15 September 2023 - Term 3, Week 10

News from Mrs Hawkswell

Hello Ironside Families,

Welcome to my final newsletter for term 3.

 I will start my newsletter with an update to staffing for term 4

• I have been notified I have been extended for term 4 – I am looking forward to continuing as part of the Ironside team
• Congratulation to Mr Peter Davey (3 to 4 DP) – who has been asked to be Acting Principal @ Kurwongbah SS for term 4 at this stage
  • Ms Alice Cowan-Dillan will Act as 3 to 4 DP for term 4
• Congratulation to Mr Paul Logan – who will head to Yeronga SHS for term 4 to relieve at higher duties
  • We completed a recruitment process today to add a member to our office team – I will give you further details around this when it has been confirmed
• Goodbye and best wishes to Ms Tara Wightwick - she has her final day at Ironside SS today, as she will leave us to move to Goodna Special School
• Mrs Jenny Bairstow will be on 3 weeks sick leave to start term 4
  • Mrs Shelley Lee will act as 5 to 6 DP during this time
• Mrs Leonie Evertson will backfill the 3 to 4 HOD-C for week 1 to 3 of term 4 at this stage
  • Mrs Catherine Patterson will cover 3A
• Mr Scott Western Murdoch will be on leave in Term 4 until the Tuesday of week 2
• Ms Julie Short remains absent on sick leave for term 4
  • Ms Dannielle Jeanes will join the SST Team to fill Ms Short’s role for term 4
  • Ms Beth Bulowski will cover 5C
• Mrs Susan King – will continue to only work 4 days per week
  • Ms Malindi Trehearn will cover 3B on Wednesday
• Mr Neil Malcolm will take LSL for all of the Fridays in term 4
  • Ms Malindi Trehearn will cover 5C on Friday
• Mr Jeremie Clarke-Okah will have leave in week 1 and 2 of term 4
  • Mr Ben Davis will cover PE

Lost Property:

Thank you to our dedicated Year 4 students who have put in a great deal of effort to transfer our lost property to its new ‘resting space’ in the port racks outside the Administration doors.

There is still a massive amount of student property there, I urge parents to come in with your students and try to find missing items.  ALL ITEMS left at the end of today will be donated to a charity.

Animal of School Grounds:

Can I please remind all parents and carers, that DOGS and other animals are NOT allowed on school grounds at pick up or drop off time, this ALSO include OSHC pick up and drop off.  We are very happy for fury family member to make the walk to school – we just ask they say goodbye at our school gates.

OSHC Regulations and licencing agreement with the school:

Did you know that the operations of OSHC services are highly regulated?

I have been liaising with OSHC director, Natalie and her team, on what they need to ensure they comply with these regulations.

To meet these strict policies, the DoE requires a formal agreement to be established with the school. To remove any doubt, for the OSHC service to obtain and hold their service approval, OSHC requires authority to use the school's premises (Reg 32), both morning and afternoon.

For both regulatory and logistical reasons, this means OSHC has exclusivity to certain aspects of the school ground during operating times. This is critical for our afternoons when the service is used by many more families and larger numbers mean they use many more of our outdoor spaces.

One of the strict requirements of OSHC is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children within their care. While there are many factors that contribute to protecting children from harm and hazards, having a physical environment that is unincumbered with others during the times OSHC staff and students are using these spaces is a key focus.

In order to uphold our agreement (so OSHC can operate free of compliance issues), parents and any students not attending OSHC will need to move from our school site by 3.30 each day.

We are working with OSHC to have this ‘new way of working’ fully implemented by the start of term 4, however, we would be grateful if parents started putting this in to practice sooner if possible.

I want to THANK many of our families who have already enacted these changes to support our OSHC.  When we return from the holidays, we will make an announcement over our external speakers to prompt families at 3.30 of to need to move from the school ground.

I thank you in advance for your support of our families who need to access our OSHC services, and your compliance of this new way of working.

Second Hand Uniforms:

I am seeking any small, second-hand uniforms, you no longer require.  We are trying to put together packs of these uniform items to give to our feeder ECEC Centres, so they can be part of their imaginative play/ dress-up areas.  We have been told we have many future Ironside SS students, wanting to dress-up ready for ‘big school’.  Any smaller uniform items can be dropped to our office when we return from our holiday break.

Finally, I would like to wish all of our families a safe and restful holiday break.  Please remember the first Monday of term 4 is a PUBLIC HOLIDAY, so school will resume for term 4 on Tuesday 3^rd October.

Have a lovely weekend and holiday.

Kind regards,

Amanda Hawkswell
Principal

News from Mr Weston-Murdoch

Dear parents and caregivers,

REVISION:  Bridge Builders – Skill of the week (Week 9): Talk and Listen

Positive communication skills are essential for good relationships.  Listening is a learned skill, and through focused and directed efforts, parents can teach their children and themselves better listening and speaking habits.

Listen to your children in the way you like to be listened to. Be a good role model by hearing things in their words and making them feel important while they are talking to you. Since they sense when you’re not listening, they’re much more apt to listen to you when you listen to them.

