Nirimba State Primary School Newsletter Issue 5 2022
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Principal News
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Deputy Principal - Elise Maguire
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Deputy Principal - Luke Morris
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Guidance Officer
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Finance News
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Positive Behaviour for Learning - PB4L
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Sports Update
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Arts Update
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Sustainability Club
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Japanese Club
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Discovery Centre
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Coding & Robotics Club
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Prep A
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Prep B
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Prep C
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1/2 - Miss Khan
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2A - Miss Rountree
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3/4 - Mr Kolanowski
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4/5 - Mr Perrin
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5/6 - Miss McKenna
Principal News
Dear Parents, Carers and members of the community,
This term has flown by and I am very proud of what has been achieved by students and staff this term. Well done to all of those students who have represented the school in sporting and artistic pursuits this term, you have done a fantastic job!
Term 4 is going to be an incredibly busy time for the school and for students with reporting, swimming, surf life-saving skills, end of year awards, graduation and Year 5 & 6 camp. I can also confirm that our official school opening will now be occurring on Friday, 4 November.
Strategic planning is also under way to develop the short, medium- and long-term strategic agenda for the school. To aide this process, there are a number of internal and external initiatives that are occurring next term. On Thursday and Friday of the first week back we have the regional inclusion team visiting the school to conduct a ‘scan and assess,’ and provide recommendations on our inclusive practices. This will also be complemented by a full school review occurring from the 14 - 16 November.
I will also be meeting with small groups of parents, P & C committee, Student Representative Council and other student groups to gather their thoughts and ideas for the school moving forward. I look forward to presenting the draft strategic plan to the community by the end of the year.
We are experiencing strong enrolment growth with multiple inquiries for enrolment being received on a weekly basis. Our latest projection is that our school will be close to 300 students in 2023. As a new school, we are in a fortunate position that we can recruit great teachers from across the state. As promised in the last newsletter, I would like to take this opportunity to announce the following staff members will be joining us in 2023:
Ali Kassulke | Classroom Teacher |
Rhiannon Cahill | Classroom Teacher |
Adam Spencer | Classroom Teacher |
Sam Hibble | Classroom Teacher |
Micayla Donald | Classroom Teacher |
Savanah Murphy | Specialist Teacher: The Arts |
Bridget Rose | Specialist Teacher: Health |
So that we can accurately start planning class compositions for next year, please could you inform Cheree at the office by calling 5413 7777 if your child or children will not be returning to Nirimba State Primary School in 2023.
Thank you to the P & C committee for all of their hard work this term. Through their fundraising efforts they have been able to subsidise a number of activities to support students and families at the school. They are always looking for volunteers so please reach out to them by emailing the P&C: nirimbapandc@outlook.com
Wishing you and your family a wonderful school holiday.
Yours in Education
Steven Moore
Principal
Deputy Principal - Elise Maguire
What a fabulous couple of weeks it has been at Nirimba State Primary School. Book Week is always a highlight of our school calendar and the foundation students and staff of Nirimba did an incredible job with their costumes! I was impressed with the amount of thought and effort that went into all of them. I know the students had an absolute ball (and so did the staff!). Students also had the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities in our Discovery Centre throughout the week. Huge thank you to Mrs Schultz, Ms. Davis and the student leaders for their efforts planning and running these activities. The Shake & Stir performance of Roald Dahl’s Dirty Beasts was a lot of fun for all of our students and a perfect way to celebrate Nirimba’s first Book Week.
Last week we welcomed our future Prep students and their parents for the first Prep 2023 Orientation session. It was so lovely to meet our incoming students and they had a lot of fun in one of our Prep classrooms meeting our Prep Team. There were lots of brave children who happily said ‘bye’ to their mums and dads as the parents attended an information session presented by our Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist. An absolute highlight for the children was definitely the playground – I know they are all going to have a great time when they start Prep in 2023.
The next Prep Orientation morning will be held on 7 November, between 9am and 10.30am. If you haven’t already booked your place, please call the school office on 5413 7777. Children will need to bring a fruit snack, water bottle and hat for the session. We look forward to seeing our 2023 Prep students then.
This week parents and carers had the opportunity to discuss their child’s progress with their class teacher. These meetings are an excellent way for teacher and parents to discuss your child’s strengths, progress and any areas of concern. If you were unable to book a time, please contact your child's teacher to arrange a meeting.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge is complete! A very big congratulations has to go to all of the students who participated this year. Special congratulations go to Prep A, Prep C and 3/4A who had a 100% completion rate. Great reading Nirimba students! Certificates from the Premier will be delivered to our school next term for awarding to students.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our families a safe and happy spring holiday. We look forward to welcoming our students and their families back for Term 4 on Tuesday, 4October.
