16 July 2020 - Term 3, Week 1

News from Mr Johnson

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the new term. I hope all families had a lovely end of semester holiday together.

TERM THREE ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE INFORMATION
This term we are relaxing our arrival and departure procedures in relation to zones/areas. We are asking:

• Parents to use the school entry and exit point that is most convenient to their route to school.
• Prep students and older siblings to be collected promptly at 3:00pm
• Year 1-6 students to be collected from 3:10pm.
• If using a vehicle – HAVE A WINDOW SIGN for the staff member at the pick-up zone to assist the movement of children to vehicles
• Parents using a vehicle to drop off or collect children – STAY IN YOUR VEHICLE.
• PARENTS – ENSURE YOUR CHILD KNOWS THEIR DEPARTURE ZONE

Our arrival and departure zones are:

• Hawken Drive (Front entry)
• Swann Road (Near the bus stop)
• Ironside Street
• Central Avenue

SCHOOL OPINION SURVEY – 2020
Due to the impact of COVID-19 the Department of Education has organised for a shorter more concise pulse survey to be completed. Please see the information and link below for your access to the Parent Survey for this year.

Parents and Caregivers are invited to participate in this year’s School Opinion Survey and have a say about schooling during the COVID-19 lockdown.  You are also given the opportunity to provide feedback about our school more generally.

Participation in the survey is anonymous and you are encouraged to take this opportunity to have your say.  The survey form has been designed so that it can easily be completed on a computer or smartphone. The online survey will be available until Friday, 17 July 2020, and should take less than five minutes to complete.

To access the survey, please click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser:

Parent survey – https://survey.qed.qld.gov.au/form/Parents-HaveYourSay

Please contact the school if you have any questions about the survey.

SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING – 20 JULY
The next meeting of the School Council is this coming MONDAY 20 JULY – 5:30pm in the Staffroom.

UNIFORM EXPECTATIONS
As we enter the cool winter months, it’s timely to remind our families of the expectations around our uniform. If a school jacket or jumper is not possible (and this should be in the rarest of cases) then the required colour of jackets and jumpers is navy blue.

Along with adhering to our school dress code, remember to CLEARLY NAME AND LABEL your child’s uniform pieces.

This is the time of year when we start to see a constant and steady increase in lost property. Should uniform items be handed in, we want to return them to their rightful owners as quickly as possible.

*The Pocket - Early Education and Care*

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Hi Ironside State School families!

Are you looking for a fabulous childcare centre?

The Pocket Early Education and Care, St Lucia’s newest child care centre is opening in early July.

Just a three minute drive from Ironside, our purpose-built centre offers a fun and supportive learning environment for your child, with state of the art facilities, engaged staff, nutritious meals prepared daily and our very own FUNdamentals program.

As an early learning centre, we at The Pocket believe that each child is unique. Because of this we cater to your child’s individual needs and developmental pathways, through our ‘learning by playing’ philosophy. This allows your child to better understand the world in which they live, through our planned early education programs which engages their capacity to participate, communicate, investigate, create, and reflect.

To support your child’s growing body as they develop and learn, we provide fresh, homestyle meals prepared on site, each day, by our Chef, Eliza. We also provide clear and regular communication daily about your child’s progress, routine and activities using Storypark.

Our degree qualified Early Childhood Teachers in our Kindergarten programme, ensures your child receives the best start to life before starting Prep. Our Centre Manager, Shandelle Banditt, and our friendly staff are committed to providing your child with incredible learning experiences in a safe and supportive environment that will foster a lifetime of benefits.

Educating and caring for your child 5 days per week, 52 weeks per year, 6.30am-6.30pm to support you and your family.

To join our Pocket community, call Elise, our Enrolments Manager, on 3568 5800 or 0476 997 332 or email enrolments@thepocketchildcare.com.au to discuss your children’s requirements.

****Advertisement****

Crazy Sock Day - Active School Travel

To kick start the new term with Active School Travel we are celebrating with a

CRAZY SOCK DAY.

When: Tuesday 21st July

What to Wear: Your craziest socks! (No cost involved)

Remember to walk, ride your scooter or bike, car pool or catch public transport to be an active traveller.

News from Mr Murdoch

Dear parents and caregivers,

Welcome back!  I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing break.

Term 3, Departure Process
Just a reminder that families are to use the entry and exit points that are most convenient to their route to school i.e.

