16 June 2022 - Term 2, Week 9

News from Mr Johnson

Dear Parents,

UQ School Zone Safety Research Project

Attached to this newsletter via the links below, is information relating to our (school zone’s) participation in the above-mentioned research project. This research is being led by a former Ironside SS parent.

Also included, is information regarding the opportunity to participate in the research as part of a focus group.

Please access the links below for detailed information.

2022 – Bridge to Brisbane

As a part of our spotlight on rebuilding community connections during 2022 – we have established an Ironside State School ‘team’ for this year’s Bridge to Brisbane fun run.

Event details can be found here https://bridgetobrisbane.com.au/

Anyone can join the team, we are called "Ironside State School" and they need to enter the pin 1045 when they join.

Participants of the team can nominate to walk or run either the 4.5km or 10km.

As we get closer to the date, we’ll nominate a coffee shop, park (or similar) for those who may like to socialise after the run.

Sincere thanks to Hanorah Wallace for setting up the Ironside State School team.

Happy and Safe Winter Break

As this is our final newsletter for the semester, I’d like to wish all our families a safe and enjoyable winter vacation. If you are traveling, do so safely and have a wonderful time.

School resumes for second semester on MONDAY 11^th JULY.

Warm regards,

Damian Johnson, Principal.

Ironside Awards

Merit certificates - Prep to Year 2

Merit Certificates - Years 3 to 6

Stars of the Month - Years 3 to 6

News from Mr Taufatofua

Dear parents and caregivers,

With Mr Murdoch away on some well-deserved leave, it is a valuable opportunity for me to step out of the classroom and see the school from a different perspective. It has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to get to know more of the students across Prep, Year One and Year Two. I am looking forward to meeting many Ironside families over the coming weeks. Given that this is the last newsletter before the holidays, have a safe and relaxing break.

                                                          We will see you in Term Three!

Bridge Builders – Skill of the week (Week 9): How to Get Help

Knowing how to ask for help can be life-saving for a child experiencing challenging relationships. The experience of conflict or bullying can separate children from others, severing ties. Children need to be encouraged to know that they are not alone and that support and help is available.

Five steps to getting help:

1. Calm down. Whether a child is red-faced, their body shaking with anger, or is pale and bent over, racked with tears, or somewhere in between, often adults are distracted by the emotion.
2. Show respect. Use the person’s name and ask if now is a good time.
3. Say what happened. Just being able to describe what happened, and put it into words, is helpful to a child’s thinking processes.
4. Say what you tried. When we got to others for help, it is far more powerful and effective if we can describe what we have tried ourselves first to resolve the problem.
5. Ask for ideas. Children commonly want to throw a problem at an adult with the expectation of, “You fix it.” This expectation leaves children passive in the process of resolution, because they are relying on the adults to clean up the mess and giving adults the responsibility of resolving issues and making decisions.

When your child asks you for ideas you could suggest that you will talk to the other child if they are in your family, watching closer, mediating or offering to come and play with them.

Bridge Builders - Skill of the week (Week 10): Let It Go

One of life’s hardest and most painful lessons is learning to forgive someone who has hurt you.

Forgiving someone means letting go of negative feelings like anger, frustration or sadness that arise due to a conflict situation. It means accepting an apology and not staying upset at the person for what they did. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that you suddenly are no longer hurt, it means that you don’t want to be chained to the problem and hold a grudge that makes you a bitter person.

To forgive is a ‘doing’ word and the act is one that takes a lot of effort and commitment. The process relies on the constant checking and reframing of a child’s thinking and the releasing of the physical hurt that these thoughts create. It can be quick or it can take a long time.

A child learning the value of forgiveness and what is involved not only reduces their stress and the negative impacts on their mental and physical health, but also increases the possibility of healthier relationships in the future and their ability to move on in life with success.

“Empowered for Life”; Jocelyne Chirnside

Around the classrooms – Prep: 

In Prep C we have been learning about different ways of making ten. We used our big Friends of Ten rainbow to help us record these – we can walk on the rainbow to join up the numbers, we can trace it with our hands and we can put counters on each colour to help consolidate these addition facts in concrete ways. We also worked in small groups using our ten frames to make ten using two colours and told each other our sums.

Around the classrooms – Year 1: 

1B have been enjoying working with our year 5 buddies. So far, we have been practising our catching, throwing and kicking skills as well as playing ball games.

5A and 1B have fun creating some beautiful artwork which is now displayed proudly in 1B.

Our buddies have been amazing at teaching us some coding skills on their computers. We have so much fun working, playing and learning new skills with our buddies.

Around the classrooms – Year 2: 

This week in Year 2 our Bridge Builders focus is ‘How to get help’. Although it sounds easy, we have been practising in class with friends and making sure we follow the suggested steps.

