Calliope State School eNewsletter

R U Ok? Day – September 12

Ask R U OK? Any Day!

September 12 is the National Day of Action and we encourage you to Ask R U OK? AnydDay of the year – because a conversation could change a life. Students are encouraged to wear yellow on Thursday September 12^th to raise awareness for this cause.

Prep Enrolments 2025

Prep Enrolments for 2025 are now open! Enrolment packs are available from the school office.

We are holding another Parent Information session on Thursday 3 October at 9.15am at the school. This is a repeat of the sessions held earlier this term. Please let the office know if you would like to attend.

End of Term Parade

Our End of Term 3 Parade will be held on Friday September 13. All parents and caregivers are invited to share this special parade with us. Classrooms will be open after parade for parents and caregivers to see the amazing learning our students have been doing.

We also invite you to bring your picnic lunch and rug to have lunch time with your child/ren.

School Holidays

The September School Holidays start on September 16 (Monday) and finish on September 27 (Friday). The school will be closed during this time. Have a safe and restful holiday! School will resume on Monday, September 30.

Please be reminded that the King’s Birthday Public Holiday is Monday, October 7 – the start of Term 4, Week 2.

Staffing

Mrs Christine Johnston is on Long Service Leave this week and Ms Amanda Whale will be Acting Deputy Principal during this time. Mrs Trina Harper will be teaching in 5A this week.

If you have a child enrolling in Prep at Calliope State School in 2025, we are running an additional information session for parents on Thursday 3 October at 9.15am.

This will be a repeat of the information session run earlier this term. Please see details on the flyer and contact the office if you would like to attend.

Prep_Info_Session_Flyer_October.pdf

4/5D has been busy this term enjoying learning about new topics and having incredible experiences.

Year 4 students have had the opportunity to get out into our community through excursions as part of their HaSS unit, Buraligim Weiber Program. Their first excursion took them to the Botantical Gardens to learn about Tinker Frogs and Native Bees while exploring Kroombit Tops. The second excursion took them to Awoonga Dam to learn about the purpose of the dam and variety of fish that inhabit the waterways in our area.

Year 5 students have been exploring the topic of animal adaptations in Science. We have taken a close look at the structural and behavioural features of Australian Animals and how they are able to survival in their environment/habitat. Students have considered the environmental data, types of structural and behavioural adaptations that allow animals to survive and adapt to various changes. They have taken a turn at creating their own unique creatures that will survive in both a desert and a forest environment.

RotaKids are holding ‘Talk Like a Pirate’ day on Wednesday 2 October (Wednesday Week 1 in Term 4). Staff and students are invited to dress up like a pirate on this day for a gold coin donation. All donations will go to Childhood Cancer Support.

PBL lesson this week we are focusing on our play spaces:

Gem Chat

This week we are celebrating the best moments in the term. Ask your child what was their favourite parts of the term?

The Imperfects Podcast

Follow the link to watch The Imperfects Podcast on The Resilience Project Website - https://theresilienceproject.com.au/at-home/podcasts/

What would it feel like to have the very thing that made you great – your body, strength and co-ordination – slowly and painfully taken away from you?

As a swimmer, Michael Klim was on top of the world – he was literally ‘World Swimmer of the Year’. Trips to the Olympics, medals of every colour, 21 world records AND his face on the cover of a Foo Fighters Album, Michael really did have it all.

However, in 2022 Michael was diagnosed with a life changing condition, wherein your body attacks it’s own tissue – chronic inflammatory demyelination polyneuropathy (CIDP).

In this episode, Hugh, Ryan and Josh chat to Michael about his equally impressive life out of the pool, and how his CIDP diagnosis has taught him a lot about identity, grief and relationships.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2I5y_whHnI

Positive Behaviour Comparison Data

Action Type	End of Term 3 2023	End of Week 9 Term 3 2024
Positive Behaviour	836 positive Behaviour records	473 positive Behaviour records
-Awards (Teacher Aide Certificate, Cool Kid Certificate, Classroom Cool Kid, Principal’s Award)	295 awards	185 awards
-Good News Letter	32 letters	126 letters
-Contact Home (Positive email home, positive phone call home, e-postcard)	60 contacts home	22 contacts home

We've extended the form returns to this Friday. If you child is interested in learning an instrument please complete the Instrumetnal Music Recruitment 2025 form and return to the school ASAP. There is a big cost reduction in learning an instrument and can hired from the school. We have lots of instruments available for 2025.

Below are some photos of a little lunchtime practice club that happens on occasion for students that want to have some extra time playing together. They performed for the preps in their playground.

Please see attached form to be completed and returned by Friday 13th September 2024.

Instrumental_Music_Recruitment_2025.pdf

Hi Families,

Can you believe that Term 3 is all but over?

Last night we held out monthly P&C meeting. Topics discussed include; 2025 senior shirts, senior graduation, future fundraising, school excursions and community grants on offer that we are applying for. The best way to have a say in decisions being made is to come along to a meeting.

