School Newsletter - Term 2 Week 5 - 2024

Principal's Celebration

City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod

Did you know? The Toowoomba Eisteddfod was first held in 1931 with four sessions in the RSL Memorial Hall with Choral, Vocal, Piano, Violin and Recitation Competitions as well as a Spelling Bee!

On Friday evening and Sunday, our Year 5/6 Choir, Small Group Choir and Year 4 Choir performed at the Toowoomba Eisteddfod.  

It was an absolute delight to watch these performances.  Thank you to Mr Matthew Henry for his tireless efforts in working with our students.  The attention, respect, conduct and singing of all students in attendance was exemplary.  Thank you to our accompanist, Ms Pamela Duane for supporting our school during rehearsals and performances.

Thank you to our staff, Mrs Clarke, Mrs Page, Mrs Lanham, Mrs Rafton, Mrs Brauer, Mrs Sheppard and Miss McDougall for attending and supporting our students during the events.  

Please see Mr Henry's article for more details and some photos.  However, on behalf of our school community, CONGRATULATIONS to our Choirs!  You were spectacular!

Congratulations!

• 5/6 Choir – Third Place
• Small Group Choir – beautiful comments from the Adjudicator and 1 point difference between the Highly Commended recipient and our group
• Year 4 Choir – Second Place and would have been a tie for First Place IF the Adjudicator was allowed to give ties! 

Fanfare

Congratulations to our Instrumental Music students, Mr Henry, Mrs Johansen, Mrs Jensen & Mr Gray for their extraordinary efforts at Fanfare last week.  These achievements not only celebrate the performances on the day but the hard work of our staff and students.  Thank you to families for supporting our IM program.

Congratulations!

• Junior Concert Band - Silver Award
• Senior Concert Band – Gold Award
• Junior Strings – Gold Award
• Senior Strings – Gold Award
• Symphony Orchestra – Gold Award

Congratulations to Mrs Johansen and Mr Gray who also received all Gold Awards for their Centenary Heights State High School groups and Mrs Johansen's Senior Strings at CHSHS on receiving Platinum!  Wow!

Workplace Health and Safety

Each term, we practise the required processes in the event of a Lockdown or Evacuation.  

This week, we will rehearse both.  Staff will be discussing the purpose and intent of both of these Emergency Drills with students.  

National Simultaneous Storytime

We are excited to take part in the National Simulataneous Storytime on Wednesday 22 May at 12pm.  On this day, at this time, children from all over the country will engage in reading the selected story "Bowerbird Blues" written by Aura Parker.  

“When we read together it helps language development, learning and literacy, all while building community. It’s also a lot of fun.” 

Attendance at School

At Rangeville, our goal is for every child to attend school 94% of the school year.  

There are 199 school days in 2024.   94% is attending school for 187 days leaving approximately 12 days for absences.  

As we approach the cooler months, we appreciate families keeping children home if they are unwell or symptomatic.  Please help us by contacting the office using one of the suggested ways below if your child is absent from school.  

QParents: This app is very easy to use. If you don’t have access to QParents, a code is needed which is generated at the office. See the attached information sheet to learn more about the QParents app.

Phone Call:  4617 7366. Parents can choose to either leave a message or speak with one of our admin team if during hours.

Email: admin@rangevilless.eq.edu.au

In Person:  Come in to the main desk at the office.

Students of the Week 

Each week, we celebrate our Students of the Week. Congratulations to our Week 4 & 5 recipients.

Calendar of Events

Book Fair

Exciting news! Our school's Book Fair is now open until Wednesday 22 May in the Resource Room. It offers a diverse selection of books for all ages and interests. The Fair is open before school, during breaks, and after school. Students can browse during allocated class times and create wish lists. Prices start at $5, and purchases can be made in-person with cash or EFTPOS. Online payments are also accepted for wish list items. Join us and support our school's library growth!

Prep Information Evening 2025

We are excited to announce the upcoming Prep Information Evening 2025, which will now take place on Wednesday 22 May 2024 from 5:30pm. This event is specifically designed to provide parents and guardians with important information about all things Prep for the 2025 school year. We encourage all parents and guardians of 2025 Prep students to attend this informative evening.

Please meet at the paved courtyard on the eastern side of our administration building.

Please register for the event via the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/KPjr8AWkAf 

We look forward to seeing you at the Prep Information Evening and to starting this exciting journey with you and your child.

If you have a Prep aged child to enrol in 2025 but have not yet done so, please apply online as soon as possible here https://eq.sobs.com.au/en/parent.php?schoolid=70862 or feel free to collect an enrolment pack from the school office.

ICAS 2024

Welcome to the 2024 International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) We are delighted to inform you that Rangeville will again be participating in the ICAS competition. 

