School Newsletter - Term 1 Week 6 2025

Principal's Celebration

Congratulations to our 2025 Student Leaders!

We thoroughly enjoyed your excitement during last week's Student Leader Ceremony. 

Thank you to Mrs Hagley and our Year 6 team for their efforts in making the ceremony such a special event. 

We were so glad to see so many family and community members attend.  

Darling Downs Swimming Championships

Congratulations to our 13 swimmers who represented Rangeville SS at the Darling Downs Swimming Championships last Wednesday. All of our swimmers did a great job, and we are very proud of your efforts.

Special mention goes to Munro Grover, Ayrton Ceccato and Hugo Weedon who have been chosen to represent the Darling Downs 10-12 Years Swimming team at the State Championships from 23 - 25 March.  

Congratulations boys, your hard work is bringing great results.   We wish you the very best of luck at the State Championships. 

Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is predicted to produce significant rain, strong winds and flash flooding in our community. This weather is expected to continue over the coming days.

As part of our disaster management protocol, we follow the advice of emergency services. We always act in the interests of the safety of students, staff and the wider community. 

Please continue to listen to our local ABC Radio service and monitor emergency services’ social media accounts for updates and advice. Information about current weather conditions can be found on the Bureau of Meteorology website at www.bom.gov.au. If you need immediate help, call Triple Zero (000) and remember, if it’s flooded, forget it.

It is incredibly important that you take time to look after yourselves and your families. Thank you for your ongoing support and I trust that the impact of this event on our school will be minimal.

I will continue to liaise with the Department of Education and emergency services and keep you informed of any developments, including when we expect our school to re-open.  Please monitor emails and text messages on Sunday afternoon for updates.  

Up-to-date information on school closures is available from closures.qld.edu.au. 

Term 1 Calendar of Events

Students of the Week

On Friday 28 February, we recognised our 2025 Student Leaders and presented them with their badges.  

Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our Week 6 parade due to TC Alfred.  We look forward to catching up on our Students of the Week next week.  

News from Mrs Griffiths

BIRDIE AND THE CYCLONE

Given the current weather conditions across our region, you may find the Queensland Children’s Health Birdie Tree Resources useful at this time. You can read how Birdie, Mr Frog and their friends help each other through hard times and natural disasters such as floods, fires and illnesses. In these resources there is a book entitled ‘Birdie and the Cyclone’.

Please follow the links below to access online copies:

https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/our-work/birdies-tree-natural-disaster-recovery

Birdie and the Cyclone

https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/our-work/birdies-tree-natural-disaster-recovery/birdies-tree-storybooks

PREP PHOTO DAY

Prep Photo Day for the Toowoomba Chronicle has been scheduled for Monday, March 10^th, commencing at 9:30am. Prep students are asked to wear their Rangeville polo shirts with blue shorts or skirts. Photos will be taken of each class and printed in a special edition of the Chronicle. Student names will not be included. We will be using the media consent given upon enrolment. If you do not want your child to participate in the photos, please advise their classroom teacher. We can’t wait to see your smiling faces! 😊 Please note that this booking may be subject to change due to the current weather conditions.

AEIOU OPEN DAY INFORMATION

AEIOU is excited to host their first Open Day for 2025. Parents and carers are invited to come along to find out how AEIOU support young, neurodivergent children to thrive!

Date and Time:
Wednesday 19^th March 2025, 10am - 11:30am

Address:
7 Friend Street Harristown, QLD 4350 

Registration is available online via their website

Highlights of the day will include:

• A centre tour to see how they integrate therapeutic support with education. You’ll also see their Supportive Learning Space - a program designed for children who seek tailored education supports but don't have NDIS funding

• Meet and greet with their autism specialists and other families
• Opportunity to ask questions about the programs and how the team works together to provide individualised support

News from Mrs Hagley

Regular School Attendance

Did you know? Research shows that in Queensland, higher student attendance at school is associated, on average, with higher student achievement.

Why is regular attendance at school important?

Regular school attendance will mean that your child gets a better chance at life. Your child will achieve better when they go to school all day, every school day:

• they learn better
• they make friends
• they are happier
• they have a brighter future.

Why must I send my child to school?