1. Calm down and take a few deep breaths
2. Show respect
3. Say what happened
4. Say what you have tried
5. Ask for ideas

Our big focus has been on Step 4 and Step 5. There are many times when our problems can be solved with a few thoughtful words. We don’t always need an adult or helper to step in. We can ‘have a go’ and try by ourselves first. If we do have to ask for help remember the adult/helper is there to give ideas and not to solve the problem for you.

When you have tried to solve your problem and it just doesn’t go away, teachers and adults are always there to listen and help.

Kind regards,

Nikolas Taufatofua

Acting Deputy Principal P-2

News from Mr Davey

Thank You

As the end of Semester One nears, I’d like to thank the Ironside community for their support over the past two terms. It has been wonderful to get to know so many students and community members across not only year 3 and 4, but the whole school. I hope you all have a wonderful break and enjoy some time with your family. Reports will be emailed home on Thursday.

Year 3 goes to the Planetarium

Last week, our Year 3 students visited the planetarium as part of the Science inquiry. Students learnt all about the universe and were incredibly well behaved. A big thank-you to the Year 3 teachers and parent helpers that made the day possible.

News from Year 4

Students in 4C have been putting to use their understandings of persuasive language (gained through analysing media and print advertisements) to design their own cereal packaging. Next, they’ll be using their mathematical area skills to measure up and make the boxes… watch this space for the final product!

Examples from Ella Gilfedder, Sithumi Prematillake and Prudence Yang below.

Students in 4B have been using the coding program Scratch to create a game for a younger student. Today they share their games with their Prep buddy class.

Sustainability @ Ironside

I’d like to acknowledge the work of Tara Wightwick, Time Sheppard, Cathy Gordon, Chappy Thu, Amanda Hayes and Libby string for giving up some of their weekend to install some new compost bins. These bins will be used by our EcoMarines to help improve sustainability at Ironside.

Languages

Spanish in Year 6

The last few weeks, Spanish students in year 6 have been working on the learning unit on clothing. As a final step, each class performed a song  that knock the calcetines right off their feet.

Kind regards

Peter Davey

Deputy Principal 3-4

News from Mrs Bairstow

CONGRATULATIONS – FANFARE

Last week, the following ensembles competed at Fanfare at Centenary SHS, with the corresponding awards:

            Intermediate Strings:  Platinum

            Senior Strings:  Gold

                                                   Chamber Strings:  Platinum

                                                   Intermediate Band: Gold

                                                  Senior Band: Silver

Congratulations to all of our musicians and sincere thanks to their teachers and conductors:  Ms Weekes, Mrs Allely & Mrs Keomahavong.

Chamber Strings have progressed to the next stage of the competition and will perform at the regional finals next Thursday 23 June at the Old Museum.  We wish them all the best!

MUSIC SOIREES

Congratulations to Mrs K and all of her choirs for a beautiful and enjoyable night of music at the Choral Soiree last week.  Similarly, wonderful night was shared with our Strings Ensembles last night.  The Band Soiree is scheduled for next Tuesday 21 June.

The catered meals from Papparich have proven to be a very popular and enjoyable option.  Thanks again to our P&C and Parent Reps for organising this.  There is still time to order your meals for the Band Soiree. These meals can only be purchased through the QKR app, and are available for pre-purchase NOW.  There will not the option to purchase meals on the evening.  Options include curry chicken, vegetarian curry and steamed baos.  All meals are nut-free.

The soirees commence at 6pm.  Food service will be available from 5pm at the J Block kitchen (next to the school hall).

Students need to arrive for rehearsals at 5.15pm, giving them a quarter of an hour to eat their meals, if parents choose to purchase something for them.

Our Junior Choirs will have their concert at 10.15am on Friday 24 June.  Parents are welcome and should check emails from Mrs Huxley for more detail.

Kind regards,

Jennifer Bairstow

Deputy Principal 5-6

From the Ironside Event Committee

NAIDOC Day – 22^nd June 2022

This year’s theme – Get up! Stand up! Show up! – encourages everyone to champion change while celebrating the significant contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

During NAIDOC week (Sunday 3 July to Sunday 10 July), events will be held across the country to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At Ironside, we will celebrate NADOC Day on Wednesday, 22^nd June as NAIDOC week will be during the school holidays.

On this day, we will have a variety of activities across each year level including painting, colouring in, videos & dream time stories during class time as well as a display of art & history, which will be available to all students at first break. 

We hope that through education, positive experiences & strong relationships, we can contribute to a better future for us all. 

We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples. We pay our respects to the elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge their continued connection to the land, water and culture of this area.

Winter Walk – 24^th June 2022

After years of COVID, isolation & disruption, we aim to bring the community back together through events, one of which is our upcoming Winter Walk. On this day, we encourage everyone to walk to school & if possible, walk together! Chat! Meet new families! Reconnect with old families! Staff will also be involved & some of us will be at Robertson Park to walk with anyone who wants to join us to school that day. We would love to see you there!

