18 July 2022

Newsletter Articles

MESSAGES FROM THE ADMINISTRATION TEAM

Welcome Back

We had hearts full of joy to welcome everyone back this term! The sun was shining, and smiles were big as everyone returned with stories of holidays spent with family and friends. It was wonderful to see everyone wearing uniforms with pride and enquiring after each other, as well as asking teachers and staff about how they spent their break. We were all reminded of how lucky we are to be part of this learning community that shows genuine care and concern for each other.

Welcome to our new students who have joined the Pomona School family this term. We also welcome back 3 staff members from leave, Jodi Taylor, Jessica MacDonald and Donnelle Snow.

Year 5 & 6 students are off on excursion to Noosa District State High School Friday 15th and Friday 22nd July. Year 6 students will be visiting the junior secondary campus and the Year 5 students will be immersed in a day of farm adventure at Mimburi Campus.

NAIDOC Week

All classes have celebrated NAIDOC week this week with a range of activities and experiences. The Majeda Beatty performance for the whole school on Thursday was wonderful! She involved all students with dance, story and dreamtime songs. She bought artefacts to tell us of her culture in the Torres Strait Islands and spent time answering many of the questions students had. She bought joy, knowledge and curiosity to our celebrations for the week.

PBB Students talked about the flags we fly at school and what the colours and symbols all stand for.

Year 1 Students learning about the colours, meanings and symbols of the flags we fly here at school.

Majeda Beatty performed dance, songs and used artefacts to teach us about the culture of the Torres Strait Islander people and land she belongs to.

5NR Students creating art and being painted with ochre by Zahlia.

6CL artwork responding to the poem ‘No More Boomerangs’ by Oodgeroo Nonuccal.

Finance News

Term Three activities will be invoiced in the next week so please keep a watch out for these. For Year 5 and 6 students, please keep in mind that you may have a credit you can access that was given for Surf Awareness sessions that were cancelled due to weather.

Thank you to everyone who has already paid their SRS fees. After August 8th, students who have not paid will unfortunately be unable to access key online learning tools such as Reading Eggs, Mathletics and Typing Tournament as these programs require subscriptions to be paid to allow for use. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns.

Absences

Don’t forget to get in touch with us to let us know if your child will be away from school for any reason. Leave us a message on the absence line by phoning 54 808 222, and we will ensure your child’s attendance record is updated without having to call you to check in to ensure all is well.

Being On-Time for School

Being on-time and ready to learn each day is critical to make the most of the amazing learning opportunities we offer each day. It also helps to model time management, organisation skills and honours the importance of learning and school for your little ones.

Being late on a regular basis can really add up in a surprising way! We may not notice five or ten minutes each day, but across the course of the year, this can impact learning and your child’s ability to settle in, connect with their friends, and feel ready for their day. Not only are there the minutes lost whilst not here, there is more time lost while someone who is late, settles in for the day and orients themselves for what comes next, whilst the rest of the class moves on with their learning.

If you would like help with some strategies to help your child be organised and get ready for school, please get in touch. We have some great tools and resources that might help out, and don’t forget to google. There are many editable checklists and visual reminders that can help your child stay on track for an on-time get-away each day!

PARENT LIBRARY BOOK SELECTION

We would love to see you visit our library before or after school and browse through our parent book selection. There are some wonderful parent guides that cover a wide-range of topics and issues we all have questions about. However, there are also some beautiful children’s books that can help start some conversations for families about challenging concepts and issues such as grief and bullying. I Won’t Say Please is a beautiful book about a Queen Bee who refuses to use her manners until everyone else in the palace refuses to grant her bossy demands. It is a fun, light-hearted way to start chatting about manners and values your family may hold dear, and establish some expectations from our smallest learners about what it means to be part of a community.

PROCEDURES FOR……….

UPDATING PARENT/CARER CONTACT DETAILS

Please ensure our office have your correct contact details – telephone numbers (for us to contact you – particularly important in the case of an emergency with your child), and email address (for invoices, newsletter, etc). Please also ensure that your child/ren’s emergency contacts are up to date.

ADMINSTERING MEDICATION AT SCHOOL

If your child requires staff to administer medication at school, please contact the school office in the first instance to discuss your child’s requirements.

Please note, school staff will only administer medication that:

• has been prescribed by a qualified health practitioner (e.g. doctor, dentist)
• is in its original container
• has an attached pharmacy label Pharmacy label must show prescribing doctor’s name.

