School Newsletter - Term 1 Week 7 - 2022

Principal's News

Dear Parents and Care Givers,

Welcome to our first edition of our Schoolzine e-newsletter. We hope that this new format will be more user friendly for all.

It's Official - The Administration Building is Refurbished and Open for Business

It is with great excitement that our Administration Building will officially be open for business from today - Friday 11 March 2022. It is a wonderful, professional and modernised space worthy of our school, staff and community.

I would like to thank our P&C Association, Regional Facilities Team, QBuild and our staff for their support, management and leadership in ensuring this professional space has been created to effectively meet the needs of the 21st Century.

Parent Teacher Interviews

On Tuesday 22nd of March, all class teachers will be holding the first parent teacher interviews for this year. Parents will receive their PTO information letter early next week. This is an opportunity for you to meet with your child’s teacher to hear about their progress to date and the learning targets that they are working on toward the mid-year reporting. Students are not involved in this meeting. Please be aware that time is limited, so if a much longer discussion is required, you can arrange this with the teacher at another time.

At the end of the semester a formal written report card will be completed and then in Week 9 of Term Three, we will undertake our second round of Parent Teacher interviews.

We look forward to seeing you at the parent teacher interviews.

Communication

Rangeville State School has various communication modes that are utilised to communicate to parents and families. These include class or activity notes, our fortnightly school newsletter, school calendar, school website, school email, school text messages, school notes, school phone calls, QParents and the P&C Facebook page.

Class, Activity Notes and/or Invoices, will be emailed to families unless there is a required return permission form. These will be printed and sent home with your child.

Our 2022 School Calendar is our accurate communication tool for upcoming events. These should have been received by our eldest in the family students during the first two weeks of school. The dates and events are locked in and unless things occur outside of our control.

Our fortnightly newsletter which is emailed to families provides accurate details on past and upcoming events.

QParents is our preferred secure, online portal that is free for all parents of Queensland state schools to use. We use it to provide parents with quick, easy access to their student information including:

• student and attendance details
• report cards and assessment planners
• timetables and upcoming events
• invoices and payment history.

The benefits of using QParents for our school and parents include:

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

Mrs Llwellyn in the office is our QParents champion and is only too happy to help.

The P&C Facebook is run by volunteers who are part of our P&C committee. This is a fast mechanism for updating and advertising information for families at short notice related to school and P&C matters.

The school will also email or text families using the contact details of the main parent/care giver listed on the enrolment form. Texts and emails are sent to families communicating important information or updates on excursions at short notice.

We are very proud of our home school relationships and work hard to maintain effective and positive relations with all to ensure the best possible education can be achieved for all of our children. Your class teacher is the first point of contact for any questions, concerns or issues regarding your child. If you wish to raise any concern that may require time to address, please arrange a mutually convenient appointment with your class teacher. Appointments can be arranged through the office or face to face with your teacher.

Social Media, please be mindful, that a staff members social media platforms are private. If families have a concern or question that pertains to their child or a school matter, please contact your teacher via the school office or at their classroom. Please refrain from messaging them via their private social media platforms.

Anxiety and Mindfulness

The following was shared by Miss Grenning (Prep G) with her class earlier this week and I think it is very relevant and worth sharing with our entire community during these challenging times:

"As much as we as parents want to protect our children from all that is happening in the world, they can't avoid it. Even if they don't know the details, they can feel the stress. Helping children see the good around them can help them see that there is more than just the bad. It can help take the focus off the bad. It can feel so overwhelming. We have to consciously look for the good. By practicing mindfulness, children become more aware of their own feelings and therefore become less reactive. When children (and adults) are less reactive they are able to listen and communicate more effectively. If they are aware of their own emotions, then they will gain the ability to understand these emotions in others and therefore have empathy for others. Children need to feel safe. When the world seems to have gone mad, they need their safe haven at home. Connection is more important than ever. Keep checking in and letting them know that it is okay if they are struggling because you are there to help" - The Therapist Parent 

Here's a great link with some helpful mindfulness activities to do at home: Mindfulness for Children

2022 School Leaders

Congratulations to our 2022 School Leaders who were awarded their leadership badges today.

Calendar of Events

Guidance Officer News

Please see the attached article for information about how to help children who have been affected by the recent floods.

Chess News

While the Primary School Individual Chess Championship was cancelled this year, a brand new primary school tournament has been announced - Toowoomba Primary Autumn Swiss Rapid Tournament.

This will be held on Saturday 2nd April 2022 at the Toowoomba Anglican School.

Parents will need to organise their own child’s participation in this tournament and there are strictly only 150 entries allowed. You can find all the details of this new tournament here.

In case this link doesn't work here is the link you can copy and paste into your web browser: https://toowoombachessclub.com.au/school-tournaments/toowoomba-primary-school-autumn-swiss-rapid-chess-tournament/

Chess Lessons

We are excited to be planning chess lessons at Rangeville State School starting in term two. Mr Les Lord from the Toowoomba Chess Club will teach beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

Details as follows:

• Day and Time: Wednesday first break from 10:50am - 11:30am
• Where: Library
• Supervisor: Mrs Prue Cunningham
  
• Cost: $40 for 10 lessons - paid in advance
  

We require a minimum of 20 children to go ahead with lessons and we will cap numbers at 25. Please register your child’s interest as soon as possible by emailing Mrs Prue Cunningham at pcunn1@eq.edu.au with your child’s name and class.

Sport News

Samantha, Tahlia and Skyla competing at the Darling Downs Trials on 7 March 2022.
Well done girls!

2022 Queensland School Term Dates

Monday 24 January - Friday 1 April 
Tuesday 19 April - Friday 24 June
Monday 11 July - Friday 16 September
Tuesday 4 October - Friday 9 December

Rangeville State School P&C Association Outside School Hours Care

Please see the attached flyer for details about the ROSHC holiday program.

Uniform Shop

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.