Tone of voice and facial expression are important aspects of positive communication as well - our tone and expression can speak as loudly as our words.

REVISION: Bridge Builders - Skill of the week (Week 10): Share and Take Turns

Teaching children to be kind to someone who they have been in conflict with seems like an oxymoron.  Often, a child’s natural instinct when they have been hurt is to hurt back.

Kindness in conflict is unexpected and it can be the opposite to what someone expects.  This can mean that they struggle to continue to be mean.   Learning to be kind when we are hurt starts with how we think about the other person.  It can require empathy and encourages children to be brave enough to be the hero in a problem.

Acts of kindness release hormones that make us feel calmer, healthier and happier.  They can also be contagious.

“Empowered for Life”; Jocelyne Chirnside

Around the classrooms – Prep: 

This term in Prep we have been learning all about rhyming words and stories. We helped our friend the Rhyming Rabbit stay full by writing rhyming words on carrots for him to eat. We also practised letting our friends and teachers know our favourite parts of rhyming stories by writing and sharing I like and I did not like sentences.

Around the classrooms – Year 1: 

In Week 9 the Grade 1 classes went on an excursion to Nudgee Beach Environmental Education Centre. The classes explored the local habitat by completing a boardwalk where we observed snails, crabs and birds. We didn’t have any luck seeing a “mangrove mouse”.

We also ventured to the beach where we constructed a habitat for a crab and investigated water catchments. We were lucky enough to also meet a blue tongued lizard called “Nudge” and observe a huge mud crab!

Around the classrooms – Year 2: 

2E students have been enjoying revising mathematical concepts through a range of hands-on experiences in rotations. The students had fun using various learning tools and resources to consolidate their understanding of fractions, capacity and multiplication. These engaging activities allowed for small group work focusing on students being collaborators and communicators.

Kind regards,

Scott Weston-Murdoch
Deputy Principal P-2

News from Mrs Bairstow

CONGRATULATIONS TO CERTIFICATE WINNERS ON ASSEMBLY THIS MORNING

While some students were not able to receive certificates this morning due to attendance at an excursion, we were happy to present these high achievers with their awards on this morning’s whole school assembly.  Students who were not at assembly today, will be presented with their certificates by teachers in Term 4.

BOOK WEEK – GET CAUGHT READING

BOOK WEEK COSTUMES

MATHS TOURNAMENT & AUSTRALIAN MATHS COMPETITION

IRONSIDE STARS – SEPTEMBER

LANGUAGES SPEAKING COMPETITION

STEM PRESENTATION

Here are some photos from the STEM presentation - a mock presentation before the real deal in QASMT next term.

YEAR FIVE CAMP REMINDERS AND PROCEDURES

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I wish all families a safe, happy and relaxing holiday before a busy Term 4 ahead.  I need to take medical leave at the start of the term.  During my absence, Mrs Shelley Lee will be the Acting Deputy Principal for Years 5 & 6. 

Kind regards,

Jennifer Bairstow
Deputy Principal 5-6

Year 3 News

In 3A, we were very fortunate to have a visit from Sabet's grandmother Clarabelle, who is a very talented art teacher.  Many thanks to Clarabelle and Liezl for spending time with each student to help them create amazing anime artwork. This was a wonderful way to end our recent study of Japanese culture. 

In 3D and 3F, both classes met together in the Oasis to read their newly published and illustrated imaginative narratives to each

News from Chappy Thu

Dear Families,

We made it! It’s Week 10, the weather is beautiful & I am so looking forward to holidays (which I’m sure many of you are as well! 😊) As usual, it’s been a spirited fortnight here at Ironside, starting with the Father’s Day Raffle being drawn at the end of Week 9. We decided to give some families a bit more time to get their tickets into the raffle boxes & we hope all of them were in by last Friday! Apologies if the instructions weren’t clear on the day. Congratulations to all our winners!

The Japan Tour is well underway now & I was so proud of the numerous Chappy Squad members who volunteered to make origami cranes to help the students going to Japan. I believe altogether we made over 600 cranes in a little over a fortnight! Thank you to Mrs Nicole Kent-Moore for her leadership & dedication to the project as well as the numerous staff & students involved!

A big thank you to the Student Council, as well as Ms Danielle Faithfull & Ms Danielle Jeanes for their wonderful R U OK? celebrations on Thursday! What a wonderful initiative to support such a worthy cause. I loved seeing all the yellow shirts, shorts, dresses, hair accessories, socks & more! I was proud to be able to donate our left over Father’s Day chocolates to the festivities.

Chappy Activities

Week 9 was our last week of regular activities & was led by the wonderful Nutella CC Cookies team! Their enthusiasm, positivity, dedication & thoughtfulness was much appreciated! We had a Father’s Day themed Scavenger Hunt, learnt the worm dance at Chappy Lounge, made koalas at Origami Club, shared bubbles of joy & had fun at Games Galore.

