Ironside State School eNewsletter

Acknowledgement of Country

Ironside State School acknowledges the traditional custodians of this land and pay our respects to the Elders past, present, and emerging for they hold the traditions, culture, memories and hopes of Indigenous Australia. The Turrbal Aboriginal Nation, who spoke the Jagera Language, roamed these lands.

Welcome to Term 2, Week 2 2025

From the Principal

Hi Everyone,

I hope you had a wonderful ANZAC weekend. Our ANZAC Commemoration Service at school last Thursday was so very special and I thank everyone that was involved and thank you to all of the parents and friends who came too. Special mention must go to the outstanding musical performances. The Year 2 Choir were breathtaking. Such small people remembering all of those words and singing beautifully; the New Zealand National Anthem was especially memorable I thought, thank you to them and their amazing teacher Mrs Marianne Huxley.

The Concert Band did an incredible job of playing, especially remarkable was the length of time they played during the wreath laying; just amazing! Thank you to them and Mr James Kukulies. The Chamber Strings left me simply speechless and everything they did, they did without their wonderful teacher Mrs Trudy Weekes, who would have been beyond proud. I would have to say I have never heard or seen anything like it from children in my life - congratulations to them.

They are playing again this Friday at assembly, come on in and see them. The wreaths made by the children and teachers were simply gorgeous, as were the wreath layers, thank you everyone. I want to thank Ms Hannah Ersser for putting together the video remembering men and women who have served or are serving, it was very special. We also had a very moving playing of The Last Post on the trumpet by Harlin Smith who is in Year 10 at Indooroopilly State High School - he was amazing!! Thank you Harlin! I would like to thank our Regional Director Mr Gary Austen and our School Supervisor, Mr Evan Willis from Education Queensland who attended, as well as Councillor Penny Wolff and Mr James Mackay. So many people helped out but extra special shout-outs go to Mr Thomas Corbett and our School Captains who organised and led the service.

It was lovely seeing some of you (in the rain) at the Dawn Service in Toowong and I thank the School Captains and our Deputy Principal’s Mr Thomas Corbett and Mrs Tara Griffin who accompanied us in the laying of a wreath. It was also very special seeing our P&C President, Mrs Phoebe Anderson, laying a wreath on behalf of the P&C. There was an enormous crowd there, despite the rain. Maybe with so much war in the world at the moment, people feel a need to come together and remember and rally for peace. Lest We Forget

You can see a selection of the photos I took down below in the photo gallery.

Coming up:

Cross Country Trials - Tuesday 29th April - 10-19 year old boys and girls
Get Caught Reading Competition begins - Tuesday 29th April
P&C Meeting - Tuesday 29th April - 6:30pm in the staff room.
Soccer Trials - Thursday 1st May - 10–12-year-old girls and boys
Year 4-6 Merit Assembly - 9:15am Friday 2nd May - Chamber Strings performing in the hall
Religious Instruction begins - Friday 2nd May

There are plenty of sporting trials on this term and we wish all of the children going in them all the best, last week it was rugby union and this week it is cross country and soccer. Thank you to Mr Nathan Reardon for organising this. Kicking off this Friday is also Interschool Sport, and I know the kids must be pumped. Thank you to all of the teachers involved who make this happen and Mr Reardon for overseeing it all.

Our Library’s Get Caught Reading competition launched today, and it is so much fun. I look forward to seeing the wonderful, creative entries that come in! Thank you Mrs Annika Sauvage for organising this great opportunity.

Welcome back to our wonderful volunteers who are providing Religious Instruction for our children starting this Friday, we really appreciate it! Thank you so much to Mrs Tara Griffin who is overseeing Religious Instruction coordination at Ironside.

I would like to welcome another new staff member to our team, Mr Dahlan Bytschewsky. Mr B is our new School Officer, and he has been busily working around our school making it extra fabulous - welcome Mr B!