• Hawken Drive (Front entry)
• Swann Road (Near the bus stop)
• Ironside Street
• Central Avenue

Both in the morning and afternoon, staff will be positioned at these entry and exit points to ensure students make their way safely to and from class.

Prep:  Teachers are coordinating students to ensure they are in the correct afternoon departure zone at 3:00pm.

Year 1 & 2: Students will be dismissed from class at 3:00pm.  Older siblings are to meet younger family members at the appropriate zone.

As a family, a discussion will be necessary to ensure your child/ren know which one of these four zones is their collection point. 

If your child has an onsite afterschool activity, please make sure adequate family supervision is organised as per the arrangements with your external activity provider.

Please take a moment to review the afternoon departure map and information that is attached to this newsletter.

Bridge Builders Online:  Prep and Year 1
At Ironside State School appropriate standards of behaviour are encouraged through the implementation of proactive strategies and programs.

Bridge Builders is a proactive program where students learn to apply conflict resolution strategies, communicate using a common language and build their confidence to solve interpersonal problems. Bridge Builders promotes resilience and self-worth, which encourages students to challenge inappropriate behaviour and develop positive and safe relationships.

At the beginning of the year, Prep and Year 1 families should have received an invitation to Bridge Builders Online.  This online program contains a series of short videos and lessons families can access and help develop a shared language between school and home.

Please contact your classroom teacher if you require the access email to be resent.

2021 Prep Enrolment Process

1. Pre-Enrolment Information

• Prep Information Evening: Typically, this is a general information session about our Prep program and enrolment process conducted in our school hall.

Due to the social distancing measures and health restrictions currently in place, we are making this presentation available online early Term 3.

• ISS Website contains up to date enrolment information and Enrolment Packs https://ironsidess.eq.edu.au/Enrolments/Prep/Pages/Prep.aspx.

1. Enrolment Applications (from now)

• Prep 2021 Enrolment Pack is available on our website.
• Applicants must be currently living in the Ironside Catchment and be able to supply supporting evidence as per the criteria in the Ironside State School Enrolment Management Plan.

There is no waitlist and no cap on enrolments.

      Enrolment Management Plan (from 30 June 2017)

• No out of catchment enrolments.
• No sibling policy.
• Must be intending to stay for 12+ months.
• All applications require the execution of the Ironside State School Statutory Declaration which confirms the student’s residence in the catchment and the parents’ acknowledgment that they must reside in the catchment for the duration of their child’s enrolment.
• Ongoing checks that students reside in catchment.

If you have any questions regarding the enrolment application and required documentation, please contact enrolments@ironsidess.eq.edu.au.

News from Mrs Vecchio

Welcome back to returning students and a warm welcome to our new students and their families. We are looking forward to an exciting term of learning.

TERM 3 CURRICULUM OVERVIEWS
In coming days, parents should be receiving a Term 3 Curriculum Overview via email from their child’s Class Teacher.  Term Overviews provide information about the concepts, skills, knowledge and understanding being covered in each Learning Area.  Look out for this important document and please let your child’s teacher know if you haven’t received it by the end of next week.  Class Teachers or our Head of Curriculum (Year 3/4) Mr Peter Davey, are happy to answer any curriculum questions.

YEAR 3 STREET SCIENCE
On Thursday 23 July, Year 3 students will have an opportunity to participate in a Science incursion.   Facilitated by “Street Science”, a passionate team of science educators, this inspiring and engaging incursion directly relates to the Year 3 Science topic this semester – “Heating It Up".  The science stage show and workshop aims to teach meaningful science content in line with the Australian Curriculum and reinforce the concepts that students will be learning in class lessons. 

Permission notes were sent home this week and should be returned to your child’s teacher before Tuesday 21 July.  If you have any questions about the incursion, feel welcome to ask your class teacher.

In closing, all parents are encouraged to take the time each week to read the school newsletter.  This is our most valuable communication tool and will help families keep up-to-date with school operations.  As we start a new term with new processes, of particular importance is the information about after-school departures and pick-ups.  Please take the time to study this information below.