Special Thanks to:

• Sana, Naya & Ben for representing the Squad in the Prep area for Bubble Friday. You certainly left an impression on the prep students & the staff on duty with your kindness, energy & humour
• Our sign up crew of Noah, Alisa, Eva, Rozhia, Maddie, Mabel & Ivy for being such warm, bright, welcoming members to all the students who visited our activities this week
• Harvey for teaching us the worm dance at Chappy Lounge & for his enthusiasm & creativity at all activities
• Valentine for her dedication to all the activities. She even came to Bubble Friday when she was feeling unwell, but had to go home early. We are so glad you are feeling better this week Valentine!
• Ella, Cooper, Ann, Owen, Noah, Eva, Rozhia, Harvey & Kelly for stepping in to do so many extra jobs this week when other members were sick, away or overcommitted. Thank you so much!
• Freya, Thenu, Ellie, Isla, Katherine, Aly, Lilliane, Ada, Sophie & April for your loyalty, responsible approach to your task & your quiet, calm support of your team & other students. You are seen & appreciated!
• Ella, Helen, Florence, Lilliane, James, Xavier, Ethan, Alisa, Jianh, & Ada for your amazing crane making! It was so admirable for you to give up so much of your time, not just in break times but at home as well to support the Japan Tour students. You are amazing!

Chappy Squad Awards Party

This week, we had our quarterly Chappy Squad Awards Party to celebrate the amazing work the Squad has done over the term. We also took time to share some treats & acknowledge our top team & top members who really went above & beyond what was expected to be true role models to their peers in the school community.

A big congratulations to team Dolphins, led by Andrea, Shyah, Heidi, Tracey, Rose & Kristy for being our top team for Term 3! It was very close between the top 3 teams, but in the end, it was Team Dolphins.

Congratulations also to our top members for the term & our overall top members!

Special mention to Ella & Heidi for being our first members to reach 50 stars! Amazing effort girls! Your badges will be presented at assembly in Term 4!

And that’s all from me for now. I look forward to seeing you all again next term! However, if you happen to be in Brisbane, would like to see me earlier & you are looking for a fun, creative activity for your kids to do, please consider the Creator Camp! It will be at the St Lucia Uniting Church during the second week of holidays on September 28 & 29. It’s only $40 for two days of craft, music & games & even includes lunch! Please note that this is a faith-based program. We welcome everyone, but I just wanted to be clear about the type of day camp it is so no one feels shocked or offended if they register. Registrations are open through the SU Camps website https://sucamps.org.au/camps/creator-camp-2023/

Have a fun & relaxing break!

See you next term,

Chappy Thu
tklet0@eq.edu.au
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday
8am to 4pm

Japanese and Spanish Class News

Japanese News

 "In 1846, Amabie emerged from the ocean and spoke in human language, predicting six years of good harvests, followed by a wave of diseases," says Kazuhiko Komatsu, an emeritus professor at the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies in Kyoto. The creature advised: "Draw me and show to the people, so that you can be free from disease," Komatsu says.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Amabie became a popular topic on social media in Japan. Artists and ordinary people shared their Amabie creations with their communities. Year 6 students joined in by creating their own Amabie to share with our community. Please enjoy.

Spanish News

Get ready to move and groove! In Week 4 of term 4, our Year 5 and 6 Spanish students are in for a fantastic treat – an uplifting Latin dance class from one of the best Cuban dancers currently living at the Gold Coast.

Meet Yasim Coronado, a graduate of the renowned National School of Art in Havana, Cuba. He's traveled the globe, gracing stages in some of the world's grandest theaters and dance companies. With over 17 years of professional dance and choreography experience, Yasim will design a lesson exclusively for our students.

We will start with students asking Yasim questions in Spanish about his life and career. Then, the dance floor lights up with an engaging choreography. Finally, Yasim will take center stage, dancing to the infectious rhythm of "Somos Uno" (We are one) – a song we've been practicing in class, and we'll join in singing for this occasion.

What: Latin Dance Class

When: October 24 and 25, 2023

Where: Ironside State School Hall

Parents/carers will receive an invoice.

Music News

Upcoming Dates

We have had a wonderful time with music making this term at Ironside.  We are looking forward to a busy and fabulous last term with Music Fest, assembly performances and Gala Concerts still to come.  Have a really relaxing break and we will see everyone back ready to go week one next term

Follow this link to find out what happens to your brain on music! https://www.facebook.com/PianoCubWebsite/videos/1849919985253145/?t=92

Also go to http://www.anitacollinsmusic.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/BiggerBetterBrainsProject/

Advertising

Uniform and Tuckshop News

Thank you for your support!

Mums, dads, carers, and grandparents are always welcomed to volunteer in the Tuckshop. It is a great way to meet other parents, and interact with your child and their friends at school. No experience is necessary, just a friendly smile and a willingness to learn. Feel free to sign up any school day from 9am-11:30am, weekly, fortnightly, or whenever you are available.

Please sign up here https://volunteersignup.org/JEC8Q

Plain cupcakes, oats slices, apple crumbles, banana breads, honey joys…… If you enjoy baking, you may be interested to join our home bake team.

Please sign up here https://volunteersignup.org/PL489

International Parent Group News