Our next P&C Meeting is happening tomorrow night at 6:30pm in the staff room, please come along!! It is a wonderful group of people and P&Cs are the backbones of schools; come and be part of your children’s schooling. Speaking of the P&C, you can come along to vote here at Ironside next Saturday in the Federal Election and get yourself a democracy sausage and cake! Please consider helping out too, we need volunteers, pretty please.

Have a truly fabulous week!

Yours in Education

Angie Kelly

PS Next Monday is the Labour Day public holiday, so that means no school - enjoy your long weekend! :)

Important Term 2 Dates

Around Ironside

2B students LOVE talking about their LEARNING!

2B students love talking with each other and playing games – so it’s a great way to deepen understandings and refine skills. We like to share our ideas and learnings by engaging in different strategies. We regularly talk to our elbow buddies, work with a partner and problem solving in small groups. Providing opportunities for students to talk and learn from each other enables them to work as a team expressing thoughts, talk through new ideas, broaden thinking, collaboratively problem solve and engage in rich conversations.

This week the students have:

Identified features of narrative and informative texts by sorting books in small groups.
Read about the significance of ANZAC day with a partner, focussing on reading with fluency.
Created an ANZAC day information poster in small groups.
Partition three -digit numbers using manipulatives with their elbow buddy.
Ordered a range of numbers from 100 – 1000 with the others in their table groups, and
played addition fact games with a partner.

In 2B we enjoy learning through doing, sharing and collaborating. We are all teachers in this space!

Photo Gallery

30/04 - Year 4 Life Education Session (incursion)

Library News

Snap that Story Photo Competition

Get ready to strike a pose and read—Snap That Story is here! This year’s photo competition is an exciting update of our popular Get Caught Reading competition, and we can’t wait to see your creativity shine.

To tie in with the 2025 National Simultaneous Storytime book, The Truck Cat, we’re inviting students to feature themselves or their pet (or both) in photo creatively featuring reading. Think books, paws, tails, and tall tales!

How to enter:

Submit a 4x6 printed photo or email your photo to Mrs Sauvage asauv4@eq.edu.au
Make sure your name and class are written clearly on the back of printed entries

📅 Entries close Friday 16th May

🏆 Winners announced during National Simultaneous Storytime

Get snapping—and show us how you Snap That Story!

UQ Book Fair Bookmark Competition

Congratulations to two of our talented students, Evelyn (Year 6) and Mehr (Year 5), who were recently announced as winners in the UQ Bookmark Design Competition!

Their creative designs stood out among many entries and have been professionally printed and distributed. We were lucky to have a bundle delivered to our library. Please join us in celebrating their achievements. We are thrilled that their bookmarks will soon be marking pages, sparking smiles, and inspiring readers all over our community!

Upcoming Events

T2 21/5 National Simultaneous Storytime

T3 21/7 Year 5 Dr Sam Lloyd author visit incursion

T3 Week 6 Book Week costume parade - date to be confirmed

Upcoming Events

Mother's Day is fast approaching and we're preparing our annual Stall! We need volunteers on Friday, 9^th May to sell to our students. Volunteering is only an hour. If you would like to contribute, please

Sign up here: https://volunteersignup.org/BHTKM

This Mother's Day celebration is an opportunity for the children to experience shopping and celebrate the special people in their lives.

So, on Friday 9^th May, please consider sending your child to school with money, or parents are welcome to come to the oasis where the stall will be to make a purchase on behalf of their child using credit card.

Regards,

Ironside P&C Association

Dear Ironside Parents/Caregivers,

The University of Queensland (UQ) is excited to announce the return of our UQ Book Fair for 2025 from 2 - 5 May and after some outstanding entries into our bookmark competition last year, we warmly invite our local primary schools to get involved again.

The UQ Book Fair is an annual fundraiser organised by volunteers, with all proceeds contributing to UQ student scholarships and important research.

This year, for the first time, we're expanding our usual Saturday activities into a bumper day out with dozens of free talks, tours and kid-friendly pop-ups - families in our local community won't want to miss it!

We appreciate your support in encouraging your students to participate.