What is ICAS? 

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee and Digital Technologies. 

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student who participates will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals. 

We encourage you to consider entering your child into ICAS this year.  

Learn more about ICAS here.  (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas)

 Subject availability and year levels table

The following subjects are available for the year levels stated in the table below.

DATES - sitting windows for ICAS assessments 2024                              

An entry fee is charged for each competition entered.

If you would like your child to sit the ICAS assessments this year, payment is made easier with an online Parent Payment System. Further information regarding this system will be given as the ICAS dates draw closer.

ICAS Results and Certificates 

As the dates get closer, we will notify you of the dates that we run ICAS at the school and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. Once we have received your child’s ICAS certificate, we will send it home with your child.

If you require further information or assistance, please leave a message at the office and I will respond to your inquiry.

Judy Keightley
ICAS Co-ordinator

Sports News

Aussie Hoops Program

The Aussie Hoops program has started with massive support from the younger grades with around 40 in Prep-Year 1. If your child is still interested, they can still register and join the program. The program will take place in the Assembly Hall and students are required to take their lunch with them to the session. Please see the attached flyer or contact Mr Pop Dickerson for more information. Please note the change below to your child’s day as the numbers in the Year 2-6 only have enough to combine those grades on Wednesday.

Rep Sports Update

Term 2 has begun with many Rangeville students attending representative sports trials. Congratulations to the following students and their selection in their respective sports.

Hugo W has beaten the best in Queensland at the recent Qld School Swimming Championships. Hugo won the 10 years boys 50m Backstroke with a massive new PB time in the event. This now sees him trialling at the Australian Schools Swimming Championships where he will represent his family, school, region and state proudly. Good luck, Hugo! We are all very proud of your fantastic results. The following students also attended the State trials- Georgia G, Ayrton C, Liam S, Munro G, Bonnie S. and Charley M. Rangeville School had 7 Darling Downs reps in this sport which is more than any other school on the Downs!

Isla F & Piper W were both selected in the Darling Downs Hockey team. Piper has achieved this merit for her third consecutive year. Good luck in Cairns at the State trials.

Munro G and Cory M both attended the DD Rugby League trials in Dalby. Both were recently selected in the Toowoomba Schools team. By reports both boys trialled strongly and Cory was rewarded with selection in the Possible vs Probables game.

Zone Cross Country Trials

On Friday 26 April, 26 RSS students attended the Zone Cross Country trials. The races were fast paced and many strong runners were in attendance. Rangeville had a successful morning with the following 6 students selected in the Zone team: Diego R- 3rd, Tui P- 5th, Georgia G- 5^th, Larni W- 4th, Felix W- 6th and Cooper C-5th. Lexie F was also selected as a reserve with her 7^th place position. These students attended the DD trials on Tuesday 14 May.

Darling Downs Netball Trials

Charley M and Peyton C represented Toowoomba schools at the Darling Downs Netball trials. Charley was selected in her second DD team for the year and while Peyton trialled strongly, she missed the final selection. Good luck, Charley at the State trials and bigger and better things are on the horizon for Peyton!

Toowoomba Rugby Union Team

Felix W, Archer S and Munro G have been trialling for the Toowoomba Rugby Union team across a number of trials. All were successful in their initial trial but unfortunately not selected in the final team.

Toowoomba Schools Football (Soccer) Teams

Emily S, Georgia G, Georgia P, Noah W, Luka P, Marcus B and Oliver S have all been selected in the Toowoomba Schools Football (soccer) teams. These students will now progress to the Darling Downs trials in Dalby on Monday 27 May. Best wishes at these trials.

Rep Sports Selection Tracker

Look at how many Rangeville students have been selected in the following teams this year.  Well done everyone!

Athletics

1500m Race Timetable:

The top 15 placegetters from the Cross Country are invited to take part in this race. Points from this event count towards Age Championship points and also House points. Race lists below for those students who will be running in these races.

1500m Race Lists:

Date Claimer - Senior Interhouse Athletics Carnival 13 & 14 June

The Senior Carnival is for all students born 2015, 2014, 2013 & 2012. The Junior Carnival will take place at the end of Term 3 for all students born 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016.

Events Overview:

• Day 1- Thursday 13 June (High Jump, Long Jump & Shot Put & 800m). Discus will be held on a separate day TBC in the lead-up to the Carnival days.
• Day 2- Friday 4 June (3 Sprints- Heats & Finals, 200m- Heats & Finals, 800m Final & Relays for selected students).

Music News

There are a number of upcoming performances for the music department this term which are detailed in the table below.  More information with finer details will be emailed home to parents.

What a week for our young musicians at Rangeville!

