30 November 2023

Dates to Remember

Principal News

As the end of the year approaches far too quickly, I would like to thank our Grand Avenue community for your strong support throughout 2023. As we near the finish line, it is always timely to anchor ourselves in reflection, gratitude and a tangible sense of excitement about what improvements lie ahead for our School community in 2024.

I was reminded of the countless opportunities our students are offered during their schooling years at Grand Avenue State School in order to achieve our school vision for each student to ‘Grow, Achieve, Succeed.’

This was very evident this fortnight when seeing our students perform through the Evening of Music and the Dance Night. Our year 6 student leaders expressed through their speeches how much they have grown and developed confidence under the guidance and encouragement of their teachers and parents over the many years. We are fortunate to have so many devoted families and staff who make this success and achievement occur for each and every one of our students.

This term we have seen an enormous growth in our attendance for term 2. We are currently achieving a 92.5% rate of attendance Prep to Year 6 for term 4. This is an outstanding result. I would like to thank all the parents, carers and teachers for their commitment to ensure all children are ready for learning each and every day. We look forward to continuing to work on increasing our attendance into 2024.

Semester 2 reports cards are being finalised and will be sent to families late next week. Our English academic results this term have seen a significant improvement in our A-C results. We have reached the highest result of A’s ever achieved and recorded at Grand Avenue SS. This is a credit to our students and their hard work and commitment to their learning and the brilliant work of our teachers and leaders in providing teaching and learning.

We are looking forward to continuing the celebrations our student’s achievements this year with the following events happening in the final week.

Academic Awards Celebrations – Tuesday 5 December – 5:00pm
Prep and Year 1 end of year concert – Wednesday 6 December – 9:00am
Year 6 Graduation – Thursday 7 December – 9:30am

As well as a variety of culminating events and activities happening around the school to highlight the wonderful learning and achievements that have occurred this year. Please make sure you have registered your correct email addresses with the administration office, so you receive these invitations and updates about these delightful celebrations.

Student Transitions to 2024 Classes

We will begin our student transitions this week, introducing the 2024 teachers with their students.

Our students who require extra support for transitions will be involved in a process alongside our Head of Special Education, Inclusion Teachers, Deputy Principals and Guidance Officer.

On Friday 1 December our current Prep to Year 6 students visit their new 2024 classes. This will be for most of the school day 9:30am to 1:00pm.

Year 6 students who are attending Forest Lake SHS in 2024 will do their transition day. Students not involved in transitions will be supervised by classroom teachers.

Teachers will take their new students to their 2024 classroom locations and begin a warm introduction to their class groupings. Each student will take home a letter to explain who their new class teacher is and where their classroom is located.

As I am sure you will appreciate, considerable planning goes into student class placement every year so we can ensure the best educational and social outcomes for our students.

For ease of commencement on the first day back at school, we would invite our families to drop in during the last day of the school holidays Thursday 18 January between 9:00am to 9:45am to deliver your child’s booklist resources to the classroom.

Our uniform shop will be open for extended periods over the holidays for your convenience. Please check our Schools website https://grandavenuess.eq.edu.au/facilities/uniform-shop for the most up to date opening hours and uniform prices. The 2024 stationery booklist can also be found on this link for all year levels https://grandavenuess.eq.edu.au/support-and-resources/forms-and-documents/documents

What a wonderful year we have had, as we wind down the year, I would like to thank all of our wonderful school community on a fabulous year. I hope that all our students and their families enjoy a well-deserved break, and I am looking forward to welcoming you all back in the new year.

To our P&C executive team and committee members, our staff and parents – thank you for your hard work and dedication to our community and being strong advocate around improvements within our School community it has truly been a unique year. We hope to achieve some great things into the new year.

Until next time,

Racheal Jones
Principal

Playgroup

Hello Playgroup Families!!! 

This coming week is our last playgroup for 2023!!!! Yes, you heard that right. We can't believe this year is nearly gone... 

Thank you to everyone that has supported our program and a HUGE Thank You to Miss Mel and Miss Row for all your work.

Our last Playgroup sessions are December 5 and 7, 9-11am in the steam room. We hope to see all of our friends for one last play before Christmas.

Best of luck to all of our friends moving into prep next year. We can't wait to see you around school. To our 2024 returning families, we look forward to seeing you all to celebrate another amazing year at Playgroup!! 🙂

Stay tuned for a new space at the school for playgroup in 2024! Wishing everyone a safe and happy holidays. Until next time. 

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Thank you to everyone who voted in our PBL Mascot design competition. I am pleased to introduce our new mascot…..Startacular!

Startacular will be busy visiting classrooms in Term 1 of 2024, introducing themselves to all the students at Grand Avenue State School. We will also have an official launch of our new PBL framework, including our new rewards system, the Star Shop!

The explicit and systematic teaching of social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies to students has been shown to decrease emotional distress and behavioural problems and increase academic scores. SEL helps students manage emotions, set goals, get along with others and make responsible decisions.