Our next meeting will be in Week 2 of next term, Tuesday October 8th at 5pm in the Administration Building

Senior Shirts

Senior Shirt information on how to order was sent out last week. All orders are to be submitted by Friday 4^th October 2024. If you have any questions at all, please email the Uniform Coordinator at uniformshop.calliopess@gmail.com

Uniform Shop

We are urgently seeking volunteers to help pack orders weekly/fortnightly on a Friday for 1 hour (8:30-9am). If you are available and have completed your mandatory training, please email uniformshop.calliope@gmail.com

Tuckshop

Normal tuckshop menu will be available on Friday (last day of term). Some items may be limited but our Tuckshop Convenor will do her best to have everything available.

We are always seeking volunteers to help in the morning for Breaky Club between 8-9am. What can I do you may ask yourself? Cutting up of fruit, filling cereal cups with Milk, handing out breakfast items such as hash browns or breaky muffins, washing up. Many hands make light work and by helping in the morning, our Tuckshop Convenor can focus on making our children’s healthy lunches.

If this is something you are interested in doing, pop down to the Tuckshop and have a chat to Lisa.

R U Ok Day is on Thursday 12^th September, remember to wear YELLOW.

Our objective is to continue this great work and keep kicking goals in all areas of strategic planning, fundraising, school improvements and community engagement. We would genuinely love to hear from the school community with any thoughts or ideas you have on how we can all work together to keep making progress in these areas. You can contact us on communication.calliopess@gmail.com for our Communication Officer or pandc@calliopess.eq.edu.au for our Executive team.

We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe school holidays. May you have the opportunity to relax and refresh for which is always a very busy Term 4!!

Warm Regards

Geoff, Jason, Angela & Lisa

Calliope pool will be opening on 14th September for the school holidays for everyone to enjoy. Opening hours (holidays only) will be 10am-4pm Monday to Sunday.

On Sunday 22nd September the Souths Swim Club will be holding a Sign on Day and sausage sizzle for members to join or re-join the club and will have club merchandise available to purchase. Club executives will be on hand to answer any questions about the upcoming season.

Also on the 22nd September if people are interested in Learn to Swim, people are welcome to come along and have their child assessed and book in for next term. Bookings are currently open so if you wish to re-book your child you are welcome to contact us on our Facebook page CALLIOPE POOL or text 0438685158.

In 2025, Calliope State High school will be fully staffed! The school will be joined by experienced staff in a variety of subject areas including Health, Manual Arts (Woodwork and Metalwork), HPE and Health, Maths, Science, Japanese and English. These teachers have chosen our school and our town and will contribute to the positive learning of every student. Feel free to drop in at our wonderful school and take a tour. You are welcome at any time and we would love you to see our school in action.

Find out about our special program – Human powered Vehicle racing; fully equipped gymnasium and trainers; sport coaching; music and STEM opportunities. All happening at a school where students are seen as individuals and pathways are made available to ensure a future of choice not chance.

Please do not hesitate to call us on 4975 9777 if you have any questions.

Gerowyn Lacaze

Principal

Info_Session_Yr7_2025.pdf

Join us as we celebrate the end of Term 3 this Thursday at our Calliope Supported Playgroup!

Date: 12th September

Time: 9:15am - 11:15am

Location: Calliope SS in the instrumental music building & prep outside play area

Take a look this week’s fun activity for everyone to enjoy:

See what our facilitators have planned for everyone to enjoy!

Collaborative Wattle Tree Art Piece
Make an Echidna
Playdough Sensory Play
Sticky Spaghetti Sensory Play
Fine Motor Cutting Skills Activities
Australian Animal Threading Activities
Oobleck Sensory Slime
Water Sensory Play
Music Time with Singing & Dancing and MORE

We also supply a free morning tea for all attending

Our friendly facilitators are dedicated to creating a safe and inclusive environment where all families feel welcome and supported. Keep an eye out for them in the ‘Be Kind’ shirts and always reach out if in need.

No registration required | We will sign you in upon arrival.

The change in routine that the school holidays can bring can be stressful at times. If you’re finding things feel a bit all over the place for you and your family, know that you’re not the only one!

Here are 12 simple things that can help kids feel good and top up their emotional cup, hopefully making the school holidays a little bit smoother. Don’t forget, these things can make adults feel good too! Which one will you try today?

Calliope_Poster.pdf

R_071_Mobile_Service_Centre_Factsheet.pdf

ARTICLES FOR OUR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER: If you wish to publish a NOT FOR PROFIT COMMUNITY article in our school newsletter you can do this by sending an email to admin@calliopess@eq.edu.au with all the relevant details. This will then go through our approval process prior to publishing.
REMINDER TO PARENTS: Reminder to parents and visitors to the school to drive carefully when accessing the front entrance of the school. Please drive slowly, abide by the speed limit, normal road rules and be mindful of your surrounds. We appreciate your attention and understanding.
COLLECTING YOUR STUDENT EARLY FROM SCHOOL: 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.
RETURNING CALLS TO THE SCHOOL: We ask parents to assist us by checking their message bank before returning calls to the school, to establish which staff member has phoned. Due to the high volume of staff within our school it is not possible for us to identify who may have called you. Please call the member on their direct number if they have provided this as this will free up the office phone lines.
MESSAGE 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.