Regards,

The University of Queensland

DRAWING FESTIVAL

10.00AM – 5.00PM, SUNDAY 4 MAY 2025
QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY (QAG) | FREE, NO BOOKINGS REQUIRED

An unmissable one-day free festival celebrating drawing and creativity. Spark or rekindle your love of drawing through experiences designed to tap into the transformative benefits of drawing.

From beginners to drawing enthusiasts — no matter your skill level, there’s something for everyone. Join in drawing workshops led by artists, immerse yourself in sketching at drop-in events, see your artwork displayed in the Gallery and experience music performed live. Find out more.

No prior drawing experience required / Designed for all ages and skill levels / All materials provided.

Department of Education Notices/Information

School Zone Safety

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Brisbane City Council is writing to inform you that Ironside State School is confirmed to be included in the Brisbane City Council (Council) Safer Schools Program for Term 2, 2025. This program aims to promote safe parking practices and ensure compliance with local traffic regulations around schools.

Child safety is paramount, and illegal parking within school zones remains a significant concern for parents, residents, and schools. Limited parking spaces around peak drop-off and pick-up times often leads to competitive and potentially dangerous parking behaviours.

While we understand the challenges parents face in navigating school zone drop-off and pick-up, it is crucial to prioritise safety. Over the coming term, Council officers will be conducting regular patrols around your school to monitor parking compliance. Our enforcement approach will use a combination of foot patrols and our highly visible Community Safety and Regulation vehicles that can identify alleged offences using Automatic Number Plate Recognition and GPS software. Compliance action will be taken on any observed breaches.

School zone signs are displayed as you approach the school and shows both the speed limit and the times you need to reduce your speed around the school. Children's crossing are identified by children crossing flags, which are displayed near crossings before and after school hours.

When the crossing is supervised, you as a motorist must:

wait until all pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders have crossed the road and the crossing supervisor has returned to the footpath
abide by the direction given by the School Crossing Supervisor.

If the crossing is unsupervised, you as a motorist must:

give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on or entering a children’s, pedestrian or marked foot crossings
give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on or entering a road you’re turning into
give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on a slip lane
give way to pedestrians in a share zone
travel at a speed allowing you to stop safely at a crossing if needed

As a driver, it's important to make sure you give way to all pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders such as skateboards, e-scooters. You must also give way to pedestrians using a motorised mobility device such as a motorised wheelchair or a mobility scooter.

Some of our most vulnerable road users are children getting to and from school, so it’s important to slow down and abide by the crossing rules, as it won’t make much difference to the trip time, but it could very well save lives.

Visit the Street Smarts website to find more information about what to do at pedestrian and children crossings.

P&C News

P&C General Meeting – Tomorrow!

Join us tomorrow, 29th April at 6:30pm for our P&C General Meeting.

Come and be part of our vibrant Ironside parent and citizen community — we’d love to see you there!

Volunteers Needed – Upcoming Fundraising Events

We have some fantastic events coming up and we need your help to make them a success:

Election Day Sausage Sizzle & Cake Stall – Saturday, 3rd May

Help serve up some democracy sausages!

Sign up here: https://volunteersignup.org/WXW7E

Mother’s Day Stall – Friday, 9th May

Help little shoppers find the perfect Mother’s Day gift!

Sign up here: https://volunteersignup.org/BHTKM

Tuckshop News

The Term 2 Daily Specials are here — and they’re looking delicious!

Check out the attached Yummy Menu for all the tasty treats.

Be Part of the Magic – International Breakfast

We are thrilled to announce that Ironside’s beloved International Breakfast will be back this June (date to be confirmed)!

In the past, over 50 cultural groups have been proudly represented — and we’d love to celebrate even more this year.

Would you like to be a Cultural Representative?

You’ll be the main contact for your culture’s table and help make this incredible event a success.

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/h37YopNNdt77jeek8

Let’s celebrate the wonderful diversity of our Ironside community together!