We started with Fanfare on Wednesday, held in the magnificent Caldwell Performing Arts Centre at Centenary Heights State High School. Our students proudly represented Rangeville and gave their best in their performances.  Fanfare is a competition for State Schools with results being awards rather that places. Our ensembles achieved:

Junior Concert Band (conducted by Mr Gray) – Silver Award

Senior Concert Band (conducted by Mr Gray) – Gold Award

Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Mrs Johansen) – Gold Award

Junior Strings (conducted by Mrs Johansen) – Gold Award

Senior Strings (conducted by Mrs Johansen) – Gold Award

The adjudicator, Dr Ralph Hultgren specifically mentioned how incredible it was to see a primary school symphony orchestra that played in tune and played together in time!  He also said that the Junior Strings were the best ensemble of the day so far with their enthusiasm and great ensemble.  We eagerly await the rest of the regional heats to see if any Rangeville ensembles progress to the Darling Downs and South West Queensland Regional Finals to be held in Kingaroy later this term.  Many thanks to Mrs Jensen, Mr Gray and Mrs Johansen for their preparations with the students for these performances.

Over the weekend, our choristers competed in the Toowoomba Eisteddfod at the beautiful Empire Theatre.

On Friday night the 5-6 Voices choir competed receiving 3^rd place, and the Small Group Choir also performed. The adjudicator, Mr David Webster commented on the lovely blend and tone, and unified sound of both groups.  Both sections were of an incredibly high standard and the Rangeville students gave an amazing performance.  Mr Webster mentioned the great focus from across the group and he was “so impressed with the attention to text, matching articulation to this.  Great work!”

On Sunday, our Year 4 choir took to the stage with Mr Webster commenting “Beautiful in the soft section!” and “Great work!”.  When announcing the places, he said that if he could award a tie for first place he would because the sound of the Rangeville Year 4 choir was the best sounding choir on the day.  Due to the more difficult technical aspects of our competitor, Rangeville received 2^nd place again in a section of an extremely high standard.

Many thanks to our accompanist Ms Pamela Duane for her support and great work in accompanying our choirs.

Thanks also to our staff and parents that supported our choirs over the weekend including Mrs Page, Mrs Clarke, Miss McDougall, Mrs Lanham, Mrs Brouwer, Mrs Rafton, Mrs Sheppard, Mr Tracey and Mrs Gabler.

Guidance Officer News

The following article 'Healthy Families' is shared courtesy of our Guidance Officer, Peta Shevlin.

PBL Rewards Day

PBL/Social and Emotional Learning

RSS will be hosting two Parent Information sessions covering information about PBL processes and Social and Emotional Learning. Leoni Ross (Tier 1 PBL Coach) and Catrina Lawrence (School Social Worker) will be facilitating these meetings. 

Due to the recent Public Health advice, we have decided to postpone the PBL session scheduled for 17 May 2024 with Miss Ross and Ms Lawrence. We are hoping to hold the first session on Friday 31st May 2024, but will confirm closer to the date.

Week 7 Friday 31st May 2:00pm - 2:50pm (Resource Room) TBC

Week 8 Thursday 6th June 5:30pm - 6:00pm (Resource Room)

There is no need to RSVP. Simply come along on the day and proceed directly to the Resource Room (H Block) to sign in.

Not receiving our emails or SMS messages?

If you've recently changed your contact details like email address, mobile number, home address, family circumstances, workplace, or emergency contacts, please reach out to us at admin@rangevilless.eq.edu.au or give us a call at 4617 7333. This way, we can ensure your information is current and keep you in the loop. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!

QParents

QParents  is a secure, online portal that has been created by the Department of Education to provide parents of Queensland state school students with 24-hour access to their child's information. The portal allows you to securely access information about your child and communicate directly with your child's school.

QParents provides secure, online access to student information such as:

• attendance details
• consent forms
• payment of invoices
• payment history
• behaviour
• report cards and assessment dates
• upcoming events
• timetables
• student photo

In addition to the information provided, it's important to note that the QParents portal only sends invoices to the parent/carer who is responsible for 100% of the student's school fees. This means that if there are multiple parents or carers who share responsibility for fees, only one of them will receive the invoice through the portal. It's important for parents and carers to communicate and coordinate payment arrangements if they are sharing the responsibility for fees. 

We encourage you to register for QParents. To do this, simply express your interest by emailing mllew16@eq.edu.au or by phoning 4617 733 and Mrs Llewellyn will email you an invitation to register (which includes your log-in code) and your childs unique EQID. Your child's EQID can also be found on your child's Semester Report Card.

Rangeville State School P&C Association

As the May meeting was postponed, the next date for the P&C Meeting will be Tuesday 11th June.