Navigating the online world with our kids can be super tough for parents. Knowing what apps are appropriate, managing screen time, and addressing the issues that come with social media use can be complex to say the least. Schools and families play a collaborative role in ensuring that kids can access the internet in a safe and healthy way. Below are some top tips from Rebecca Sparrow, who works with students, schools and is a member of the Queensland Government’s Anti-Bullying Taskforce.

BEFORE YOU HIT SEND – SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS FOR PARENTS

By: Rebecca Sparrow

STEP 1. BASIC ONLINE DO’S & DONT’S

Don’t use your child’s photo or real name when setting up apps or certain social media accounts.
Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know in real life.
Don’t agree to meet up with people you don’t know in real life.
Don’t chat to randoms online – even if you think they’re kids. Social media and gaming apps are stalked by adult predators looking for children to groom.
Don’t give out your address, school or phone number online to anyone. And don’t share your passwords!
Most importantly – check the privacy settingson the platform or app you are using (see tips below)
Follow Susan McLean– Cyber Safety Expert, Dr Kirsty Goodwin – Cyber Safety Expert and Code9 Parent on Facebook to get regular updates on the latest dangerous and dodgy apps and safety tips for your tech devices.

STEP 2. SECURE YOUR DEVICES

You want to stop strangers from finding out where you live, work or go to school which they can easily do from the photos and videos you post. Turn off Geo-Tagging on your camera. Otherwise, geographical information is added in the form of metadata to photos, videos, SMS, websites. Go to LOCATION SERVICES and turn it off for your camera and any apps that don’t need it.
TURN OFF Frequent Locationswhich can tell anyone who picks up your phone where you live.
If your device gets stolen or your friends decide to play a prank by hacking your account you want to be able to stop them from accessing your device! Have a pin number on all your devices. And don’t tell your friends your pin numbers or log in details.
Again to stop people accessing your accounts – set up Two-Step Verification On Accounts: Facebook: Account > Settings > Security > Login Approvals Apple Google Twitter
Set up restricted viewing on Google, YouTube, your Mac or PC.
For younger kids (10 and under) Use YouTube Kids, Kiddleor Safe Search Kids (powered by Google). Remember: no amount of net filtering replaces parent supervision!

USEFUL LINKS

Social Media Platform Safety Centres: FULL LIST of contacts

FACEBOOK: Basic Privacy Settings and How Can I See What My Facebook Profile Looks Like To Other People? YOUTUBE TUTORIAL

INSTAGRAM: Privacy & Safety Tips for Instagram

SAFE SEARCH ENGINES FOR KIDS: YouTube Kids, Kiddle, Safe Search Kids

Who’s Chatting to Your Kids?: https://www.police.qld.gov.au/policelink-reporting/reporting-cybercrime/children-and-the-internet/whos-chatting-to-your-kids

The advantages of helping kids navigate the digital world – The Atlantic

15 Useful iPhone Hacks including setting ‘Do Not Disturb’ on your phone so you can’t receive messages while you’re studying

More iPhone hacks including getting more storage

How to save data on your iPhone: the small hack that can make a difference to your data use.

USEFUL APPS

HELP ME The Denise and Bruce Morcombe Safety App. Download this app for 99cents and any person can call for help at the push of a button. “The ‘Help Me’ button sounds a warning and allows you to send off an SMS text to two (2) nominated ‘safety’ numbers, as part of your Trusted Safety Network. Included in the text are GPS co-ordinates from where the text was sent, so the sender can be located or a last known place of contact is indicated.”

OurPact Free parental control app that limits screen time and access to apps and sites.

Colour Therapy Popular free colouring-in app

Canvsly: a clever app to help you digitally store your children’s artwork

YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Set up a Google Alert for your name and email address so you can keep track about what’s said about you on-line.

The resume is dead: your next click might determine your next job – The Guardian

Your digital footprint matters – Huffington Post

CYBERBULLYING

The most important thing to remember if you are being cyberbullied is that you’re not alone and there are adults who can help you.

Keep evidence of the bullying (save emails, take screenshots of messages or posts), delete and block the bully and report the problem to the Safety Centre of the platform or app (you can find a full list here). And most importantly tell an adult you trust. And keep telling adults until someone does something to help you.

Office of the eSafety Commissioner

How To Take A Screenshot On Any Device

Report Cyberbullying: Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner

Legal Aid Queensland: Laws surrounding cyber-bullying and what to do about it.

The National Children’s and Youth Law Centre, can provide free legal advice for anyone under 18, or anyone acting on their behalf.

Bullying No Way website for kids, teens, parents and teachers

HOUSEHOLD INTERNET AGREEMENT / PARENTAL CONTROL APPS

FREE OurPact parental control app that limits screen time by blocking internet and app access.

How To Find Hidden Apps on Your Child’s Phone

RESOURCES FOR YOUR TEEN WHEN THEY NEED HELP

ReachOut

Headspace: National youth mental health foundation