Have a fantastic week!
Yours in Education,
Elise Maguire
Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning
My New Gallery
Deputy Principal - Luke Morris
And just like that, Term 3 is finished and the students at Nirimba State Primary School are really showing their determination and perseverance with all things curriculum, cultural and sports. It has been a very quick term with so many different activities happening, culminating in our first camp with the Year 4 students are at the Sunshine Coast Recreation Centre on September, 15 and 16.
The response from students, parents,carers and staff around our new GOLDEN AWARDS has been wonderful and we have seen an increase in student attendance from a high of 90.89% in Term 2 to a stable 92.89% in Term 3. This is a huge achievement for our students and it comes down to the staff, students and families of Nirimba State Primary School working together so that our students have the best possible chance of a high-quality education in the best school in Australia. The cleaners are reporting that classrooms and other areas within the school are looking very well kept and tidy and appreciate the help of staff, parents and students. Finally, students are being very respectful while they are transitioning around the school and moving between specialist classes, to lunch and returning to classrooms quietly and in an orderly fashion. This allows each student at our school to access quality teaching and learning every day in every one of our classrooms.
We have a jam-packed Term 4 with excursions, Year 5/6 camp, Remembrance Day and many other great activities happening within our school. One of the most significant will be the graduation of our first cohort of Year 6 students. Very soon, parents in years 5 and 6 will receive an email to participate in an online survey on what our graduation ceremony may look like. This year we have a small cohort of students, but can I ask parents to be mindful with their responses as we will have a large number (150 or more) of students in the very near future, so our ceremony needs to take this into account.
Staff and students have really out done themselves this term and have put in huge efforts to make every day count towards improving. As our motto says, Embracing Opportunities of Today, Inspiring Futures of Tomorrow, and I believe that every student has been exhibiting this in all of the work they have been doing in the classroom and in the school, as well as outside in the community and at the different events our school has participated in. I know Term 4 will bring some huge highlights for the year, so have a great 2 week break and see you all ready for the final term on Tuesday 4th of October.
Your in Education,
Mr Morris
Deputy Principal - Engagement and Innovation
Guidance Officer
Hello Parents and Carers,
The school holidays are just around the corner and spring is in the air. What a busy and exciting term it’s been. I can’t believe that Term 4 is almost upon us. It’s hard to believe that we are over halfway through the year and there are only 10 more weeks left of the school year. In this week’s newsletter, I will address the issues of online safety and how to keep children safe online.
Even in the safety of their home, there are many risky places a child or teenager can visit online. This can be due to the content they see, who they come into contact with and personal information they share. While cyberspace offers many advantages, including opportunities for learning, socialisation and entertainment, young people are at risk of making poor decisions about the information they access and share online. This can include personally identifying material (e.g. school, phone number, address) and inappropriate or provocative content including images.
Young people may underestimate the risks of sharing such information online, particularly with strangers, and they may not realise how difficult it is to remove something from the Internet once it has been posted.
What can parents do to keep kids safe online?
Parents can help to prevent harm by reminding their daughters and sons of the potential social, academic, employment and legal implications of posting inappropriate material of themselves or others online.
Some suggestions for keeping children and teens safe online are:
- Encourage children to use technology in positive ways (e.g. learning, supporting others)
- Encourage children to set strong passwords and not to share them
- Place devices in communal areas so you can keep an eye on your child's activity
- Don't allow your children to use mobile devices in bedrooms, particularly after bedtime
- Learn about social media and encourage your children to show you how to use them
- Know where your children are going online and who they are talking to
- Google your child's name every two months, and encourage them to do the same
- Make a written agreement with your child about online behaviours that are acceptable and unacceptable.
(Adapted from www.telethonkids.org.au – Cybersafety)
Wishing you all a safe and enjoyable holiday, all ready for a wonderful Term 4!
Take care,
Michelle
My New Gallery
Finance News
A friendly reminder to all parents and carers that school invoices for the classroom resources and iPad Student Resource Schemes (SRS) are due today. Could you please ensure these payments are brought up to date as soon as possible. We also have a number of upcoming events that require payment, please see the table below. Should you wish to discuss your payment options or initiate payment plans you can contact our Business Manager, Kylie McIntosh on 5413 7777.