International Parent Group News

News from HPE

The UQ Sports Carnival was a huge success!

Age champions and new record holders will be acknowledeged and awards handed out next Friday at  Assembly.

Kind regards

The HPE Team

Music News

Junior Strings Extragavanza

Our beginner string students went to Sherwood State school for the day on Wednesday 15^th June.  The day started at 8:30am and we finished with a concert at 2pm.  We worked with students from Jindalee SS, Sherwood SS, Graceville SS, and Corinda SS.  It was a very fun day with lots of music and games together. 

Choral Soiree and QYMA

Two weeks ago our auditioned choir, Voci Musicali, performed for the first time at the Queensland Youth Music Awards. They performed beautifully and walked away the proud recipients of not only a gold award, but also the Harley Mead Encouragement Award, given to choirs who show a love and a passion for singing. The following week we held our Choral Soirée, an excellent opportunity for family and friends to see and hear what our Year 3-6 choirs have been learning this semester. It was a wonderful night full of songs of different genres and languages. Congratulations to all our choristers for their hard work in producing such a fabulous night!

This year, on the 7^th of June, all the senior choirs of Ironside came together to perform at the Choral Soiree. The first choir that performed was the year 5 and 6 choir. They sung three songs, Kusimama, Alone in the universe and Remember Me. The second choir that sung was audition choir, or Voci Musicali, performed J’entends Le Moulin, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall and Icarus. Then there was the 3 and 4 ensembles, which sung 2 songs. These were, The Puzzle and Wonderful Life. For the last song of the night was all choirs singing Sisi Mi Moja.

Daisy and Susannah

Fanfare

Congratulations to all the groups that performed at the Fanfare Festival.  The students were fantastic in both behaviour and performance.  Well Done.

A special congratulations and good luck to the Chamber Strings who have been chosen for the Regional Finals.  Nine groups from the Brisbane region where chosen; 4 Bands, 1 percussion ensemble and 4 string groups.  They will perform at the Old Museum on Thursday 23rd June.

Our Results on the day were:

Intermediate Strings – Platinum

Senior Strings – Gold

Chamber Strings – Platinum

Intermediate Band – Gold

Senior Band – Silver

Music Captains reflections on the day.

Fanfare (by Layla C)

Last Thursday we went to Fanfare. At Fanfare there are 3 levels and degrees of achievement. The lowest being Bronze then silver, gold, and the highest standard a platinum award. Today, Intermediate Strings performed exceptionally well and was awarded a Platinum award. Senior Strings also doing very well with a gold award and chamber with a Platinum Award. This experience assisted each orchestra's growth and improvement. It was an exciting, slightly nerve-wracking, and educational adventure. All things considered, every group performed outstandingly, confidently and results show, just the effort, work, and dedication that every orchestra has contributed.

Fanfare Success! (by Max H)

Recently, our school instrumental group Senior Strings went to Fanfare at Centenary State High School. We competed against many other school orchestras including band and string ensembles. We did very well and received a Gold Award for our playing. My favourite piece that we played is Dramatic Essay by Mark Williams. This piece has a great cello part that has powerful passages and interesting dynamics which I really enjoy playing. Overall, we fared very well and had lots of fans, so it’s fair to say that we had a great Fanfare experience.

Fanfare (by Isabella S)

Fanfare is a competitive performance that features bands from different schools. At fanfare, there were at least 6 schools that each had amounts of people performing. There were several String Orchestras and Bands from Ironside, including Intermediate Strings, Senior Strings, Chamber Strings, Intermediate Band and Senior Band. At the end of the performances, the certificates were handed out. Both Intermediate Strings and Chamber Strings received a platinum award, Intermediate Band and Senior Strings got gold awards and Senior Band was presented with a silver award. Overall fanfare was a fun and exciting experience. 

News from Chappy Thu

Dear Families,

We’ve had another fun filled fortnight with concerts & carnivals! It’s been such a joy being about to support all the events the school has to offer & of course, to see the students shine! There’s still so much to look forward to before holidays with the International Breakfast, NAIDOC Day & the Winter Walk! I can’t wait!

Origami Club

Last week we had our final Origami Club for the term where we ambitiously attempted to make TWO objects, a samurai hat & a lotus flower. I was so proud of all 60 students who came over the two sessions for their marvellous creations! A big thank you to the students who generously gifted me some origami paper! We will definitely use the beautiful paper next term. Thank you also to Mrs Maryam & Mrs Kavita for coming to help us through the tricky flower folds as well as Mrs Roshanak & Mrs Maryam who also came the week to help with butterflies! Your patience & kindness were much appreciated!