Office staff will ask you to complete and sign Section 1 of the Administration of medication at school record sheet.

School staff are bound by these regulations and we hope that all parents will acknowledge and cooperate with these rules.

HEAD LICE

The presence of head lice is a very common childhood occurrence in the community. The primary responsibility for the management and treatment of head lice in students belongs with parents.

As a school we notify parents via a letter if a parent has reported to the school that their child has head lice. This letter is sent to all the students in the class.

Students who are suspected of having head lice or eggs present in their hair are not excluded from class or school. However, if notified by the school, a parent may choose to remove their child from school to administer immediate treatment to their child.

REGULAR ATTENDANCE

EVERY DAY COUNTS – the message is the same in 2020. The simple fact is, the more regularly your child attends school, the more they learn. Aside from illness and bereavement, for example, attendance is expected every day. Keep an eye out on Facebook for regular videos from Education Queensland. If for any reason your child will be absent from school, please ring our 24/7 absentee line on 54 808 260 prior to 8.45am.

STAFF MEETING DAY - TUESDAY

Parents, please be advised that on Tuesday afternoon I request that all teaching staff attend a meeting which starts at 3:00pm. Staff will leave their rooms quickly once the bell rings to signal the end of the day. If you have anything urgent to discuss with your child’s teacher please leave a message at the office for that teacher

UNIFORM EXPECTATIONS

Clothing. Clothing should fit neatly and be sun safe. It must be suitable for full participation in all curriculum areas and the playground. It should not be inappropriate.

Hair. Hair should be clean, tidy (brushed or combed) with no extreme colours (natural colours) and tied back if below the collar. Fringes must not interfere with a student’s vision at any time.

Jewellery. Students may wear one set of studs or sleeper earrings and a watch. All other jewellery is considered to be a danger to the child’s safety and must be left at home. Students will be reminded to remove unauthorised jewellery worn to school.

Uniforms are available for purchase from the Tuckshop.

DATE CLAIMERS

ICAS NEWS

As previously mentioned in June’s newsletter, Pomona State School will once again be participating in the world-renowned ICAS competitions this year. Many new families have joined our school during the past week, so I have included the same information about ICAS from last term. Please note that the closing date for parent orders of all subjects is Sunday, July 31.

What is ICAS?

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to recognise academic excellence, 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, if they enjoy completing challenging and more difficult assessments.

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

How to participate in ICAS

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:

1. read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas)
2. go to Parent Portal here: (https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps)
3. enter our school’s access code –
   Your school access code is: HGG469
   Your parent page link is: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps
4. enter your child’s details, select the tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to payment.

Please note that the ICAS tests shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records.

We will notify you of the date(s) that we run ICAS at the school and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. You and your child can access the results once released via the Reports Portal using the TAP ID and pin found on the back of the ICAS certificate.

Your child’s data is kept private and secure by Janison, an Australian-owned technology group.

We are proud to offer ICAS and look forward to me fantastic results later in the year.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any questions.

Kathy Lavender
Senior Teacher
ICAS Coordinator

BOOK CLUB OFFER

Scholastic Book Club orders are due on Thursday 28th July. Ordering is easy and can be done by dropping your order and cash into the office, or online using the LOOP. Instructions for using the LOOP are in the catalogue. Ordering is a win-win for students and the school as Scholastic donate 20% of your Book Club order back to our school in Scholastic Rewards. These Rewards are redeemed on books and educational resources which helps stretch our budget further.

This issue has a special offer of up to 3 free books if your order is over $30. The details are below.

GROW YOUR HOME LIBRARY (& INDEPENDENT READERS) WITH THE FREE BOOK OFFER!

Every child deserves access to quality and affordable books, and Scholastic Book Club offers great prices with Value Books as low as $3 on every issue of Book Club. Best of all, if you order on Issue 5 you can select FREE BOOKS!

Place your Issue 5 order on LOOP to select up to 3 FREE BOOKS. To qualify all you have to do is spend over $30 and you can select 1 FREE book, or spend over $50 and you can select 2 FREE books or over $70 and you can select 3 FREE titles from a special online list. The list will display after you create your order and head to the checkout. See the link below for more information.

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN INFORMATION

TEWANTIN CRICKET CLUB