Event | Date | Cost | Payment Due |
Student Resource Scheme - Classroom resources - iPad – Year 1-6 - Prep iPad | $150 $160 $55 | 16th September 2022 | |
Australia Zoo – Prep Season passes will be honoured and credits will be placed on accounts at the completion of the excursion. | 5th October | $25.00 | 4th October 2022 |
Swimming | 6th October – 4th November | $55.00 | 4th October 2022 |
Toshi and Noriko Incursion | 11th October | $6.60 | 7th October 2022 |
Year 5 Camp | 26th October – 28th October | $260.00 | 19th October 2022 |
Year 5/6 Beach Clean Up | 25th October | $15.00 | 21st October 2022 |
Please note; participation in these activities will require payment in full or payment plans initiated prior to the due date. |
Bpoint payments
When paying invoices via Bpoint please ensure that you are following the Bpoint link at the bottom of the invoice and paying each individual invoice separately. Whilst this can be time consuming it automatically matches the invoice number to the Bpoint reference and your child's account. We are currently receiving numerous payments coming through that are unallocated therefore these are not automatically matching to student invoices and need to be manually reconciled.
Positive Behaviour for Learning - PB4L
A warm hello from the Positive Behaviour for Learning team. This edition we would like to share with you our schoolwide behaviour matrix. This document was created to show all students the rules and values that we possess here at Nirimba State Primary School. Each fortnight we focus on a particular area and explicitly teach the students how they can demonstrate these skills inside and outside our school. We finished this term with focussing on how we can be safe and respectful in our toilets. This was a schoolwide focus based on feedback from our cleaners, teachers and students.
Now that we are about to embark on the September school holidays, it is a great time for students to:
- Rest and recuperate after a busy Term 3.
- Make time to see friends or family.
- Experience a new activity.
- Enjoy the sunshine and the outdoors.
We all need timeout in our busy schedules and so do children. Rest and rejuvenation will support necessary health and wellbeing. We hope that all of our students enjoy a well-deserved break and please don’t hesitate to send your child’s teacher a photo of holiday fun that can be shared with their class when they return in Term 4.
Happy holidays and stay safe over the break!
Sports Update
Regional Athletics:
In the last Newsletter, we wished Amelie (5/6A) all the best as she would soon be competing in the Sunshine Coast Regional Athletics Carnival. Amelie competed at the carnival a few weeks back and achieved some wonderful results.
- She placed 5th overall in the 800m, winning her heat by a long distance and recording a personal best time.
- She qualified for the 100m final and placed 7th overall.
- Amelie also placed 4th overall in the 12 Years Girls Multievent (100m, 800m, Shot Put & Long Jump).
Amelie trained extremely hard in the lead up to the carnival and it was great to see her hard work pay off.
A special mention as well to all those students who assisted in the lead up to the carnival by helping out with Amelie’s training.
Interschool Sport – Week 9:
On Wednesday the 7th of September, 11 of our Year 5 and 6 students participated in the Billy Moore Central 8 a side Rugby League Gala Day at the Nirimba Sports Complex. This was the first time a number of the students had ever played Rugby League. They had a fantastic day and achieved some great results. Overall, the boys played four games throughout the day and won all four games beating Yandina SS, Buderim Mountains SS, Mooloolaba SS and St Michael’s College. There were many highlights throughout the day but coming back from 12 – 4 down to beat Mooloolaba in their third game of the day was an excellent achievement.
Congratulations on a very successful day boys!
School Swimming – Term 4:
School swimming for all students in Prep – Year 6 kicks off on the first Thursday and Friday back after the holidays. Students in Prep A, Prep B, Prep C and 1/2A will swim on a Thursday and 2A, 3/4A, 4/5A and 5/6A will swim on Fridays. A slight change to the timetables will take place in week 3 and 4 due to the Year 5 and Year 6 students being on camp in week 4.
A reminder that swimming is a curriculum activity and all students should be attending. Please pay your students swimming fees asap and if you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office.
Arts Update
On Monday 10th October (Week 2), the choir will be singing on parade to celebrate Queensland Mental Health week. Studies show that when we play music and sing with others, we feel a sense of wellbeing and belonging. Schools all over Queensland have been learning the song called Where We Begin to sing for their own communities. Come along and enjoy our performance. I’m sure your child would love to teach you the song at home over the holidays, it can be found on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jYpLCxaBQY The choir will also be singing on 4 November for the official opening of the school.
During Book Week, the Arts Student leaders ran an array of story telling activities through reading, writing, drawing, painting, puppet making and origami in the discovery centre. We displayed an excerpt from Amelie Green’s poem to accompany our 2022 Book Week painting about Dreaming with Eyes Open. Students shared an abundance of creative ideas and had lots of fun. Their work is currently on display in the discovery centre.