Disco Club

We had our final disco for the term & as a surprise for the students, we held it in the Oasis to make sure there was enough space for everyone. We even had bubble machines, which were generously given to us by Riverlife Baptist Church! We had over 200 students join in the festivities, which included bubbles, dress ups & of course, music! A big thank you again to Mrs Kavita who came a second day to help monitor one of the two bubble machines as well as the teachers on duty who helped to supervise, especially Mr Dobinson! A big thank you to Mr Logan (our amazing Business Manager) who helped think of innovative ways to set up the area to get maximum bubbles & Mr Sellar (our incredible School’s Officer) for sourcing all the cables & helping to set up.   

Chappy Lounge

Our regular Chappy Lounge has also finished for the term, but a special two will be held over Week 9 & Week 10 to support the upcoming school events. In support of the highly anticipated International Breakfast tomorrow, we will have a special Chappy Lounge during first break with an array of international treats…I wonder, will anyone be brave enough to try some durian candy? For Week 10, in support of Ironside’s NAIDOC Day, we will have an indigenous display during Chappy Lounge to celebrate our rich indigenous culture & history in Australia.  

Chappy Squad

This term has been marvellous & I’ve been amazed by all the students coming regularly to the activities. What has touched me even more is the number of students offering to come early to set up, staying back to pack up or generally helping during events. Motivated by this, I am starting a ‘Chappy Squad’ next term to officially acknowledge the students who would like to help run the activities. We’ll have positions like photo monitor, music monitor and sign in monitor. We will also have a mixture of senior & junior roles to encourage mentorship & friendship. Sign up sheets have been put up around the school & 20 students will be selected in Week 10.

Upcoming School Events

TERM 2

• International Breakfast – Friday 17^th June
• NAIDOC Day – Wednesday 22^nd June
• Winter Walk – Friday 24^th June

TERM 3

• Chappy Activities will resume in Week 2 of Term 3
• School Disco – Friday, 22^nd July
• Father’s Day Breakfast – Friday, August 26^th
• Science Week
• Book Week

TERM 4

• Gingerbread Making Night – Thursday, December 1^st

Lastly…

• If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please email me at tklet0@eq.edu.au.
• If would like to donate items such as origami paper, lollies or games for Chappy Lounge, please drop off at the office.
  

• If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation (just in time for the end of the financial year) to help us raise $8,000 to continue our two day service, please do so here: https://www.suqld.org.au/donate/ironside-ss-chaplaincy-tax-deductible/

Have a wonderful holiday everyone! If you have yet to book a holiday & you are looking for ideas, try the Brisbane Kids website. My kids & I love the reviews & the interactive Brisbane Events Calendar! https://www.brisbanekids.com.au/whats-on-brisbane-kids-events-calendar/

Until Next Time,

Chappy Thu

News from the Library

Library Life Members:

Madeleine 6G

Florence 6D

Kayla 6G

Emily 6A

Uniform Shop

News from the Toowong Library

Brisbane City Council Libraries Gold Star Reading Club

The Gold Star Reading Club will kick off in Council libraries across the city on Wednesday 1 June 2022.

There are four great reasons for children to get involved in the 2022 Gold Star Reading Club.

1. Membership to the Gold Star Reading Club is FREE!
2. The Gold Star Reading Club can help children improve their reading and literacy skills.
3. Children will be rewarded for their reading efforts with a medallion and a certificate of achievement.
4. It’s FUN! Children will have fun sharing their reading experiences with family and friends.

This is a great opportunity for parents to share in their children’s reading achievements.

To register your child for the Gold Star Reading Club, simply visit brisbane.qld.gov.au/libraries or your local library to complete a registration form from 1 June 2022.

For more information about the Gold Star Reading Club, visit your local library or call Council on 3403 8888.

OSHC News

UQ Research

Research to support babies and families living with an autism spectrum disorder.

Are you expecting a new baby?

Does your baby have a family history of autism?

Triple P - Positive Parenting Program

Online program to help families of children with eczema

Every day, thousands of Australian children suffer the effects of eczema, and families struggle with managing eczema and children’s behavioural and emotional adjustment.

Healthy Living Triple P is an adaptation of the successful Triple P - Positive Parenting Program, offering practical ideas and support for parents of children with eczema. This innovative online program is designed to help parents manage their child’s eczema more easily, help children cope with their eczema and emotions, prevent and manage difficult child behaviour, and reduce the impact of eczema on families.

Over the next few months, parents of 2-10 year old children with eczema are able to access Healthy Living Triple P free of charge as part of a research project through the Queensland Children’s Hospital, Griffith University, and the University of Queensland. For more information, please visit us at https://exp.psy.uq.edu.au/eczema/, contact Dr Amy Mitchell on (07) 3735 6462, or email healthyliving@uq.edu.au.

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