Filter Content
- What's Happening in 3A!
- Principal's Message
- Calliope State School Student Awards
- Student Wellbeing Team News
- Attendance
- NAPLAN Timetable
- Prep Vision Screening
- Sporting News
- P&C News
- RotaKids
- Term 1 Events
- QParents Information
- Mandatory Training
- MEDICAL INFORMATION
- School Gate Information
- Reminders for Parents/Caregivers
- Ladies Day!
- Kindergarten Spots Available
- Paint the Port
- Gladstone Regional Council News
Annual Implementation Plan (AIP)
Each year the school works collaboratively to scan and assess, then prioritise their priority for the year. Strategies and actions to achieve this priority are then created for the school to focus on. The year we are looking at one priority – “Calliope State School embraces Equity and Excellence for All”. We have three strategies to achieve this. They are Approach to Pedagogy, Curriculum Implementation and Expectations for All.
Dress Code
Most of our students are wearing the Calliope State School uniform with pride. We are still seeing some bright colourful socks. For students who are still wearing long colourful socks, we will be making contact to see how we can support families in achieving wearing the correct uniform as outlined in our dress code.
Due to unforeseen circumstances Chappy Nici has chosen to step down from her chaplaincy position at Calliope State School. We wish her well in her future endeavours. We will be advertising for a new chaplain to fill this position.
Hands and Feet and Property to Self
Last week on assembly, I reminded all students about the importance of keeping hands and feet and property to self. I also spoke about ‘Mucking around’. Sometimes when I or staff are out and about, I will see students in a “scuffle”. When I talk to them, often, they say, “Ms Mackenzie we are just mucking around”. Unfortunately, when the scuffle turns to one of them being hurt, this can then will lead to more intense physical aggression. It also models inappropriate behaviour to other students who perceive the ‘mucking around’ as physical aggression. My focus will be on hands and feet and property to self. Our PBL team are working with this message over the next few weeks, with this week’s message being Swalk, Walk, Talk.
Litter
Our school is working together to decrease the amount of litter in the school and I must say Calliope State School is looking amazing. Ideally if everyone is putting their own rubbish in the bin, there will be no litter. As I walk through the school, if I see litter I will pick it up and put it in the bin. When we started back at Calliope this year, I picked up so much litter that when I asked a prep class if they knew what my job was at the school, one student said, “picking up the rubbish”. I did have a little giggle, but replied that yes I do pick up the litter, but I am also the Principal. It is very important as Principal of the school, to lead expectations. I am happy to say, as I walk through the school now, there is very little litter that needs to be picked up. Congratulations to our whole school community.
Newsletter Day
The day our newsletter will be published has changed from Tuesday to Wednesday. This is because of operational factors.
PBL Weekly Lesson
Talk, Walk and Squawk is our PBL lesson this week. The students looked at standing up for themselves in a mature, responsible and safe way. They looked at being self-reliant and resilient and ways to help them enjoying their lunch breaks rather than having their own and other people’s actions effecting their lunch breaks. The students broke down each part of the process and participated in modelled examples of the expected behaviours of Talk, Walk and Squawk.
Our data is fantastic at the moment with only 1.75% of students with 2 or more major incidents by the end of Week 4. This means that 98.25% of students have been involved in 1 or less major incidents and all students have been involved in 5 or less incidents.
Congratulations to Prep 1/D who had an amazing attendance rate for Week 4. Their attendance rate was 97.86% for the Week!
Also, congratulations to the 25 classes which were at or above our school attendance target of 94% for Week 4.
Remember, every day you are away is a learning day lost.
2023 Year 3 and 5 NAPLAN timetables
NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that Calliope State School students in Year 3 and 5 sit each year. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. The NAPLAN test window starts on Wednesday 15 March and finishes on Monday 27 March 2023. See the below timetable for the testing and catch-up dates for Year 3 and 5 students at Calliope State School.
For more information, please contact Naomi Hughes, Deputy Principal and NAPLAN coordinator through the school office.
The Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program will be screening at Calliope State School commencing on Tuesday 18th April 2023. They are a Queensland Government service that offers Free Vision Screening to all children enrolled in Prep. If your child is in Prep and you would like their vision screened, you will need to complete a consent form.
The following video explains the benefits of having your Prep child’s vision screened- “What is Prep Vision Screening?”
Please click on the following link to access the Online Consent Form and Parent Information Letter: https://visionscreening.health.qld.gov.au/ParentalConsent/0912VOe2
** Paper copies of the consent form are available from the office.
Please note: The consent form link will close on Friday 31st March 2023.
Running Club is back!
Mrs Diaz and Mrs Betts will be down on the back oval at 8:30- 8:50am every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning to encourage students in Year 3-6 to run laps of the oval. Each lap is recorded and there will be a competition amongst the year levels who gets the most laps. Every three weeks, the top two year levels will win the opportunity to play a game of dodgeball with Mrs Betts on Friday afternoon.
Please encourage your child to come and join us on the back oval, especially if they’ve got that little bit of extra energy that would be helpful to burn off before going into the classroom for the day.