We welcome you all to attend.

To access reports and minutes please click on the link below:

Rangeville State School P&C Minutes and Reports (padlet.com)

If you are interested in joining the P&C team, membership forms are included below and are available from the website www.rsspandc.com.au or email us at secretary@rangevillestateschoolpandc.onmicrosoft.com 

We have a very active and involved P&C here at Rangeville State School. We would love to meet you and have a chat about the many different ways you can be involved and how we can assist you.

See our P&C website www.rsspandc.com.au for more details around our businesses and helpful information for families.  

Contact details:

www.rsspandc.com.au

Email: pandc@rangevilless.eq.edu.au

Phone: P&C Ops Office:  07 4617 7354

P&C Facebook page - Rangeville State School P&C: https://www.facebook.com/rangevillepc

Rangeville P&C Pie Drive

Thank you to everyone who supported the RSS P&C Pie Drive! All orders have been collected or delivered, and it was a huge success. All the money raised will benefit our wonderful school.

A big shout out to Sarah Courtney for coordinating this event and making it possible!

Rangeville Outside School Hours Care Services

Rangeville Outside Hours School Care services are available for families if you need before school care, after school care or vacation care.  If you want to know more about what is available, please contact the staff located in the Big Hall (W Block). There is also information on the P&C website  www.rsspandc.com.au  or email at roshc@rangevilless.eq.edu.au 

P&C Facebook page - Rangeville State School P&C

Did you know that we have a Facebook page? We would love you to follow us so that you can hear all about what's happening around Rangeville State School.

https://www.facebook.com/rangevillepc

Tuckshop News

We would like to thank all our volunteers that turn up to assist at the Tuck shop each week. We are always looking for volunteers so please let us know if you are interested.  

For those who are new to Flexischools and need help navigating the system, please click the link below for further instructions.

Flexischools Instructions

Uniform Shop

2024 Operating Hours

If you are interested in volunteering in the uniform shop, please contact us via the P&C Facebook page or phone Nicky on (07) 4617 7333.

Rangeville State School P&C Association Outside School Hours Care (ROSHC)

Celebrating Mother’s Day

On Friday, May 10th, the ROSHC service celebrated Mother’s Day by inviting all the ROSHC mother figures for a hot breakfast. It was wonderful to see so many enjoying the morning with their children and the Educators. There were lots of laughs and chatter. Thank you to the mums who supported this idea; we really appreciate it and hope you enjoyed the array of foods from the ROSHC kitchen. We hope to offer this again soon, as the feedback was so positive. Thank you!

Vacation Care

The program is in the making, and the Educators are working on activities, involving the children wherever possible. Please remember that bookings for vacation care do not open until the information email is sent out, usually in Week 8. Please keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks. All vacation care bookings are done through the Xplor app. Your term-time bookings do not carry over to vacation care, so you need to submit your requested days for this period. Be sure to read over the program, as some days may require children to bring specific items, and you may need to sign permission forms for different activities. Vacation care will run from Monday 24th June through to Friday 5th July.

Absentees

If you have a booking at the service and your child goes home early from school, is absent or not coming for either BSC or ASC please let us know via your Xplor app (preferred option) or email roshc@rangevilless.eq.edu.au as soon as possible.

Lost Property

Please remember, if your child has misplaced any items such as jumpers, hats, lunchboxes, or water bottles, they may be found near the Uniform Shop on the verandah.

We kindly ask you to clearly label these items, as our volunteers assist in sorting and returning them to their respective classes.

Any valuable items, such as glasses or watches, will be securely stored in the office for collection.

News from the Community

Please note that although the following notices may be included in the school’s Newsletter, they are published in good faith and do not necessarily have the school’s endorsement.

A LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY…

Calling all aspiring Jedi and tech-savvy Padawans! Prepare to blast off on an unforgettable STEM journey to a galaxy where the Force reigns supreme and technology knows no bounds. Our upcoming holiday program is your ticket to a Star Wars-inspired adventure, where you’ll wield lightsabers of code, master the art of droid construction, and navigate the universe of 3D design. With hands-on activities that’ll make even R2-D2 beep with excitement, this program is your chance to harness the power of the Force while delving into the cutting-edge realms of electronics, Arduino programming, and more. Don’t miss out on this epic opportunity to become a STEM Jedi and unlock the secrets of a galaxy far, far away!

LINK: https://www.integratedstem.com.au/programs/star-wars/ 

Program: STAR WARS

Ages: Prep - 8

Dates: 24-28 June

Times: 8:45am - 3:00pm (OSHC offered at additional cost)

Location: Fairholme Junior Library

Discount code: STARWARS24 for an extra 5% off registration