Welcome to week ten. This is an exciting last week for us.  Monday started with our successful Cross Country. 

Parent/Caregiver interviews were held yesterday.  This allowed parents/caregivers an opportunity to see how their children are performing in their first units of work in their new grade levels.  It provided opportunities to see where we can work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for our students.  Our term will conclude this Friday with our Principal’s Parade, Easter Bonnet Parade, Open Classrooms and Teddy Bear’s Picnic Celebration.  Our food program implementation has been extremely successful and all our students are benefitting from our Nude food initiative, fruit in classrooms basket, and now our celebration picnic.  Thank you to our Business Manager, Emma Gunn, who has been instrumental in making this program a success for our Calliope students.

Equity and Excellence

AEDC Data

• The AEDC is a nationwide triennial census of early childhood development, captured as children transition into their first year of school.
• Now in its sixth cycle since 2009, it is the world's most comprehensive dataset of its kind.
• AEDC data supports schools to build an understanding about the context in which our students live and the broader factors that may be impacting student learning.
• In March 2025, the Australian Government will release community, state and national AEDC 2024 data via the national AEDC website (https://www.aedc.gov.au/).
• At this time, we will work with our community partners (e.g. ECEC services, ECDPs, local community organisations) and reflect on AEDC 2024 data to identify how we can work in partnership to support future cohorts of children in the local community.

ANZAC Day Commemorative Service

Calliope State School will hold it's ANZAC Day commemorative service on Thursday 24th April at 10am in the school Hall.  Parents/Care Givers are welcome to attend.

I wish all our families a wonderful break.  Time to refresh.  Looking forward to having all our families back for a short but busy Week 1 after the holidays.

It has been a huge term in Prep A. We have had our very first term at school and it has been jampacked with lots of fun and learning. We have been learning letters and sounds, and now we are reading simple words and books. We are enjoying all of the activities on the Decodable Readers site to enhance our learning.

In Maths, we have been learning our numbers to 10, and different ways to represent them. We have also learned about positional language, patterns and collecting and interpreting data.

In Science, we spent the term learning about the weather and how it affects what we wear and the activities we can choose to do. In HASS, we have been learning all about our families and some of the celebrations we have. We have learned about how we record memories.

We have been doing lots of Collaborative learning and have learned how to work in teams. We are learning to actively listen to each other and coach each other in team activities. We are looking forward to what Term 2 will bring.

The State Honours Ensemble Program is a Queensland-wide music program. Eligible students are nominated by their music teacher, just like PE teachers nominate students for Port Curtis or Capricornia trials. Then students are selected to participate by a selection committee or panel of judges, and then they travel from all over the state to perform as part of the State Honours Ensemble Program. This year, two of our Calliope SS students participated in SHEP in Longreach, over an epic weekend of rehearsals and performances with top musicians in Queensland. Our music teachers would like to say a super big thank you to the families who took them all the way out to Longreach to participate, as our students simply wouldn’t have been able to participate without your support! Special congratulations go to Lexi Edwards, and Layla McMutrie!

This week we are focusing on celebrating our learning. Students will discuss successes for the term and ways to improve for next term. Students will create a treasure box of ‘treasured moments’ of Term 1. This could be something from their learning or lunch time. At home, discussing successes that have happened so far this year can support your child’s learning.

GEM focus this week

The focus this week is “What emotion have you seen in someone else today? How did you recognise that emotion?”, which is part of Emotional Literacy and Empathy. Asking your child how they think other people in the family feel and identifying why they feel that way are great steps in helping your child identifying other people’s and their own emotions.

End of Term Celebration – Teddy Bears’ Picnic

We have completed our goal of 20 Whole Class Stamp Charts. Our teddy bears’ picnic will be going ahead with a nude food lunch for all students being provided by the school. Come along for a fantastic morning.

 Positive Behaviour Data

Are you aware that our school offers Breaky Club? What is Breaky Club you ask?

In 2023 QLD government provided funding to 861 identified schools to enhance their food program. Calliope SS was one of them. Breaky Club is operated by lovely volunteers and tuckshop convenor Lisa C.

We are seeking more volunteers who can spare 1 hour of your time in the mornings (Tues – Fri) to set up and serve breakfast.

Tasks – making cereal cups or making healthy breakfast options, pouring milk and juice cups, cutting up fruit and serving all those smiling faces in the morning.

Breaky Club is open from 8.35- 9am

 UNIFORM SHOP

Uniform orders made on Thursday will be filled the first Friday back from school holidays.

The Uniform Shop are seeking volunteers to assist on Friday mornings to pack and deliver the weekly uniform orders which should not take more than 1 hour – this could be your “ONE thing”.

Without volunteers, we would not be able to provide this service. If you would like more information, please email uniformshop.calliopess@gmail.com  

QParents

QParents  is a secure, online portal that is free for all Queensland state schools to use and provides parents with quick, easy access to their student information including:

• student and parent contact details
• attendance details
• report cards – all report cards (past & present) are available to view and upload
• invoices and payment history
• Online consent management

The student information displayed in QParents is surfacing information that is already recorded and managed in One School. The benefits of using QParents for schools and parents include:

• a faster, more efficient way to communicate with parents regarding student information
• a secure, convenient and automated process for parents to pay school invoices
• significant time and effort savings for both your school and parent community
• an innovative online communication tool that’s free of charge for both schools and parents to use.

How do I register for QParents?

You will be sent an email inviting you to register for QParents. You will then be able to register via the secure QParents website: qparents.qld.edu.au using the unique invitation code contained in the email. You will require each child’s unique EQ ID and you must verify your identity by providing 100 points of identification. If you cannot verify your identity online, you should contact your child’s school for assistance. The school will review your registration and approve your account. You will then be able to access the QParents app.

Please note: if you have not received the QParents invitation email, please send correspondence through to admin@calliopess.eq.edu.au with your full name, student/s full name & DOB to request your QParents invitation.