Damien Hoare
Principal
Gladstone West State School
49797333
Halfway through term 1 and wow, it has gone fast! Kate had the privilege of being at the first and second parade of the term and was incredibly proud of everyone’s behaviour. She loved seeing how the children reacted to Mrs MacKenzie when she got their attention and the excitement around the “Mystery Person”, who was there to reward a class for the best behaviour. The P&C love hearing from parents and caregivers, your questions, ideas, and suggestions are always appreciated. You can contact us either on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CalliopeSSPandC , Calliope State School P&C, or our email address: pandc@calliopess.eq.edu.au.
Our main goal for this year is to increase communication with the school community. Other goals we want to achieve as well: Increased transparency of the P&C, increase the pride of our school, and to regain pride of the community created between teachers, parents/caregivers, and the P&C.
The P&C are here to be the voice of the parents and caregivers of the school community, but we can’t do that well without your help and input. The exec would like to hold a getting to know you session.
P&C Meeting
Our next P&C meeting will be held on 07/03/2023 at 6pm in the conference room of the admin building. Any apologies and agenda items must be sent in an email to secretary.calliopess@gmail.com otherwise, we cannot include them at the meeting.
AGM Meeting
As soon as we get the books back from the auditor we will advise of a date and time for the AGM. At the AGM the current executive team step down and open all positions for a new committee to step in. The Executive consists of the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The P&C isn’t all about fundraising, it is also about community, support, and fun. Please consider joining the P&C, not everyone has to take on a role, but many hands do make light work and as a member you are often the first to hear of new things happening within the school.
QKR
Can everyone please take 2 minutes to check your child/ren’s details on QKR. If we don’t have the right details, we cannot guarantee that your child/ren will receive their tuckshop or that the uniforms you order will go to the right class. We ask this so you don’t have to deal with an upset child that didn’t receive their lunch or get their new uniform.
Uniform Shop
We are trialling having the uniform shop open on a Friday morning before parade. Starting this week Friday 25th February, opening at 8:30am and closing at 9am. The uniform shop will be run by parent volunteers, please treat them with the same respect and courteous behaviour you would also appreciate being treated with. Please be patient as we work out any teething problems.
Otherwise, orders can be done on QKR. Please note that orders can take up to 3 business days to fill after the day of order. These items are then taken to the office, and the students are contacted to collect them. If you haven’t received your uniform order, please check, if it has been three days, that it’s not in your child’s school bag (we all have that one child :p ) and that it’s not in the classroom. Please remember if you have any concerns the admin ladies are probably unlikely to be able to solve them, contact us via our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CalliopeSSPandC or email uniformshop.calliopess@gmail.com
Volunteer Reminder
As I’m sure you are all aware, the executive committee are parents and caregivers just like you. We have families that require our attention, employers who have expectations of us, some of us are even silly enough to have gone back to university. We joined the P&C as volunteers, we are committed to providing the best communication and experience we can for parents and caregivers, however, we can’t always respond to requests and questions as quickly as we would like. Please have patience with us, we are doing the best we can and appreciate your understanding and acceptance. Many hands do lighten the load and if you’d like to join the P&C we would love to have you onboard.
Tenielle, Bec, Kate and Geoff.
What's happening this week for RotaKids?
QParents
Calliope State School provides parents with access to a convenient, online parent portal called QParents.
The QParents web and mobile application provides an easier way for you to interact with our school. Parents will have secure, online access to their child's student information, anytime, anywhere, through a smartphone, tablet or computer.
QParents provides secure, online access to student information such as:
-
Attendance details
-
Report cards
-
Student photo
- Consent Form
- Payment History
The benefits of QParents
Convenience and time savings for parents
- Parents can view or update their child's details and report absences without having to call the school or come into the office.
- Secure 24/7 online access.
- Available anytime, anywhere — access QParents on your smart phone, tablet or computer on a web browser or using the app (iPhone or Android).
Greater transparency of information
- Improves accountability between parents and schools by providing parents with timely access to their child's information online.
- Allows parents to engage more deeply in their child's schooling.
Improved administration efficiencies for schools
- Allows schools to streamline their administrative processes and cut down on printing.
What do you need to do to get started?
The office will be send out emails inviting parents or guardians to become a QParents Account Owner (QPAO) for their student at the beginning of their enrolment at the school. QPAOs will be able to register for QParents to access and manage the student's information online, view the student's information and submit requests to update some of the student's details.
QPAOs will also be able to invite other people (such as another family member), to view the student's information. Once invited, these people can register for QParents as “delegated viewers". A delegated viewer can see the student's details, but cannot make updates.
When you receive your invitation email, simply follow the instructions to register your QParents account. The process should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Initial registration and addition of students to your account must be done on a desktop or laptop computer. Once registered, you will then be able to access QParents using your mobile device (via web browser or by downloading the iPhone or Android App).
Invitations sent by email will only ever come from no.reply@qparents.qld.edu.au. You will not be invited to register from any other email address or organisation.
If you do no not want to register you can just ignore the invitation and your child's student information will not be available to anyone through QParents.