The PBL framework provides the ideal vehicle for teaching identified SEL competencies. Schools teaching SEL within a prevention-focused continuum of supports, such as PBL, have reported reduced rates of bullying, increased sense of school safety, improvements in students’ emotional regulation and greater staff and student wellbeing.

More information about our School Shop reward system will be shared with you in the new year.

Attendance Celebrations

There have been attendance celebrations a plenty at school over the course of the semester, with many classes spinning the attendance wheel to win a prize.  This week the celebrations culminated with the classes with the most completed BINGO cards winning a Pizza Party.  Thanks to the generous support from the P&C, Pizza was enjoyed by: Prep D, 1C, 2A, 3F, 4C, 5C an d 6B.

STEM

Year 5 News

As we reflect on this term, over the past weeks, students of 5G have immersed themselves in a dynamic learning environment, engaging with the curriculum, completing assessments, and participating in exciting activities that have brought the subject matter to life.

The classroom has been a lively space where curiosity is encouraged, questions are welcomed, and every achievement, no matter how small, is celebrated. Assessments play a crucial role in gauging our students' understanding and progress. It's been inspiring to witness the resilience and commitment of 5G students during assessment periods.

The STEM Day was an event that sparked enthusiasm and curiosity among our students. This allowed our young minds to delve into the exciting realms of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Through engaging activities such as creating a digital pixel picture on Microsoft excel, experiments, and hands-on projects such as the Engineering challenge, we witnessed the power of STEM education in action, fostering a love for learning and inspiring the next generation of innovators.

As we approach the end of the term, anticipation is building for Step-Up Day. This day not only marks the transition to a new academic level, but also provides an opportunity for students to explore what lies ahead. It's a time for reflection, goal-setting, and building the excitement for the next phase of their educational journey with the new classroom teacher.

As the term concludes, 5G is eagerly looking forward to the year-end activities. We hope to make the last few days of the year a memorable and time of celebration.

Bella – These past term has been challenging but fun. We have been working on Time for Maths and Democracy in HASS. These memories with Mrs. De Alwis in 5G will be cherished forever.

Sabiha – This year has been great. I loved what we learned as well as our science experiments.To sum up, I am really looking forward to year 6.

Tanveer – This term me and my class had a wonderful time. We learned new things and had a lot of fun. We also had loads and loads of assessments but we raced through them and earned free time. This was one of the best terms and years ever.

Edie – This term has been full of hard work, but we have made it. We had fun doing elapsed time in Mathematics and comprehension strategies for English.

Roseanna – During the past term, we’ve had a lot of fun with our teacher, Mrs. De Alwis. We have learned a lot of helpful things for our lives, like seeing what needs and wants are and have learned how to make a savings plan. I’ve had a good time and wish we all have a good year upcoming.

Penelope – This year has been good and I have learned a lot. I am glad I came to this school, especially since I’ve got even smarter.

From Our Guidance Officers

Happy Holidays and Farewell from Mrs Sweeting and Poppy

Poppy and I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. We hope you are able to spend time with loved ones and find ways to laugh and have fun as the year comes to a close.

It is with great sadness that Poppy and I must also use this opportunity to say farewell to everyone in the Grand Avenue State School community. We have absolutely loved our 3 years at GASS. I feel incredibly privileged to have been entrusted with the role of Guidance Officer and been able to work with so many wonderful children and families.

 Poppy and I are moving on to support more children and families in a school much closer to home, where we hope to spread lots of sparkles and puppy licks to those who need it.

I began working at GASS only 6 months into my new career as a GO. I will be forever grateful to everyone I encountered for helping me to develop my new skills and allowing me into their lives, and if Poppy could talk she would definitely want to say thanks for all the pats!

Take care everyone and thanks for having us! xx

Thank you, 
Kylie Sweeting
Guidance Office

The Student Resource Scheme for 2024 (Year1 – Year6)

There will be no increase to the SRS charge and will continue at $40 per year which equates to $1per school week.

Invoices will be sent out to all scheme participants in early 2024

 Benefits Enjoyed by joining the Scheme

• Classroom consumables and reference materials for core curriculum
• Individually issued and class sets books/novels
• Reproduced class workbooks and worksheets
• Specialist materials & consumables for practical studies eg science
• Mathletics Subscription
• School Magazine Reading Pamphlets
• Student reference material
• Student material used for classroom projects
• Wellbeing Program activities and consumables
• Administration of Scheme

Conditions of the Resource Scheme

• Students (Years 1-6) will supply their own personal requirements – as outlined in the Stationery List
• Books issued to students are to be kept in good condition
• Students are responsible for up to the full cost of books that are negligently damaged or lost before any further issues can be made
• All resources provided under the Scheme remain the property of the Scheme and must be returned when a student leaves or at the end of the school year
• If a student enrols during the year, the fee is calculated on a pro-rata basis
• If a student leaves during the year, a pro-rata refund will be made. The refund is based on the parent/caregiver charge, less the cost of consumed materials and/or the cost of replacing lost or damaged resources
• Books and resources provided under the Scheme cannot be issued to students whose parents/caregivers choose not to participate

To view the list of items covered by the scheme please follow the pathway below on our School Website:-

“Curriculum/Teaching and Learning/ Related links – SRS 2024”

This scheme does not cover items listed on the stationery list, excursions/incursions or camps

2024 Booklists

Booklists for students returning in 2024 in Years 1 to Year6 have now been sent home to families.

