Welcome to Week Three of Term One. The school is buzzing with positivity and engagement! This week, teachers held their annual Term 1 Parent Meetings in their cohorts, informing parents about the year ahead.

This Friday our Year 6 Induction Ceremony will be held in the hall. We have a number of special guests attending to assist in presenting our school leaders with their Leader badges. The whole Year 6 cohort will be presented with their Senior badges and will recite our Calliope State School ‘Leadership Oath’. All parents of Calliope State School are welcome to attend.

Please save the following date in your diaries:

Connected Parenting with Lael Stone (Webinar)

Monday, 12 May 2025 6:30PM AEST

This is a Webinar made available through The Resilience Project. More information to come regarding how we will be presenting this.

Stop, Drop and Go

Please do not park in our Stop, Drop and Go to wait for children from other schools. We have a number of parents who are using our Stop, Drop and Go to sit and wait to collect their children from the local high school. Please ensure that you move off, away from Stop, Drop and Go as soon as you have collected your primary aged child/ren from our school. If you have a child/ren attending the local high school, I encourage you to collect them first from their Stop, Drop and Go and then move to the primary school. The high school has an earlier finishing time.

https://www.facebook.com/CalliopeStateSchool/videos/464651811146265

The safety of our students is a priority at Calliope State School; please be patient when using Stop, Drop and Go. Do not park in the Stop, Drop & Go zones at any time as this congests the flow of traffic and blocks access to the kerb. Some key points to remember:

· Stay in your car and leave the car running so that you can move forward (this maintains a steady flow of traffic).

· Keep left while queuing for Stop, Drop & Go.

· Children must enter and exit cars from the kerb side only.

· Give way when exiting the drop zone.

· In the afternoon, delay your arrival to minimise traffic congestion.

· If your child is not yet at Stop, Drop & Go, drive slowly through the carpark and turn right just before the exit to re-join the queue.

If you are unable to use Stop, Drop & Go area in this manner, please park your vehicle to drop or collect your child.

Communication

If you would like to talk through an issue that you or your child is having at school, please ensure that you contact the classroom teacher as your first point of call. If you need further support after talking to the classroom teacher, please do not hesitate to organise a time, through the Administration Team in the office, to meet with a Deputy Principal (Raelene Norris P-3 and Christine Johnston Years 3-6). Please contact Administration on the following details between 8am and 4pm:

Phone: 4975 8333 Email: admin@calliopess.eq.edu.au

PBL Lesson this week

We are focusing on playground areas and expectations. An activity at home could be to discuss where they enjoy playing and what are some expectations when 

they play in these areas.

Gem Chat

How were you kind today? What did you do and how do you feel when you think about it? Discuss this topic as a Gem Chat this week focusing on Empathy.

 The Imperfects Podcast

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

The stoke level is pretty high this week because we are joined by three-time world champion surfer, shark attack survivor, and maybe the nicest guy we have ever met, Mick Fanning.

The Imperfects cast had high expectations for this chat (we mean, it’s Mick Fanning), but he absolutely blew us out of the water with his humanity, compassion, empathy, and positivity in the face of incredible tragedy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9HGokEYzzY

 PBL Positive Behaviour Data

Congratulations to 4C who had an amazing attendance rate for Week 2. Their attendance rate was 97.39% for the week!

Also, congratulations to the 11 classes which were at or above our school attendance target of 94% for Week 2.

Remember, every day you are away is a learning day lost.

Parents wanting to assist in classrooms, work with students and assist with sporting teams must complete an annual mandatory training program. Calliope school will be holding face to face sessions on Thursday 13 February at 9.15 and repeated at 3.30pm. This will take about 30 minutes.

Parents and volunteers may also complete the training on their own and complete the declaration form and return this to the office.

5A is off to a flying start. As part of Calliope State School’s AIP we have been implementing Kagan structures of Teams and Universal Design for Learning (ULD) around differentiation for all students. Teams have created their own team names and starting to design their team logo. Kagan has seen all students engage and participate to the best of their ability. Students have also been completing weekly lessons for The Resilience Project. With this week’s focus being Emotional Literacy where all students are displaying their emotions and how we each show emotions differently. Students are enjoying our English unit of Fantasy text. We are reading 'Percy Jackson and The Lightening Thief’. Students have used their imagination create their own fantasy creature.  

Following are some of the 5A students displaying their emotions and happiest moment wall. Alongside are some student's work of their imagination creatures.  

A huge congratulations to our Calliope SS students who have made it into 2025 Port Curtis teams. Lilly for U11 Netball and Lachlan, Grace, Maggie, Piper and Isla for the PC AFL team. Go Calliope!

What you need to know about Port Curtis trials-

Port Curtis trials are not a school team, they are trials for a Port Curtis representative team chosen from the best players from the surrounding district (Gladstone, Boyne and Tannum). Each sport has limitations to how many students from each school are allowed to nominate for the trials.

The criteria for PC trials is students must be able to demonstrate a high level of skill at a representative standard. Meaning students need to have experience and a high level of skill set in the chosen sport. If there is many students wanting to trial Mrs Betts will hold trials to select the highest skilled players to attend. Behaviour and attitude are also taken into account.

If your child trials for a PC team, they must hand in a student permission booklet on the day of the trial. Without this booklet, students will not be able to participate and will be ineligible for selection. 

If your child is selected for a PC team then they will need to be available to participate at the Capricornia Regional Trials.   

SONGBIRDS 2025

Who are the songbirds? The choir for the school that sings, dances, has fun and performs at parades throughout the year.

When is practice? The practices will be held on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8.15am to 8.50am Where? In the library which is accessible for all and every student knows where it is located.

How often do I need to attend? It is recommended to attend both practices as we learn and perform new songs through the term. However, if being able to attend school at that time is difficult in your routine, once a week is okay.

What happens if I miss three practices in a row without explanation?

You will be asked to reconsider your commitment to the songbirds.

What do I need to consider before I commit?

The songbirds are open to all that want to be part of a fun community. Children who are shy are supported by their peers. You do not need to be a great singer, or even a good one, you just need that passion to be part of a fun cohort that is inclusive and supportive of one another.

Who am I? I am a full-time teacher at CSS and have volunteered my time to be the choir co-ordinator. Unfortunately, there may be the odd time through the year that I am unavailable due to teaching/personal commitments that may arise without notice. This will be communicated as quickly as possible to parents and students.

Feel the love! Calliope State School Playgroup is Thursday with heartwarming activities for everyone ?