The Nirimba Dance Troupe took performing to the next level with two epic shows at the Aura festival and Dance X at Night Quarter. We are holding auditions in Week 1, next term to expand the Dance Troupe which is open to all students from year 2 -6. We are seeking some male dancers to join, as we explore Acro and Hip Hop, with a musical in mind for 2023. Stay tuned.
My New Gallery
Sustainability Club
The students have been having fun in the garden! They have been observing the berries and flowers emerging on our fruit trees, tasting the herbs, taking dead leaves off the tomato vines, planting corn and carrots into small pots to then transfer into the re-vitalised garden beds. The rich, new soil has shown us that there is rapid growth with all herbs, vegetables and fruit trees. It has also been great to see new students attending our lunch time sessions each week. This is an amazing opportunity for all students to learn how to grow their own produce. Students will be using this produce very soon to make their very own salad from our sustainability area. We know the students will be very excited when they get the chance to taste all of the things we are growing.
The spinach, lettuce, parsley, basil, shallots and chives are ready to be picked and used in our school canteen!
Thank you to all parents and staff for your continued support,
From the Nirimba Sustainability Ninjas
My New Gallery
Japanese Club
I would like to highlight the amazing work the Prep students have been doing in Japanese.
From being new to the language in Term 1, the students are now able to say full sentences. Recently they designed their own mascot character and then explained it to me. They could tell me its name, colour and size – with some students even adding that it was かわいい(kawaii) です(des)(It’s cute!). The students are structuring these sentences with the correct Japanese grammar and it is so exciting how much they already know.
I can’t wait to see how they turn this knowledge into questions and answers next term and we can then have an authentic conversation in Japanese!
My New Gallery
Discovery Centre
It has been a busy term in the Discovery Centre! Our first Book Fair was a success and the students enjoyed participating in activities and the competitions as well as exploring Book Fair. The proceeds earned from Book Fair will contribute to the purchase of books to expand the collection of quality books in our library.
The celebration of the CBCA Book Week included a variety of art activities at first break, including comic book making, collage story making, puppet making, nature mandalas, origami and botanical water colour drawing. The library was a hub of activity as the students were keen to participate in each of the activities. The students displayed their artistic flair in their art creations and many masterpieces were formed. A special thank you to Ms Davis and our Arts student leaders for their support in organising the activities and for being there each day to welcome and assist the students with the activities.
As the term draws to a close, I would like to wish our students and their families a safe and fun filled school holidays.
Rest up and happy reading!
Susan Schultz
Teacher Aide
Discovery Centre Coordinator
My New Gallery
Coding & Robotics Club
Outstanding! One of the only ways to describe student problem solving in our Robotics Club as of late.
The past few weeks students have been working together to code their robots using movement sensors of YAW, PITCH and ROLL (future pilots?).
The challenge pitched to students was to code their robot through a “Valley of Terror”, where one wrong turn or collision with a wall would result in instant termination. Students have been measuring lengths and angles, as well as refining their robots’ movements to ensure precise turns are occurring. Students are unable to “test” their robot in the maze, so precise planning, drawing and team work is needed to plan for their trip through “The Valley of Terror”.
All groups have worked incredibly hard, with some brave souls getting close to testing their robot against all odds!
Over the past 5 weeks in Senior Robotics, we have explored the limits that our Lego bots can handle. We decided to throw out the competition restrictions and explore how big and 'bad' we can make our robots. Cooper, Noah, Zara and Dannie have done a wonderful job of exploring the coding options and utilising a range of sensors to ensure their bot has success.
My New Gallery
Prep A
The children in Prep A have been learning about 2D shapes and 3D objects. In addition to learning the names and properties of 2D shapes and 3D objects, they also explored how shapes are used in our everyday lives. We have used playdough and matchsticks to create 3D objects, we have built everyday objects such as buildings using 3D blocks and created lovely artworks from 2D shape paper and blocks. We even went on a shapes walk around the school and took photographs of different shapes in our environment.
My New Gallery
Prep B
What a term we have had!
Prep B has been filled with very busy little learners this term. This term Prep B students have been learning about the world around them. We have been exploring the patterns of events that occur on Earth such as the appearance of the moon and the stars at night, the weather and the seasons. While learning about the weather, students have explored the basics of rain clouds and why rain happens when clouds get filled with water. We experimented with the capacity of clouds and watched our very own cloud rain in a jar.
My New Gallery
Prep C
We can count to 20!