Under Queensland law, you must make sure your child of school age is enrolled and attends school all day, every school day unless they have a reasonable excuse. Illness, doing work experience, competing in a school sporting event or going on a school excursion are reasonable excuses for being absent from school.

Principals decide if the excuse given for your child’s absence is reasonable.

Avoid keeping your child away from school for:

• birthdays, shopping, visiting family and friends, if they sleep in, looking after other children, minor check-ups or care such as haircuts.

Routine medical or other health appointments should be made either before or after school or during the school holidays.

Having problems getting your child to school for some of these reasons?

• won’t get out of bed in the morning
• won’t go to bed at night
• can’t find their uniform, books, school bag …
• slow to eat breakfast
• haven’t done their homework
• watching TV
• have a test or presentation to do, have an assignment to hand in

• it’s their birthday.

A set routine can help

• have a set time to go to bed
• have a set time to get out of bed
• have uniform and school bag ready the night before
• have a set time for starting and finishing breakfast
• set a time for daily homework activities
• speak about school positively
• be firm, send your child to school every school day including their birthday and the last day of term!

What should I do if my child won’t go to school?

You should contact the school as soon as possible for advice and support.

There is no quick and simple solution, nor a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to improving school attendance. However, partnerships between schools and families can assist in reducing absenteeism and making every day count at school.

Classroom News

We have been learning maths with some new activities in 4C to help. For number fact fluency, students are using flash cards, iPads and race cards to achieve their own goals. During daily reviews, ‘Beat the Bomb’ has also become very competitive!

GRIP Leadership Conference

On Tuesday the 25^th of February, our Student Council attended the GRIP Leadership Conference held in Highfields. There were lots of other schools from all over Toowoomba and the Darling Downs there too. The conference taught us a lot about being leaders at our schools. Some of the key messages we took away were: “leadership is not about privileges, it’s about people” and “conversations are more effective than instructions”. The GRIP teachers showed us how effective fun can be when we participated in exciting interactive games, learning activities and interactions with other schools. We brainstormed lots of new ideas to put into action at Rangeville in 2025. We are excited to help be examples, helpers and a voice for others at our school this year using the skills we have learned.

By Lorelai, Julio and Lilia, on behalf of the Rangeville State School Student Council.

Cross Country / Fun Run

At our first P&C Meeting for the year, we decided to incorporate a Fun Run with our annual Cross Country.  The idea is to encourage participation from all students with GREAT prizes and fun!

Please see below for a flyer with all the details including:

*  Cross Country / Fun Run - 27 March 2025

*  Fundraising begins - 21 February 2025

* Fundraising closes - 21 March 2025

* Prizes are cumulative, meaning students can win up to 16 prizes depending on the amount their raise (see flyer for prizes).  

Sports News

Harmony Day

On Friday 21 March 2025, we will be celebrating Harmony Day at Rangeville State School. As orange is the colour to represent Harmony Day, students are encouraged to wear something orange to school that day. Students can also choose to wear traditional / cultural costumes to school if they have one. As per tradition, there will be a special parade in the morning.

For Grades 3 – 6 students, the school has made arrangements with professional cultural performers to present various cultural activities including traditional dances and musical performances. This is an excellent opportunity for your child to engage in and be part of this vibrant and colourful celebration.

Cost per student: $10

Invoices have been sent to all families that have returned consent for their child to participate. All payments for Harmony Day are due by Friday 14 March 2025.  Payment can be made by QParents, BPoint or via EFTPOS at the school office.

Amaroo Excursion 3O and 3B

Due to weather conditions, the Amaroo Excursion for 3O and 3B scheduled for 6 March 2025 has been postponed.

The only available replacement day at Amaroo is Friday 21 March 2025, which is the same day as Rangeville's Harmony Day. To ensure 3O and 3B students access the curriculum linked Amaroo excursion, we encourage 3O and 3B students to attend Amaroo, instead of Harmony Day. 

For those families that have already paid for their children in 3O and 3B to attend the Harmony Day incursion, a credit of $10 will be applied to your child's account. Thank you for your understanding.

The Opti-MINDS Challenge

This year Rangeville is going to participate in the Opti-MINDS Challenge. Miss Olsen will be facilitating the challenge this year, so please let her know if this sparks your interest. Keep an eye out in the newsletter in the next few months for more information regarding expressions of interest and commitment.