Identity Verification
To obtain full access to student information, as part of their QParents registration users must complete an identity verification process. QParents offers two options for identity verification – online and offline.
For fully online verification (the fastest option), you will need to verify 100 points of the following identity documents online:
| Australian Passport | 50 pts | Australian Marriage Certificate | 40 pts |
| Australian Driver Licence | 50 pts | Australian Citizenship Certificate | 40 pts |
| Australian Birth Certificate | 50 pts | Change of Name Certificate | 40 pts |
| Medicare Card | 20 pts | Australian Visa (foreign passports) | 20 pts |
If you cannot verify 100 points of the above ID documents online, you may still register for QParents, but you will need to attend the school to verify documentation in person after you have registered online.
Full instructions on how to verify your documents and what you may need to bring to the school will be provided as part of the invitation and registration process.
If you don't have sufficient documents, or are unsure, you may still be able to register. For more information on the online identity verification process, see https://qparents.qld.edu.au/#/identityInformation .
Please note that QParents does not maintain copies or records of any identity documents used for account verification, either online or offline.
EQ ID
You will also need to have your child's EQ ID (their Education Queensland identification number) in order to complete your QParents registration. You can access this via the school office.
Safe and secure
QParents is a secure portal that meets strict industry standards. The Department of Education and Training considers student information to be confidential (it is classified as PROTECTED by the Department). Only people with the right to access information about their child will be given an account. Additionally, as part of the registration process, 100 points of identity or equivalent will need to be presented to prove that the person who is registering is the person the school invited.
Further information
Thank you to parents who have returned 2023 medical notes back to us at school. As a reminder, if your child is required to take medication at school or should their medication / dosage change a new 2023 consent to administer medication is required.
For medication to be administered at school or during school-related activities, there must be medical authorisation for the student to have that medication, and the medication must be in its original container with intact packaging.
Examples of medical authorisation include:
- a pharmacy label with both the student’s and doctor’s name on it;
- a signed letter from a doctor;
- a medication order from a dentist;
- an Action Plan signed by a doctor or nurse practitioner.
See below for examples of health conditions, medications and associated documentation:
|
Health condition/ reason for medication |
Example of medication |
Documentation completed by doctor |
|
Asthma |
Asthma puffer |
Asthma action plan |
|
Anaphylaxis |
EpiPen |
ASCIA Anaphylaxis Action Plan |
|
Diabetes |
Insulin injection, insulin pump |
Department of Education Medication order to administer ‘as-needed’ medication at school or medication order or diabetes management plan or other written instructions from prescribing health practitioner |
|
Other types of emergency medication e.g. for seizures |
Midazolam |
Department of Education Medication order to administer ‘as-needed’ medication at school |
|
Medication required ‘as needed’ for minor or non-emergency symptoms |
Ointment for skin allergies, antihistamines |
Department of Education Medication order to administer ‘as-needed’ medication at school |
|
Changes to dosage (e.g. from ½ to 1 tablet) |
Ritalin |
Written instructions from prescribing health practitioner (e.g. doctor) |
Please note: For the safety of our students, our gates will be closed from 9.15am everyday. Please access our main entry in front of the administration to sign your child in late or if you require to be on site.
**** Also remind your child it is our school's expectation that when arriving late to school, they must come through the office and receive a late slip before heading to class.
Update Contact Details
We would like to remind all parents/carers to update your contact details. Have you changed jobs, address, internet provider or have a new phone number? Do you have a need to update your personal details, phone numbers, mobile numbers, addresses, email, emergency contacts, court orders to name but a few.
If you have had some changes to any of the above or wish to update your emergency contacts, please email: admin@calliopess.eq.edu.au or update through contacting our school office.
Early Collection of Student/s:
We realise that, on occasion, students may arrive late for school, or need to leave early; it is hoped that these occasions can be kept to a minimum so that the learning of the student, the class and the routine of the school is not unduly disrupted. In the event that your child is late or leaves early, please ensure that the correct procedure is followed to sign in/out by going to the Administration building signing out on the iPad, collect a slip and present it to the classroom teacher.
These processes are in place so that the teachers and school staff are aware of the movement of students at school. This is for the protection and welfare of all staff and students. It is important to look at the impact that late arrival and early departure have on a student/s education and those around them. It is not only disruptive to learning that is occurring in the classrooms at the time of arrival and departure, it is all time that accumulates to missed opportunities for learning. A student who is arriving late or leaving early by 15 minutes twice a week will miss, in total, the equivalent of 4 days of school across the year.
Messages to Students
As you know, schools and classrooms are very busy places!
To ensure our students are fully engaged in their learning, and our office staff are able to complete their multitude of daily required tasks, we ask that parents communicate clearly with their child at the beginning of each day where you will be picking them up from in the afternoon.
As you can imagine it is extremely difficult for our office staff to field scores of phone calls asking for messages to be passed on to children regarding pick-up information.
Should you need to contact your children throughout the day, please do this via the office. These should be emergency situations only. Messages received after 1.45pm may not be acknowledged by the class in time, so please ensure children know their pick-up arrangements.
Students can win prizes and have their art exhibited in an art gallery setting*.
