close contact returns a positive test please advise the office on 3340 8333 so we can advise the community of a positive case, specific information of the case will remain confidential.

In the event where there are multiple COVID-19 cases, Rochedale State School will work closely with the PHU about any requirement to close. This includes a two-step precautionary clean as outlined in the Queensland Government’s Managing COVID-19 in workplaces.

Quarantine and isolation

If a student tests positive for COVID-19, they will be required to isolate at home and cannot attend school while they are isolating. More information on isolation is available at:

https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/stay-informed/i-have-covid/isolation/how-to-isolate

Should a member of a student’s household test positive for COVID-19, then the student will be required to quarantine as a close contact and cannot attend school while in quarantine. More information on quarantine is available at:

https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/stay-informed/exposed-to-covid/close-contacts

Support for families and students

There are resources available to help families and students care for their mental health and wellbeing at this time.

These can be found at the following site: https://qed.qld.gov.au/covid19/support-advice

I look forward to bringing our whole school community back together again as soon as we are able to safely do so.

Enjoy the first week back.
Melissa

Week Three and everyone is back on deck.

It’s great to see we are all back on board and getting ourselves into a routine.  All staff – teachers, teacher aides, office staff, cleaners and groundsmen have been working hard over the last two weeks to prepare for our start in Week 3.

Teachers have worked collaboratively over the past two weeks, analysing student information and determining best starting points for our children. With the two-week delay, assessment tasks and unit plans have successfully been modified to ensure our children are not disadvantaged in any way.

We understand some students may be required to isolate or quarantine in the weeks ahead. Teachers are prepared for these particular scenarios and rest assured your child will be supported upon their return.

Please note, there will be no need to provide home learning programs if children are required to isolate or quarantine at home. If your child is isolating at home and is well enough to complete school work, the department has provided parents and children with sufficient online resources at https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/learning-at-home. Teachers will be sending home curriculum overviews outlining particular concepts covered in our units and these can be used to assist any instruction provided at home – if you feel the need. As a community, we can be certain our students will not be disadvantaged if taking time to rest or isolate at home.

As we embark on our journey into the school-year of 2022, you’re encouraged to monitor your child’s progress at school and openly discuss their goals and journey for each unit/term. Provide opportunities for your child to speak with you about the happenings in the classroom. What are they looking at in the classroom at the moment? What did you write about today? What did you read about today? What do you need to work on with your reading? What do you need to work on with your writing? These types of conversations place value on education and can show your child you care about their development.

We look forward to another year of challenges and growth. Yes, a bumpy start to the year – but as a community, we’ve already demonstrated our strength and resilience. We’ve got this.
Regard
Thomas Grimson
Deputy Principal 

Dear Parents,

Here at Rochedale State School we understand that you are eager for your child to be safe in the water. You want your child to enjoy lessons, have fun swimming, and you would like to feel assured that he/she is safe swimming in social situations.

Please understand that learning to swim is a developmental process, like learning to walk. Your child needs time and practice to pass through the various stages of learning to swim.

Please give your child time to learn to swim at his or her own pace, a pace that will allow his or her learning to be with them for a lifetime. Please do not put a short time limit on learning or expect that they be swimming in in no time at all. Your child needs time to embody the basics, one careful step at a time.

At Rochedale State School , I work in partnership with parents in the pool to assist me to bring your child from uncertainty in water to comfort and confidence and finally effective swimming skills so they can handle themselves in and around the water environment.

It’s important to recognise that some children will need extra tuition from outside ‘learn to swim’ agencies to further develop their swimming skills. If your child is inexperienced in and around water then it’s vital that you enrol them into ‘learn to swim classes”.

The following information refers to the swimming skills within the year levels across the school. Year six will be taught by Mr Lenton and the remainder will be taught by Mr Brown. Year six will be swimming in term 1 and also a few weeks into term 2 while the Preps will be swimming in term 4.

Parents, remember your child must bring to the swimming class: swimming bathers / towel / swim shirt /googles (if necessary) / swim bag & swimming cap (this item is a must).

All students must remove all jewellery that will impede their ability to swim.

If your child is sick, injured has a medical issue or is unable to participate, please write a short note explaining their absence from the swimming lesson.

It is important that your child must attend swimming lessons as it’s an Education Queensland requirement. If your child does not attend a satisfactory number of lessons there will be no achievement mark for PE on the term 1 report card.

Chris Brown
Head of Sport & Physical Education
Rochedale State School

CHOIRS

Our choirs are extra-curricular activities, and open to anyone in the applicable grades. Interested students can collect a permission note in their classroom music lesson this week.

Rehearsals will start in the next few weeks.

Details are:

Senior Choir (Gr 5 & 6) with Mr & Mrs Eames – Wednesday 3.00pm-3.30pm in the RPAC

Intermediate Choir (Gr 3 & 4) with Mr & Mrs Eames – Wednesday 8.00am-8.30am in the RPAC

Junior Choir (Gr 2) with Mrs Heath – Thursday 8.00am-8.30am in the Music Room

If you have questions about choir, please contact Mrs Eames – aeame5@eq.edu.au

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

The Instrumental Music programs (band & strings) are co-curricular activities. If your child is enrolled in one of these programs, you should have received information from Mr Eames via email. If you have not received the email and believe you should have, please contact Mr Eames - jeame4@eq.edu.au.

Next meeting – (AGM – TBC) General Meeting - Tuesday 22 February, 7pm – MS Teams Virtual Meeting: All are welcome.

Welcome back!  

As parents we all want the best for our children in 2022. A vibrant Parents & Citizens Association exists at Rochedale State School where we all contribute to help make our community school the best it can be.

Every family helps to contribute to the school’s present and future by using and providing feedback to the P&C. The P&C provide the Outside School Hours Care (Roshca), Uniform Shop, and Tuckshop (Snack Shack). Attending school events like Fetes, Discos, Movie and Market Nights all assist P&C to provide funds to advance the school. But there are so many ways that every family can continue to help, and even the smallest contribution of time counts towards ticking off tangible, achievable goals. Past goals include building RPAC, undercover areas, purchasing new computers and classroom equipment. We can all have a say in the school’s future priorities and the P&C is your safe place for parents to be a community voice. if you see a program or goal that you are particularly passionate about, talk to us.

One unfortunate outcome of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been the ability to operate the Snack Shack. For the past 2 years, P&C have chosen to financially support the Tuckshop operations. With the delay in the school year and losses of $61k in 2022 and $38k in 2021 the Executive have made the hard decision to suspend the Snack Shack service. Our aim is to restructure and open as soon as possible, while adhering to the directives from the school and health authorities. We ask you to please be patient during this transition.

The other change is that the AGM, which is scheduled on the 22nd of February, would be affected by the restricted access to the school. Under the Constitution the AGM can be held any time up until the end of March, so we have the option to reschedule.

Please look out for further updates in the coming days.  

P&C meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of the month unless holidays demand a change. These meetings are held in the school’s staffroom starting at 7.00pm. Please come along. With your support I am sure we can continue to improve our school and its community. If you have any ideas, concerns or suggestions please contact me via the links below.

Regards
Greg Heath
P&C President.
For any enquiries please contact us on the addresses below:
Website: https://rochedalss.eq.edu.au/Ourcommunity/PandC/Pages/PandC.aspx      
Email: pandc@rochedalss.eq.edu.au