In a world where the ‘facts’ change daily – we need to change our thinking! Opti-MINDS IS the PROCESS of CHANGE…The opportunity to Opti-MISE your thinking for Opti-MUM performance!

Opti-MINDS is a process of PREVENTION – rather than a damage control; it instils a proactive mindset of:

• Capability – “Can Do!”
• Responsibility – “If not me – then who?”
• Creativity & Innovation; &
• Unashamed EXCELLENCE, within participants; encouraging them to REALISE their own capacity and responsibility to ‘MAKE the DIFFERENCE’ for themselves – & to come from an “IF NOT, WHY NOT?” stance.

Click on this link to find out more! https://opti-minds.com/

Book Club

WELCOME BACK TO BOOK CLUB! 

Book Club catalogues have been distributed, and they are kicking things off with LOTS of value for families, such as their FREE BOOKS offer + $5 PROMO CODES. 

All ordering occurs through the LOOP app. No cash payments are taken at school. You will need to update your child's class for the new school year and should then be ready to go. 

Orders are delivered to school two to three weeks after orders close and are then distributed to students.  

Ordering from book club generates credits for the school that are used for library and classroom resources. Thank you to the many families that order each term. 

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

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

P&C news 

The next meeting date for the P&C Meeting will be following the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 11th March at 6:00pm .

We welcome you all to attend.  Membership forms will be available. 

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

Rangeville State School P&C Minutes and Reports

All Executive roles will be open so if you would like to be a part of Team on the P&C please consider a role as an executive. 

If in the next few months there are any enquiries or questions or you need to contact the P&C and we will respond as soon as possible. You can email secretary@rangevillestateschoolpandc.onmicrosoft.com or to the PandC@rangevilless.eq.edu.au 

There will be lots of exciting things planned for the Rangeville School Community in 2025.  Please check out the newsletter and our Facebook Page for more information. 

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 

Reminder to Parents

If you have booked your children into care, but they will no longer be attending that session, please log into the Xplor App and send through the notification before 2:30pm or email roshc@rangeville.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 assist at the Tuckshop 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.

https://community.flexischools.com.au/parents  

Uniform Shop

2025 Operating Hours

We have some exciting new Rangeville State School products for our students that can be ordered online! Please have a look at the flyer below for more information or follow the link.

https://harlequinkids.com.au/your-school/rangeville-state-school.html

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.

Lost Property

Please remember if your child/ren has misplaced a jumper, hat or lunchbox and water bottle it may be located near the Uniform shop on the verandah. We encourage you to please clearly name the items as we have volunteers who sort and return to classes. 

Any items of great value such as glasses, watches etc will be handed into the office for collection. 

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

New Faces at ROSHC

You will start to notice some new faces around roshc in the coming weeks. Tom started with us last week and is enjoying meeting you all and he is bringing in lots of enthusiasm to the team, please make yourself known to Tom when you see him around. We also have Rose starting this week. You will see her here on Thursday’s and Fridays, please be sure to say hello when you see her. We look forward to having some new personalities to add to our ever-growing team of Educators at roshc and we thank all our families and children for making them feel so welcome.

Upcoming Toowoomba Show Holiday

We would like to advise to roshc families that we will be closed on Friday 28^th March for the Toowoomba Show holiday.

New enrolments or updating enrolment

If you would like to enrol your child/ren in ROSHC please send our office an email at roshc@rangevilless.eq.edu.au and we will send you through our enrolment forms, fee structure, parent handbook, children’s handbook and the booking app xplor information. If any of your personal information has changed, please email all changes through and we will update them in our system.

 Bookings

Please be aware you will only be able to make bookings if you have your account all set up with us, so please ensure you have finished the enrolment process first. If you would like permanent bookings, email our office roshc@rangevilless.eq.edu.au and we can discuss availability and arrange bookings for you in xplor. If you are interested in casual bookings, this is can be done via the xplor app and you will be notified of the outcome via the app, and an email or phone call if unable to accept the booking. If you are unsure how to make casual bookings, please come and see the office educators, or alternatively all the information on this is in the setup of the xplor app. 

Absentees

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

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!

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.