News from Mrs Bairstow

BRINGING CANBERRA TO IRONSIDE
If it were not for Covid-19, tonight would have been our final evening in Canberra.  While it was not to be for 2020, we are still embracing the Canberra trip spirit.  On Thursday 13 August, the Year 6 team will bring Canberra to Ironside with a day full of themed activities linking to our original itinerary.  Students will be encouraged to wear their Canberra gear (with a Brisbane weather twist) and to come to the day with a fun, open and camp-style mindset.  Stay tuned for further details from the Year 6 team.

MAIWARRIORS
See below, a message from Michael Berkman’s office.  Please inquire as directed, if you are interested.

The Maiwarriors grant program helps school-age kids fund social justice and environmental projects. We can provide grants of up to and including $500. We can also assist with administration, promotion and printing to help make the idea a reality.

We provided a Maiwarriors grant to Ironside students in 2018 to assist with the installation of solar panels, and in 2019 for the purchase of native plants for OSHC students to plant. We have helped other local school students install compost bins, create vegetable and herb gardens, purchase native bee-hives, and create quiet play areas for children who don’t like noisy/busy playground areas (including sensory and tactile support equipment).

Community Providers

To enquire about advertising please send an email to news@ironsidess.eq.edu.au

News from HPE

Cross Country Fun Run
Unfortunately, this year, there will be no official carnivals in athletics or cross country at the district or regional levels due to the pandemic.  We at Ironside, however, feel like we should do something that incorporates house spirit and fitness to make up for these lost activities.  As we do not have access to the facilities at UQ to run any athletics, we will be organizing a cross country fun fitness run at Robertson Park in Indooroopilly.

This fun run will take place on the Friday of week 3 (July 31) and week 4 (August 7).  To keep the gathering of people to lower numbers, each year level will get one session to walk down to the park, get involved with some house spirit with the house captains to participate in a fun run around the cross country course and then walk back to school together.

It is our hope that all students participate and get involved to show their house spirit, as the cross-country house points trophy will be awarded to the winning house on assembly.

To align ourselves with Covid safe regulations, this will be an internal school event and we ask that parents do not come and watch.  Your child will come home and fill you in on all the exciting details.

Clarke-Okah's Three Pin Tournament

Ironside's 150th Anniversary

Here’s what’s cookin’ at Tuckshop…

Welcome back to school from your Tuckshop Team!

Your Tuckshop Term 3 menu can be found below. Note the changes to the daily specials (beef burgers on Mondays and pork sausage rolls on Fridays).

We are still in need of volunteers to work inhouse at Tuckshop. Our need is for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. We also welcome homebake. Please reach out to Tuckshop Convenor, Olivia, at oqin0@eq.edu.au, and please remember to check in and out with the school office before reporting to Tuckshop to work or if dropping off homebake.

Finally, a reminder to please update your child’s Qkr! profile to reflect their correct classroom.

Many thanks and best wishes from Your Tuckshop Team! 

Olivia, Lynn, Sminil and Barbara

P&C Fundraiser - Entertainment Book

The NEW 2020 | 2021 Entertainment app is now available for purchase, so you can save money AND help raise funds at the same time (20% / $14 per membership will go to the P&C).

How amazing are the NEW multi city Entertainment Apps, giving hundreds of 50% off dining, retail and activity offers across Australia and are valid for 12 months from activation!

Let’s support our local community and our school’s P&C Projects!  $192 raised.

**Order online at http://www.entbook.com.au/2y22817.

If you need further information, please email Treena:  ISSEntertainmentBook@gmail.com .

ROAD SAFETY REMINDERS

With everyone back to school and families returning to the work place it’s a great time for a reminder on how to be safe around the school crossings.

As we all know children can be unpredictable so extra care must be taken when driving around schools and the crossings. This ensures the safety of both the children and our School Crossing Supervisors.

Here are some tips to make sure that we all remain safe:

• Obey the STOP sign displayed by the school crossing supervisor, do not drive through the crossing until the pedestrians have cleared the crossing and the supervisor has returned to the footpath.
• Do NOT make a U-turn:
• across a single or double continuous centre line
• across a continuous line to the left of a broken line
• over a painted island in the centre of the road.
• Watch your speed – School Zones are in operation from 7-9am and 2-4pm, some schools have all day school zones. The speed limit for a school zone is 40km.
• Everyone has after school activities, please don’t speed through the crossing or try to cut ahead of other cars queued on the crossing. This puts many lives at risk.
• Do not park in a no standing zone or in the crossing area, doing this impacts the visibility for the school crossing supervisor and makes it difficult to see what is ahead.