As part of our learning in Mathematics, students in Prep C created their own number lines. Students were asked to work with a partner to order the numbers to 20 and create representations to match each numeral. This was a super fun activity that had the whole class engaged.
My New Gallery
1/2 - Miss Khan
This Term 1/2A have been so excited to join with 5/6A to begin our buddy program. The Buddy program helps to promote positive relationships between older and younger students through weekly collaboration. Students listen to and read stories, share classroom work, develop social skills and help teach iPad skills.
My New Gallery
2A - Miss Rountree
Our classroom has been a bright hub of buzzing creativity this term! In Visual Art lessons, we have been making artworks in different forms to express ideas and imagination. We have used a variety of techniques and processes to create upcycled bottle bird sculptures inspired by artist Barbara Kobylinska.
We explored a variety of sculptures before designing our birds on paper, allowing us to plan the shape, patterns and colour of our birds. Students were given the choice of which bird they wanted to create and have produced flocks of flamingos, penguins, canaries and many other incredible feathered friends inspired by their own representations. We all loved getting messy to sculpt and shape the paper mâché layers of our birds.
My New Gallery
3/4 - Mr Kolanowski
The last weeks of Term 3 have been extremely busy in 3/4A!
During our Maths lessons, students have been exploring measurement in all forms. We have been applying our learnt skills and procedures in real life scenarios, including getting out in the sandpit and putting our measuring jugs to use. I have heard this even led to conversations with parents about potential cooking nights, to practice their new skills!
Within English, students have been exploring FEAR! The summative task involved students writing a narrative (based on a fear) and creating a multi modal story with engaging pictures. The class have been thoroughly engaged and have created some outstanding stories. Not to mention the skills of some students to digitally modify images to suit their narrative and incorporate a range of modes in their illustrations (digital media, hand drawn, painted).
I’m looking forward to Term 4, where one of our big-ticket items will be the creation of our STEAM focus challenge! Stay tuned for updates on student progress!
My New Gallery
4/5 - Mr Perrin
The last five weeks have flown by. Since our last newsletter, we finished reading our English text, Rowan of Rin. Throughout this term we have explored the ‘Hero’s Journey’ and how the author uses this formula to show the main character’s development. Students made excellent comparisons to the main character at the start of the narrative and the end.
In Mathematics, we explored the concepts of measurement and geometry, along with multiplication and division. It was a lot of content to get through in a short amount of time and I could not be prouder of every student.
In Science, the Year 5 students have been studying the properties of light and used mirrors to direct light through a maze.
We have had a big focus this term. On transitioning correctly through the school and respecting our surroundings. We’re on our way to the transition goal (pun intended) but we have definately achieved the goal of respecting our surroundings, having won the cleanest classroom award on multiple occasions.
As you are reading this, the Year 4 students are either exhausted and, on their way, back from camp or still buzzing and bouncing off the walls. Either way, I’m sure all participants will sleep well tonight.
My New Gallery
5/6 - Miss McKenna
5/6A should be so proud of their efforts this term. In English, students took a well-known poem and transformed it into an entertaining narrative. Upon finishing their writing, they used PowerPoint to show how much they can truly shine when it comes to using technology by including voice overs, hyperlinked pages and image editing. They then had the joy of sharing them with their 1/2A buddy class 😊
In Mathematics, they explored geometry and looked at angles and 3D shapes. They used polymer clay to create some clever little 3D masterpieces. They also looked at the correct way to use a protractor and found angles on their names. Year 6 ended the term with learning the art of using BODMAS to support their order of operations, whilst Year 5 explored multiples, factors and factor trees.
In Year 5 Science, students created their mirror maze and tested light in a variety of ways. Year 6 Science, tested all things electrical and used hands on circuits to help understand the connection between a cell, wires and a light. Sunshine Coast University and the MIE lab also came to Nirimba to teach our Year 5 and 6’s about coding circuits to light and music. Our HASS unit continued with a focus on the connections between Australia and our Asian partners, in particular Indonesia. The Year 5’s even made Indonesian masks to share with their 1/2A buddy class.
In preparation for NSPS student leadership applications for 2023, 5/6A will participate in an incursion with Kids Helpline where they will learn about what makes a good leader and some strategies and tips to support their written applications. The session was also great for our Year 6’s to reflect on their leadership journey so far and what they can improve on when applying for roles in high school and beyond.
All in all, 5/6A had a great Term 3 and we are looking forward to an action-packed Term 4 with camp, swimming, cyber awareness student leadership and the ever so special, Year 6 Graduation 😊
Yours in Learning
Mrs McKenna