2024 Student Resource Scheme – Prep

The SRS charge for Prep 2024 will remain at $75 and parents will be invoiced early in Term 1. 

NB: Prep parents will not be required to supply any stationery items

2024 Student Resource Scheme – Instrumental Program

For Students participating in the 2024 Instrumental Program the Levy will remain at $80 per year.

For students hiring a school instrument there will be an additional $80 charged.

GASS Chess News

On Friday October 20th, 50 Grand Avenue students participated in our annual GASS Chess Tournament.

We were fortunate that Gardiner Chess arranged for FIDE Master Dusan Stoijic to run the event and some coaching sessions throughout the day.

Mr Stoijic gave praise to our students for showing great sportsmanship and a good understanding of chess. He also commented that our tournament was the largest single school tournament that he is aware of in Australia.

Students played 7 rounds of chess and had two coaching sessions. Here are the results: 

1^st Place - Jethro 
2^nd Place - Naksh 
3^rd Place - Luka 

Our STAR Awards for Sportsmanship go to: 

Eleanor Berting - For assisting with the running of the club every week
Kehan Wijekoon - For coordinating and supervising giant chess every week at chess club
Blake English - Most improved player
Daniel Nisbett - For supporting a teammate at an interschool tournament

Chess Club is on Wednesdays First Break in the Library. All welcome.

Danielle Szczepina
Experienced Senior Teacher
Wednesdays 5D
Fridays 5A

GASS's Toy Drive is wrapping up this FRIDAY!

If you'd like to bring a smile to a child's face this holiday season, consider donating a new, unwrapped toy. You can drop off your contributions in the empty boxes located at our Christmas Tree in the front office.

Let's unite as a school community to make a difference in the lives of children under the care of the Department of Child Safety. These kids are facing unique challenges, and we believe that even small gestures can have a big impact.

Join us in spreading joy and warmth by participating in our toy drive. Your generosity can truly make this holiday season special for those in need. Thank you for being a part of this meaningful initiative!"

#GASSToyDrive #SpreadJoyWithToys #CommunityCaresForKids

Sophie Board (GDipPsych, BSocSci)
Chaplain at Grand Avenue State School, Brisbane South State Secondary College

Casual Cleaners Needed

OSHC News

Dear Grade 6 families

We would like to invite your Year 6 child to attend a breakfast to meet with current Year 7

children to talk about what they can expect high school to be like, especially the first week!

We are extending the invitation to children (enrolled in OSHC) who will attend Forest Lake

State High School as we are able to walk them to school afterwards.

Venue: McDonalds at Forest Lake (breakfast will be provided by OSHC)
Time: 7.15am – 8.15am
Date: 01.12.2023

On behalf of the Grand Avenue OSHC staff, we would like to say thank you for your warm wishes, appreciation cards, gifts and bottles of Christmas spirit.

We would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season, see you at Vacation Care and/or next year!

CHRISTMAS / NEW YEAR OPERATING HOURS

Vacation Care 11th - 22nd December 2023

Friday 22nd December 2023 - the Centre will close at 4.00pm

CLOSED 25th December 2023 to 2nd January 2024

Vacation Care: Wednesday 3rd January to 19th January 2023

Tuesday 2nd January will be an OSHC staff professional development day (no vacation care

offered)

School resumes Monday 22nd January 2024. Friday 26th January 2024 - the School and

OSHC will both be CLOSED.

Karen, Anita and team 😊

Summer Vacation Care

The Vacation Care Program, booking and permission forms are now available on the iParent Portal and at the centre. Copies have been emailed to all current families.

Please complete and return via email oshcbookings@grandavenuess.eq.edu.au or drop to the OSHC Centre. Please note bookings cannot be made on the iParent Portal.

P&C News

Canteen News

Uniform Shop News

Facebook:  

Like and Follow our Facebook Page to keep updated with information on upcoming events. Feel free to share this with family and friends and others in our Grand Avenue Community.   https://www.facebook.com/gasspandc  

Next General Meeting:  

All are welcome to attend our General Meetings. They are held the third Tuesday of the month during school term. If you would like items added to the agenda, please email p&cSecretary@grandavenuess.eq.edu.au. Want to become a member? Membership Forms can be found on the School Website or email the Secretary above for a form.

Community News