Community News

INDOOROOPILLY STATE HIGH SCHOOL - OPEN DAY 2025 | Thursday 29 May | 3.00 pm - 7.00 pm

Indooroopilly State High School, Open Day 2025, is on Thursday 29 May, from 3.00 pm - 7.00 pm and provides potential future parents/carers and students with a unique opportunity to learn more about the school and everything it has to offer! Explore the campus, engage in lively discussions with teachers and students, and gain insights into the school’s academic achievements, Programs of Excellence, inclusive culture, and diverse extra-curricular programs, including Indro’s exciting Clubs and the Indro Aspire program.

Dear Ironside Families,

We’re excited to be getting ready for the upcoming 2025 Brisbane Future Vet Kids Camp, taking place these June/July school holidays!

This year, we’re offering students from Ironside two fantastic opportunities:

The chance to apply for a full scholarship to attend the camp – Apply here
Or a 20% discount using the school’s exclusive code: Schooldiscode

Scholarship applications close on 2 June 2025.

Run by passionate veterinarians and animal care professionals, our camp offers three age-appropriate educational programs for students aged 9–17. It’s a fun and inspiring way for animal lovers or aspiring vets to gain hands-on experience and mentorship from real veterinarians—including Bondi Vet’s Drs Audrey and Alison Shen.

This year’s Brisbane camp will be held at Holy Family Primary School, Indooroopilly.

We’d be so grateful if you could share our flyer with your community or include a short note in your school newsletter.

Thanks again for your support—we truly appreciate it during the busy start to Term 2!

Warm regards,
Nick Ciccarelli
0448 602 180

Future Vet Kids Camp

Uncharted Paths: Connect & Explore through Orienteering

Ugly Gully is an orienteering club based in Brisbane and is hosting "Uncharted Paths: Connect & Explore through Orienteering", a one-of-a-kind event that brings together mothers, daughters, sisters, and best friends for a day of bonding, mindfulness, and adventure in nature.

The event is built to incentivize more women to exercise and also to introduce them to the world of orienteering while they are having a fun morning altogether.

Event Details:

Date: 22nd June

Location: Anzac Park

Event Overview:

This special day offers participants the opportunity to disconnect from their busy lives and reconnect with each other. The event features a combination of yoga & stretching, an orienteering workshop, an engaging scavenger hunt, all accompanied by uplifting music to create the perfect environment for fun and relaxation.

Why Should Your Students Join?

This event is designed to:

Promote wellness and mindfulness, particularly to women

Encourage teamwork and connection through nature

Introduce participants to the exciting world of orienteering

Provide a fun, family-friendly atmosphere with activities that cater to all ages and fitness levels

We believe your students will enjoy a memorable day, filled with adventure, relaxation, and opportunities to strengthen relationships. Whether they come as a group of friends, family, or colleagues, it’s the perfect way to spend quality time outdoors.

How Can You Get Involved?

We would love for you to invite your students to join us at this special event. You can share the details with them via your communication channels, or we’re happy to provide any promotional material you may need to help spread the word.

Here is the link to get the tickets:

https://events.humanitix.com/uncharted-paths-connect-and-explore-through-orienteering

Uncharted Paths is a free event, supported by funding from the Queensland Government Active Women and Girls Program.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to the possibility of having your students join us for an unforgettable day!

QACI - Queensland Academies Creative Industries is a selective-entry state high school located in Kelvin Grove, offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for students in Years 10 - 12.

Even though we are a senior high school, it is at the primary school juncture that families tend to want to know more and explore their options for high school.

QACI Open Day

Saturday 24 May, 10am - 2pm

Learn more and register your details here: https://qaci.eq.edu.au/enrolments/open-days

Advertising

For all advertising enquiries please email: communications@ironsidess.eq.edu.au

We are excited to kick off speech and drama classes for term 2!

Reminder Speak Up and Drama Club classes commence in week 2 of the school term.

This term students are working towards our midyear performance. They will be preparing poems, songs and other creations to share with family and friends.

Your regular class details are:

Day: Wednesday and Thursday

Term dates: Wednesday 30th of April - 17th of June; Thursday 1st of May - 19th of June

Time: Wednesday 7:40AM - 8:40AM; Thursday 7:55AM - 8:40AM

Room: Room AF08

Teacher: Miss Jess